Who this is
Charlotte “Lotte” Küppers and Sherin Maruhn co-founded LOOSH in Berlin, a recovery and hydration brand selling sugar-free electrolyte drinks as powder in single-serve sachets. Sherin is a former competitive athlete who ran the 400 metres in 55 seconds, at national team level, and says she has been in and around the startup world for twelve years, including as a pacer for Nike Run Club. Lotte started out in venture capital and then worked as a founder's associate at the supplement brand HER ONE; at LOOSH she mostly owns the product, and she also teaches cycling classes. The two met at a Berlin VC party. At the time of recording the presale was running, the hard launch was days away, and their pre-seed round with business angels had closed in five weeks.
Episodes
Numbers from the episode
FAQ
What is LOOSH?
LOOSH is a recovery and hydration brand from Berlin, founded by Charlotte Küppers and Sherin Maruhn. The electrolyte drinks come as powder in single-serve sachets, with no sugar, no sucralose or aspartame and no artificial colours: the green comes from spirulina and safflower, the pink from beetroot. According to Lotte a serving contains up to 1,000 milligrams of minerals but only 400 milligrams of sodium, so you can drink it every day and not just after exercise. To the episode →
How much money has LOOSH raised?
In the episode Lotte says the pre-seed round came to just under half a million. According to Sherin the founders gave up less than 20 percent of the company. The investors were business angels, alongside the founders' own money. The round closed after five weeks. To the episode →
Which marketing channels work best for LOOSH?
User-generated content, offline events and TikTok Shop make the AAA tier. Paid influencers, paid Meta ads and Amazon get an A, SEO, GEO, classic PR and YouTube a B. LinkedIn personal branding and founder storytelling on Instagram sit at C, Twitch streaming and celebrity shareholders at D. To the episode →
How does a LOOSH recovery walk work?
The group meets in the morning, in Berlin every Wednesday at 8 am. It starts with a self-reflection question, then everyone walks in silence for five minutes. Afterwards you talk to others about your answer instead of your job and career. At their peak up to 80 people came, and an ambassador programme brings the walks to other cities. To the episode →
Quotes
„… Fundraising ist nichts anderes als Pitching als Sales.““Fundraising is nothing but pitching, nothing but sales.”
„Also du musst halt extrem bold sein, deinen Wert kennen, zu deinem Wert stehen und sehr professionell verhandeln.““You have to be extremely bold, know your worth, stand by your worth and negotiate very professionally.”
„… im Vergleich zu Meta ist TikTok Shop etwas, wo du aktuell als junge Brand noch wachsen kannst, weil es sehr viel günstiger ist.““Compared to Meta, TikTok Shop is somewhere you can still grow as a young brand right now, because it's much cheaper.”