The team behind a super-safe cycle helmet have explained their decision for rejecting two offers on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den show.
Tony Walker and Andy Creak founded Hedkayse after they met at Loughborough University in 2016.
They came up with the idea for what they say is the “toughest and most flexible bicycle helmet available on the market”.
After launching a Kickstarter campaign they researched the idea and began testing on the north Leicestershire university campus, which is where the company is still based.
Hedkayse claims the soft but rugged material created by the company for the product is able to withstand 300 times more damage and recover better than a normal bicycle helmet.
Their innovative design even enables the helmet to be folded and tucked away.
The current Hedkayse One helmet retails for £150.
The idea is something that scouts at BBC Two’s Dragons’ Den also bought into, and they invited the company for an interview to be on the show.
Most Read
On last weekend’s episode, it was the company’s turn to ask the millionaires for help.
Pitching were Tony and managing director George Fox, who has also been involved since day one.
George said: “I was excited at the thought of going in front of these five savvy and battled-hardened business people, and to be grilled by them – whether we were chosen to appear on TV or not.
“These are seasoned business people, and if they saw that I was starting to panic I assumed that they would go in on that. It makes good TV.
“So before we went in, we agreed to stick to the basics and to what we know and for neither of us to go off-piste.
“We opened with a lively pitch, smashing a helmet with a big two kilo hammer and that was to demonstrate the fragility of regular helmets and the robustness of ours.”
Latest Midlands news
And the opening seemed to work. George said that the room from then on “was filled with this great atmosphere”.
Don’t miss
He said Tony and Andy were both passionate about cycling.
“They’ve always wanted to do a project together and the idea they had was to create a helmet that was convenient and safer than the normal bicycle helmet.”
The Hedkayse team had agreed that they would ask for £100,000 in exchange for 4 per cent equity of the business, and decided they would not go any lower in order to be fair to their previous investors.
After the dragons had inspected the product, both Deborah Meaden and Tej Lalvani made offers.
However, their offers meant the company would have to give away a greater equity than the company had originally offered in return for £100,000.
“They said they liked the product and they could see where it was going,” said George.
“But unfortunately the percentages they wanted were just too high. It just wouldn’t have worked.”
“It wasn’t all about the money. My biggest excitement was to stand in front of them. That was invaluable, and they offered some great advice.”
Despite not receiving the offer they were hoping for, the way ahead for the company looks bright.
He said: “We are introducing a new way to manufacture which will quadruple production capacity.
“Our current product, the Hedkayse One, is available in a few different colours and there will be greater opportunities in the future for people to customise their helmets.”