Inventor secures 125k investment on Dragons’ Den

Entrepreneurs Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones made the joint investment in return for just a 20% stake in Michael Pritchard’s Anyway spray on the BBC 2 programme.

Pritchard’s invention is a dip tube with millions of tiny holes that allows a constant spray to be maintained if any part of the tube is in contact with any of the liquid in the pack. This ensures that the spray does not need to be held upright in order to work.

Three dragons pulled out due to the costs to firms of switching to Anyway, concerns over getting the patent – which Prichard has applied for  – and the size of the risk involved.

Prichard initially wanted the £125,000 for a 5% stake in the business. Paphitis and Jones initially offered the money for a 40% stake, but was able to negotiate a 20% stake.

Jones was impressed by the environmental credentials of the tube that can work in aerosols with compressed air, which makes disposal easier. “Aerosols is the biggest selling point,” he said.

Pritchard said he invented the product after finding it “ridiculous” that household a cleaner could not spray when held upside-down. “I identified the fault lay with the dip tube and the fact it only had one hole and so set about trying to find the answer,” he said.

The investment will help Pritchard sell the licensing rights to the dip tube to manufacturers, enabling them to replace existing products with the Anyway tube.

Peter Finnie, a partner at intellectual property firm Gill Jennings & Every, is working with Prichard to secure the patents for Anyway.

He said it was unusual to see the Dragons invest in an IP licensing opportunity, especially as funds would be spent on building and maintaining the Ip to protect the product.

“If the Dragons can successfully broker some IP licences with the major manufacturers of spray products, the royalty incomes are potentially enormous given the size of the global market,” he said.

Packaging innovation experts welcomed the investment and said it showed responding to customer needs was at the heart of all good innovation.

Tetra Pak retail manager Ian Williamson said targeting the combination of waste reduction, consumer frustration and production cost suggested Anyway would be a success.

“Prichard’s next big challenge, with the Dragons’ help, will be the industrial scaling and marketing of his innovation. While packaging may not always be the most immediately exciting area for consumers, shows like last night’s help communicate the problems we solve and the benefits we bring as an industry.”

Pritchard’s success comes a year after The Tiny Box Company, which sells recycled jewellery boxes, secured a £60,000 investment on the show, also from Paphitis and Jones.

Click here to watch last night’s episode.

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