ON January 30, 2025, the Dragons Den investors will be joined by Trinny London founder Trinny Woodall.
They will be looking to invest in four businesspeople, including a dumpling maker, a water bottle inventor and an ethical cleaning product creator.
Pete Anwyll – Karta Bottle
Pete Anwyll is the creator of the Karta Bottle, a water container that doubles a barbell weight.
After studying aerospace engineering at university, he started working in management consultancy but found the career unfulfilling.
The idea for the Karta Bottle came to him in the pub, when he was enjoying a drink with his girlfriend.
He had read a book called The Four Hour Work Week, which encourages readers to think of a niche problem that bothers them.
It says that your problem probably also bothers other people, so a product that solves that issue would likely sell well.
Pete had been bothered by changing the difficulty of changing weights on a barbell, so he decided to create a product which would make the process easier.
The water bottle clips onto barbells, which allows you to change the weights without putting the barbell down.
Karta bottles also come in a variety of colours and can carry 900ml of water.
They have also been rated for weights up to 290kg.
He had become passionate about fitness at school when he began to use the P.E. gym.
The entrepreneur says that the “aesthetic” reasons for keeping fit don’t interest him.
Instead, he wants to keep fit for his own mental wellbeing.
Laura Harnett – The Seep Company
Mum-of-two Laura is hoping to revolutionise the cleaning product industry.
She has previously worked as the director of digital products at Selfridges and as a non-executive director at a ecommerce company named Attraqt.
In 2020, she decided that it was time for a career change.
Using her degree in Biochemistry, which she earned at the University of Bristol in 1999, she created The Seep Company.
On her LinkedIn profile, she says that she created the company because she was “fed up of trying to find cleaning tools that weren’t made of plastic”.
That led her to create a range of zero-plastic cleaning tools including rubber gloves and scourers.
Sandy Tang – LoveSum Dumplings
Sandy had already achieved fame on another BBC reality show, before heading into The Den.
She had starred in the 2020 series of Masterchef and managed to make it to the final before being eliminated.
The chef spent the first 13 years of her life in the Philippines before moving to the UK.
She co-founded LoveSum Dumplings alongside David Soloman and their company focuses on the evolution of dumplings as they journey across the Silk Road.
The Silk Road is a historic trade route connecting East Asia with Western Europe.
As dumplings travelled across the trade route, from Turkey and Mongolia, they became a staple food in countries including China and Poland.
According to her company website, she is “comfortable embracing both Eastern and Western ideas and techniques when working in the kitchen”.
She added: “I grew up in Macau, moving to the UK as a teenager. I started cooking when I was fifteen to recreate food memories from my childhood home.
“My background has given me a real appreciation for food culture; good food brings people together and creates traditions.
“Passed on culture-to-culture, recipes evolve.
“I find that fascinating and inspiring.
“Being a MasterChef finalist gave me the opportunity to explore my love for cooking; using food to express my creativity.
“Creating Love Sum dumplings gives me a chance to share that with you.”
The company sells ready made dumplings which include Chicken Kimchi Mandu and Prawn Hargow as flavours.
They also include recipes for a variety of dumplings on their website.
