How luck, lions and asking, “What if?” let Rainer Lauberger and his partners create StickFlip

Flip, catch and level up! Rainer, what’s the big idea behind StickFlip?
The idea behind Stickflip is simple but powerful: bring back pure, physical play – and supercharge it with smart technology. Stickflip transforms a classic skill challenge into a modern, sensor‑powered game experience. With every throw, it automatically counts full 360° flips using sound and LEDs, and it offers 10 different challenges that playfully train throwing and catching skills.

How did this come about? Who else is involved?
Stickflip was created by three longtime friends and engineers from Regensburg: me, Thomas Eichstetter and my brother, Thomas Moch. The idea originated from a German TV game show. In it, contestants flipped a rubber stick in the air – but they needed a camera and slow‑motion replay to count the rotations. As engineers, we wondered: what if sensors inside the stick did this automatically? So what began as a playful curiosity turned into years of prototyping, coding, and engineering until we finally built a device that could reliably track flips in real time.

Amazing! And I understand that the engineering here is rather remarkable. What was your biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge was developing a sensor system that could accurately detect full 360° rotations during a chaotic, real‑world throw – and do it reliably for players of all ages. We solved this through extensive iteration: refining motion algorithms, tuning the hardware, and stress‑testing the device across hundreds of throws. The result is a system that beeps on every full flip and displays the final count through a colourful LED bar — simple for the user, complex under the hood.

I know that was a long process. What was your journey to market after you saw the TV game show?
Years after we saw the game show, we pitched our electronic Stickflip prototype on Höhle der Löwen – The Cave of the Lions. That’s the German version of Shark Tank, or Dragons’ Den. That appearance became the turbo boost we needed, because we had roughly one year between filming and the TV broadcast to bring the product to life.

Oh! Together with our new partner ImagiNew Playhome — we received the first 100 final samples just days before the 2025 Spielwarenmesse. That was the first time we showcased Stickflip publicly. Being nominated for a 2025 Toy Award at this fair was overwhelming and immediately accelerated our international rollout.

Yes, you really started to cut though after that. Congratulations!
Well, we know we were incredibly lucky – Shark Tank and the Toy Award were two major catalysts in our market launch.

And who now publishes StickFlip, Rainer? Where is it currently on sale?
After filming the German Shark Tank episode and securing the deal, we needed an agile, experienced toy manufacturer – fast! By coincidence, our licensee was based in the same city as we were… Not only that, they’re around the same age as us and, happily, ready to go all‑in on Stickflip. So working with ImagiNew Playhome from Bavaria was absolutely the right decision and Stickflip is now available in many European countries, as well as Australia and the USA.

Fantastic! What’s next for you, your team and StickFlip?
We’re already looking forward to the end of January – ImagiNew Playhome is again showcasing Stickflip at Toy Fair in Nuremberg, in the Startup Area. Behind the scenes, ImagiNew Playhome is ramping up production capacity to meet growing demand.

What’s your background, Rainer?
Well, as you know, I’m one of the three engineers behind Stickflip. My focus is mechanical design and prototyping. The other two bring different engineering strengths to the table, which is what allowed us to develop this electronic product entirely from scratch.

To wrap things up, what’s the one thing I could’ve asked you today but didn’t?
“Why do people love Stickflip so much?” And the answer is that it taps into something universal… The joy of mastering a simple physical skill. It’s competitive, addictive, screen‑free, and instantly rewarding. Whether you’re eight or 80, the moment you hear that first ‘beep’ mid‑air, you’re hooked. You could also have asked: “How many flips can you throw, Rainer?” But to that, I would say it’s not about quantity – it’s about precision. If Stickflip wants ten flips, I give it exactly ten. This is the challenge!

Wonderful. Thanks for making time for us, Rainer. I’m looking forward to seeing you in Nuremberg.

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