Our history
Why we love what we do.
Yes,... admittedly: Our company name is not as easy and catchy as "OTTO", "APPLE" or "AMAZON". But there's a reason for that: because our small company is made up of our family. Here, everyone pitches in and gets involved.
RISISANI was therefore the logical name for us, because this is the abbreviation of our first names: RIco, SImone, SAmiraand NInjo.
If you feel like it, on this page we will take you a little bit and show you who we are, where we come from and why we do what we do.
When we moved from Berlin to the rural countryside to a (former) farm in 2016, a completely new life began for us. Space at last, land at last and lawn at last.
Lawn?! No. There was no lawn in the courtyard, which had been maltreated by machines and farm animals for almost 300 years. There was only rock-hard dirt. And everyone said, "Nothing will ever grow there!". But we didn't want to give up that easily.
For years we sowed, mowed, raked, watered and were happy about every green blade that came along. And yet it all didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. It remained a hilly and buck-hard "meadow" with moss and humps.
We started watching all the videos about lawns to learn. And then we came across a "leveling rake" in an American YouTube video. That was exactly what we needed.
Unfortunately, however, there was no one in all of Europe who built or sold such a "levelingrake". Most people didn't even know what we were talking about, because this device didn't even have a name in Germany.
The idea was there and we implemented it. It was just the beginning of Corona and in our countryside the companies were running out of orders. So it wasn't hard to find a "crazy" metal construction company in the village next door that had the time and inclination for this project.
But what should we call the device? "Levelingrake" is not something anyone can remember, is it?! So Simone suggested that the word "RASENRAKEL" sums it up. A device to level the lawn.
A quick check on Google showed exactly zero results for this word. And on the same day, the "RASENRAKEL" was born. And finally we in Germany had a word for this device.
We all suffered quite a bit during this time. Because the Rasenrakel had to be tested every time in its various development stages (here is Samira in action).
But the effort was worth it: not only did we develop the ideal Rasenrakel for our lawn, but our lawn also benefited from all the testing (Quote lawn freak: "Sand always works!") . From rock-hard dirt soil, it gradually became a ... oh, ... you'll see that later...
If you think your own product is great, that doesn't mean that it will be well received "out there". So, of course, we needed an independent professional to take a closer look at our Rasenrakel.
We contacted Andreas Krauss, the "lawn freak" from YouTube, and asked him to take a look at the Rasenrakel as an expert and test it (here in the photo Simone is sending his package on its way).
You can see whether he liked it and was enthusiastic about it on his Youtube channel ;-)
Before we teamed up with DPD as a collection service, the ordered Rasenrakel still had to go to the post office in the evening, of course.
The good old GDR trailer had to serve as a means of transport, which sometimes got pretty bent out of shape.
But the highlight was when we stopped in front of the post office with the team and the customers who came after us had to wait forever for their turn.
Admittedly: We did not win the popularity award in the village ;-)
From the beginning, everyone had to lend a hand. The final assembly took place on the lawn and the packaging in the garage. And Ninjo drove the packages to the front with the handcart, because now DPD came twice a week to pick up the orders. The trailer was no longer needed.
Even two boys from the village helped us every day. It was still "lockdown" and they had time and desire for our project.
In the evening, after the work was done, we all finished the day together with bratwurst, steaks and a cold drink or two.
In the meantime, we had already been won over by our lawn. First the neighbours and friends asked: "Why do you do that? Now they have only asked: "How do you do it?
The rock-hard dirt soil in the courtyard of our farm has become a really presentable beautiful and dense lawn. And the feedback from our customers has also confirmed that we have created a cool garden tool with the Rasenrakel.
After a while, the logisticians overwhelmed us. Because for our promise "Ordered today - with you tomorrow!" we needed an experienced partner for shipping (now worldwide).
We found it in INLOGSI in the Harz Mountains. A family-run business that specialises in warehouse and logistics support for online shops.
Here they still work with attention to detail and even unusual customer requests ("Can you include a bag of Haribo for my husband?") are still fulfilled here.
In 2020, we then unfortunately had to leave our beloved lawn behind. We moved to our home country Cyprus for health reasons, to be together with the family. Nevertheless, we of course continue to produce in the "village next door" in Brandenburg, store and ship from the Harz and yes, we also pay our sales tax in Germany of course.
But we do everything else here from home. In times of the internet, that's super possible.
We have also expanded our team a little with Makita (our office dog), Markus (who looks after the USA) and Diana (who supports us in customer service) in order to keep our promise to you as usual: "No compromises on quality - no compromises on service. Ordered today - here tomorrow!"
We would like to leave our children and their children something meaningful with what we do. Green lawns are not enough for us.
For this reason, we have decided to counteract the dying of the forest.
Together with "I-plant-a-tree" we plant German oaks in the Harz Mountains. From every Rasenrakel sold, 1 euro goes directly from us to the reforestation. Many of our customers also support us with their purchase and an additional donation.
Due to environmental influences and natural disasters, so many trees are dying all over the world that one day our grandchildren may no longer know what an oak tree looks like.
We are reforesting. Join in!
Yes,... admittedly: Our company name is not as easy and catchy as "OTTO", "APPLE" or "AMAZON". But there's a reason for that: because our small company is made up of our family. Here, everyone pitches in and gets involved.
RISISANI was therefore the logical name for us, because this is the abbreviation of our first names: RIco, SImone, SAmiraand NInjo.
If you feel like it, on this page we will take you a little bit and show you who we are, where we come from and why we do what we do.
When we moved from Berlin to the rural countryside to a (former) farm in 2016, a completely new life began for us. Space at last, land at last and lawn at last.
Lawn?! No. There was no lawn in the courtyard, which had been maltreated by machines and farm animals for almost 300 years. There was only rock-hard dirt. And everyone said, "Nothing will ever grow there!". But we didn't want to give up that easily.
For years we sowed, mowed, raked, watered and were happy about every green blade that came along. And yet it all didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. It remained a hilly and buck-hard "meadow" with moss and humps.
We started watching all the videos about lawns to learn. And then we came across a "leveling rake" in an American YouTube video. That was exactly what we needed.
Unfortunately, however, there was no one in all of Europe who built or sold such a "levelingrake". Most people didn't even know what we were talking about, because this device didn't even have a name in Germany.
The idea was there and we implemented it. It was just the beginning of Corona and in our countryside the companies were running out of orders. So it wasn't hard to find a "crazy" metal construction company in the village next door that had the time and inclination for this project.
But what should we call the device? "Levelingrake" is not something anyone can remember, is it?! So Simone suggested that the word "RASENRAKEL" sums it up. A device to level the lawn.
A quick check on Google showed exactly zero results for this word. And on the same day, the "RASENRAKEL" was born. And finally we in Germany had a word for this device.
We all suffered quite a bit during this time. Because the Rasenrakel had to be tested every time in its various development stages (here is Samira in action).
But the effort was worth it: not only did we develop the ideal Rasenrakel for our lawn, but our lawn also benefited from all the testing (Quote lawn freak: "Sand always works!") . From rock-hard dirt soil, it gradually became a ... oh, ... you'll see that later...
If you think your own product is great, that doesn't mean that it will be well received "out there". So, of course, we needed an independent professional to take a closer look at our Rasenrakel.
We contacted Andreas Krauss, the "lawn freak" from YouTube, and asked him to take a look at the Rasenrakel as an expert and test it (here in the photo Simone is sending his package on its way).
You can see whether he liked it and was enthusiastic about it on his Youtube channel ;-)
Before we teamed up with DPD as a collection service, the ordered Rasenrakel still had to go to the post office in the evening, of course.
The good old GDR trailer had to serve as a means of transport, which sometimes got pretty bent out of shape.
But the highlight was when we stopped in front of the post office with the team and the customers who came after us had to wait forever for their turn.
Admittedly: We did not win the popularity award in the village ;-)
From the beginning, everyone had to lend a hand. The final assembly took place on the lawn and the packaging in the garage. And Ninjo drove the packages to the front with the handcart, because now DPD came twice a week to pick up the orders. The trailer was no longer needed.
Even two boys from the village helped us every day. It was still "lockdown" and they had time and desire for our project.
In the evening, after the work was done, we all finished the day together with bratwurst, steaks and a cold drink or two.
In the meantime, we had already been won over by our lawn. First the neighbours and friends asked: "Why do you do that? Now they have only asked: "How do you do it?
The rock-hard dirt soil in the courtyard of our farm has become a really presentable beautiful and dense lawn. And the feedback from our customers has also confirmed that we have created a cool garden tool with the Rasenrakel.
After a while, the logisticians overwhelmed us. Because for our promise "Ordered today - with you tomorrow!" we needed an experienced partner for shipping (now worldwide).
We found it in INLOGSI in the Harz Mountains. A family-run business that specialises in warehouse and logistics support for online shops.
Here they still work with attention to detail and even unusual customer requests ("Can you include a bag of Haribo for my husband?") are still fulfilled here.
In 2020, we then unfortunately had to leave our beloved lawn behind. We moved to our home country Cyprus for health reasons, to be together with the family. Nevertheless, we of course continue to produce in the "village next door" in Brandenburg, store and ship from the Harz and yes, we also pay our sales tax in Germany of course.
But we do everything else here from home. In times of the internet, that's super possible.
We have also expanded our team a little with Makita (our office dog), Markus (who looks after the USA) and Diana (who supports us in customer service) in order to keep our promise to you as usual: "No compromises on quality - no compromises on service. Ordered today - here tomorrow!"
We would like to leave our children and their children something meaningful with what we do. Green lawns are not enough for us.
For this reason, we have decided to counteract the dying of the forest.
Together with "I-plant-a-tree" we plant German oaks in the Harz Mountains. From every Rasenrakel sold, 1 euro goes directly from us to the reforestation. Many of our customers also support us with their purchase and an additional donation.
Due to environmental influences and natural disasters, so many trees are dying all over the world that one day our grandchildren may no longer know what an oak tree looks like.
We are reforesting. Join in!
Behind the scenes
An insight into our history, the creation and production of the lawn rake. A film by turf freak Andreas Kraus.