November 15, 2018

Swiss Start-up Upscale Acquires 99chairs Assets and Expands to Germany

The Swiss start-up Upscale Interiors AG has bought the tech platform of the insolvent start-up 99chairs and put together a team in Berlin-Mitte with new and former 99chairs employees. Under the brand Upscale, the online interior design business is now being expanded in Germany.

Companies such as Daimler Benz, Lilium, Factory Berlin, Boehringer, Outfittery, Biontech or Uber were relevant customers of the interior design portal 99chairs. However, as potential investors refrained from long negotiations, the company, founded by Frank Stegert and Julian Riedelsheimer in 2010, had to cease operations end of June 2018.

The Swiss start-up company Upscale has now developed its expansion into Germany by taking over 99chairs assets from their insolvency. It didn’t happen to be the classic acquisition of a company, but the purchase of the Tech Design furniture platform and the social media channels of 99chairs. Upscale was able to create a new perspective for 7 former 99chairs employees by bringing their experience to Upscale. With new employees in Berlin-Mitte. Upscale now wants to conquer the German market.

Upscale with new faces. The extended Upscale team with Sherif Elewa (Product Management), Louis Demetz (Operations and Finances), Florian König (Interior Designer), Tom Kümmeke (CEO), Rona Lochner (UX/IV-Developer) and Luisa Boecke (Design & Purchasing) ( f.l.t.r..; not in the picture; Raza Ali and Ali Ibrahim (engineering).

Interior Design with a sense of proportion

The main goal of Upscale is to help businesses and individuals to set up their home, work-space, furnished apartment or co-working space, to give customers the interior design they love. Although Upscale only got active in the market in 2016, the team has already been able to land international projects and gain experience abroad.

In Warsaw, Upscale took over the complete establishment of 30 furnished apartments with a curated art concept with local, contemporary young artists in the Skyscraper Zlota44 by star architect Daniel Libeskind. Meanwhile, Upscale's clients include larger real estate portfolio holders from Switzerland and Germany, groups, which have their incubators or offices set up, or project developers who efficiently furnish apartment units for rent out.

"The trend of switching jobs, moving to a different city, home or office is increasing especially among young people," says Carina Kümmeke. "The demand for a well-equipped office is very high, but often lacks the time and the muse to set it up. This results in a need for professional and simultaneously affordable interior design concepts.

"Upscale now makes interior design accessible to everyone by connecting customers with experienced interior designers from all over Europe, combining the design process with modern technologies such as virtual reality with 3D tours, 3D Visualizations or an online style tool. The 99chairs technology platform with its connection to a large number of furniture brands is an important part of this as well.

All the preceding aspects make it clear: the right design for your office depends on many different factors. Only a careful needs analysis will lead to a successful overall concept that will have measurable results in increased productivity.

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