During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kagan Sümer was one of the most celebrated founders in the German startup scene. However, the success of his delivery service, Gorillas, was short-lived. Sümer is now launching a new app.
Turkish entrepreneur Kagan Sümer became a prominent figure in Germany’s startup ecosystem in 2021, having rapidly achieved a billion-dollar valuation for his company. In just under a year, his rapid delivery service, Gorillas, was included in the unicorn club. The hype around the startup and its founder grew, attracting thousands of applicants. Sümer was described as a visionary and ambitious, passionate about his company. However, this praise was matched by criticism of his leadership style and unpredictability. Despite this, investors poured over a billion euros into the delivery service.
A year later, Gorillas was sold to the Turkish competitor Getir for a fraction of its original valuation. As part of the deal, Sümer was required to leave the company immediately. Since then, he has remained largely out of the spotlight—until now.
New venture: Sugar
For nearly a year, Sümer has been working on a new startup called Sugar, a social media app focused on health. Manager Magazin first reported on this, and now more details about the project have been revealed.
Sugar appears to target a young audience with its balloon-lettered name, emoji-framed photos and app screenshots, and a casual, catchy text. The app’s introduction explains: “The path to a healthier life involves many ups and downs.” The idea is that friends can join in on this journey. “It’s not just about the health program you follow, but everything around it.”
Sugar’s motto is: Compete and boast. The app aims to build a community where users share photos of their workouts, track live locations while jogging, search for additional players for basketball games, cheer each other on, and compare exercise results. Users can collect fitness studio locations like trophies.
Legal and development hurdles
The founder has not commented on his plans recently. According to an unnamed investor, “It’s about gamification.” Sugar will track health data and use a social network approach to keep users engaged on the platform. Users are expected to have one or more goals in mind: better sleep, improved nutrition, increased fitness, or mental health enhancement.
Sümer is currently recruiting beta testers and developers for the new app. At a tech conference in May, he announced plans to launch the app in December. However, there is still one significant obstacle: The startup is in a dispute with the software company SugarCRM over the name.
In the fall, Sümer registered a trademark for Sugar with the European Trademark Office. Months later, SugarCRM, a customer relationship management provider backed by private equity giant KKR, challenged the trademark. Sümer and his team face a significant opponent in this dispute.
Shifting focus
Sümer is new to the health sector, which is heavily regulated and differs significantly from his previous food delivery business. He has sought expertise from McKinsey for this venture. Sümer focuses on user well-being, while his co-founders, Anna Karamanli and Lars Herberholz, handle bureaucracy and technology.
Reports suggest that Sümer has already attracted several venture capitalists for Sugar. Christophe Maire, an early supporter of Gorillas, has invested again with his Foodlabs fund, along with smaller funds from London and Vienna, and various business angels. According to Manager Magazin, Sugar has raised a double-digit million amount.
Many investors initially supported Sugar’s first business model. However, due to Gorillas’ mixed results and Sümer’s controversial reputation, the entrepreneur reportedly faced numerous rejections.
Shift from blood diagnostics
Last spring, Sümer sought funding for a blood diagnostics startup named Mirror. The company aimed to measure and analyze blood values, sell suitable supplements, and eventually offer its own wearables and insurance. This business model was quickly abandoned, and Sümer shifted to Sugar and its social network concept. It remains unclear how the app will generate revenue. Sümer mentioned to Manager Magazin that he might consider offering users vitamin pills and blood analyses as originally planned. According to an investor, another possible model is lead generation: Sugar could recommend specific brands and receive commissions from them.
Compared to the capital-intensive delivery service with numerous warehouses and couriers, the software company will likely require far less funding. Nevertheless, competition is high: all fitness trackers allow users to share their progress on social networks, making it challenging to attract users to a new platform.
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