The Lion's Den: This is Nils Glagau, the new DHDL investor

Nils Glagau strengthens the investor round of the new season of The Lion's Den. In this article, we tell you everything you need to know about the new addition to the popular TV format and why its resume is so unusual.

Nils Glagau: The new investor in The Lion's Den

Nils Glagau, born on October 31, 1975 in Bad Homburg, Hesse, Germany, is the owner and managing director of the family company Orthomol, based in Langenfeld in the Rhineland, which is very successfully dedicated to the production of micronutrients and nutritional supplements.

• His father Dr. Kristian Glagau founded the healthcare company, which is now the market leader in the field of orthomolecular medicine, in 1991 together with a friend of his chemist. Nils Glagau always helped out in the company at a young age and thus gained important insights.
• Over the years, Orthomol has achieved impressive growth and the company has developed from a garage company to a 400-man company. Orthomol products are available in the form of pills, drinks or powders for sale in almost every pharmacy.

From an archaeologist to an entrepreneur

While his father founded the healthcare company Orthomol and led to success, Nils Glagau graduated from high school, did his civilian service and then studied ethnology with a focus on ancient American studies in Bonn. After successfully completing his master's degree, he traveled to Central and South America to explore archaeological sites of the Maya and indigenous peoples.

• His dream of becoming an archaeologist, however, burst in 2009 when his father died unexpectedly from pulmonary embolism. Together with his mother and older sister, Glagau finally decided to continue running his father's company as CEO. According to his own statements, he placed great emphasis on a very open and cooperative management style right from the start.

The Orthomol company today

In the meantime Orthomol produces more than 30 different nutritional supplements, which are supposed to effectively strengthen the immune system, as well as to improve performance and concentration. Even if the products are repeatedly criticized for not bringing any real benefit, Nils Glagau is absolutely convinced of their effect.

He backs up his statements with numerous scientific studies that the company has collected and carried out over the years. Glagau participates in “isaac nutrition”, a Cologne start-up that sells protein powder from insect meal. He also supports some startups in the areas of nutrition, exercise and health. Under his leadership, Orthomol generated sales of around 100 million euros. Glagau is the managing director of five GmbHs:

• ORTHOMOL pharmaceutical sales GmbH
• Orthomed Vertriebs GmbH for nutritional supplements
• Orthomol Holding GmbH
• Rock Start GmbH
• Ortho-Trinity GmbH

Glagau private

Nils Glagau is married and the father of two twin daughters. In his free time he is a passionate hobby athlete and has a particular thing for tennis. However, the new lion is also very enthusiastic about other ball sports. It is therefore not surprising that Orthomol sponsored the Fortuna Düsseldorf football club in 2017/2018 after its promotion to the second division.

• Various swimmers and runners have also concluded sponsorship contracts with the group in the past. The company also sponsors the German national ice hockey team to this day. In addition to sports, Glagau has a penchant for travel, music, films, literature and cooking. His wealth is estimated at around 30 million euros.

Investor Nils Glagau's plans at DHDL

In its investments, the new lion has decided to focus in the sixth season of DHDL primarily on the areas of nutrition, exercise and health. However, according to his own information, he is not only looking for startups in these areas, but is also open to everything. So he said: "At DHDL I am also interested in creative minds from different areas - For me, the Lion Cave stands for versatile great innovations."

• So it remains exciting to see which investments the new investor will choose alongside Judith Williams, Dagmar Wöhrl, Carsten Maschmeyer, Georg Kofler, Frank Thelen and Ralf Dümmel.