Dragons dig deep to invest in bin trasher
€60,000 BOOST FOR KILDAVIN INVENTOR EAMON
Inventor Eamon Treacy on RTE?s ?Dragons Dens? with investors Bobby Kerr and Sarah Newman.
Tuesday March 09 2010
A CARLOW INVENTOR met with success when he stepped in to The Dragons Den and saw an investor put her hand in her pocket for the first time in the history of the show.
Eamon Treacy, who has a small engineering company in Kildavin, got the backing he wanted for his 'bin trasher' invention, designed for squashing rubbish into wheelie bins, when he appeared on Dragons' Den on Thursday night. His simple presentation of the product was received with great enthusiasm from the Dragons.
'I was so nervous,' he said. 'It was a very daunting experience and I had just one shot at it.
'My only fear was what if they knock the product, they could make it or destroy it but I had confidence in the product and I thought to myself if I didn't get the funding at least I will get some television coverage out of it which is priceless.'
The show gives hopeful entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their business schemes in front of five wealthy and successful venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment and finance.
Investor Sarah Newman was quick to jump on board and flash her cash.
Together with her partner, former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey, she runs the successful business DJ Carey Enterprises which she hopes to duplicate the success she had with another venture needahotel.com. With the company she already has a number of cleaning contracts with schools around the country and a sales team on the road.
'Funding from Sarah was a big boost for me,' added Eamonn. 'It was the first time ever that she put her hand in her pocket. I couldn't believe it.'
Sarah proposed an investment of €30,000 in to the company for a cut of 20 per cent of the equity and this was matched by Bobby Kerr, owner of the Insomnia coffee shop chain.
'I was delighted with that,' he added. 'I was speaking with Sarah and we're having a meeting this week so it's all systems go.'
- Lynda CONNOLLY
