- 2 days ago
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00:00The doors to the den are open once more and the battleground for business is set.
00:08This is where fortunes are made and futures are forged.
00:12But in this brand new series, the game has changed.
00:18Alongside four seasoned dragons stands a revolving door of fierce investors.
00:24Ambitious, competitive and ready to take on the old guard.
00:31Tonight, an old friend returns.
00:35I'm Gary Neville, ex-football player, broadcaster and businessman.
00:39Welcome back, Gary. It's great to have you next to me.
00:42No, it's brilliant to be back.
00:44The thing that I learnt on the pitch that I've taken into my business career would be that you definitely can't win a game on your own.
00:49I'm happy to dilute further with other dragons. I'm not going to miss out on this opportunity.
00:53You've got to make sure you have great people around you and great teams.
00:56I'll get shot down first and then they can come in behind us.
00:59When someone walks into the den, the thing that I'm going to look for most is their energy and their passion for what they do.
01:05I told myself I would not get emotional.
01:07Don't get emotional yet.
01:08You'd be really crying when they make you the offer.
01:12Coming back into the den was a no-brainer for me. I've watched every single episode for 20 years.
01:17Come on, Debra, you've never done anything with me yet. I've been in here three times.
01:21I enjoyed it last time. I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it this time.
01:24The stakes are high. Who has what it takes to face the dragons?
01:28My name is Dani and we make skin care from rescued food.
01:33Oh my God, okay. It's happening. It's happening. I've got this. I've got this. I'm in the den today because we've got to a point in the business where we're just about to lift off.
01:41And it feels like the right time to get investment from someone that really believes in our mission and it feels like the den is the perfect place to do that.
01:50Hi. Hi. My name is Dani and I'm the founder of My Skin Thin.
01:53My name is Dani and I'm the founder of My Skin Thin.
01:55I'm here today to ask the dragons for £50,000 in return for 10% of our mission and I'm here today to ask the dragons for £50,000 in return for 10% of our mission.
02:04My Skin Thin feels is skincare made from rescued food, including the by-products of tomato ketchup, olive oil, milk, and milk.
02:11I'm here today to ask the dragons for £50,000 in return for 10% of my business.
02:25My Skin Thin feels is skincare made from rescued food, including the by-products of tomato ketchup, olive oil, milk, and milk.
02:33Olive oil, breakfast oats, and orange juice, which I know sounds like a very weird salad you'd never eat, but I promise it's amazing for your skin.
02:40I take the bits not used in the Italian food manufacturing industry.
02:45So, the skin of the tomato, the stalk of the oat, all the crushed olives.
02:49Then I ferment and extract the amino acids, the antioxidants, all the skin-loving goodness.
02:53That's what goes in my products.
02:55I've been in the beauty industry for 15 years.
02:57I was part of the small team of people that set up Charlotte Tilbury
03:00and I've gone on to work for a ton of brands since.
03:03So, I've really seen just how unsustainable the beauty industry can be.
03:07But more than that, the beauty industry is often focused on how you look.
03:11My Skin Thin feels is designed to focus on how you feel too, prioritizing healthy skin for everyone.
03:18We launched with two products, both over 99% natural, vegan, and thanks to our rescued fermented food,
03:24they're suitable for sensitive and eczema-prone skin too.
03:27Now, we've been in business for just over two years.
03:29In year one, we did 23,000.
03:31Year two, 73,000.
03:33And we're already expecting to double that this year.
03:36We've launched in Whole Foods and launched across the U.S. with Credo Beauty, a pioneer in the clean beauty movement.
03:41But I'm small, I'm a one-woman business, and I'm looking for a dragon that wants to join me on my mission
03:46to change consumer habits and challenge the beauty industry to be better together.
03:52Would you like to smell the products and try them?
03:54Please.
03:55It doesn't smell like ketchup, I promise.
03:58A face wash and moisturiser, both containing ingredients extracted from food waste, are the offering from Danny Clementina Close.
04:07Do I take one of each?
04:09I would recommend smelling the wash first, because it's the most citrusy.
04:13Danny is looking for £50,000.
04:16And then definitely try the moisturiser on your hand, because honestly, it's insane.
04:20In exchange for 10% of her business.
04:23Just for Tuka's sake, is it edible?
04:25It is 99% natural, but I really wouldn't recommend eating it at all, or putting it on toast, or any of that kind of thing.
04:30Danny's products aren't for eating, but have the dragons scented an opportunity?
04:36Danny, what a brilliant pitch.
04:40And I love your energy.
04:41Thank you so much.
04:42I just want to talk a little bit about how you actually go through your process to make your products.
04:47Yes.
04:48You mentioned the Italian food industry.
04:49Yes.
04:50Why specifically the Italian food industry, and how do you get your products from being in the Italian food industry into that packaging?
04:57It's quite a long story, but I actually wanted to use UK food waste when I started, but it wasn't really a thing.
05:02And so we work with partners in Europe that work with manufacturers, and then we work with a famous university, and they are our fermentation lab.
05:09But actually, Italian food's the best food, right?
05:11It's full of sunshine.
05:12The skin of an Italian tomato is full of lycopene, full of antioxidants.
05:15And I'm trying to get people to understand that you can find beauty in waste.
05:20You're a specialist, obviously, in this industry.
05:23What will this product do that other products in the same space can't do?
05:29Why is it different?
05:30I mean, it's different, A, because of the ingredients, but also the whole brand itself.
05:34I'm really challenging the norm, and there's a whole trend at the moment with young kids using crazy actives on their skin.
05:40And I'm a big believer in clean beauty, and so for me, making something super innovative that gets people to start thinking about what they're putting on their skin in a different way, that's really how we're doing it.
05:49So, Dani, you were at Charlotte Tilbury.
05:52What were you doing there?
05:54Oh my gosh, it's such a journey, guys.
05:56I was 19 when I started, and I actually was her intern, then her PA, then her social media and marketing manager.
06:02And so I saw the brand go from literally three of us to ten people, launched in America, and then I left.
06:06But it was an amazing experience.
06:08I saw how to build a brand, and it was just mega.
06:11And is this the only thing you do, or how do you live?
06:15So, no.
06:16I actually have another job on Friday.
06:18I'm a professional psychic medium, which is quite...
06:21Professional?
06:22Psychic medium.
06:23Right.
06:24Yep, which is quite out there.
06:25I was born with it, it runs in my family, I trained for seven years, and I get my salary from my work as a psychic medium.
06:31So do you get investment today?
06:34I haven't looked at it ever.
06:36Sometimes you don't want to know about your own stuff.
06:38How do you know it runs in your family?
06:39What is it?
06:40Well, I was born with it.
06:41Yeah.
06:42Which was not fun as a child, if I'm honest with you.
06:44Because when you're a kid and you're very sensitive, you're open and you feel things all the time.
06:48But actually now, what I've learned in my training is it's off.
06:51I don't want to know.
06:52I want to know when I'm in a reading with a client and I don't want to know when I'm not reading.
06:55So you do have another income?
06:56Yeah, for now I have another income.
06:58So when this starts to give me enough income, that psychic mediumship will go into my own time.
07:03So you've done £100,000 worth of sales approximately in two years.
07:08Mm-hm.
07:09But revenue this year currently is £30,000, which last year it was £7,000 at this time.
07:14So we've had a big uplift.
07:16What channel have you used for that?
07:18You know, it's so interesting.
07:19It's been 75% in person and 25% online, which is so not what I thought would happen.
07:24Honestly, when I did this, like, you know, as a beauty brand, you expect digital first.
07:28That's the way you do it.
07:29But it costs so much money to do that now when you have no budget.
07:32So I really went scrappy and I've been at every single market.
07:35And this year it's actually starting to go 50-50.
07:37So I've now seen those sales from those two years of markets turning into digital.
07:43How are you doing on social media?
07:45So this is fun.
07:47No, it's actually really good.
07:48We're 6,000 on Instagram, but it's all community organic growth.
07:51And I've really been sharing the story behind the brand.
07:54So it's very much my journey.
07:55What about TikTok?
07:56What are you doing on there?
07:57Oh, I have a love-hate relationship.
07:59Like, I'm so exhausted by social media.
08:01I've been doing it for 15 years, but I know the importance of it.
08:04I just, when you're, I just don't love it.
08:07If I'm completely honest, I know I need to do it, but I struggle.
08:10You'd be great at it.
08:11Have you got an audience on TikTok?
08:13Very small, not really.
08:14Okay.
08:15In part, the reason I say that is because I think the brand needs something.
08:20Some real defining trait that's going to cause it to break out of quite a scrappy, saturated market.
08:26And you do have a story in the made with food thing.
08:32Mm-hmm.
08:33I do have to say TikTok is probably the battleground to tell those kinds of stories of taking food and turning it into...
08:39Yeah.
08:40Magic.
08:41Magic, right?
08:42I know.
08:43So it's...
08:44I need to do it.
08:45I just, when you're running everything else, it's like always the last thing on my list.
08:46And I've tried to swap it around, but then there's something happens with manufacturing or markets or like, and I'm just like...
08:51Yeah, it's too much for one person.
08:52It's too much.
08:53It's too much.
08:56Danny, I've got two daughters and they're at an age now where they are spending quite a bit of time putting products on their face.
09:03And I don't think I would be able to go home to my two daughters and not have made you an offer because I think they would absolutely love you.
09:10Thanks.
09:11Thanks.
09:12And I also have got two very good contacts in this space.
09:16OK.
09:17Erm...
09:18Stephen and Peter.
09:19Stephen.
09:20So, Stephen and Peter, would you like to come in with?
09:22I don't know.
09:23And it's not Stephen and Peter, but of course.
09:27Erm, it's not Stephen and Peter.
09:29Erm...
09:32I am going to make you an offer because the important things for me are people and passion about the product.
09:40Look, you obviously know your industry very well and you've built a career around this industry.
09:48So, I'm not going to miss out on this opportunity.
09:53So, you've asked for £50,000 for 10% of your business, but I want 20%.
10:00OK. Thank you very much.
10:01Appreciate it.
10:03So, Danny, erm...
10:05I know you know I would love everything about what you're doing.
10:09Erm...
10:10What I really like is that you have come from...
10:13You've come from the industry which we all recognise needs...
10:19..needs to change.
10:21Yeah.
10:22You'll probably be aware of a business...
10:25Actually, Peter and I invested in called Fussy.
10:28Erm...
10:29..and it faced some of the challenges that you're going to face.
10:32So, it's quite a similar story that I think needs to be told.
10:37Yeah.
10:38You know, and we've told it at Fussy very, very successfully.
10:40Very well.
10:41Yeah.
10:42Yeah.
10:43So, I, unsurprisingly, I'm going to make you an offer.
10:48I'm going to make you the same offer you've already received.
10:51So, I'm going to offer you £50,000, but I want 20% of the business.
10:56Thank you very much.
10:57For our first joint venture, Deborah.
10:59Not sure.
11:02Wow!
11:03Deborah's never going to deal with me yet in...
11:05You'd be a good duo, I think.
11:08Keep that in mind.
11:09Yeah.
11:10Yeah, I will.
11:16I'm on the fence.
11:19Erm...
11:20I think you're great.
11:21Thanks.
11:22Erm...
11:23But this is not one of my, sort of, passionate investments.
11:27So, for that reason, I wish you all the best, but I'm out.
11:40Come on, Sneaky, come on.
11:43The cogs didn't have you two as indecisive.
11:45Yeah.
11:50Erm, Danny, well done.
11:51I really enjoyed listening to your pitch today, because you're a really good storyteller.
11:55I do think...
11:57..that I am the best dragon for you.
12:00I do believe that.
12:09But I just don't see enough.
12:13Specifically in the product that I could work with as a marketeer
12:16to make it completely punch through the market.
12:20Don't you worry about it.
12:21So, for that reason, I'm going to say that I'm out.
12:23I appreciate it, thank you.
12:27Danny, it's really interesting, because I've got a company,
12:29and we take brands and place them into multiple markets all over the world.
12:32Cool.
12:33And we do all of the digital marketing, do everything.
12:35Cool.
12:36And we work with Estée Lauder.
12:38Oh, cool.
12:39And we run all of the cosmetic store.
12:40Nice.
12:41So, this is in the wheelhouse of...
12:43That.
12:44..a knowledge of exactly...
12:45You know, we sell more moisturisers online than most.
12:50Erm, and...
12:52..it's probably about 80, not giving anything away,
12:5480 to 90,000 dollars every...
12:57..every couple of hours, transactionally.
12:59Mm, my God.
13:00And it...
13:01..it's just...
13:02..it's just really difficult not to give you an offer.
13:07Because...
13:08..you are everything that you want to invest in...
13:11Thanks.
13:12..as an individual.
13:13Erm...
13:14And I think you're all...
13:15..you know, you're...
13:16..you're not just energetic, you're radiating,
13:18you're really good, you've got a great product.
13:21So, I'm...
13:22..I'm going to make this really difficult for you,
13:24and I'm so sorry.
13:25It really is.
13:26I really am.
13:27Erm...
13:28..and I know you came in and you closed the door
13:31to your medium skills.
13:33Mm.
13:34..in a minute.
13:35Yeah, yeah.
13:38I'm going to offer you all of the money, 50,000...
13:42..for 20% as well.
13:44Great.
13:45Thank you very much.
13:46I appreciate it.
13:50Question.
13:51I would love to work with both of you, too.
13:52Thank you so much.
13:53Sorry, I should have said that first.
13:54I'm very sorry.
13:55Thank you so much.
13:56And thank you, everyone.
13:57Erm...
13:58I would love to work with you, too.
13:59100%.
14:00The energy is just...
14:01..amazing.
14:02Would you be open...
14:03What?
14:04..to going...
14:05Yours is too.
14:06Totally, totally.
14:07They're just...
14:08Yeah, ours is better.
14:09Your energy is better.
14:10Yeah.
14:11It's just...
14:12It's just...
14:13You're a very good psychic.
14:14You know.
14:15I am.
14:16Erm...
14:17I'm not sure she is.
14:18That's why she only works one day a week.
14:20I'm sorry.
14:21I'm sorry.
14:22Would you be open to negotiating down a little bit to 15%?
14:29And splitting it between you both?
14:34I'd be very happy to share it.
14:36Erm...
14:37But I'm not sure...
14:38I'm not sure about bringing the equity down, to be perfectly honest.
14:42I'm going to be led by Deborah on this.
14:45OK.
14:46I just feel like at 10% each...
14:48Mm-hm.
14:49..you kind of get the attention.
14:50Yeah, you're right.
14:51You know, and I think as it drops away from that...
14:53Yes, you're right.
14:54..so I think it would need to be at 20%.
15:01OK.
15:02Deal.
15:03Done.
15:04Excellent.
15:05Yay!
15:06Excellent.
15:07I am so pleased.
15:08Oh, thank you.
15:09I appreciate it.
15:10Thank you so much.
15:11Danny has done it.
15:12Hi, everyone.
15:14She leaves the den with £50,000.
15:17And the backing of a dragon duo whose combined energy was sufficient to get her sixth sense sizzling.
15:29Oh, I'm exhausted.
15:30It was good.
15:31It was amazing.
15:33Oh, my God.
15:34I'm just so psyched I got Gary and Deborah.
15:36How amazing.
15:37I don't know what to say.
15:39Even I'm wondering why she chose an ex-right back over a beauty king.
15:43How could you turn me down like that?
15:45I just think that's wrong.
15:47That's wrong.
16:04Here we go.
16:06Oh, my God.
16:07There they are.
16:08My name's Ben Reeves.
16:09I'm here with my wife, Natalia.
16:11And we are co-founders of Swish.
16:13Oh, my God.
16:15Yes.
16:18Thank you, Lord.
16:19I've been waiting for a golf one.
16:21What is it, Peter?
16:22I don't know, but it's just good that it's golf.
16:27We would love to have Peter Jones on board.
16:30He's an avid golfer, so he shares the same passion as us.
16:33And Gary, too, as we know that he plays golf.
16:36Although we wouldn't rule out any dragon because they will have the expertise that we want.
16:43Let's go.
16:48Hello, Dragons.
16:49My name is Ben Reeves.
16:50I'm here today with my lovely wife, Natalia.
16:52We are co-founders of Swish, the portable golf ball cleaner.
16:56Dragons, imagine this.
16:58You step up to make a crucial part, but your golf ball is covered in dirt.
17:02A dirty golf ball can mean less accuracy, less control, and potentially a lost game.
17:08Gophers know the struggle, but we found that existing cleaning methods are inconvenient and ineffective.
17:15That's why we created Swish.
17:17On the course, many golfers resort to wet towel on their back, a spit, which is not ideal, or static golf ball washer like this one here on the next hole.
17:30In our experience, these are dry and smelly due to lack of maintenance.
17:36Swish is a compact, lightweight, and easy-to-use device that cleans your balls in seconds.
17:43Just pop it open, pre-wet the sponges, pop your dirty ball in, give it a few swishes, dry it, and it comes out spotless, ready for the perfect shot.
18:02There are over 66 million golfers worldwide.
18:05We're here today asking for an £80,000 investment for 10% equity.
18:10Thank you for listening, and we welcome any questions that you have.
18:14A portable device for cleaning golf balls is the offering from Ben and Natalia Reeves.
18:22Have you got any dirty golf balls?
18:24We do, Gary, yes.
18:26That's something you weren't expecting to say today, wasn't it?
18:29The couple are seeking £80,000 in exchange for a 10% share in their business.
18:39Self-confessed golf nut Peter Jones is first with the questions.
18:48I've been waiting for a...
18:50I've literally been waiting for having a golf product in the den.
18:53I love golf.
18:54We know.
18:55We know.
18:56So it is an issue when you, you know, you're picking a ball up on the green, you want it cleaned.
19:02I typically would do, I'd do the spit thing and put it in the pocket and play with my ball in the pocket.
19:09Natalia's face when you said that.
19:11No, no, it's not great, but it does work and I think that's the thing.
19:15OK.
19:16I think that you've got an interesting product.
19:18It's the size of the opportunity, I think, here that we're really looking at.
19:22And how many people would really want to buy one?
19:26Because I do think that you've entered a more niche novelty product.
19:31OK.
19:32Rather than a mainstream product.
19:34We've used it now for two years.
19:36Yeah.
19:37And it's so easy to clean the ball.
19:40And like Natalia referred to, the method of the wet towel and any other method to spit in is just something that, yeah.
19:48It's gross.
19:51Ben and Natalia.
19:52Yes.
19:53So your business, is it pre-revenue?
19:55No, we're trading.
19:57How long have you been trading?
19:5818 months.
19:59So give us some numbers on the 18 months.
20:01Yeah.
20:02OK.
20:03So in the first year, we sold for £158,000.
20:07Gross profit?
20:08Gross profit, £92,000.
20:10Yeah.
20:11And net profit was £23,000.
20:14All right.
20:15Yeah.
20:16So the next six months?
20:18Next year, our prediction would...
20:20That was the first 12 months?
20:22That was the first 12 months, yeah.
20:23You said you had 18 months.
20:24So what's the next six months?
20:25So within the first pretty much five, six months, we haven't sold any.
20:31Any?
20:32Why?
20:33Because everything we did was organic.
20:35Everything we've traded, how we've traded so far, is with an iPhone and our dining room table.
20:41We pack, we distribute everything so far.
20:44OK.
20:45You've not really gone to any retail?
20:47No.
20:48No.
20:49Right.
20:50So how much did it cost to make?
20:52So it was around £7.
20:53Yeah.
20:54And how much is that sold for?
20:55£29.99.
20:56Yeah.
20:57Chinese?
20:58Production?
20:59No.
21:00No, UK production.
21:01UK.
21:02Right.
21:03And how much did you pay for the mould?
21:06£25,000.
21:07£25,000.
21:08Pounds?
21:09Yes.
21:10I'm looking at the cost.
21:11Yes.
21:12And I'm saying, how can you reduce cost?
21:14Because I think it should be retail-wise under £20.
21:18Great to be manufactured in the UK.
21:20Yeah.
21:21But I would imagine that if you invest $5,000 to $10,000 in a mould, the product will cost
21:27you $2,000, $3,000 approximately.
21:31This is exactly what we are looking for in a dragon.
21:34Right.
21:35So I can deliver that.
21:37OK.
21:38Ben, Natalia.
21:39Yes.
21:40What did you come to the den looking for today?
21:41Oh.
21:42This has been a five-year journey for us.
21:45It's tested us.
21:47I think when you become an entrepreneur, it tests every aspect of you.
21:58We've taken it to a stage now where we get messages from all over the world asking when
22:07we were supplied to this country because they want Swish.
22:10I can only commend you.
22:17I am a big fan of you guys, but I just don't play golf.
22:26And so I almost can't conceptualise a bunch of things about this business.
22:32So, regrettably, I'm going to say that I'm out, but congratulations.
22:42So, the more I've heard, the more I've realised I don't know anything about golf.
22:49But this feels like a really neat solution.
22:53And I even love the cut.
22:55Look at that.
22:56Yeah.
22:57And your eyes.
22:58Look.
22:59My eyes always smooth.
23:00Here from here.
23:01Always smooth.
23:02But it just isn't my thing.
23:04That's fine.
23:05Don't play golf in.
23:06I kind of want it to be my thing, but it's not my thing.
23:09So, I won't be investing, but I really wish you all the best.
23:11Thank you very much.
23:12Thank you very much.
23:13I'm out.
23:15So, I started playing golf when I was probably about eight or nine.
23:19Went and bought one club and used to play with my brother quite a lot.
23:23Got to love the game.
23:24But on the product itself, obviously this cleans the golf ball.
23:29But one of the bigger problems, I think, for golfers is when your club actually gets dirt
23:34and mud in it.
23:35Yeah.
23:36Is there any way in which you could expand the product to be able to include the cleaning
23:42of the club?
23:43Because I think that's a bigger problem.
23:45Yeah.
23:46So, we have sold in the past a brush that cleans the grooves.
23:50Almost like a wire brush, you mean?
23:52Yeah.
23:53Personally, from our golfing point of view, we don't think that there's a better way than
23:57that.
23:58Okay.
23:59Because I think Peter hit the nail on the head in terms of it's quite a niche product
24:04and it's the scale of the opportunity.
24:05He said there's, I think, 66 million golfers globally.
24:09Yeah.
24:1066 million golfers and everyone has to clean their golf balls.
24:16Well, I think I get what you've got.
24:19It's just the size of how big could this really be in an already fairly small market.
24:25Okay.
24:26But do you know what?
24:27Gary's just, he's just said something there.
24:30And I was just looking at this, you know, like Pac-Man.
24:33It goes along.
24:35But if you could decide it in such a way that the club itself, like this club here, could
24:44actually, when you hit your ball, could actually go in, clean your club, put your bones back
24:49in the room, and you've got a dual use for it.
24:52I think he could have this.
24:54I mean, maybe we should bring that out, Gary.
24:57Do you want me to invest?
24:59Yeah.
25:00Yeah.
25:01Being a golfer, I do think there's an element of multi-use here.
25:07And I think it's really worth exploring.
25:10I also think you need to get it out there.
25:13And that's the other thing.
25:15And I think that's what Gary as well could be very impactful because people do trust, you know,
25:22very well-known but incredibly well-respected sports athletes.
25:27And he's one of the best, right?
25:28So that combination as well, there could be something here.
25:32I think Tuka is brilliant.
25:34He knows exactly where to do these types of products, where to get them.
25:38And I think that the combination here is that with the three of us that are left in, I think this could be a really good opportunity.
25:46I also think you need a bit more money.
25:48So I would like to throw a bit of a curveball and suggest that perhaps we go in together three dragons, but we give you a bit more money.
25:58Okay.
25:59So you asked for £80,000 for 10%.
26:03I would offer you £30,000 for the 10%.
26:08Okay.
26:09Okay.
26:10So ultimately, that would mean an offer from everybody of £90,000, and you'd give away 30% of the company,
26:17but you'd have three dragons if Gary and Tuka would be interested.
26:21Okay.
26:25There is quite a few things that I like about this.
26:30One, it's obviously in the sporting arena.
26:33Two, I do think there is a problem with cleaning your golf ball and your golf clubs when you're playing.
26:43So I will offer you £30,000 for 10% as well.
26:51I'll tell you where I am, guys.
26:54I like it.
26:57So I will offer you £30,000 for 10% too.
27:11Thank you very much for your time today, dragons.
27:13We are delighted to say we would love to take your offer.
27:16Yay!
27:19Thank you so much.
27:20I'm sure we'll make this work.
27:21An amazing outcome for Ben and Natalia.
27:25Thank you, bye.
27:26And then we're looking for a great good job to get a new one.
27:27Who leave the den with £90,000 and the backing of a trio of dragons with the expertise to get their product into the hands of even more golfers around the globe.
27:38the globe absolutely ecstatic it means a world to us how we came over the moon and to get those
27:49three dragons was kind of the plan so i was just incredible
28:08i'm janesh i'm the ceo of scrive i've watched dragon's den since i was in my 20s
28:15so to be here now is just a really kind of surreal experience
28:24it's like my trip to blackpool in 1985.
28:29it does look like very old stuff doesn't it retro if it's not you're gonna feel so bad
28:38i really feel really passionate about the problem that we're solving i just feel like i just want
28:44to get in there and just tell the dragons about my business and i just really hope they like it
28:59hi dragons i'm janesh and i'm the ceo of scrive we're a free app that helps homeowners pay off
29:05their mortgages faster and save interest just by doing the everyday shopping and today i'm asking
29:10for 50 000 pounds in exchange for a two percent stake in the business the idea for scrive comes
29:16from my own mortgage journey 12 years ago my wife and i bought our first home and i vividly remember
29:22seeing the mortgage offer document and it's saying for every one pound we borrowed we'd pay 50p in
29:26interest over the lifetime of the mortgage that meant we'd be paying over 150 000 pounds in interest
29:33money that i'd rather spend towards my family's future and that's why i created the sprive app
29:39imagine being able to put just an extra 25 pounds a month towards your mortgage just by doing your
29:43everyday shopping your morning coffee the weekly shop booking a holiday even that cheeky takeaway
29:50it might not sound like much but over time it adds up and it can save you thousands of pounds
29:54in interest and knock years off your mortgage and with just one tap using the sprive app that money
30:00goes straight to your mortgage lender right now we support 14 of the uk's largest lenders
30:06we work with over 85 brands and we're helping over 20 000 homeowners if i can show you a quick demo
30:12to see you can see how the app works that would be much appreciated
30:19an app that lets users overpay their mortgages is the offering from janesh borer imagine i've done a
30:27100 pound shop at my local supermarket i hit swipe to pay i then scan the barcode at checkout that pays
30:35for the shop janesh is seeking 50 000 pounds in exchange for two percent of his company we take
30:42commission and within 15 minutes you earn money towards your mortgage which you can pay to your
30:46lender with just one tap so can a business designed to save its customers money entice the dragons into
30:53partying with theirs janesh is this a product that can be layered with other offers when you're shopping
31:04sure so you can so for example whether it's your cup of coffee your your grocery shopping you can
31:09essentially all the shopping you do you just do it as normal at whether it's online or in store sorry
31:14but by layered i meant so you go into a store yeah um you've got two for three for twos yeah discounts yeah
31:21yeah and often you can only use one of those offers so is is this one that could be layered
31:27lots of different offers you can still so you can get all your like points or all your discounts and
31:33then you still get the benefit of money towards your mortgage on every single shop and how do you make
31:37your money so we make money in two ways so we make money when people shop through the app and we also
31:42make money when people remortgage through the app so we also have a feature which i didn't mention
31:46where we scan the market every day for better mortgage deals every time someone switches um
31:50on the remortgaging side it depends really on the mortgage balance but if you had a 200 000
31:54pound mortgage and we switch someone from lender a to lender b we can end up to like 750 pounds in
32:00commission and then on the shopping side of things we typically on an annualized basis our gross profit
32:05is around 48 pounds per user okay so you're existing tell me your biggest customer at the moment
32:12so we we work with like amazon we work with tesco's asda sainsbury's morrison's mns waitress
32:19iceland john lewis primark boots all the brands that that would would like to support so i'm fascinated
32:25you seem to have quite a big exposure why have i never heard of you well we've not really been
32:33focused on growing customer numbers we've really been trying to sorry did you just say to me you've not
32:37really focused on growing there's a reason there's a reason for that with the with an app like mine
32:41it's really important as you grow customers um there was a position where we were like each
32:46customers cost me more money to be on the platform than the money i was making and so i made a conscious
32:51effort to like really focus on making sure every new incremental customer would make us money and we're
32:56now in that position so we've got to 20 000 homeowners but there's millions of people with
33:01mortgages and who wouldn't want to pay off their mortgage faster last question for me for a minute
33:05are you making any money so we um so we're not we're not profitable we need to get 40 000 people
33:11shopping through our app and we we break even and how much are you losing at the moment so um in
33:16last year we had a net loss of 565 000 pounds five five five hundred and sixty five thousand and what's
33:23your net loss monthly net loss at the moment so um we typically lose about um thirty thousand thirty
33:29five thousand you said you had twenty thousand homeowners already that's right locked in and you've
33:35also said to deborah that you weren't looking to grow your audience but you've got half of you said you
33:39wanted 40 is that right sorry 40 000 new shoppers okay so you only get to 60 000. so i only get to
33:4660 000 that's correct and there's one thing you should be aware of so when we first started we
33:49didn't have the shopping feature we literally had a feature was like an auto savings feature we
33:54screw away spare cash so about fifth just under 15 000 people use our app just to screw away spare
34:00cash and be able to make one tap payments like over payments via their lender what's your background to
34:05get into this i used to work in financial services so i spent the first time it's quite complex yeah
34:11yeah for me straight away and i think about war rewards points all these sort of discount type
34:18things i always feel like it's about trust for me it's trusted particularly when you link it to your
34:24mortgage sure trust is everything in financial services janesh um i always get a little bit um suspicious
34:31when i hear what you said to deborah which is we've not tried to acquire customers yet well 20 000 is
34:37still i think okay and how much is it costing you to acquire a customer so at the moment we've done
34:42very little paid ads to acquire customers it's all been mostly word of mouth you're not answering
34:46questions jamesh okay but specifically um we just started in paid ads last month and the initial kind
34:53of cost of acquisition on paid ads has been about 20 pounds and how much money have you raised um so we
34:59initially raised 230 000 pounds when we had nothing we've got the first version of the app using that
35:04cash we then raised 1.45 million and now we're in a position where we just last month um raised two and
35:11a half million pounds in cash and we're using that to grow the business okay um josh i'm gonna this is
35:18a very quick one for me because i i've looked at a bunch of businesses that offer different sort of
35:24shopping cashback mechanics over the last couple years and one of the big challenges with this
35:29business is going to be acquiring customers cost effectively and i think the i think you said 20
35:35quid to acquire a customer um for this proposition i think i think even that's going to come under
35:40pressure we only need 40 000 to um break even and now i've got two and a half million to to grow our
35:46user base so you need 40 000 now but your company's going to grow and so you're going to need more money
35:51and the acquisition costs are going to change especially if you scale spend acquisition gets
35:55more expensive yeah so i'm going to say that i'm out but i wish you the very very best sure thank you
36:02who has invested four million pounds it's really impressive to have raised that
36:07so um the latest the latest um investment which is like the two and a half million was led by
36:13one of the top fintech investors in the uk why do you need anybody here if you're raising two and a
36:18half million pounds from an institutional investor who's going to bring their intelligence and
36:23their network yeah because to stephen's point acquiring customers is the biggest challenge and
36:27what i would say about all five of you here is that people around the uk trust you when it comes to
36:32money so you've raised four million pounds you're coming in here for fifty thousand pounds yeah
36:37purely to add trust to to note for business strategy your network and to help me spread the word
36:44i think that's the perfect time really for me to sort of say where am i because i think you've
36:49done some incredible things raising four million pounds for a startup and you're really passionate
36:53about your business but that's one of the most important things for me that i have to be passionate
36:58about what i invest in sure and i always feel like points rewards is a little bit of a dark art in
37:04terms of sort of the element of trust that we've spoken about before it also frightens me to death
37:09you've got a cash burn of 35 000 pounds a month so unfortunately i won't be investing i'm out well
37:15thank you for listening thank you janesh hi um you've just raised two and a half million sure and
37:23you're burning 35k a month yes your statement was that you needed 40 000 more customers and they're 20
37:30pounds to acquire a customer sure um so why would you not just spend 800 000 of the 2.5 immediately take the
37:37business to break even and then stop that burn and grow it from there yeah it's a good point and
37:42that's why i won a dragon i mean i've i wasn't i was in the kind of the corporate world working
37:46financial services i've never built uh you know a brand and i have an aspiration to help millions of
37:52people across the uk and this this feedback is really good so i appreciate it no no janesh i i i
37:57think it's really really interesting in terms of the fact that i feel like you've done really well
38:02higher than my expectation raising the money yes yeah like you've raised 230k 1.45 now another two
38:10and a half sure you've got 20 000 customers it's clearly working as a business what's the level of
38:18interaction against those 20 000 customers at the moment on average every single week so when i say
38:23active users i'm talking about all 20 000 i use in the app every so everybody 100 right this is this
38:31is for me this this has got me written all over it um i i think i could really help you here okay um
38:43i'm gonna make you an offer okay i'm listening i'm gonna offer you 50 000 yeah
38:47yeah but i'd like five percent of the business okay thank you
38:58and so i'll tell you i'll tell you what i'm gonna do
39:03i will give you the 50 000 for five percent yeah but i would share with peter on the base if he wants
39:09to share it because i think between us we would add value so i would offer you 50 000 for all of the
39:16money yeah but i would be willing yeah if peter accepts to share with peter yeah so that's 25 000
39:23for two and a half percent yeah and i uh evil way okay brilliant thank you
39:30do you want to think or do you want to know he hasn't heard from me yet oh okay
39:36so i you're clearly very good um i really like what you're doing i like that you come from a financial
39:45services background um because that gives me the confidence that there'll be an integrity to what
39:51you're doing because you know what you're doing yeah so um so i i really like what you're doing and
39:56i'm going to make you an offer too so i am going to offer you all of the money okay um for four percent
40:03okay okay thank you so much it's really really generous offer
40:08so i just want to ask like peter and tucco is any way you would do 50 000 for four percent between
40:17the two of you i just want to have more information before i make a decision if that's okay
40:24and if we said and we accepted that would that be a deal done
40:31two dragons unfortunately are better than one hopefully you don't take offense
40:34that would be the dough done yeah i'd accept that you would accept that what you could have
40:42asked of course is whether or not i would have shared is that actually like that's that'd be i
40:48mean if i get three dragons that'd be absolutely amazing well you need to take control now if you
40:53want to find out all of your options yeah you really ought to ask the question i'll tell you what i
40:59would accept two percent for half the money yeah if you want three dragons yeah we'll split five
41:07percent because the power of three dragons and the three dragons you've got that's that's pretty serious
41:17yeah i'll take that yeah yeah 50 000 is everyone if everyone's happy with that i would be genuinely
41:23happy with that that's five percent and you've got three dragons 50 000 amazing is that right is
41:28this really happening aren't you glad i need to be thank you so much joy for jinesh
41:39well done i don't know why we're shaking hands we're always hugging thank you so much
41:44who leaves the den with 50 000 pounds and the backing of three dragons with the contacts and
41:53credibility to accelerate his app i feel amazing like i'd never in my wildest dream thought that
42:01i'd get three dragons so i'm just over the moon i'm gonna have a beer tonight i think we might have
42:10been a little bit naive there going out that early don't feel bad about it because that if that ends
42:14up being the next sort of paypal for can you imagine
42:31it's reciting the picture we know our stuff yeah yeah you look lovely you look so handsome
42:34i guess we are next in the den are tina and ollie who found love then founded their business we got
42:44married in september 2023 and then about four or five months after we got married we launched our
42:49business and we haven't looked back in sort of a year and a half what is that ball that looks like a
42:59falafel no what is falafel well it does smell nice come on in i'm hungry
43:04we got this i love you well i came up with an idea one evening inside the factory was on tv
43:13and it was about a bath bomb factory and it was like a light bulb moment
43:16and yeah that's kind of how flavor bombs started
43:21love you love you
43:22hello dragons my name is tina figihi hallam and my name is ollie hallam and we're the founders of
43:36flavor bombs we're asking for 50 000 pounds for 10 equity in our business have i been lucky enough
43:43to travel to some wonderful places around the world i've had the pleasure of eating and recreating some
43:48fantastic dishes over the years however a lot of them quite time consuming to make and they required
43:54a plethora of ingredients that were not always easily accessible i really wanted to change this
43:59so flavor bombs was born each flavor bomb contains all the ingredients needed to help you make an
44:04incredible curry a vietnamese broth a sauce or a mexican birre consomme filled with high quality herbs
44:11spices garlic onion tomato and more all perfectly portioned and blended into a delicious globe
44:20as demonstrated all you need to do is drop one of our flavor bombs into a pan with water
44:27add your protein or veggies of choice stir and enjoy
44:32it's like a bath bomb for your saucepan we launched in february 2024 and the response blew us
44:42away within weeks we had interest from a major retailer an international distributor and we exploded
44:49onto tick tock with our videos now having over three and a half million views just shy of our first
44:55year anniversary we hit an incredible milestone of a hundred thousand pounds in turnover now with your
45:01investment we want to scale and bring flavor bombs to every kitchen every table and every heart that
45:08beats for the love of food thank you we would love for you to sample a couple of our flavor bombs
45:16a range of ready-made meal bases in globe form inspired by different world cuisines is the proposal
45:23from tina for gihi hallam and husband ollie we have period tacos for you and also our guyanese coconut
45:31curry the pair are seeking 50 000 pounds for a 10 share in their company that's really that's lovely
45:41they've succeeded in tantalizing taste buds but will the dragons find the business opportunity equally
45:47appetizing
45:50tina yes ollie is it mr and mrs hallam yes it is how did you guys meet uh a very traditional way of online
45:59a few years ago and you started the business together we did and what are your professional
46:03backgrounds so do you want to go fast uh i'm actually from the film industry background so i'm a focus
46:08blur um head up team of camera assistants and uh yeah look after that side of things and i've been
46:14working tech for the past 12 years and i've led sort of global teams and startups the past
46:19seven or eight years now so the startup world is something i'm quite familiar with
46:22and what is what in terms of the the financials of the business you started in february 24 yeah so
46:28you've got roughly a year's worth of trading yeah yes can you run me through you said 100k revenue
46:32yeah so it's actually 105 000 uh turnover that was a gross of 56 000 with a net of 30 000.
46:39that's 30 000. okay and what are you forecasting for this year so 2025 we're actually due to turn over
46:44200 000 um with a gross of 105 and a net of 60 000. and your sales are predominantly through your
46:52website at the moment 50 through our website the rest through amazon and tiktok okay
46:57thank you tina ollie hi hi so 100 000 and going to 200 000 this seems really really forecasting at a
47:09low level why why is that not gone very well i think it was quite conservative because we want
47:18to get into retailers we want to have conversations with them so we moved into a unit a couple of months
47:22ago but we haven't got our brc or salsa accreditation yet for food hygiene for food hygiene so that we
47:28can go into those big retailers but we also didn't want to come here and say we're going to hit 500k
47:33next year but well how so we haven't forecast fully you said this is what i'm asking is who have you set
47:39in front of i mean for example everybody knows levi roots that's quite one thing but but the opening
47:43order that i negotiated just just with that just as a trial was 170 000 pounds we haven't we haven't had
47:49those conversations yeah he's not sat in front of anyone no no we haven't yet because we didn't
47:53want to burn any opportunities because we haven't got that quotation on the unit you're in now yes what's
47:59the capacity per week uh so currently with the one machine we have it's about um about 2 000 a week
48:08so so in the short term yep your maximum that you can produce you would turn over about
48:15about about 200 000. so what would be your gross profit it's about 53 percent so you're talking
48:21about 105 grand yeah and how much would you spend on marketing on that we're looking for about at least
48:29four or five grand a month a month so so that's that's about 60 grand a year so you've gone from 100
48:38down to 40 yeah right and what about your overheads if you go flat out you will probably lose 100 150 grand
48:51honestly i think you're great don't get me wrong but you've come in here unprepared in what it costs
48:57to launch a product like this in the open world 50 grand won't go far i think no we won't but we're
49:05not oblivious okay maybe the forecast we put for certain things we were a little bit naive but i
49:10know for example getting a listing is not the hardest part it's doing the marketing and driving
49:15the customers to that retailer so we do need to have more of a market that goes money
49:24um that tasted really good oh thank you so much that's the most important thing when you're creating
49:29a food product is does it actually taste good and it and it does how much have you invested in this
49:34business i mean literally 300 quid at the start and then everything else has been through profits
49:39from the business yeah so explain that 300 pounds how have you invest so how did you get your
49:45manufacturing your your your space to be able to make it for 300 pounds how have you just invested
49:51300 pounds it was all um well i started in our apartment so it was you know 50 quid's worth of
49:56spices um i did all the designing of the website and the labels and everything ourselves like myself
50:02um and that was about it we just launched on tick tock and we got orders you know 100 orders in the
50:07first couple of days uh from our first video which i think had about 300 000 views yeah put everything
50:12back into the business because when tuka said that you'd come in underprepared i'd not read you as
50:16being underprepared as entrepreneurs i think you're really careful and cautious i think you're managing
50:21your business so that you're not losing lots of money for me i think you've built a really strong
50:26foundation of your business thank you that means a lot do you want a big business we really want a
50:34big business the dream is we want flavor bombs to be a household name yeah oh should we have a flavor
50:38bombs tonight you know this is a silence like this is usually me pete hasn't said anything in so long
50:52tina yes ollie um i this has been really interesting for me because it's quite rare in the den that you
51:02meet two entrepreneurs and you sit here and think no they're gonna do it but one of the things that i
51:07know is really important is that i'm excited by the category and i stayed in because i'm so excited by
51:16you two and my money would be so safe with you but i'm not sure if i'm looking for safe and i know i'm
51:24looking for excitement and because i don't have that level of excitement for this i'm going to say that
51:29i'm out thank you tina ollie um i've tasted it and it's it without doubt it passes the taste test it's
51:41really really good thank you i'm sitting and with the reason why i've been sort of quite quiet is
51:52i'd have to say how is i know this market better than anybody and i and i do feel like it's really
51:58really challenging and i'm i'm sitting here thinking this level of investment i think that this might need
52:06to make it really successful which then means how does that then potentially look for some sort of
52:13dilution but what got me was when you said you want a big business it was a great question from gary
52:24and i think it could be big if you get this right um i also think that um ollie i think
52:31you can just carry on being a camera guy yeah well come on for me ollie yeah i'm being really
52:40straight here i i think your support of tina is fantastic you you every time we talk you keep
52:46looking to her you are yeah you are an incredibly supportive human and you want you're you're almost
52:51looking at her in a very proud way and whenever you're going to set me off whenever you were talking
52:57getting compliments he's looking to you tina so i i i'm gonna make you an offer
53:07but it does come at a price of course it does um i'm gonna offer you all of the money the 50 000
53:17but i'd like to be an equal partner with you oh my god okay so i will offer you all of the money
53:22for a third of the business so we can have 33 and a third each
53:31i mean i love the products and i love this style of food so i think that's number one so i have to
53:36be passionate about what i invest in i think you're really good people i don't have great experience in
53:42this area but i have raised significant money in my businesses um so i'm going to make you an offer
53:53and i'll offer you tell myself i would not get emotional don't get emotional yet you don't know
53:58i want
54:06so i will offer you all the money
54:11for 20 percent
54:12thank you so much thank you
54:21i'll tell you i'll tell you what i strongly feel that you've got something
54:30so i'm gonna make you an offer
54:34gary would you match peter's offer for half and half so they get two dragons instead of one
54:39yeah yeah would so would match peter's offer that's uh 25 000 for 15 percent each
54:50okay thank you so much thank you um i'm really glad you got offers really glad you got offers
54:57um you helped me in the brand helped me in it's not a space that i can get excited about sure so i
55:05won't be investing thank you thank you deborah thank you everyone for your offers we really
55:13appreciate it and just genuinely thank you for the feedback that you've given to that's also invaluable
55:19um peter we're wondering whether there's any wiggle room at all because 33 is quite high
55:25would you be willing to come down
55:26you know what i would do 25 percent on the condition that i'm my share is not getting diluted
55:47if you guys go off and go raise raise some money
55:53that's we can make that's that's a reason yeah yeah yeah yeah we'd love to accept you
56:00thank you gary thank you thank you so much thank you victory for tina and dolly
56:09i love being rejected
56:10thank you very well done from a spark of inspiration to a dragon's den sensation
56:16the culinary couple cooked up a win to remember
56:26what just happened that was crazy oh my god
56:29oh my god she's celebrating the idea that you just sacked her husband
56:40but one thing i would say is you don't i don't think you should go back to being a cameraman
56:44they only got a snippet of what he does for the business and we wouldn't be here without him
56:48so i just wanted to say that i'm so proud of you i'm proud of you
56:52i didn't see you he's the best husband best partner you really are he's he's the best
57:09next time welcome to the den it's a pleasure to be here beauty supremo suzy ma makes her den debut
57:17yeah let's go i'm ready to watch this i'm gonna make you an offer of all of the money
57:20but for 20 of the business 20 they wanted three sometimes you do have to put absolutely everything
57:26on the line so i'm getting emotional here i don't usually high five a competitor
57:32never seen you like this before don't trust me i don't mean it
57:37a hysterical confession graham norton and maria mcelaine are wanging on listen to their latest on
57:43sounds once upon a time in a boardroom an epic story about to be told just don't expect to
57:50fairytale ending the apprentice is next
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