BBG acquires Monte Stivo

Monte Stivo - The gift of adventure

In August 2021, Flyweight founders Marc-Andre, Matthias and Christian sold their e-commerce brand Monte Stivo to Berlin Brands Group.

In 2013, the three founders met while studying for their bachelor's degrees in business informatics. It quickly became clear: all three shared the same mindset and love for data. In 2018, during their master's studies, they jointly founded Flyweight GmbH, which also included the Monte Stivo brand. During a lecture, they signed the contracts for their first business account.

Using data analysis, the founders identified niche products. Under "Monte Stivo" they sold outdoor products for children on Amazon. The first product, a colourful set of binoculars, quickly turned out to be a big seller. There was nothing comparable until then. Today, Monte Stivo is an established outdoor brand for children. With over 100,000 children's binoculars sold to date, Monte Stivo has earned a top position. The highlight: BPA-free, food-safe plastic replaces the commercially available plastics from which children's binoculars are otherwise made. With Monte Stivo, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are not only giving the gift of a product, but also the gift of adventure and a sense of discovery.

Another distinguishing feature of the brand is the level of detail: the colour variations offered, the detailed packaging, the lavishly produced images and video material in the store, and the simple video instructions for each product.

A dedicated web store followed, and Monte Stivo now delivers to 35 countries. Data analysis makes it possible to identify customer wishes accurately. This allows products to be developed or improved with precision. The founders derive creative ideas for the webshop from the data: an interactive gift finder, a writing robot for thank-you postcards, improvements and automations of customer processes.

Since its founding, sales have doubled annually. In 2021, sales will be around 3 million euros.

Why did you sell?

"When BBG approached us, we didn't have an exit on our radar at all. We had just finished the exhausting Christmas selling season and realized that the three of us were reaching our limits. At that point, 2 out of 3 founders still had full-time jobs. The next step would have been not only to hire all founders full-time, but also to increase the size of the team. Actually, we always had other plans: Since we still share the enthusiasm for IT and software development, it was clear to us from the beginning to go in this direction in the long run after all. The sale of Monte Stivo allows us to now pursue this goal together and with good equipment."

Why BBG?

"BBG made us feel that they were not just interested in Monte Stivo's sales and customer base. Our planning of the brand for the coming years, which we have been tweaking virtually every day, was also part of the negotiation. That convinced us.

The process from indicative offer to due diligence was fast and effective. We also liked the organisation of the integration after the contract was signed."

What's next?

"We want to leverage our technical background from previous jobs in IT consulting and software development, our studies, as well as what we have learned from efficiently building a European e-commerce brand. The plan is to develop a software solution with Flyweight that helps other startups and companies scale in a data-driven way.

We're also taking our brand with BBG a bit further. We have close contact with our brand manager and regularly share operational metrics and strategic direction for the brand."

For requests to speak with the founders, please write to press@go-bbg.com and we will make arrangements.