
Oh, Honey!
Start-up: Oh Honey GmbH
Founders: Vernon Flassak (with Jan Philipp Leistenschneider formerly)
Mentors at university: Evelyn Berresheim-Christ at Gateway ESC
Founded in: 2020
University at which you study/work and faculty(s): Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne (until 2020)
While bee extinction is a present topic in public discourse, existing bee conservation projects often require a high level of commitment. On a hot summer day, while enjoying a cool drink of tea, founders Vernon and Philipp came up with the idea of doing something for bee conservation with a refreshing, honey-sweetened iced tea. Now, with Oh, Honey!, everyone can save bees in the blink of an eye in everyday life.

With Oh, Honey! we have developed an organic iced tea that lets you support bee conservation in Germany with every bottle. And how does it work? Our iced tea is not sweetened with sugar, but 100% with honey from local beekeepers. In addition, we support bee protection projects in the region with 10 cents per sold bottle - for more buzz in Germany.
Bee friendly. Refreshing. Sustainable.
After extensive market research and numerous iced tea tastings, we launched our first two flavors in the summer of 2020 - "It's Mint" and "It's Ginger". Since we care about the environment alongside a great taste experience, we bottle our iced tea in glass bottles that are part of a reusable system. That way, together with you, we create more blooming meadows, more bees and thus quality of life for everyone. Sounds good? On our website you can find all locations where Oh, Honey! is already available. We are looking forward to meeting you!

By providing workspace and coaching, the Gateway ESC has helped us substantially to put our idea into practice.
Furthermore, the exchange with other start-up founders has been very valuable for supporting each other through contacts as well as through experiences. Regular events also allow us to stay in touch with the network and we are therefore very happy to still be part of the Gateway ESC community.