• Home
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • LAD Originals

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Not now
OK
Advert
Advert
Advert

Man Who Turned Down £75,000 From Dragons Den Has Firm 'Valued At £6 Million'

Jake Massey

Published 
| Last updated 

Man Who Turned Down £75,000 From Dragons Den Has Firm 'Valued At £6 Million'

A man who turned down a £75,000 investment on Dragons' Den is now sitting pretty comfortably, with his firm reportedly valued at £6 million.

Dhruvin Patel appeared on the show - in which entrepreneurs pitch for investment from the multimillionaire 'Dragons' - last year alongside his business partner, Asad Hamir.

The Dragons were impressed by Ocushield - the company he launched while at university in 2015 - which specialises in medically rated screen protectors that combat the harmful effects of blue light emitted from devices.

They secured £75,000 worth of investment from dragons Peter Jones and Tej Lalvani for a combined 15 percent stake in the business, but in the six months after the show was filmed, before any agreements had been signed, the company raked in £750,000.

Advert
They secured an investment on the show, but ended up walking away. Credit: BBC
They secured an investment on the show, but ended up walking away. Credit: BBC

They were subsequently unable to negotiate a new agreement reflecting the company's growth, so they walked away; and it seems like it was the Dragons' loss, as Dhruvin said the company is now worth around £6 million.

Speaking to The Sun, optometrist Dhruvin said: "After appearing on the show, our brand and revenue went up and up.

"We realised we were giving Peter and Tej too much of a good deal, but the Dragons couldn’t negotiate outside of the Den to make the deal more palatable.

Advert

"The business had growth five times in the period of negotiations, so for us as a business, we had to say no.

"While it was a shame we couldn't have them involved, we're sure Tej and Peter would have made the same savvy moves in our positions as budding business titans, so there's definitely no hard feelings."

He launched the company at university. Credit: Ocushield
He launched the company at university. Credit: Ocushield

Indeed, with hindsight, the decision to walk away seems very savvy indeed, as Ocushield has since acquired almost £1 million in investment for a smaller stake in the company.

Advert

Dhruvin said: "We raised 12 times the amount and gave less away that we would have with the deal with the BBC's Dragons at 13 per cent compared to 15 in the Den."

The company's growth is in part due to the impact of the pandemic and lockdowns, which has seen people's screen time increase, which in turn has caused people to experience eye strain, fatigue, headaches and blurry vision.

Ocushield's screen protectors are designed for a range of devices, as well as lamps and glasses.

Advert

The company's 'manifesto' reads: "Your eyes are everything

"When your eyes are healthy, you sleep better, you feel better, you get more done. By taking care of your eyes, you take care of so much more.

"And they need taking care of. Because with so many backlit screens and digital devices, we put our eyes under far more strain than we ever used to. On their own, they can’t keep up."

Featured Image Credit: BBC/Ocushield

Topics: Business, TV and Film

Jake Massey
More like this
Advert
Advert
Advert

Chosen for YouChosen for You

News

Man Utd star Marcus Rashford involved in car crash while driving £700k Rolls Royce

38 minutes ago

Most Read StoriesMost Read

Gordon Ramsay won't leave his kids £610 million fortune

3 hours ago