DISRUPTING THE JUSTICE AT

RIGHTNOW: PERSEVERE,
PIVOT OR PERISH

Group No: 7
Himadri Gupta- B014
Kratika Gupta- B019
Mayur Kaushik- B024
Prachi Agrawal- B030
Priyanka Sahu- B032
 ■ Company Name: RightNow
■ Founders: Dr. Torben Antretter, Benedikt Quarch, Phillip
Eischet
■ Consumer claims purchasing company which worked on
the idea to provide “Justice-as-a-Service” to its

Company ■
consumers
In February 2018, it closed a 25 million euros financing

Introduction round, which was one of the largest venture deals in

Germany and made RightNow one of the most promising
startups.
■ The company built a customer base of 50,000 in the first
year itself.
■ However, things changed after Supreme Court ruling in
March, 2018.
Business Problem

■ In Germany, as per the law, the airlines were required to refund 95% of the ticket price,
excluding taxes, fees and personal surcharges, when a customer cancelled in advance.
■ The airlines were overbooking their flights by 10-15% to make profits on cancellations
but still were not refunding to the passengers.
■ Customers were reluctant to pursue their claims because it was time-consuming and in
the fear of paying large legal bills.
■ The three founders, after winning a legal battle against an airline, believed that they had
found a way to get people justice.
Business Model

■ RightNow purchased legal claims from the customers and fought the legal battle on
their behalf.
■ It offered customers an immediate payment of 40-45% of the ticket price including
taxes and fees.
■ Customers were attracted to the prospect of getting immediate refund without delays.
■ The major source of revenue came from business class tickets which was around 917.6
euros per ticket.
Aftermath of SC Ruling

■ In March 2018, SC in Germany decided airlines were no longer required to refund the
net fare to the passengers.
■ As a result, they could now only claim a refund of taxes, fees and personal surcharges.
■ While the client acquisition costs remained the same (80-110 euros), their revenues
declined dramatically from 917.6 to 76.8 euros (a 93% reduction).
■ RighNow no longer had a sustainable value proposition.
The Dilemma

■ On one hand, the founders and investors loved their professional journey of building
this company and now feared that it will be tagged as a failure.
■ On the other hand, the company will need new busines model, a strong legal team and
technical skills to continue.
Thank You!