 | |
| Developer(s) | M14 Industries Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 2014 |
| Stable release | |
| Operating system | iOS, Android, Web |
| Website | bristlr |
Bristlr is a location-based social search mobile app that facilitates communication between bearded men and women who love beards, allowing matched users to chat. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Bristlr was founded by John Kershaw in 2014. [7] The app is popular in Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
John Kershaw, founder of Manchester-based startup M14 Industries, pitched his dating app-building platform on Dragon's Den (season 14 episode 15), seeking £80,000 for 15% equity. Dubbed the “app that connects those with beards to those who want to stroke beards,” Kershaw impressed the Dragons with his confidence and a strong pitch despite having no revenue. All five Dragons made offers, with Peter Jones noting the startup’s deal with UK media giant Global.
After deliberation, Kershaw accepted a joint offer from Nick Jenkins and Peter Jones for £80,000 in exchange for 20% equity, valuing the company at £400,000. However, complications arose when M14 was approached by a major client offering a significantly higher valuation of £1.5 million. This led to renegotiation attempts, which the Dragons declined, resulting in the deal collapsing.
Despite this, Kershaw secured funding of approximately £100,000 from a combination of angel investors and supporters from a previous funding round. Although the unnamed major client chose to remain a customer rather than an investor, the funding round successfully closed in early December. Kershaw also maintained a positive relationship with Jenkins, which later facilitated M14's acquisition of the dating app Double. Both Jenkins and Jones expressed their best wishes for the future success of M14 Industries. [8] [9]
Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number of employees, annual revenue, scale of operations, etc. Venture capital firms or funds invest in these early-stage companies in exchange for equity, or an ownership stake. Venture capitalists take on the risk of financing start-ups in the hopes that some of the companies they support will become successful. Because startups face high uncertainty, VC investments have high rates of failure. Start-ups are usually based on an innovative technology or business model and often come from high technology industries such as information technology (IT) or biotechnology.
Dragons' Den is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is known as The Tigers of Money, a pun on "The Tiger of Malaya", which was the nickname of WWII general Tomoyuki Yamashita. The format was created and is owned by Nippon TV and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television.
An entrepreneur in residence, or executive in residence (EIR), is a position commonly held by successful entrepreneurs in venture capital firms, private equity firms, startup accelerators, law firms or business schools. Typically, the EIR has led or currently leads a small, early-stage, emerging company with perceived high-growth potential or has demonstrated significant growth in terms of employees, annual revenue, or both.
Dragons' Den is a British reality television business programme, presented by Evan Davis and based upon the original Japanese series. The show allows several entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their varying business ideas to a panel of five wealthy investors, the "Dragons" of the show's title, and pitch for financial investment while offering a stake of the company in return.
A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchange for their investment. It is usually the first series of stock after the common stock and common stock options issued to company founders, employees, friends and family and angel investors.
James Caan is a British-Pakistani entrepreneur and television personality.
Peter David Jones is an English entrepreneur, businessman, investor, and reality television personality, with interests in mobile phones, television, media, leisure, retail, publishing and property. He is the last remaining original investor on the BBC One series Dragons' Den, and has appeared on other television programmes with similar formats including Shark Tank in the United States.
Charles Ejogo is a British entrepreneur who is the inventor of the Umbrolly umbrella vending machine. Ejogo appeared on the first episode of the UK television programme Dragons' Den where he "won" £150,000 funding for his "Umbrolly" umbrella vending machines.
Crowdcube is a British investment crowdfunding platform, established by Darren Westlake and Luke Lang in 2011.
AngelList is an American software company for fundraising and connecting startups, angel investors, and limited partners. Founded in 2010, it started as an online introduction board for tech startups that needed seed funding. Since 2015, the site allows startups to raise money from angel investors free of charge. Created by serial entrepreneur Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi in 2010, Avlok Kohli has been leading AngelList as its CEO since 2019.
Angels Den is the Europe's first and largest online investment platform that connects businesses with angel investors. It was founded in 2008 and is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
OurCrowd is an online global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individual accredited investors to invest and engage in emerging technology companies at an early stage while still privately held. Based in Jerusalem, the company launched in February 2013, and has since opened overseas branches in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Spain, Singapore, Brazil, and the UAE.
Stockspot is an Australian online investment adviser and fund manager based in Sydney.
Equity crowdfunding is the online offering of private company securities to a group of people for investment and therefore it is a part of the capital markets. Because equity crowdfunding involves investment into a commercial enterprise, it is often subject to securities and financial regulation. Equity crowdfunding is also referred to as crowdinvesting, investment crowdfunding, or crowd equity.
AppyWay is a technology company that provides parking apps and services for drivers. It was founded in London in 2013 by Dan Hubert initially under the name of Yellow Line Parking. It produces software that shows on-street and off-street parking options in major cities in the UK. The app is available on both Android and iOS. There is also a paid-for enterprise app, AppyParking Pro, which is a software as a service aimed at businesses with fleets.
Adam David Lisagor is an American commercial director and the founder of Sandwich, a creative advertising studio and production company focused primarily on technology. He has also made on-camera appearances as a pitchman for various tech companies and products.
Founded in 2012, Mallzee is a fashion mobile commerce company and shopping application. Its application allows online shoppers with a smartphone to access millions of products from over 100 fashion brands around the world. The mobile app was launched in September 2013 and uses a 'like' or 'dislike' swiping interface and has since been labelled as the 'Tinder of fashion', in reference to the Tinder app. In 2015, the application was launched in the US.
Tangle Teezer is a British company that manufactures hair care products, most notably hairbrushes. It was founded by Shaun Pulfrey, a hairdresser, and its first product was launched in 2007. The first and signature product, a detangling hairbrush dubbed "The Original" eventually achieved cult popularity and received the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2012, and International Trade in 2014, as well as reaching the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 in 2013 and 2016.
WingLights are LED-based turn signals that attach to the ends of bicycle handlebars. They are designed to augment traditional hand signals, thereby improving cyclist visibility and safety.
