In Episode Two the Dragons were visiting both successful and unsuccessful pitches in and around London.
Sean was first in the episode with his tangle teaser hairbrush. He had failed to get investment in the den but two years on the tangle teaser is in fairly wide use and available to buy online at Amazon. Duncan Bannatyne had a go and admitted it was better than a normal comb, and seemed surprised that Sean had solved over 250,000 units. Duncan was impressed how far Sean had come and thought he may be the “one that got away”
Next on was Jason Roberts who just this series got funding for company Tech21 which produces a range of items which protect gadgets through the revolutionary D3O material. See some of their products here on Amazon. He partnered with both Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones and Peter visited him just 4 weeks later, the first post den meeting. Jason was able to use the Dragons money to secure the exclusive global rights to the D3o technology. It’s still early days but Peter is confident.
Ian Chamings was looking for £150,000 in 2006, for his software “Mixalbum” which mixes dance music. He got the investment with Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis. Three years on Mixalbum has become very popular in gyms, and has taken up the licensing route suggested by Richard Farleigh. The company is currently turning over £500,000, most successfully from licencing which Ian wasn’t keen on initially. The profits weren’t mentioned though.
Blinds in a box were next up. I couldn’t believe it originally when they got investment from James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne. It seems quite a odd, and potentially unnecessary product. A year on and they made an exclusive contract with a catalogue retailer but did not get the sales they wanted. Now in their second year they can go to other retailers so must sell, sell, sell!
The final pitch was for ice blades, rollerblades which are made like ice skates so that you can “ice blade” without the ice. They got funding from Theo Paphitis. Peter Jones though felt this was one of the most ridiculous investments in the den. Just 5 weeks later and Theo went to visit, and carry out the due diligence and his other condition “a world expert telling him it was just like ice skating” so he brought along ex Olympic figure skater Haig Oundjian. The product passed the test and Haig Oundjian loved them. They won’t get investment though until the patent is approved.
Charles Barsley works in eCommerce and in his occasional blog writes about his interests of eCommerce, Search Engine Optimisation, Photography, Cycling and anything which catches his interest!
