Intellectual property sticking point means failed trip to Dragons’ Den for Colapz

Going on the show to offer a 15 per cent stake in their business for the investment sum, David Fannin and Shaun Moore explained that they had sold 65,000 units through their own website and worldwide distributors.</p >

However, when the Dragons, who include Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne and Piers Linney, found out that the pair had a previous equity partner who temporarily retained the Colapz intellection property rights as part of a buyout settlement deal, they all declared themselves “out”.</p >

The Colapz product is a light-weight watering can that is collapsable and is marketed at caravanners as well as gardeners. Furthermore, the entrepreneurial duo behind the product believe it could be suited for water transportation in developing countries. Fannin and Moore together run product design and sourcing company Sorcit.

Explaining what it was like to be on Dragons’ Den, Fannin said: “It was a fairly intensive four months, from when we got the first call to going in front of the Dragons.

“They really liked the products, so it’s a shame that we lost their interest on a technicality, but I have to say, I would do it all again.”

Read more about Dragons’ Den:

• Dragons Den Mo Bro’s
• Hungry House Dragons Den
• Meet the most entertaining entrepreneur to visit Dragons’ Den
• The anti-entrepreneur show
• Here’s how to win Dragon backing
• While making their pitch, Dragons’ Den investor Jones declared that it had “sprung more leaks that the watering can”. Since filming for the show in 2014, the two and their business have gone on to add another 60,000 orders of their product.Real Business reported at the end of January that Ally Stevenson’s Clean Heels had walked off with an investment of £50,000</a > and the backing of both Deborah Meaden and Kelly Hoppen. Her “multi-purpose heel stoppers” prevent women from sinking into soft ground and protect the heel itself.</p > Prior to the show Fannin and Moore appeared on, season 12 of Dragons’ Den in the UK had seen investments totalling £1.1m made by the five well-known investors.</p >
  By Hunter Ruthven</a >
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