The doors to the Den are open for business.
The place where fortunes are made and futures are forged.
But this time, the game has changed.
A fresh wave of fierce investors
are out to shake things up and steal the deals.
- Joining them tonight... - I'm Jenna Meek.
I'm a serial entrepreneur.
I'm currently the co-founder and CEO of Refy beauty.
- Jenna, welcome back to the Den. - No, thank you for having me back.
I'm excited for today.
When I look into the eyes of an entrepreneur,
there is literally one thing I'm looking for.
It's their belief that their idea is going to succeed.
I can see in people's eyes if they're lying to me.
I know exactly what I can bring to a business.
So if there's a fight for an investment,
I will be absolutely fighting for it.
I love disagreeing with the Dragons, I really, really do.
I am not scared of any of the Dragons.
If anything, they should be scared of me.
SHE LAUGHS
My name is Laura, and I'm from Northern Ireland.
My business is all about oats.
SHE LAUGHS
- Instant oats? - Ready-made oats?
Yeah, but they're kind of...they don't exist, you know.
So the Dragon I'm looking
for investment from would be Steven Bartlett.
He would be really helpful with building that community brand,
which is what we aim to do at OatCo.
Hello, Dragons.
My name's Laura, and I'm the founder of OatCo Superfuel.
Today, I'm here to seek an investment of £50,000
in return for a 5% share of my business.
Leading an active lifestyle, and being a busy mum,
I found myself seeking nutritious,
convenient solutions and I was disappointed
as to what was available on shelves.
This sparked the passion in me to create OatCo Superfuel.
Currently in our range, we have our just-add-milk
Overnight Oat pouches, our ready-to-eat Overnight Oats,
and our small bites with big energy, Super Bites.
And at OatCo, we aim to fuel the everyday,
whether it's a school run,
a busy day in the office, or a gym workout.
We are currently delivering to a strong community of customers
through our Shopify website nationwide,
as well as being stocked in over 150 retail stores,
and in the past seven months,
we did 200K in sales, with a 60%
gross margin and 28,000 in net profit.
Currently, the market is more protein-focused,
but we aim to disrupt the food-to-go market
with natural energy that oats can provide.
And we've got balls. Excuse the pun.
SHE CHUCKLES
Now, I've got some samples of our just-add-milk pouches
for you to try, and I'd love for you to try them.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
A range of oat-based food products is the offering from Laura Murphy.
I'll take one of those. What's that one - vanilla?
- That's the vanilla chocolate chip, yeah. - Thank you.
She's asking for £50,000 in exchange
for a 5% stake in her business.
How much protein is in your original?
So we're around 6g, so it's just the natural energy.
Natural energy, yeah.
However, the other three, we've added plant-based protein.
Laura claims her oats stand out from the crowd.
You will notice under your chairs as well
there's also some other products.
But in a sector packed with healthy promises,
Peter Jones is keen to know what makes this offering
more than just a mouthful of marketing.
- Laura, hi. - Hello.
So it's basically oats with bits in it to give you a super fuel,
is it? Was it just protein, or...?
- No. - So give me the...contents. - So we aim to be different.
So how we feel at the moment is everything is protein-led.
However, we want to focus on the natural energy from the oats.
OK. And in what way is this different?
- Is anybody else doing this? - So I suppose it's difficult to say,
because we have three different products.
So there is three different competitors
depending on which one we look at in particular.
In terms of the pouch product,
our point of difference is you actually prepare that
in the pouch. You can reseal,
- take it with you. - Right, OK.
- So that is the USP of the pouch product alone. - OK.
- Laura. - Yeah? - Your balls are absolutely banging.
- Thank you. - When something tastes that good,
- I worry that it's not good for my health. - Yeah.
And I was looking at the nutritional information on this packet,
but also on the balls as well.
Are those the best balls you've ever had?
That is so good.
STEVEN LAUGHS
- JENNA: It's really good. - Thank you so much.
Like you say, that's such a good point, it's got to be bad for you.
- CHUCKLES: - Yeah! - Well, some of the flavours are slightly more
on the indulgent side, but we're mindful of that,
and we're trying to appeal to that target consumer
that still wants it to taste good but is mindful of their health.
On the balls, it says there's, what, 20g of sugar per 100g?
Yeah. It is something we're definitely mindful about,
and we've had conversations recently on how we can improve.
And in our new product development, we are taking that onboard and 100%
- trying to make them as well-rounded as possible. - OK.
Laura, hi. Got to tell you, yes, they're high-sugar,
but they're delicious.
- Thank you so much. - So how much are they selling for?
The pot you're holding retails for 3.79.
OK. And I've seen the Overnight Oats in tubs,
but I don't think I've seen
- this on top. Is that your selling point? - That's our USP.
- Yeah, OK, so that makes it quite unique. - Yeah.
- But if I was buying a sort of standard Overnight Oat... - Yeah.
..what would that cost me?
They would retail probably around the 2.99, £3 mark.
OK. And what about your retail, as you've got around 150 stores -
who are they?
So we're mainly direct-to-store, and it's a mix of Spar, Centra,
Applegreen is a big customer to us,
all based in Northern Ireland. And this week,
we're actually launching into Tesco as well, our first...
- Tesco Northern Ireland, or...? - Tesco Northern Ireland.
OK. And do you have any stores in the rest of the UK?
- Not as of yet. - OK. Thank you.
- Laura, hi. - Hello. - I'm probably as your customer here,
and I think that's what makes me quite different
to the rest of the Dragons, because I'm not super-educated
around kind of what I need to put into my body. Like, I look at these
packaging, and the first thing I look at is calories, cos that's
the world I've been brought up in. I don't understand the rest.
So, as a customer, explain to me why I need your product.
So it's something substantial that you can eat.
And I eat it every morning. And being a busy mum as well,
like, it keeps me going throughout the day.
OK. And then, what is it you're looking
for in a Dragon to help with this business?
Yeah, so, like, I want OatCo to be a household name in many regions,
particularly in the UK and Ireland.
And I think with a Dragon onboard,
it gives me that platform to help achieve that.
- OK. - I'm going to tell you where I am.
- I mean, oats are a superfood. - Yeah.
They're incredibly good for your heart.
- Yeah. - You know, control your cholesterol levels. - Yeah.
So I think the oats story is very, very strong.
And I tell you what, you've done really well.
This is, like, one of the most hotly contested markets.
If you go in anywhere, there are loads
- of blinking protein balls... - Yeah. - ..and energy balls.
So to actually stand out in that, and that is absolutely delicious.
- Too delicious. - Scarily delicious. Exactly,
In fact, I meant to have just one little nibble.
I've been back in three times.
STEVEN CHUCKLES
So, so much to like about this business.
But there's a problem, and it's the sugar.
OK.
I wouldn't eat that because of the high content.
- Yeah. - Now, I know I'm purist,
but the direction of travel is against sugar.
- So I'm really sorry, I won't be investing. - No problem.
And I AM really sorry I won't be investing, but I'm out.
Laura, you are fantastic.
But this is just a market that
I'm just not happy to invest in at the moment.
I think it's hyper-competitive.
and you're going to struggle with this at the moment,
so I'm going to say that I'm out.
Laura, I'll tell you where I'm at. I think you're amazing,
you're so investable.
There's a lot of work to do with actually defining
the purpose and that kind of vision. Like, I know you want to own
the natural energy market, but that's not a brand purpose.
- That's just...I'm like, Why? - Why?
Like, I still need to understand why. What is natural energy?
Why do I need it? And I think that needs to be laser-focused.
And I feel like I could offer
so much help in terms of that - in terms of the branding,
in terms of the lifestyle, in terms of the persona.
But I don't know the food market,
and that's just me being completely transparent at all.
So I am going to make you an offer,
but it's a bit of a wild card
because there isn't any other offers yet.
You asked for £50,000 for 5%.
I'll offer you half of the money for 7.5%.
But I'd want to share with someone else that actually understands
the food market, because I know what I can bring.
- It's fantastic... - Yeah. - ..and you're a fantastic entrepreneur.
Once you get the branding spot-on,
we can make it a cool on-trend product,
we can get the persona perfect, but I want
- that help on the other side of the retail side as well. - Perfect.
Thank you very much.
Laura...
- ..I know retail. - Mm-hm. - Yeah? - Yeah.
And I do like what you've presented today.
So I will also offer you half the money,
that's 25,000 for 7.5%, if Jenna wants to share.
Thank you very much.
Laura, I am such a big fan of you.
- Thank you. - I have quite a lot
of experience now in this industry,
have a brand that came into the Den that's making tens of millions now
in just a couple of years from retail.
And, actually, one of the most useful things I could do
is to sit you in a room with one of the investments
I've made who exploded in the UK market,
- and really understand how they did that. - Yes.
So I'm going to make you an offer, cos I think you're fantastic.
I'll offer you all of the money for, erm...
..17.5% of the business.
Thank you very much.
So thank you so much, firstly,
for all of the offers, it means a lot.
So I suppose just, Steven, I did
have a cap of 15% in my head.
So I suppose if you had the money paid back within
sort of a two-year period, would you drop to 10%?
To 10%?
Considering I came in for 5%.
SHE CHUCKLES
I'm not the biggest fan in the world of the deals
that drop because it's almost like punishment for success,
- in a weird way. - I suppose 15%
is what I said was my cap, and that's what I'm struggling with.
OK.
- I'll do 15%. - You'll do 15?
I'll do 15%.
- Well, I'd love to accept your offer. - Let's do it. - Thank you.
- LAUGHS: - Thank you. - Thank you so much.
- Well done. - Thank you. - And we're dressed the same as well... - I know.
THEY LAUGH
Thank you so much, I can't wait to work with you.
- Thank you. See you soon. Bye. - Victory for Laura.
After tough negotiations, she secures Steven Bartlett's backing.
Her oat empire is officially expanding.
Breathe.
SHE CHUCKLES
I'm still catching my breath.
SHE EXHALES
Amazing. I couldn't have asked for it to go better, really.
I'm delighted.
- That's a great entrepreneur to invest in. - Yeah.
- She was so good. - So good.
- STEVEN: So, so good. - Excellent.
And it is serendipitous. You did look the same.
LAUGHS: Yeah!
Pretty intimidating photographs.
My name is John O'Donnell and I'm joined today with my son, Jamie,
and we've created Screw Caddy.
DIY?
Definitely DIY.
I could do with a few more DIY things.
- What have you got, Peter? - I've got a tool kit.
You've got a tool kit?
What's the last DIY you did, Peter?
I think I've hung a picture up!
I believe Deborah would show the most interest in our product,
just in the sector that it's in,
I feel like it would perk her interest the most,
so I'm definitely confident and ready to go.
Hi, Dragons! My name is John O'Donnell
and I'm joined today with my son, Jamie,
and we form part of the family team who created Screw Caddy.
Today we are looking for a £50,000 investment
for a 40% stake in our business.
In 2020, during lockdown, me and my mum were doing various
DIY projects in and around our home.
One of these projects in particular involved screwing
a bracket to a fence for a hanging flower basket.
Through this, we had many deflected screws
and it caused several near-miss injuries.
So we went out to see if there was a product on the market
that could solve our issue,
but we struggled to find anything to solve our solution.
So as a family, we had a go trying to create a product of our own.
So, Dragons, a traditional method for inserting screws is,
you secure the screw with your fingers,
while also trying to handle a power tool,
which is particularly difficult and can cause possible injuries.
However, if you look at our product,
you can see that my fingers are away from the screw
and it allows the DIYer to focus purely on the power drill.
As the screw head comes down,
it makes contact with the angle top side of the Screw Caddy.
Screw Caddy pops off...
..and the job's complete.
We were introduced to a third party who helped us a lot
during the development stages of the product,
and we now have a manufacturing site here in the UK.
Screw Caddy is patent pending and we're looking
for that Dragon or Dragons
who can ultimately put a Screw Caddy in every DIYer's tool box.
Thank you. If you would like to come up,
the wood we have actually brought in is very, very hard.
So just to make you aware, you need to give it some welly to get it in.
A lockdown invention that takes the pain out of drilling
is the offering from John and Jamie O'Donnell.
- So your fingers go to the side. - Yeah, I've got that.
I'm just doing that while I...
OK, all the way down.
The inventive father and son duo are seeking an investment
of £50,000 in return for a 40% share in their business.
Yeah? And then pull it off. OK.
- That's good. - Thank you.
The product gets a nod of approval from the DIY doyenne of the den,
Deborah Meaden.
But it's Touker Suleyman who's the first to drill down
into the potential of the business.
John and Jamie, just so you know, I've got no investments in DIY.
This could be my first.
So, have you shown this to any major retailers?
Yes. So the very first people we contacted was JML,
and they asked for costs and samples for up to 750,000.
We have been to B&Q and they've had samples,
so we have had a lot of interest,
but it's converting the interest to sales.
So have you turned over anything?
£80.
- £80? - Yes. - Right. So, £80 turnover?
But I can see you want to give away 40% of the business?
Yes.
- So you really want to entice a Dragon? - Yes.
Jamie, John.
When I was watching Deborah have a go at it,
it still looked quite dangerous to me.
I think because this screw, when put in the biggest hole here,
is still really about five millimetres away
from your finger still, which means it could still hit
the edge of the plastic and then hit your finger.
So I just wanted to see if you had a response on that point.
Yeah.
I take your point about the apertures
at the side of Screw Caddy.
They are a couple of millimetres away...
Do you agree with that because I don't.
- Sorry? - Do you agree with that?
I mean, it's your product and I'm about to defend it for you.
Is there another answer to that?
He agrees with it.
- So the danger is the wobble. - Mm.
- This stops the wobble. - OK.
So it's not the proximity to your thumb.
It's the fact that if the screw head wobbles to one side,
then you're in danger.
That's holding it solid.
- Is that what you meant to say? - Yes. Sorry. - That's what he meant to say.
My other point was around the combination of metal and plastic.
So what I did is, I took the screw
in and out over and over again repeatedly like this.
- Yeah. - And the plastic has worn off.
So now it basically doesn't fit any more.
So what the third party who done the development work with us,
they tried to destroy it with the roughest screws they could find.
They worked out if you were using it,
the same aperture, the same size,
you'd be talking you'd get about 35 screws.
- 35 screws? - Yeah.
- And how much does this cost? - 4.99. - OK.
The equation is not great there,
being able to do 30 screws before it breaks.
And actually I think the consumer
will have a bigger expectation of longevity from the product.
My other question was about the percentage.
What's the current shareholding between you guys?
There are three shareholders.
It's me, my wife and Jamie. And it's just a third share each.
OK, which means that the Dragon would be the major shareholder.
Yeah, we would change our structure, obviously,
to make it a 60-40 split.
Keep it simple.
Guys, can I ask you, what's your patentable step?
What's your claim?
It's the way it holds the screw,
and it's the way it releases the screw.
It's the angled edge, and it's the transfer
of that vertical force to a horizontal force
that forces the Screw Caddy off.
OK, so it is quite specific as to why this works.
And what you're telling me is it wouldn't work
if you didn't have those angles right.
You've obviously been through lots of iterations.
- Yeah. - OK, thank you.
- John, Jamie. - Hi. - Hi.
I think it looks really good.
I think it does what you said it was supposed to do on the tin,
but I think it's really expensive at £5.
You know, you can get a pack of screws for £5,
and you're selling your product
that holds the screws for the same price.
I just wonder whether this becomes like a really considered purchase.
So, I don't really want to buy and spend £5 on it.
Or is this something that, frankly,
what you should really do is perhaps license this
to the people that put these screw packs together?
And this could be a product that you see in the pack as a giveaway.
Yeah, adding it on to a buying a bag of screws
was something that we considered right at the very start.
It's interesting though,
because I don't think it's attached to the screw.
I think it's attached to the drill.
The dangerous bit in this whole process is the drill
and the trouble is,
this product feels very expensive against a pack of screws.
It doesn't feel at all expensive against a drill.
John, Jamie, I do think the price
is probably an issue.
And to me,
it feels like you would like a Dragon to come in
and run the business for you.
And I say that because you've not had any luck yet with sales,
and you're willing to offer the Dragon the opportunity to be
the single biggest shareholder in the business effectively.
And that comes with an obligation
that I don't feel comfortable meeting.
So I'm going to say that I'm out, but I wish you the very best.
Thank you.
- John and Jamie, hi. - Hi.
I'll just tell you where I am,
because I think where I'm stuck with this is, giving the 40% away,
no-one is going to drive this business
more than you two standing there.
And like, I got 15 orders from a retailer,
and I think they even blocked my email address
at one point because they were like,
this girl is so annoying, but I was delusional.
And you have to be so delusional
in your product that, like, I know it's like a...
I'll try another way, I'll try another way,
and I'm just not feeling that.
So that's kind of where I'm at and I can only get behind something
that, you need to be more delusional than me on this.
And right now, there's no delusional here.
- So well done, but I am out. - Thank you.
Guys, to try and sell this product on its own
will cost you a lot of money.
- Yeah. - You could make it into a set.
If somebody comes in, they want to buy that screw,
it's already in the packet, and that's Peter's idea.
I won't take that away from him. But I would say this,
I'm not your right Dragon for this.
So I'm going to say that I'm out, but I wish you all the best.
Thanks, Touker.
John, Jamie,
I really think it's genius that you came in and offered 40%.
Because you want to make it attractive for a Dragon.
- Yeah. - So as a Dragon that really likes opportunity
and never likes to miss out,
and bear in mind, there is one Dragon here
that's had quite a good little bit of success with DIY,
I'm just going to pause for a moment and reflect.
Um...
So somebody stood in here about ten years ago.
A couple, Jenny and Martin, and they had a genius DIY product.
And Martin said, "I'm an inventor.
"I haven't got a clue about business, but I'm an inventor
"and I know it works and it's brilliant."
That was Marxman pens.
They didn't know their numbers.
They hadn't talked to the right people.
But there was something about them
and there was something about their product.
And apart from anything else,
I wanted to find out whether or not they really had something.
And that product, now we sell millions of.
Um.
So I'm going to make you an offer.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you.
They haven't heard it yet!
So you asked for £50,000 for 40% of the business.
I'm going to offer you all of the money.
And I want 30% of the business.
Whoa!
- Wow! - Because it's your business,
and I don't want to be the majority shareholder.
So...
I think you guys are, you're really great.
I think you've got a really good idea.
It's really neat. And I think
that you've got the perfect Dragon for this,
so I'm not going to make you an offer and say that I'm out.
But it'll be interesting
when you reflect over there what your decision is.
- Do we need to reflect? - Don't think so.
- We would love to accept your offer. - Well done.
Excellent. Well done, guys. Well done, you guys. Great!
Success for the father and son team.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you very much.
Well done.
Can you be a little bit more excited?
Seriously, I'm more excited than you at the moment.
- We'll be jumping outside! - Yeah.
- Thank you. - Thanks very much.
The DIY duo have secured their dream Dragon
and managed to achieve that rare feat of leaving the den,
having given away less equity than they offered.
I'm over the moon that I've got Deborah in the team.
I can't believe it. It's absolutely amazing.
They seemed in shock.
That was like, yeah, thanks.
Can't wait to tell Mum.
I'm so proud of my dad because to see
the whole journey come together like this is just unbelievable.
- Well, here we are. - Right then. - The Den.
My name is Fred Parry and I'm from London.
Look at this thing.
I can't imagine many people have been dressed
as a chicken in the Den.
I am wearing a chicken costume because I built a game
where someone hides in a chicken costume.
And I thought it was only right to put me in it today.
The Dragons are probably going to guess we're a birthday party,
fancy dress thing.
They're going to think someone's obsessed with chickens.
Children's entertainer.
Ah.
Buck, buck, buck!
Honestly, is a really good chicken.
It's good to know you have a plan B sometimes in life.
In life, always have a plan B.
I'm nervous.
This chicken costume seals in all the heat.
I'm going to be roasted in that Den.
Roasted chicken.
One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven,
eight, nine, ten.
LIVELY MUSIC
I don't know what to do now.
I was about to applaud, and then I thought, maybe not.
- Oh, please, please. - Wow! - Scary!
Please.
Hello, Dragons. My name is Fred,
and I'm asking for £50,000 in exchange for 10% of my business,
Chicken Rush.
We are a real world, GPS powered game of hide and seek.
Teams race to find someone hiding in a pub or bar
dressed as a chicken, and use our app as a live radar.
Along the way,
they complete silly challenges, compete for points,
and submit photos and videos as proof.
It's team based, tech driven and utterly ridiculous.
In year one, we turned over £55,000.
In year two, we forecast £164,000.
We've had over 7,000 players across 50 countries
with no full-time staff.
We've had over 5 million views on social media
with barely any marketing spend.
I built the platform myself.
The tracking, the booking system, the scoring, the lot.
It's scalable tech that can pop up in any city tomorrow.
I've proven it works. Now I want it to grow.
With your help, we can achieve global chicken domination.
A real-world game of hide and seek with a tech twist.
Using GPS and a custom-built app,
Fred Parry is reinventing outdoor play for the digital age.
- Thank you. - Thank you. - See you.
The entrepreneur is seeking an investment of £50,000...
Terrifying!
..in exchange for a 10% share in his feathered venture.
But will the Dragons flock to the opportunity
or cross the road to avoid it?
Fred, I can't work out whether you're looking
for an investment or you're looking
for a Dragon to dress up as a chicken.
Very much looking investment to grow the game.
Most of our games at the moment are team building games.
So someone dresses up as a chicken,
- often the boss of a company, perhaps, and hides. - OK.
So I'm trying to work out what this business is.
It's hide and seek for adults.
So one person hides, a circle appears on a map
that gradually shrinks around their location.
And then there's also challenges teams do
while they're playing the game.
So it's not just about finding the chicken,
but you get 100 points for finding the chicken first.
OK, so I want to know about you. What's your background?
- Yeah, yeah. - You built this yourself.
I just want to know who am I investing in?
Which chicken am I going to invest in?
Yeah. From the beginning,
I was building online learning games for kids.
But over time,
and I think a lot of people now who are software developers find this.
They're not meeting people on the other side.
They're not seeing how their tech is used.
So I had a bit of a disillusionment with that.
So I wanted to prove that I could build one bit of tech
where I know that people were enjoying using it,
meeting the people, playing the game.
This was like the perfect example
and perfect case study for me being able to do it.
And then we hosted a public dating event for 40 singles
to get it off the ground, which is a bit strange,
like, there's one thing a chicken chasing game,
and then there's also a date involved with it.
Well, people want to be distracted by the fact they're on a first date.
So turns out our dating events became really popular,
and we had a waitlist of over 2,000 singles in London.
Single people wanted to come and play this game
to meet somebody else?
People have found love while hunting chickens, yeah.
Right, so let's look at the serious part of this situation.
The business part.
So how do you monetise this?
- How do you organise it? - Yeah. - Just want to know.
Yeah. So there's two types.
You get the tech and you play with your friends
for £15 per person in a team building setting
or just for fun or sometimes with large companies.
They've got a big budget.
They just want a hassle free someone to come here,
hand over a chicken costume,
explain the rules, and then you play the same game.
Fred, how does this, how does this get big?
- What does big mean to you? - Um...
Big is getting into definitely at least every city in the UK,
as well as any city which has enough hiding spots in them.
And what, in terms of quantifying big,
what does that look like?
The number I've had in my head is 100 games a day.
And if you did 100 a day, what does that look like in terms of revenue?
- It's 30 grand revenue. - A day? - Yeah.
OK.
- Fred, hi. - Hello, Deborah.
Have you forgotten by now that you're dressed as a chicken?
You do start to, if you wear it enough times.
OK, so, what next? I mean, you know,
it's a cool, funny, eye catching idea.
And I can imagine why corporates would,
who were desperate to find the next thing
and not do the old paintballing thing for corporate events.
So I can imagine them thinking, "Oh, that looks new and different."
But if you're really going to leverage this business,
you need to become the place
to look to the innovative ways of building teams, don't you?
You know? So what next? What's your plans?
At the moment, my core focus is just grow outside of London.
With your investment, though, it's about scaling the casual games.
- So birthdays, stags and hen do's. - Easter.
Easter, turkey hunt for Christmas, all of these things.
But at the moment it's just been me working on this.
So I just had to focus on one small thing at a time.
- OK, so you're on your own at the moment? - Yeah.
Are you just going to keep moving yourself around the country?
For the next year, that would be our main focus.
- It's you? - Yeah.
But we'd have part-time help, brought in for each event.
- Fred, hi. - Hi. - I love adding the crazy into business.
But then on the flip side, I hate organised fun.
- Yeah. - I love the dating idea.
I think that's genius, but I think where you're almost missing
that trick is actually making this a thing
before you pigeonhole it into the corporate world,
into the dating world.
And it's like, if that was on Eventbrite in London
and you got everyone in London like,
"Do you want to go to Pilates today? Do you want to go and get coffee,
or do you want to go and do this crazy thing I just saw
called Chicken Rush?" Like, you get everyone doing it
and then you pigeonhole it into corporate, dating,
whatever you want, and it's like,
yeah, how do we make this bigger? And how many people come back?
So once they've done Chicken Rush,
do they then delete the app or do they stay on?
Do they do another one?
So as far as numbers are concerned,
5% in year one of our corporates came back.
And then 10% of the people
that came to one of our events came back.
Some have played over five times.
I'm like, I'm really,
I'm really into businesses that are able to bring people
into the real world and find ways for them to connect,
and especially businesses that are a platform to scale that globally.
So what am I investing in here?
Am I investing in a platform that has scale?
That's really the pitch that I think really
would have swung me is something like that.
We have built that events platform in the background.
So a huge part of it is for all of our dating events.
The thing you pitched to me today was a chicken game
- where people hide in pubs. - True.
If it sounded different, if it had started with the big picture,
the macro, loneliness epidemic,
people despairing at dating apps letting them down.
So we're building the platform
for social competitive in real life games.
I would have been like, "Oh, here we go."
I rewrote that on Sunday, but then I got worried
that you wouldn't understand what the game was.
So the whole pitch was,
all around us, pubs are closing, there is a loneliness epidemic.
- That was the pitch? - That was the pitch.
- The whole thing. - That was the pitch. The key to pitching for me
is you start with the why, pubs have closed, loneliness epidemic.
I would have been nodding like a dog, yes, yes, yes.
And then you build it up and say,
so we've made this. And I go, "Oh, interesting."
But what you did is you started with the what?
You started with the chicken side in pubs.
And I'm like, "Oh."
My original pitch was just that exact story.
It might be the story, but it's not the business either that you have.
- That's the difference, is it. - Well, this is one little...
- This is a chicken game with a GPS tracking device. - Yeah.
We get hundreds of people outside interacting.
The whole aim and ethos of this is to try
and get people outside and playing and meeting new people.
That's why I set it up anyway.
Yeah. Fred, look, I think it's great.
I think that it's a tough one to invest in.
It really is. And sadly,
I'm going to say that I'm out, but good luck to you.
Thank you, Peter.
I do think you need an investor, but I think,
I think it's going to be tough
- for you to get an investor based on what your pitch was today. - OK.
The chicken thing, because it's really fun
But it's also quite distracting
in a way where an investor is trying to understand
the potential and the scale of this business,
the coming in the way that you came in with the chickens and
the Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones' face.
I mean, that was distracting,
but the whole thing kind of diverted me
from the real problem you're trying to solve here,
which I've managed to tease out of you,
which is loneliness, connection, bringing people together
in real life in an increasingly digital world.
That is it.
That's an inspiring proposition.
But the proposition I saw today wasn't that.
So I'm going to say that I'm out, but I wish you the very best.
Fred.
I think you need investment because you need people around you.
My issue is that I can't personally see
how I can spend the time that you need in this business.
- So I won't be investing. I'm out. - Thank you, Deborah.
Fred, I'm going to tell you where I am.
I'm not interested in chicken games at my age.
- OK. - I'm going to say I'm going to go back to my little cage... - Yeah.
Not invest, and I'm out.
Thank you though.
- Hi, Fred. - Hello. - I just panicked.
I got your name wrong, and I was like...
I just think you're great. I think you're great.
And I think you're amazing. And for me,
I feel like there is something in this chicken player,
but I think this needs to be blown up stronger.
Make it massive. And then you cash in with corporates,
with dating.
Once you've made this chicken game a bigger thing.
I do genuinely feel as though if I came on board,
I would just be giving you the same advice that I've kind of given,
but I would love to help you in however I can.
So I'm not going to be your business partner,
but I can be that person to call.
And this is going to be huge and you're going to be huge.
I think you need to keep going. But I am out.
But I wish you all the best, but I will definitely help you.
- Thank you. - Good luck, Fred. - Good luck.
Cheers, thank you very much. Thank you. Cheers.
Sadly for Fred,
he's failed to land any of the Dragons,
though he has managed to secure a wingwoman in Jenna Meek.
I love the idea of getting everyone out together and creating something.
It just wasn't something enough.
Jenna was really helpful.
She gave me some advice about how to have mainstream appeal.
So expect to see more chickens popping up in other cities.
Tomorrow, maybe.
I'm Rachel Williams.
I'm from a small town in Lancashire, in the north of England,
and my business was born on the top of a mountain in the French Alps!
- Nice bright packaging. - Lip creams. It's a lip brand.
Definitely a lip brand.
It's been a long journey and many, many people said,
"You'll never make it in this industry."
And being a northern girl,
I kind of thought, "Well, I will, I'll show them."
So, I did. So, yeah,
I feel quite proud that I've got here.
Hello, Dragons. I'm Rachel, I'm a physiologist,
and I'm the founder of Albert and Flora,
a specialist, award-winning skincare brand that provides targeted support
for the lips and skin around the mouth.
I'm here today to ask for £50,000
in return for 15% equity in my business.
Lines and wrinkles around the mouth, thinning lips,
chronic dryness, cold sores,
sunburn and lip cancer affect the confidence
and comfort of millions of men and women every day.
UV exposure and sun damage are known to impact on these concerns.
However, UV lip protection is not always used
on a daily basis in people's skincare routines.
We've launched two products so far, Lip Shield,
which is an SPF lip balm, and Lip Facial,
which is an exfoliating and plumping treatment mask.
We currently provide products to 370 aesthetic clinics,
spa's and beauty salons.
We also supply direct to our customers via our website.
To date, we have delivered £695,000 worth of accumulated turnover,
and we want to develop a clinic and consumer brand
that can be accessed globally.
Thank you.
- Oh, breathe! - Breathe!
I can breathe!
Products which both prettify and protect the lips
are the offering from Rachel Williams.
In the large square box, you've got a pot of the lip facial,
and then in the smaller boxes you've got the SPF lip shield.
She's looking for a £50,000 investment
in return for a 15% share in her business.
Can I just tell you, when you do your lipstick,
you only have to put it out about that much to even,
not even that much. Just a bit at the end.
That's it.
Rachel believes her targeted approach fills a gap
in the ever growing skincare market.
- How do I, how does it look? - It looks good.
But will the Dragons be convinced by her pout focused pitch?
So have I got this straight
that this is essentially the unique selling point
of this business is that it protects my lips from sun damage?
Yes. And people don't realise
how much damage you can get from daily UV.
And the lip is so thin and delicate,
and that means it dehydrates quite quickly.
So is this a health product versus a beauty product per se?
The SPF is a lifestyle product.
Everybody's got a pair of lips and we need to look after them.
And how is this different from a lip balm?
Because it's a broad spectrum UVA, UVB protector.
What does that mean for a muggle like me
that knows nothing about UV anything?
So it's going to protect you against the damage that UV rays can do,
because UV would come into the skin
and it can impact on the cells' physiology and function.
And sometimes that UV damage
is accumulated through your lifetime.
So it is like a lip sun cream then?
Yes, the lip balm is, yes.
Because I put some of this lip balm on.
But what's weird, this lip balm, I've got a bit tingly and it feels
like my bottom lip's going thicker.
So that isn't a lip balm. So that's the advanced treatment.
- It's not a lip balm. - No.
So the lip balms are in the sticks.
So what is this? What's that supposed to do?
So the lip facial is an exfoliating and plumping treatment mask.
It's plumping.
So that is a product that we use...
- So that's why that feels it's getting thicker. - It's swollen up.
Could I ask you a question while these two playing with each other?
No, we're not playing.
I'm just asking some very important questions.
Just tell us about your qualifications in this sector.
Well, qualifications.
I've been a physiologist for many years
and supported British teams in three Olympic cycles.
Really looking at the impact
of environment on health and physiology.
So my interest, just so you know, I own the trademark, lipstick.
- OK. - And I'm about to go retail
- with it later in the year. - Cool. - So this is of interest. - Yeah.
Just want to make sure you've done 695,000 turnover in total?
Yeah.
So can you break that down so we can get an idea?
So the last three years, in 2022,
we did 139,000 with a net of 41,
which obviously gave us a 29% net profit.
And then in 2023,
we did 143 turnover
and 27,000 net.
And then last year we did again 140
and a 15,000 net profit.
- Profits have been going down. - Yes.
- Is that because of marketing? - No. It's a strategic decision by me.
Because when we had that 29% net profit,
I knew that the decision to become
a really specialised, focused brand,
you know, really supporting
the professional retailers was working.
But I'm, you know, a single entrepreneur,
with not a huge amount of working capital
and I needed therefore to prepare the business to scale.
So I wanted to put in foundations
in the last two years to help me do that.
So I've got a new office, a part-time member of staff.
We launched the new product,
we did a rebrand and a refresh because I wanted to make sure
the image was right for both clinic market as well as retail.
You've done quite well.
I mean, the product looks really great.
Thank you.
We do have, it just so happens,
an experienced expert in the Den today with Jenna.
My question is actually not just to you
because I don't know a lot about this market,
but it would be to Jenna.
Are these sort of types of products widely available?
- Is this already out there? - Yes. I guess that was how Rachel,
I think that's what I'm trying to struggle with is,
I can probably already find something similar.
- Yeah. - Because it's a very crowded market.
I think one of the things that's confusing me
a little bit is that kind of vision of where you see the brand going.
So like, is this going to be SPF
and everything will be focused around SPF,
or will it be more focused around lips?
Like, how does the product range build from here?
So we've got a few collections planned,
so the SPF products are all part of the daily care range.
The lip facial is also in the daily care range.
There's then the targeted care range.
This range will focus on supporting clients
who've got inflammation.
- You know, when they're on acne medication. - Solution base.
You're going to have a daily for everyone, a solution based range.
- And then? - And then third one would be
- targeting sort of 40 and upwards. - OK.
So if you had a magic wand,
what beauty retailers do you see this brand,
- just so I understand the vision. - Yeah. So I think the more
premium end, definitely sort of Liberty's,
Selfridges, Space NK, Sephora.
But I think for, you know, Sephora,
we would need to increase, you know,
our kind of digital footprint first.
Do your customers love the product?
Yes, they do.
- Do they tell people about the product? - They do.
I'm not very good at sharing.
So they love the product
and they tell people about the product?
So why for the last three years has the revenue been stagnant?
I've almost never seen numbers like this
where it's almost exactly the same for three years
at 140K in revenue, three years in a row.
Super consistent, and the reason being that I've invested
in the infrastructure and the operations to get ready.
And I've not been able to do that at the same time
- as put money into, the sales and marketing. - OK.
So one of the things investors look for in businesses
when they're trying to invest
is this thing called the growth profile.
And the growth profile is essentially
the history of the business and how it looks from
a revenue or profit growth perspective.
- Yeah. - If it's flat,
it kind of suggests that the future could be flat.
And I like businesses that have good growth profile,
which is a challenge a lot of entrepreneurs face
is when you're a solopreneur on your own,
you have decisions you have to make.
It's trade-offs.
And the trade-off that you made was to focus on infrastructure
and those things first versus the growth profile of the business.
I think it's quite important to make a different decision,
which is to focus on that growth profile,
because that will give an investor the confidence
that they have enough growth
to get a return from the business in future.
But the growth profile of the business is an amber flag for me,
and I find it hard to see,
based on the last three years and the current year,
how an investor would get their 50K out and a multiple on the money.
So for that reason, I'm going to say that I'm out,
- but I wish you the very best. - Thank you.
And Rachel, I'm going to be the same.
You've created a great product.
I'm struggling to see the size of the opportunity.
So sadly, I'm going to say that I'm out.
But, yeah, congratulations on creating a great product.
Thank you.
Rachel, I think you've hit a market and you really,
really know your stuff and you explain it really well.
But the truth of the matter is, you are in a highly contested space.
This is readily available for me, and I buy it.
So I'm afraid it's not an investment for me.
- I'm out. - Thank you.
- Rachel, hi. - Hi. - I think, I mean, obviously,
I know what it's like to develop a beauty product, so just please,
- well done. - Thank you. - The packaging is lovely,
the branding is lovely, and it's really...
It really does stand out.
I think in terms of investment,
where I'm at is, it's not something I feel like I want to invest in,
mainly because it is probably too close to my current business,
but more because I can't necessarily see
the bigger vision in terms of everything you want to do.
Yeah. But I would like to throw you
a lifeline because I do think this is a good product.
I will help you get this product in front of Selfridges, Space NK,
Sephora in the UK,
so that you've got that step to entry
because you can tell how passionate you are.
I'm not going to invest, I am out. So, I am sorry,
but, yeah, I will help you do
that step and you'll be able to take it from the rest.
- OK, thanks. - That's a great offer.
Yeah, it's an amazing offer. Thank you so much.
- Rachel, you are investable, but that's not. - OK.
And that's where I'm torn. And I'll tell you why I'm torn.
I am launching a lipstick retail concept later in the year.
OK.
Lip care is definitely a sector that could be included.
What I'm interested in is your knowledge
and trying to think how I can kill two birds with one stone here.
How you can help me with the knowledge and help your business.
- Yeah? - Yeah, that would be exciting.
- So, your offer was 50,000 for 15%? - Yes.
I'm willing to give you the £50,000.
But I would want 35%.
35 obviously is quite high for me as a brand.
And I know that I'm most likely going to be multiple rounds
to move forward, to take the brand to where I want it to go.
So that's quite challenging.
Would you be prepared to reduce that offer
if you got your money back?
Well, if I got my money back within 12 to 18 months, down to 25%.
OK.
- Would you be prepared to drop to 20? - No.
25?
30% and I'll go down to 25 when I get my money back.
OK.
That's a fantastic offer.
I would be happy to work with you, excited to work with you.
And definitely happy to accept your...
Great, great, great.
- We're going to be... - Yeah, we can do that.
- Yeah, I think so. - OK.
It's a win for Rachel.
Thanks for all your time.
Well done. Thank you.
She walks away with an offer of support
from skincare savant, Jenna Meek.
But it's Touker Suleyman who's put his money
where his mouth is, securing a stake in the business.
Really excited.
Just fabulous to get investment from Touker.
And, yeah, also absolutely lovely offer from Jenna.
So I'm super grateful and humbled.
How exciting!
It was her that I really loved.
I'm investing in her as an entrepreneur.
Well, you've got an expert.
Dragons' Den will return later in the year.
- Perfect. - I think this is the first time
in the Den there's been more females than men.
I think this is what I've been looking for for a long time.
I just came out of being your worst nightmare.
- I'm about to go back in again. - You're sassy. I'm like, "Wow!"
- Go on, go sell more. - Is that the way you work?
Is that what you guys do as investors?
I think this is a wonderful opportunity and that's why
I'd like to talk to Tony.
Hello, Peter. I was hoping you'd say that.
Am I happy to share with Peter?
My business instincts tell me I should not invest.
But my heart tells me I should.
You're setting us all off.
Come here, mate. I'm so proud of you.
Wow, Gary. You teed that up as if we were team-mates.
- And then... - That's the most guilty I've ever felt in my life.
Yeah. No, it's great to have you back, Gary.