The Oater

LET’S CELEBRATE: THE OATER HAS LAUNCHED INTO THE MARKET 🚀 We’re thrilled to announce a significant leap forward in sustainable food tech: Our innovative The Oater Barista machines are now LIVE serving up fresh, local, and sustainable oat drink in Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Stuttgart! 📍 Just nine months after securing a seven-figure #PreSeed investment, we’ve reached another major #milestone. Our machines aren’t just a product; they’re a revolution—addressing the high demand for sustainable dairy alternatives through on-site production of fresh oat drink. 🥛🌾 Since our founding in 2021, our founders Sarah Nesti, Lisa Nesti, Henrik Burger and Benjamin Auer and the entire team have been driven by a #mission to make oat drink sustainable, low-waste and fresh by bringing a fresh experience to the place of consumption. Impact is at the core of our purpose: Our oat drink generates 41% less CO2 emissions per Liter compared to conventional alternatives. With our mission, by 2030, we aim to save 500 million composite cartons and one billion Kilograms of CO2! 🌱🌍 The positive response from the #industry and our #community has been overwhelming, and our waitlist is rapidly growing. We’re diligently scaling our production capabilities to meet this incredible demand. 📈 A heartfelt THANK YOU to our amazing #OATeam whose hard work makes this journey possible. To our #investors, your belief in our vision continues to empower us. And to our #customers, thank you for trusting us to deliver innovation and sustainability directly to your counter. And everyone else that has supported and believed in us along the way. We couldn’t have done it without you. 💛🙏 🔗 Want to dive deeper into our story or join our mission? Check out our website at www.oater.de Together, we are setting new standards for sustainability in the food industry. Let’s make sustainability the default, not the alternative! 💚 #TheOater #Sustainability #Innovation #FoodTech #StartupLife #EcoFriendly #DairyAlternative #OatDrink #PlantBased

THANK YOU STARTUP-SAFARI – FOOD SERVICE EDITION 🚀 🦒 Die Startup Safari in Köln war für unsere Gründer:innen Henrik Burger Lisa Nesti ein echtes Highlight! ✨ Ein großes Dankeschön an die Organisator:innen Rebecca Göckel (NOMOO), Lorenz Greiner (Naughty Nuts®), Dr. Nicolas Lutz (Zappes Broi & Kölsche Koks), Robert Magnus Germer❄️🍕 (Frosty Pizza GmbH) und Friedrich Kalthoff (Kraftling GmbH), die das Event auf die Beine gestellt haben – ihr habt ein großartiges Netzwerk zusammengebracht, und das war spürbar! 🙏💥 In der Keynote von Mario C. Bauer von From Doubt to Drive über die Do's und Don'ts im Food-Service, sowie von den weiteren Branchengrößen der Jury, wie Miriam Fiquet von FOODSOURCE consulting GmbH und Cornelius Everke (ehemals CEO von Vapiano und Burger King) konnten wir wertvolle Einblicke gewinnen. 💡🤝 Die vier Startup-Pitches, darunter neben The Oater, Glowkitchen Food GmbH (Marc-Friedrich Wetzel), CRAVIES (Sıddık Turhalli) und nutriz (Sophie Klein), haben uns alle inspiriert und mal wieder gezeigt, wie viel Potenzial in der Foodservice-Szene steckt! 🌱👏 Auch danke an die anwesenden Foodservice Player für Euer Feedback und Interesse: Aramark, Transgourmet Deutschland GmbH & Co. OHG, Lagardère Travel Retail und Convini Deutschland 🍽️🤗 Ein besonderes Highlight war der Austausch untereinander und das Gefühl, in einer Gemeinschaft zu sein, die sich gegenseitig stärkt und inspiriert. Gerade dieser Spirit und die geballte Expertise vor Ort haben uns motiviert, unsere eigenen Ideen noch weiter voranzutreiben. 💪❤️ Und ein persönlicher Kommentar: Lisa Nesti, Benjamin Porten & Lorenz Greiner (Naughty Nuts®) haben zusammen studiert und kennen sich bereits seit fast 10 Jahren. Es ist Zufall und dafür umso schöner, dass wir alle in der Food Startup Szene in Köln gelandet sind und uns auf solchen Events treffen dürfen! 🫶 Danke für diese Chance – ein starkes Netzwerk ist wirklich unbezahlbar! 🌟🚀 #StartupSafari #FoodserviceInnovation #NetworkingPower #StartupEcosystem #TogetherWeGrow #SustainableStartups

Unser Co-Founder Henrik Burger und wir freuen uns schon sehr darauf, bei dem Event dabei zu sein! Das wird ein tolles Event 🙌🔥🚀

🚨 Letzte Chance! 🚨 Jetzt in The Oater investieren: https://lnkd.in/eT-bFE2E

Why We Said No to Family & Friends Money—Until Now 💡 Three years ago, fresh out of university, my co-founders and I took a leap of faith and founded The Oater. We needed €100,000 to build our first demonstrator and develop our recipe. Even gathering the minimum €25,000 to start a GmbH seemed daunting. Despite reaching out to early-stage angels, our efforts initially didn’t bear fruit. So, we agreed to pool our own scarce resources and invested the €25,000 ourselves. It was pretty much all we had. In those early days, we were determined not to involve family and friends in our fundraising efforts. Here’s why: 1️⃣ No Donations: We didn’t want their support to feel like a donation. We wanted to prove our idea's worth through market validation. 2️⃣ Personal Boundaries: We were wary of mixing personal and business relationships, particularly with friends. It felt uncomfortable. 3️⃣ Financial Stability: From an investment perspective, it didn’t make sense to concentrate even more risk within our families. Founding a startup is inherently risky, and adding more financial risk to our loved ones seemed unwise. However, over time, our perspective changed. My friend Nicholas Wickman played a significant role in this. Initially, I was quite reluctant to accept his offer to invest. The idea of mixing friendship with business was uncomfortable. But Nick believed in us and our vision, and his enthusiasm was contagious. I realized that if our roles were reversed, I’d want the opportunity to support my friends too. If a friend had a promising business and I strongly believed in their abilities and business model, I would want to invest an amount that aligned with my financial constraints. This thought made us rethink our stance. With this new perspective, we decided to open a crowdinvesting campaign to family and friends, ensuring they fully understood the risks involved. Now that Nick is not just my friend but also an investor, absolutely nothing has changed. We talk neither more nor less about The Oater, he doesn’t believe more or less in us (he always believed), and he made his financial decision knowing he could lose it all. It would have been easier, of course, to let family and friends invest at the beginning rather than now, after we have already raised over €2 million. Compared to that number, a combined €250,000 from family and friends might not seem that impactful, but it still helps a lot. Many of the new investors already understand the business deeply and often promote it in their own networks, becoming invaluable advocates who champion our vision in ways that go beyond just financial support. Our public Crowdinvesting is now open to everyone and is running for just 5 more days. 👉 Learn more about The Oater crowdinvesting campaign here: [https://lnkd.in/ewi_FRqD] A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported The Oater. We’re thrilled to have you on this journey with us. 🌱💚

✨ Fresh and Ready to Go: The Oater Now at Billa Pflanzilla (REWE) in Vienna! ✨ We are thrilled to announce that The Oater has officially entered the retail world! You can now find our fresh oat drink at Billa Pflanzilla in Vienna (part of the REWE Group), ready to take home and enjoy. Whether it's for your morning muesli, a frothy cappuccino, or baking those weekend treats, The Oater brings freshness and sustainability straight to your kitchen. 🌱 Fresh, Healthy, and Convenient At Billa Pflanzilla, you can pick up a bottle of freshly produced Oater drink, pre-filled in reusable bottles. Once you've enjoyed it, simply return the reusable Pfand bottle to any BILLA PLUS location, making sustainability as easy as your weekly grocery run. With over 3,000 plant-based products, Billa Pflanzilla offers an incredible portfolio for conscious consumers. 🎊 Celebrating at the Genusstage Event We had the incredible opportunity to officially launch during Billa Pflanzilla’s Genusstage event last week, celebrating two years of innovation in plant-based retail. Our in-store stand was buzzing as we handed out samples of our fresh oat drink. The response? Pure excitement! It was amazing to see the enthusiasm for fresh, healthy solutions like The Oater. A huge thank you to the Billa team and our fellow innovative startups—Formo, Revo Foods, Planted, and Oatsome —who are redefining their categories in cheese, plant-based fish, plant-based meat, and cereals. Together, we're pushing the boundaries of what's possible in plant-based innovation. 🤝 Partnering with a Retail Pioneer It's no coincidence we chose Billa Pflanzilla for our retail debut. As leaders in promoting plant-based products and championing sustainability, they share our vision for a future where innovative, eco-friendly solutions are the norm. Their commitment to pushing the boundaries of retail makes them the ideal partner for The Oater. We're proud to be part of their journey as they continue to set new standards in the industry. ⛵️ Exploring New Horizons Beyond Gastronomy This launch marks a significant milestone for us as we pilot our product in retail, showcasing the potential beyond gastronomy. Currently focused on the gastronomy sector, we're excited to expand into retail and make fresh, sustainable oat drink accessible to even more people. Imagine our machine next to the freshly made orange juice at the salad bar—bringing you the freshest oat drink possible. 💪 Join the Oat Drink Revolution! Do YOU know someone who might be interested in The Oater? Tag them in the comments below! If you're interested in bringing The Oater to your store or venue, reach out to us at [email protected]. Together, we're making freshness and sustainability the default, not the alternative! #TheOater #Sustainability #Innovation #FoodTech #EcoFriendly #RetailLaunch Foto © Robert Harson

The Oater x Compass Group: Frischer Haferdrink für die Unternehmenskantine von Bosch In Kooperation mit Compass Group, einem der führenden Catering-Unternehmen Europas, stellt The Oater nun frischen Haferdrink aus der innovativen Barista Maschine für die Mitarbeiter von Bosch in Albstadt bereit. Dieser Schritt markiert einen wichtigen Meilenstein in der kontinuierlichen Expansion in Unternehmensumgebungen und bekräftigt das Engagement für nachhaltige und gesundheitsfördernde Lösungen im Cateringbusiness. Jetzt in The Oater investieren ➡️ https://bit.ly/4elCS9t #Haferdrink #Nachhaltig #Catering #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #StartUp #sinnvestieren #FunderNationSTARTUP

# The Networking Advantage: What Tech Doesn’t Teach You In the tech industry, especially in Germany, the overwhelming emphasis is on technical skills, grades, and internships. But you can’t engineer your way to success alone. This creates a culture that values hard skills over the soft skills of connecting and collaborating with others, leaving many potential innovators at a disadvantage. Networking is often the missing link between a great idea and a successful venture. It has been the bridge between my ideas and their successful execution and it’s one of the reasons why I was able to found The Oater. ## Why Networking Made a Difference for Me: 💪 Building a Strong Network: The network I built during my university years became our strongest asset when we founded The Oater. The support from my university connections was essential in turning the idea of an oat drink machine into our first working prototype. This wouldn't have been possible without my rich network of motivated and talented individuals. (shoutout and huge thank you to Felix Jünger, Björn Uhländer, Kaspar Schmerling, Henrik Burger, Lisa Nesti and Benjamin Auer) 💬 Engaging in Communities: Participating actively in tech communities and events, such as Sigma Squared Society, provided me with the opportunity to exchange ideas and insights and receive feedback on how to improve The Oater. Networking in tech is not just about personal gain; it fosters a collaborative environment. Engaging with a community of like-minded individuals helps in gaining diverse insights and essential feedback. Also, networking opportunities like those we took expose tech professionals to potential mentors, partners, and investors who can provide the necessary resources and guidance to scale an idea into a successful business venture. ## Join The Oater Mission As the tech landscape continues to evolve, networking will clearly play an increasingly vital role in shaping the future of technology. We can build more than just software and devices; we can build the very community that will drive the tech industry forward. We invite you to be part of this exciting journey. Learn more and invest in a sustainable future by visiting our FunderNation page. https://shorturl.at/beZKS Through FunderNation, we aim to democratize investment in green technologies, making it accessible for those who wish to contribute to a sustainable future while benefiting from the growth of a leading-edge tech company. This campaign is not just a call for investment; it’s an invitation to join a community that values practical, impactful innovations. Let’s make it fresh - together.

💡Early-Stage VCs: What’s Your Purpose?💡 After raising over €2 million from angels, banks, and grants, and since our commercial launch in March, we've been receiving more inbound requests, particularly from early-stage VCs. Interestingly, we approached these same VCs during our Pre-Seed Round last year when we actually needed early-stage funding, but we were unsuccessful. Now that we have outgrown that stage and are approaching a more mature company size, they want to invest... This makes me wonder: What’s your purpose? Or, more precisely, what is your product market fit? Here’s a glimpse into our funding journey with The Oater. 1. 🥇 Initial Angel Ticket in 2021: Crucial for kickstarting development and valuable mentorship. 2. 💰 Convertible Round 2022: €250k to build our first prototype. 3. 🚀 Pre-Seed Round 2023: Over €1 million from angels, boosted by grants and loans to get our product to market. 📉 When we sought early-stage VC funding a year ago, we faced significant hurdles and closed without a VC. Many VCs market themselves as early backers, but they often demanded a mature product, substantial revenue, or deep-pocketed co-investors—criteria that we didn't fulfill and that don’t really match the claim “Early Stage.” 🌍 The investment climate was tough, and our hardware-based, high-margin, razor-blade business model required R&D investment, which didn’t excite VCs as much as fast sales ramp-ups. 💡 Now that we are getting plenty of inbound leads, I wonder if it was the 2023 climate or the timing of early-stage VCs. When we sought pre-revenue tickets of ~€500k with a prototype and marginal revenue, they weren’t interested. Now, as we become ready for a Seed round, they want to invest, but small ticket sizes aren't appealing for us anymore. 💭 It makes more sense for us to finance small projects through loans or grants now, achieve relevant KPIs, and then raise a Seed Round, rather than taking a small VC ticket (<€500k). The timing of interest from early-stage VCs doesn’t fit our needs. 🤝 This misalignment makes early-stage VCs less appealing compared to angel investors, who often bring similar ticket sizes, are more approachable, and faster. AddedVal.io highlights that the average angel ticket in the first round is €50k. It is easier and more beneficial to onboard five angels than one Early-Stage VC in my opinion. 📊 Managing multiple angels has become convenient with pooling solutions, as showcased by Business Angels Deutschland e.V. (BAND). Before a potential Seed Round, we keep people engaged by putting relevant VCs on a list for fast closing when we raise again (not before next year) and by offering a crowdinvesting opportunity to enthusiastic supporters. 🔗 Join our crowdinvesting campaign on https://lnkd.in/e6PGzVfY to be a part of our growth from just €100. What’s your take on the role of early-stage VCs in the startup ecosystem? Are our requirements unique or is their product-market fit broken?

Why the insurance Zurich Gruppe Deutschland Chose The Oater – And Why Your Office Should Too! We are excited to announce the successful launch of The Oater oat drink machines in #offices and #catering services! With a diverse and growing customer base, our latest installation at Zurich Insurance’s Cologne office,  catered by Sodexo, one of Europes largest caterer, marks another milestone in our journey. Zurich Insurance’s commitment to #sustainability and #health aligns perfectly with our mission to revolutionize #workplace beverages. Zurich Insurance employees in Cologne can now enjoy fresh #oat drink made on-site by The Oater Barista Machine. This state-of-the-art #machine provides a delicious and healthy alternative to traditional dairy milk, ideal for coffee, tea, and more. The Oater fits seamlessly into the canteen concept of sodexo focussing on quality as well as freshness. Employees can take bottles of fresh oat drink with them, ensuring they have a refreshing option at any time of the day. About Zurich Insurance Zurich Gruppe Deutschland, a leader in the insurance industry, is dedicated to promoting sustainability within their operations and communities. By integrating The Oater into their Cologne #cafeteria, Zurich demonstrates their pioneering role in the corporate movement towards a more sustainable future. Why Your Office Needs The Oater, too The Oater is a revolutionary product in the corporate wellness and sustainability space, offering fresh, healthy oat drink on-demand. Our machine's cutting-edge design and functionality showcase the highest standards of German engineering, ensuring reliability and satisfaction. Here’s why The Oater is perfect for your office: 🩺 Employee Health: The Oater Barista Machine provides fresh oat drink free from preservatives and added sugars, promoting healthier beverage choices for your employees, particularly in combination with coffee. 🌱 Sustainability: The Oater helps your company uphold its sustainability values by reducing waste from cardboard boxes and other packaging materials. 🤝 Operational Ease: The Oater Barista Machine reduces not only packaging waste but also your logistical efforts with cartons and storage, easing your procurement and refilling workflows. 💡 Innovative Technology: This sleek, modern device is a testament to German innovation, offering an unparalleled user experience. Join the oat drink revolution! Do YOU know someone who might be interested in The Oater? Tag them in the comments below! If you’re interested in bringing The Oater to your office, contact us now: https://lnkd.in/dzVpvAEc Invest in Our Growth Join us on our journey towards a healthier and more sustainable future, starting from just €100. Learn more about the expiring investment opportunity at  https://lnkd.in/eT-bFE2E Together, we make a positive impact on employee well-being and the environment! 🌱🤝☕️