[Music] First into the den a freewheeling Entrepreneurs Tom Putnam and Mark Jenner A duo with very different approaches to Their business time is ridiculously Optimistic about everything he thinks Everything's a good idea and that's not True But it works very well the other way Because Mark's a horrible cynic so every Time I think there's a good idea he Thinks of all the reasons why it won't Work [Applause] But they're equally optimistic when it Comes to their new product for the Cycling Market Foreign [Music] Hello Dragons I'm Tom and I'm Mark Together we're the founders of B-Line Mark and I've been friends for years and We always wanted to start something Together And uh one day we were cycling to we Were meeting up to discuss exactly that When Mark arrived late so that Journey Was a total nightmare I got completely Lost I was stopping to check my phone Every two minutes and ended up on some Really horrific roads now let me tell You how that Journey would work with Beeline So I take my B-Line device and I attach
It to the handlebars Then in the B-Line app on my phone I Would enter the destination and any Points which I would like to go via then I put my phone away The device then just tells me the Direction to my next point and tells me How far away that is it's like a compass That points you to where you're going to Go and the arrow on the screen is what I'm seeing here on the device B-Line retails for 99 pounds and has Patents pending We launched this in Kickstarter 18 Months ago we've sold six and a half Thousand devices in the last few weeks We've been stocked in Evan Cycles Amazon Firebox and Harrods Today we're looking for 100 000 pounds To help scale our business and return For 2.5 of the company We are on a mission to help the world Have great Journeys we hope that you'll Join us thank you very much A pitch that's going places got some Packaged products if you have a look at Here from business partners Tom Putnam And Mark Jenner they want 100 000 pounds In exchange for 2.5 percent of their Company making navigation devices for Cyclists But will the dragons make a beeline for An investment or head for the exit Tage lalvani already seems a little lost
My question is you've got this product You snap it on the handlebar of a cycle Why don't I just use a phone and use an App which is quite similar that's got This Arrow Direction system on it what We found when we did the market research Is that lots of people didn't want to Put their phone on their handlebars two The battery dies too quickly when I use It for navigation and three it's just 100 pounds is not cheap either Yeah I I think people have had a very Close relationship with their phone they Didn't want to put it at risk whereas a Purpose-built product that they like the Look of they're much more keen on I'm not a cyclist but what I'm seeing Here is a um a GPS compress yeah yeah But I decide I really like this road I'm On yeah and somewhere along this road I'll take a little lane or something Down here yeah But I have no idea where that lane Actually gets me there I might get to a Farmer's gate or something is that right Uh yeah It's not really for cycling in the Countryside is it you could end up down Any alley so we primarily designed this For urban cycling where you're in a Dense network of streets in the city and There it it almost always does work The entrepreneurs are having to navigate Through some early doubts about their
Directional device Now tej lalvani wants to know what it Cost to get their company to its current Position How much of money you put in the Business ourselves personally yeah so we Put 20 000 pounds between us into the Business we've raised it for Equity as Well okay so tell me about that uh so We've done two rounds first was a Friends and family round Um that was 60 000 pounds and then we Raised half a million pounds last year Half a million pounds last year and so How much Equity you guys left with at The moment we've got about 30 each And just uh finally how much cash have You got left in the company you raised 500k so right now cash it bank is 30k 30k yeah Wow so you went through about 560k [Music] Where has that all gone Um it's so we we have spent that that's That's money that's been feeding back Into the business what so what have you Spent I don't understand so where's that Money gone exactly of total we spent 875 000 pounds in the last two years 315 000 pounds of that has gone into Inventory um so just buying stock Um the major other areas are product Development it's been a huge huge cost And then generally marketing other costs
Around about around running a business We now have a team of seven Um that we pay salaries for I'm in the cycling business yeah yeah What worries me If technology is moving so quickly Somebody else to come along with a much Simpler idea and you were blowing out The water By the time you get your act together You'll be on your bike And you're gonna go bust Where we are now is we we're generating Almost enough to cover our burn rate Through sales we're now actually in a Position where we can keep on going Along as we are and we're not going to Die we're not going to go bust Guys I don't I don't understand why You're here now then Because you've you've got investors Money you've got the product now yeah You should be out selling it What we're looking for is growth Capital No you've had your capital If you've got sales You've got product and inventory It can now be self-fulfilling We can as you say self-fulfilled we're Able to sell enough each month to cover Our costs and to keep growing but it's Quite slow basically we have Opportunities to sell more all the time That we can't service right now and with
A bit more cash and a couple more Members in the team we could and we Could grow much more quickly OPM What does that mean to you OPM Other people's money Right okay so you you've put 20 000 of Your own money yep And you've taken other people's money Yep Um so assuming that that I want to Invest in you guys today yep when will The next round come in it depends on the On the strategy we take so let's ask you What tell me now here I am in the Cycle World yeah and you're telling me that You haven't got a strategy Whatever investment we take now or Whether we don't have investment Our Intention would still be to take this Product to scale this one product then Any first simple question When will you next raise more money The ambition would be to fundra to raise More money at the end of this year end Of the year yeah so I'll put my money in Yeah and by the end of the year I'll get Diluted So from Two and a Half I'll go from Two And a Half to zero No it won't be that much No no no no absolutely not two and a Half to two Ah
So on that basis I'm not gonna invest And I'm out It's a blow for the entrepreneurs as the Den cycle Supremo predicts diminishing Dragon equity Will Jenny Campbell be able to see a Route to investment [Music] I don't believe this product is going to Be a success I'm not a cyclist and and I Hope you're right and I'm wrong but if The bicycle man says he's not investing The ex-banker is certainly not investing So I'm just going to say I'm out [Music] I think you've just created a glorified Compass 100 pound Compass it's not even a Sat Nav that can direct you on streets to Get to where you want to get to it just Tells you north south east west and Points in a Direction And I think that's just Doesn't make any sense And I'm out I see thousands of cyclists and they're Very happy with their iPhones and their Communication devices I'm not even Convinced that this product is The way forward This is wasting my time to be fair So I'm going to say I'm out Really nicely presented so I think your End product is there and is that
Eco-friendly it is yeah eco-friendly I Like that Can I ask when you raise the money are These are these individual investors or Did you go did you crowdfund anymore It's a it's a mix so we've got three Types of investors in the pool Um there's institutional investors right Uh we've got strategic Partnerships and Then about a third of that Um half million pound raise was from Crowdfunding all right That leaves you really quite boxed in in Terms of what you can discuss with Another investor Um do you mind me asking why why that is Well because you don't have a lot of Space to negotiate do you I mean you Cannot possibly with all of those Different types of investors have much Latitude on your negotiation we don't Have a huge amount yeah I love what you've made here I I'm not a Cyclist it could be that it could be Fabulous However I am not going to waste your Time because I know that any offer I Made you is going to be way out of your Negotiating Powers I don't think we're Going to get a deal I won't be investing I'm out So Mark and Tom's hopes of investment Head south as their complex funding Structure leaves Deborah meaden feeling
She has no room for maneuver oh well Don't mind that It's almost tough in that interesting [Music] The next entrepreneur to face the Dragons is Darren Morris from Bristol He's hoping to gather investment Momentum in the den with his invention Aimed at making the roads a safer place For cyclists I really believe in the Products that I've created and if I can Just save a few lives then everything Would have been worth it There's at least one dragon in the den Who is no stranger to the cycling Industry You're in this world aren't you Tuka I'd like to talk about it yeah I'm going To sell some shares to you guys if you Want to invest [Music] Hi my name is Darren Morris and I'm the Founder of glowride 's a completely new type of bike light Which makes Riders 10 times more visible To motorists by lighting the entire Frame of the bike Foreign 's at work in Prototype stage And I'm looking for a hundred thousand Pounds investment to bring it to Market In return I'm 120 share of the business 75 of serious bike accidents happen at Junctions roundabouts and intersections And those that happen in the dark are
Much more likely to be fatal The problem is side visibility it Doesn't matter how bright your frontal Back lights are only a small fraction of The bike's surface area is visible to Motorists side on with glow ride the Entire frame is illuminated which makes The bike and the rider much more visible I've identified an initial target Audience of 47 million daily cyclists Across eight key European launch markets Converting one percent of that possible Target audience delivers revenues of 21 Million pounds I think this is a great opportunity to Get involved in a potential Game Changer Right at the very start of its journey I Believe with your backing and your Mentorship gloride can help save lives And make the roads safer thank you for Listening I'll take questions and please Feel free to inspect the product closely Okay thank you it's an Illuminating Pitch from cycling entrepreneur Darren Morris How's it installed so it's a three main Elements secured by silicon Clips he's Offering 20 of his bike light business In exchange for a hundred thousand Pounds powered by a rechargeable battery Which is removed when the cyclist leaves It parked up tej lalvani is the first Dragon to quiz him about his bright idea Hi Darren hi
It looks quite cool How did you come up with this my kids Are at an age now where they wanted to Get out and about on their bikes more And I noticed even with their lights on How invisible they were really once it Started to get dark and I'm a cyclist Myself but I spend more time in a car And the more I thought about it the more I noticed that actually cyclists just Seemed to appear out of nowhere so I Started to play around with low sticks Then I started to take it a little bit Further and started to experiment with Wires This is not a particularly strong light Emitting Source so what happens when a headlight Goes onto it because you get light Washing out light whilst it might not Look it here it does still push through The the headlights this has been tested And it's visible over 100 meters away From the car approaching I've had conversations with the Department of Transport about obviously The legalities and the legislation of This would they recognize it as a safety Light or just a decorative light as a Safety light they would recognize it yes Okay Having the seal of approval for his Light from a government body has Strengthened Darren standing in the den
But teslalvani wants to know why he Decided to bring it in when it's still Just a prototype tell me why is it that You're coming at this stage to the Denver investment To take it on to the next stage from Prototype to being able to sell this I want to do this with a real quality Product and I want to do it at scale What will be the manufactured finish Price The retail selling price for this would Be 49.99 The cost price is 14 pounds Your production cost is high You need to be landing that a lot Cheaper yeah I mean you're looking at The same thing thinking Seven dollars yeah that's roughly where I was in my head Obviously it's not patentable no and so As soon as you're sure a few of them big Boys if they do think it's a good enough Idea you know they could turn on a dime They could have this into the market in Four to five months yeah How comfortable do you feel that I'm going to tell you over here in just Going to come along and knock you off I've got European design protection I Haven't got the patent but I'm working With a patent attorney on the technology But I could quite easily make one phone Call to my team in China and within a
Week I could get this all up and running I want to be first to Market with this And I want to build a brand that people Will pay even if there are cheaper Imitations and Alternatives out there Darren rides out the claims that his Product can be copied from the dens bike Expert to kusuliman Which has left Peter Jones wondering About the valuation the entrepreneur has Placed on his idea You have in essence created some Illuminated cable lighting with some Cable ties And walked in a valuation of four or Five hundred thousand pounds I'm astounded that this could even be Potentially a thought that it's even a Business We've done nothing that I couldn't go And do Myself very very quickly I'm really intrigued about what you do What is your current job I quit my Current job in November to launch this Full time My job before then I was managing Director of Boardman bikes who are the Biggest bike brand Buy sales in the UK Owned by Halfords So since November my role has been Getting this to a point where I am Speaking to potential angel investors Who have given me that valuation that's
What I'm basing the valuation on I know But what have you got that anybody else Can't do So you know if you break the components Of the product down like you can with Any product it's a wire it's some Silicon fixings and it's a battery But what I believe is that this is a Wire and it is a battery that could Ultimately save your life or your kid's Life You can't question the safety aspect of Anything but this is no closer down that Line than exactly what it is which is Aligned with cable ties with a half a Million pound valuation And you could argue well if it saves one Life it's worth the investment well of Course it is but you're not doing that You're pitching a business And I'm really shocked because you've Got great heritage You've been right at the top of your Game You could have come up with something Slightly better than this This is not a business and it's Certainly not worth four hundred Thousand pounds I do think you're Wasting your time So with respect I'm out Peter Jones becomes the first dragon to Decline the deal
But retail giant Tuka Suleiman has some Questions about future orders for the Light I'm assuming you worked at Halfords You know them there have they seen it Not yet no not yet why not because Having worked there I know that until I Go in with a concrete timing for Delivery and the product then there's Not much point in having the Conversation Have you shown it to any retailer who Says to you I want to buy ten thousand Twenty thousand to directly answer a Question there's no letters of intent There that says yes we'd potentially Order five thousand pounds of this in Truth it's only the last two or three Weeks that I've started going out and Having those conversations with Retailers Okay next 12 months once you've got the Product delivered to you what direct Your sales would be Year One Revenue would be a million pounds Gross profit six hundred thousand pounds And net profit 180 000 pounds Darren I I feel like I'm sitting in some Kind of bizarre alternative world Because I have to say Peter unveiled the empress clothes as Far as I'm concerned because just Pipe of light Actually cable tied
To a bicycle And then when you said things like in The first year I'm going to sell a Million pounds worth Huh You still think that I still think that Yeah I've had feedback from a broad Range of people people who will buy it Who see it more than just cable ties Because it's not just cable type tell me Why it isn't just cable ties You know what cable ties are yeah You know the black cable ties you just Asked me if I knew what cable ties was You know what cable ties are so these Are silicon fixings that are designed For the wire to fit through I can tell You that that product is not rare You're an adult who's lived in this Industry you come up with a loop Evaluation You say crazy things like we're going to Go from zero to a million pound in the First year and then when I look at it it Is literally a pipe of light that is Attached with whatever type of cable Ties you say it's attached with I think you probably know I won't be Investing I'm out Darren's pitch takes another turn for The worse as Deborah meaden becomes the Second dragon out Has Sarah Davies got over her earlier
Concerns about copycat products The big thing that's stopping me is the Lack of protection A hundred grand is too much to take a Punt on something That doesn't have that protection So I've been on the edge all the way Through but unfortunately that's just What's pushing me over so I'm out My issue is that you want a hundred Thousand pounds for something that's not Proven there's no demand for it and the Product's not even available and you Want me to open doors for you and help Grow the business So I'm sure you hear those words coming I'm out It's beginning to look like the wheels Are coming off Darren's pitch as two Dragons opt out in quick succession With a bike business already in his Investment Portfolio will Tuka Suleiman Step in to save his dream I think you've got a great idea And the cycling Market is the biggest Sport in the UK now And I'm Your Dragon One part of me says I know what to do With it another part of me says but do I Want to risk 100 000 pounds And the answer is No You could be very successful I'll kick
Myself and say why didn't I invest in That I wish you all the best but I'm out okay Thank you so with Darren's prototype Failing to light up the den he heads Back to Bristol without an investment He doesn't need protection no one's Copying that it's still just some Lighting pipe with cables the comments About you know it's just wire and cable Ties hurt a little bit They'll see They'll see I'll take their feedback I'll ignore it and I'll move on you make Me feel like you're taking me for a ride Thinking this is worth a million pounds Today because it isn't [Applause] [Music] Hello my name's John Redman I'm the MD And founder of the ride 25 the ultimate Cycling Adventure holiday company Today I'm looking for an investment of 250 000 pounds in return for 25 stake in Ride 25. I was personally looking for a Life-changing Adventure when a friend of Mine suggested why don't we cycle all The way to Australia so ride 25 was born At Road 25 we offer the opportunity to Cycle all the way from the UK to Sydney Australia in 25 individual chunks we Organize everything from the Medics the Mechanics the meals the hotels the
Support crew we cover about 355 miles Over four day period we target Three Core sections corporates Charities and The biggest opportunities the consumer Cycling Market we believe this year we Will take a thousand people cycling we Aim to have 4 000 cyclists by 2018 with A turnover of 5.3 million and nine Hundred thousand pound net profit Ambitious Financial projections from Cyclist John Redmond and you get a nice R25 cap as well very much who's looking For a 250 000 pound investment In return he's offering a 25 share in His company which specializes in Globetrotting cycling holidays Thank you very much guys but Deborah Meaden wants to find out a bit more About the deal being peddled Nice to you what I think I just heard It's a one event a year No it's multiple events starting all the Time In multiple holidays from the UK in Chunks to Australia okay so you've got Almost like this map of events and you Can jump into those events at any point On that Journey between London and then You get the appropriate badge for the Appropriate bit you've done so you can Go all the way to Australia using our Routes and the idea is to create the Routes once sell them many times you're Really offering Logistics aren't you yes
We do take all the hassle out of Traveling with your bike but it's it's On our predefined routes so we've Already been to the coffee stops we know It's a proper coffee shop it's not a Gazebo at the side of the road and where Are most of your clients at the moment The majority of our profit this year Will come from Corpus we've got one Company Liberty Global we're taking 500 People cycling uh in one massive event So how much is one of these bookings They're 1250 pounds a trip on average so They're not cheap but we believe they're Excellent value and we've priced them And we put a lot of quality into the Trips How many consumers do you need in a year To make this a good business or to break Even we're planning to take a thousand People cycling this year we've already Got 800 of those committed so we know we Can see the money however I think There's an opportunity to create a Cycling travel brand that has some brand Value and could be much bigger John has so far managed to steer a Course through some early interrogation Of his business model But his self-confessed car fanatic Peter Jones about to Dish up a dose of road Rage [Music] John the thought of 500 cyclists
Clogging up the road system when people Are trying to go about their busy Day-to-day lives just because somebody Is Rich enough and has got the time to Go and do it I have a real issue with it I find it difficult enough living out in The country as it is when I go and see And go through groups of like 50 coming Down the road and It it drives me up the wall We never start them off in that volume Of size that's the total size of the Event but 500 you've got to have to have That's like that's like you've got to be Doing a hundred an hour yeah most have Actually did that particular event Starts in four separate locations and All finishes in Amsterdam so you could Have a stream of eight hours long worth Of cyclists on a road system going from Here to Amsterdam look technically yes You could I think that's bloody annoying Foreign Battle for John as petrol head Peter Jones takes an instant dislike to the Entrepreneur's plan to put more bikes on The road Will he get an easier ride from Tuka Suleiman The dragon with contacts in the cycling Industry Um I have a bike website called bikes I Know yeah You mentioned you've got 80 books
Already going up front yeah And I'm assuming that you booked them They've given you deposit yeah from a Cash point of view it's a great business Great so therefore If they paid you 50 percent You must have half a million pound in The bank today not quite halfway we Don't we take 250 pound deposit but yeah We've got money in the bank here so why Are you here the main reason we're here Is we haven't got the knowledge to grow A consumer uh business if you look what Crystal did in the 80s and put skiing I Was a an everyday holiday before skiing Was something that only the Mitch and Famous people would do it wasn't a Normal holiday it's cycling at the Moment you don't have conversation with People in the pub about oh what are you Doing for cycling holiday this summer Well I want to change the difference Yeah snow You have to travel Ride a bike be doing your back street You can't cycle on that sort of scenery It's much nicer to go cycling through Tuscany and enjoy a nice lunch in the Sunshine and have an adventure An entrepreneur with passion for his Product but where exactly is this Business heading Peter Jones wants to know how he intends To spend any potential investment
John can I just ask what are you going To do with a quarter of a million pounds The big reason we need the money is We've only got availability to book to The bottom of Italy So we need to go and basically finish Building the product So we've got the product is at the Moment 25 individual holidays but Actually we've only designed and Perfected Um five of those So we need to basically pay people to go And drive the roads test the hotels Negotiate the deals build the actual Packages that we can then sell if you Can't take a paying customer and stick Them on a road that you haven't been Down The Revelation that John only currently Offers five of the 25 routes his company Name suggests has raised eyebrows in the Den Will Nick Jenkins be prepared to finance The development of the missing 20 Journeys I think you have made a rod for your own Back with the ride 25 concept some of The best cycling in the world is in Between here and the Alps and you want To spend some money extending that all The way out to Sydney but I can I can See how you're going to really struggle Particularly with European customers
Wanting to go all the way out to Asia For a five-day bike ride and all the way Back because the cost of the flights and The time and the inconvenience involved Is is going to become a barrier so I can See how what you would end up with is a Whole load of really really successful Profitable legs and then a whole load of Very unprofitable eggs I'm afraid I can't invest in it so I'm Out Breathtaking views perhaps but for Nick Jenkins the road this business is Traveling down is littered with losses And he wastes no time in pulling out of The deal And Sarah Willingham also has some Concerns John where I really struggle with it is I think there'll be a lot of loss making Trips and ultimately you're going to end Up having to underpin the business with What you're doing currently which is all Of your corporate work whilst you've got All of that going on to also then try And open new territories it's like oh You know I my brain's about to explode To thinking about it So for me it's not an investment Opportunity and I don't know what I Would bring to the party and I'm out Two dragons gone United in the view that Jon's big idea may prove too tricky to Pull off
Will Deborah meaden with her background In the Leisure industry see the Potential in pedals John I think you really have got Something here But as you grow the logistics you're You're gonna find tougher than they've Been so far And I think that even the quarter Million pound that you're asking for Here that's going to be a drop in the Ocean you are going to need more cash Quite a lot more cash to do the things That you want to do I won't be investing I'm out I've got so many concerns about it The way that you've pitched this You make me feel like you're taking me For a ride thinking this is worth a Million pounds today Because it isn't you don't have a Business at the moment Genuinely I'd feel and worry about the Fact that you're not quite there with The model So for that reason I'm out Only Tuka Suleiman remains With his business experience in the Cycling industry it's down to him to Help or hinder John's chances of Investment I like the fact you were doing love of The Geneva the moment you said you want To do everything else that you want to
Spend the money trying to do all these Other trips Uh red flashing lights came to my eyes And said You're trying to rule the world before You can walk And that to me Spells disaster In a way I like your big thinking but I Think your big thinking will get you Into trouble and it's not going to get You into trouble with my money So I know I could do a lot for you we Can promote that for you in all sorts of Ways But I think you've put a risk factor A strategy and for that reason I'm not Going to invest in you and I'm out Two casulliman punctures John's final Hope of investment As the dragons fail to be convinced the Entrepreneur can deliver his vision of Cycle holidays stretching all the way to Down Under The Australia dream brought him down If you didn't have that dream you want Less money you make more attractive to Build a business it wasn't harder than My toughest bike ride but it was hard I Think people questioned my ambition Nothing wrong with being a little bit Over-ambitious but fundamentally no Cigar Foreign
