GoCompare has bought out the business behind one of the most successful pitches in the history of Dragon’s Den.
Founders of the energy switching site Look After My Bills, Will Hodson and Henry De Zoete, walked out of the Den with the accolade of securing more money for less of their business than anyone had ever managed before.
All five Dragons made offers to invest in the business - with the co-founders eventually agreeing to take £120,000 for just 3% of their business from Dragons Tej Lalvani and Jenny Campbell.
Look After My Bills moves customers to a new cheap energy deal automatically when their tariff expires.
The Newport-based GoCo - the group behind GoCompare.com - paid £8.5million to buy it - potentially rising to £12.5million if performance targets are met.
The Dragons investment valued the business at £4 million.
The acquisition aims to complement GoCo’s existing savings service weflip, launched in 2018.
GoCo group chief executive Matthew Crummack said: “We are incredibly excited to announce this acquisition, which enables GoCo Group to continue to address consumer inertia.
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“Weflip and Look After My Bills complement each other in their approach to saving 海角视频 consumers money and with both brands we can target the significant saving opportunities that still exist for consumers, that haven’t been tackled by existing price comparison websites or regulation.
“I look forward to welcoming Will, Henry and the rest of the team to the group. Jointly we have the skills, technology and discipline to address the substantial opportunity in addressing the ‘infrequent switchers’ and save the 海角视频 billions by switching.”
Mr Hodson and Mr De Zoete, the latter a former special adviser to then Education Secretary Michael Gove, said the £8.5 million sale meant the Dragons had more than doubled their money in less than 12 months and could triple their money.
They said: “Look After My Bills is on a mission to ensure no-one gets ripped off again, ever. We are proud to share that vision with some of Britain’s best-known brands in the GoCo Group.
“Our companies are united by the belief that making saving easier will bring down bills for everyone, forever. Why spend hours finding a decent price each year when you can appoint an expert to deal with all the hassle for free?
“For us it’s been an incredible ride as we’ve built a fantastic team of energy experts and a culture that will not accept any one of our users being overcharged. Joining forces with GoCo Group and being powered by their SaveStack platform, will help us bring Look After My Bills even more into the mainstream.”
Ms Campbell said: “This deal is evidence of another successful Dragons’ Den investment. The Den puts entrepreneurs through their paces and only the very best can get investment in their business.
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“Tej and I were delighted to be able to fight off the other Dragons to make sure we got the deal. It’s certainly proven to be the right move.”
However George Chalmers, chief executive of rival auto-switching service Migrate, was less than impressed with the deal.
“Today’s news is particularly interesting when you consider the huge amount of criticism Look After My Bills and the Big Deal has aimed towards comparison sites over the past few years,” he told Mirror Money.
“As a result, to see them join forces with one of the most recognisable comparison sites in the 海角视频, will certainly raise a few eyebrows.”
The timing also raised questions, with the acquisition going through just under a year after the famous Dragon’s Den appearance turbo-boosted customers signing up to Look After My Bills.
Given the service switches people once a year, that means that all the people who signed up afterwards will now be switched for the first time under the new regime - not the small company they signed up to.
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