In May 2019, SkillYoga closed a seed financing round for a mid-six digit amount. The Venture Capital Fonds Kreativwirtschaft, managed by IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, invested in the company together with leAD Sports, the sports start-up accelerator programme of the grandchildren of Adidas founder Adi Dassler, and the business angels Dr Dominik Reinartz and Tobias Teuber. SkillYoga was founded by Benno Mielke, Timko Linssen and Gerjet Efken.

According to the portal Gründerszene, the seven-digit convertible loan now came from Joyance Partners, Digital Invest and several German business angels, in addition to IBB Ventures and leAD Sports & Health Tech Partners. The funds raised will be used to expand the business in the USA and Great Britain. In addition, the app is to be expanded to include new features such as a digital coach planned for the next year, which will provide the user with feedback on the quality of movement.

Gerhard Borchers and Steffen Knödler co-founded airtango AG in 2016. The majority of the newly acquired funds, EUR 800,000, come from the mezzanine investment programme of the state of Baden-Württemberg together with the L-Bank. For this purpose, the Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (MBG) takes a silent partnership in the company. The remaining EUR 400,000 will be contributed via a share capital injection by the existing shareholders. The funds are to be used to increase the market share of the company's offering beyond the fitness industry. Steffen Knödler, CEO and Co-Founder of airtango explains “We want to use this opportunity to expand our team and develop new products.” In this context, an increase in staff in the areas of marketing and technology as well as the market launch of “in-store” offers are planned.

The Crailsheim-based start-up airtango's offering is a live streaming network that can be used to display high-quality soundless content in the areas of sports, entertainment and travel, for example, in training areas of fitness studios. For the site operators, the advertising-financed offer saves installation costs and licensing fees from the collecting societies and enables them to participate in advertising revenues. The content is made available either via a live streaming platform or on TV screens on site.

Sources: airtango, SkillYoga, IBB Ventures, Gründerszene
Image material: airtango, SkillYoga