5 Dragons’ Den companies to know this week: From fresh chocolate to an immersive detective board game
We also saw a self-heating desk, inflatable dog collars, and a subscription service offering books by women
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tonight’s episode of Dragons’ Den was jam-packed with entrepreneurial drama, with five businesspeople taking to the den to pitch their companies – all in the hope of securing some much-needed investment.
This evening, two start-ups successfully walked away from the den with some cash in their pockets. And we even saw one entrepreneur kindly reject a potentially too-greedy offer from Touker Suleyman – something that earned a little round of applause from new boy Steven Bartlett, co-founder of social media marketing agency Social Chain.
The show, which airs on Thursday nights at 8pm, has seen a friendly rivalry slowly develop between the two dragons over the course of the series, with both challenging one another on their expertise in their respective fields.
As well as a couple of chocolatiers, who got the dragons gooey-eyed for their confectionary, we also saw an immersive detective board game, a book subscription box authored by women for women, an intriguing self-heating desk and an inflatable dog collar.
If you’re interested in the companies and products pitched on telly tonight, we’re here to round-up everything you need to know about the businesses seen on screen and where exactly you can buy their products.
Read more:
Russell and Atwell fresh chocolate: Russellandatwell.com
It’s been a while since we last saw all five dragons offer up some of their cash to a pair of entrepreneurs, but Steve Russell and Giles Atwell’s tasty treats and extensive knowledge of the chocolate industry, had the fearsome five smacking their lips. While it ended pretty tensely, the pair successfully secured two golden tickets from Peter Jones and Steven Bartlett.
Russell and Atwell produce a range of different chilled chocolate pouches, all free from palm oil. The company uses fresh organic cream, so you’ll have to snarf these down within a couple of weeks and store them in the fridge, rather than in the cupboard.
The best-selling multipack is the Golden Monty, which usually costs £19, but is currently on sale (£15, Russellandatwell.com). It comes with one salted caramel pouch, one outrageously creamy milk pouch and one smooth dark pouch – all of which weigh in at 90g each. There are also refillable glass jar bundles on offer. While we haven’t tried these ourselves, judging by the dragons’ reactions, they taste pretty fine.
Inflatable dog doughnut collar from Dirty Little Paws: Dirtylittlepaws.com
We wish we got to see more of Kevin Marshall’s chow chows, Lucy Liu and Logan, wearing those dandy dog doughnut collars, but alas his pitch was relegated to the montage slot. Despite Bartlett envisioning the collars going viral on social media, he walked out of the den without any investment.
Dirty Little Paws offers up an alternative to the cone of shame, built to stop a pooch from licking its wounds, as well as give them full use of their visual field so they don’t bump into household objects. While this isn’t a new concept per se, we’ve never seen an inflatable collar look quite so fabulous. Doughnut sprinkles and all.
It comes in either blue or pink and you can buy it in three different sizes – small (£17.99, Dirtylittlepaws.com), medium (£18.99, Dirtylittlepaws.com) or large (£19.99, Amazon.co.uk). The company also sells it on Amazon, where small, medium and large sizes all cost the same (£20, Amazon.co.uk).
Books That Matter women-author book subscription box: Booksthatmatter.co.uk
It was fitting to see Molly Masters pitch her women-authored book subscription business just a couple days after International Women’s Day. But despite receiving an offer from Touker Suleyman, Masters turned it down and exited the den without any investment.
Books That Matter is a subscription box service described as being “for women by women”. Each month, subscribers get one book written by a woman and at least three gifts by women creatives and artists. This month’s box is an International Women’s Day special and features Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia (£7.05, Amazon.co.uk), as well as custom-designed stationery, scents and a range of edible treats.
You can buy a one-month subscription or a rolling subscription (£17, Booksthatmatter.co.uk); a three-months subscription (£45, Booksthatmatter.co.uk); a six-month subscription (£90, Booksthatmatter.co.uk) or a 12-month subscription (£180, Booksthatmatter.co.uk).
Ökoform self-heating desk: Okoform.com
Despite being praised for finding a solution to the “thermostat wars”, as ökoform founder Peter Waine put it, the entrepreneur ultimately wasn’t able to convince the dragons enough to invest in his business.
Ökoform makes a range of self-heating desks. The heat radiates from below the desk, keeping your legs, torso, body, wrist and fingers warm, without affecting the heat of anything on top. This means you don’t have to turn on the heating or fight over the temperature level in the room – particularly pertinent now that energy prices are rising and as a load of us continue working from home.
The company sells two varieties of desk – a height-adjustable sitting and standing desk called the miniöko-up (£499, Okoform.com) or a static desk called the miniöko (£299, Okoform.com). You can choose your own leg and tabletop colour. The miniöko is also available to buy on Amazon for less than on the website (£279, Amazon.co.uk).
The Detective Society board game: Thedetectivesociety.com
If we’ve learnt anything this series, it’s that Sara Davies loves an escape room or a board game or basically anything immersive, so it’s no surprise that she was fully onboard with The Detective Society. The company, which is co-founded by Dan Wiseman, Joe Mills and Tristan Rogers (who was off getting hitched), secured investment from both Sara Davies and Deborah Meaden.
The Detective Society is an immersive subscription-based board game, split into a series of episodes sent out to you each month or as an entire boxset. You have to solve puzzles and investigate clues to crack the case, whether that’s by emailing, calling or texting characters in the game.
As well as the physical items, you’ll also have an immersive online world to interact with. The latest game is Trouble in Folklore Falls (£35, Thedetectivesociety.com). Most episodes costs £30, but you can buy entire seasons for a reduced price.
Voucher codes
For the latest discounts on the best gadgets, try the links below:
Curious about the Toddle skincare brand seen in episode nine or Fussy’s eco-friendly refillable deodorant in episode eight? Check out our previous Dragons’ Den company round-ups for all the gossip