Bankruptcy and judicial liquidation
In 2011, founder Benjamin Köhnsen starts developing his electric surfboard in Hamburg, Germany. Three years later, the first Lampuga"Boost" board comes on the market. This project was made possible thanks to a crowfunding campaign that raised ?820,250. In November 2016, one year after his successful fundraising, he obtained a new investment of 3.5 million euros from the construction group Weseinburger, headed by Nicolai Weisenburger. Capital that will not be enough to save the company from bankruptcy in April 2017.
Indeed, defective components force the company to invest several million euros in repair and logistics. However the company representing the brand - Sashay GmbH - refutes the bankruptcy, explaining only some financial problems. The company goes into receivership.
Lampuga was acquired in June 2017 by Sophia Verwaltungs GmbH, a subsidiary of the Weseinburger construction group, following a competitive bidding process. Many German and foreign investors had also applied, but the liquidator considered that the construction group had made the best offer. A godsend for the investor who had already injected several million euros to turn the company around.
Since then, founder Benjamin Köhnsen has been replaced by Nicolai Weseinburger. Thus, the group Lampuga made its big comeback on the front of the stage, on the Boot of Dusseldorf. The brand had also planned everything to make people talk about it with a huge and modern design stand, a large staff and many models on display.
A great return to Boot Düsseldorf
Now based in Rastatt, with a new management and a new staff, the German company offers a brand new range of electric surboards "At the base, the range was composed of 4 models, we reworked a little the design, but we especially revised the electrical system, the batteries, the autonomy and now propose two models for the pleasure and a professional model for the coastguards" explains Romina Ruoß, Press Manager of the brand.
The production has been brought closer to the French border, but the boards are still"made in germany", electric and especially emission-free
"We look forward to an exciting 2018. We have developed a great product and we want to present it to the world. Our goal is to provide our customers with an environmentally responsible experience combined with great sailing pleasure. Thanks to their emission-free propulsion system, the boards can be used anywhere, regardless of waves and wind." explains Nicolai Weseinburger, Managing Director of Lampuga.
Encouraging prospects
The company hopes to recover quickly thanks to positive prospects, as explained by the administrator of the sale" There's a strong demand all over the world for this kind of product." he explained at the end of 2017. With a new Manager in Business Management and Development, the new team is working on the development of new models for the years to come.
For the 600 people who invested more than 800 000 ? via the Seedmatch crowfunding platform, the future looks less certain. That's right, "claims for repayment are subordinated claims that are unlikely ever to be satisfied in the insolvency proceedings or within several years" explains the administrator.
