Episode 6 of Dragon's Den / The Apprentice

Week six of Dragons’ Den arrived with four new teams pitching for funding from the Dragons. A husband and wife team were first up with “Wype”, a gel which turns toilet paper into a biodegradable wet wipe. They asked for a £50k investment in return for 2% of their business (one of the more sensible % giveaways we’ve seen from a Den business in terms of share capital). Whilst they received an initial positive repose from the Dragons, there was a concern about the uniqueness of the product. What sets them apart from competitors? And, has the company made any efforts to protect their trade secrets? The originality of the product, and consumer buying habits were a major issue for the Dragons, and the couple left without investment.

Next up was Sheila with Biscuit Tin. Opening with the huge admission of risk that she had plugged her own pension savings into building the company already. She asked for £50k in return for a 5% stake in her tech business which helps families handle end of life administration via a secure digital vault for users to upload all of their end of life wishes and information. Following the pitch, Peter Jones voiced his concerns around the “why”. Why not just set up a drop box or similar to organise your thoughts and share with the family? Why pay this company £x/year? The investment was high risk, but not high reward due to the ultimate future looking dilution of their shareholding. Ultimately, Biscuit Tin left the Den without investment.

Third to face the Dragons was Sofie with her baby based business “Little Hoppa”, looking for £75k in exchange for 5% of her business. One of the more prepared businesses – she had already invested in registering trade marks for Little Hoppa, and her wider “By Sofie” brands. After some pretty uncomfortable questioning around her balance sheet, Touker Suleyman made (a pretty cheeky imo) offer of £100k but wanted 45% of the business. Sofie accepted!

Last in the Den this week was “London Nootropics” an adaptogenic coffee. Launched in March 2020, they were looking for £50k in exchange for 10% of their wellness business. The founders were extremely prepared and knew the numbers and value of the market. The brand was made for alternative marketplaces around Instagram/wellness/CBD social media users, and once the Dragons clarified what exactly an adaptogen actually is… the company left with joint investment from Deborah and Sara.

In this week’s Apprentice, the candidates made the pilgrimage to Wales to put on tourist attractions. The day began with the usual “this isn’t my area of expertise” responsibility shift in picking project managers, and ended with cringe worthy sales attempts to flog £100s of pounds worth of posh cheese hampers to make up for poor bargaining on tourist ticket commission earlier in the day. The good news is, existing tour group leaders of Wales need not be worried about any competition. After a dicey boardroom debate, it was a taxi for Amy, leaving Aarron and Kathryn to fight another week.