Two Italian inventors who pitched their product on the BBC's Dragon's Den programme have suceeded in gaining investment for their company, which produces indicators for bicycles.
The duo secured £45,000 from moonpig.com founder Nick Jenkins, who in turn received a 12.5% share of the company. Touker Suleyman, a fellow dragon who also owns the website bikesoup.com, had made an offer that was turned down in favour of Jenkins'.
Luca Amaduzzi and Agostino Stilli, the founders of Cycl, developed their 'WingLights' concept after finding their experiences of cycling around London to be unsafe. They have sold over 16,000 units worldwide since July and saw a turnover of £64,000 in their first year, with projected growth in turnover to be £215K in their second and £430K the next financial years.
The magnetic lights, which are designed to be inserted in place of handlebar plugs, are a product of the King's Venture Accelerator programme at Kings College London, where Stilli is a PHD student.
'We’re extremely excited to have Nick Jenkins on board,' said Amaduzzi. 'We created WingLights with the aim of making cycling safer worldwide and we’re sure that having Nick’s expertise and skills available to help us realise that goal. The last two years have been an exciting time as both the product and the business have developed and we’re looking forward to seeing what the future holds.'
Investor Jenkins meanwhile said: 'I’m really impressed with how Luca and Agostino set up the business, started selling the product and broke even in the first year. That is quite rare and is a pretty good indication that they are backable which is impressive. Put simply, it is a brilliant product.'
From £26.99, cycl.co.uk