Deborah Meaden, who initially invested £80,000 in August 2015, has since provided a further £900,000 to fund growth but keen to get the wider public involved, Daykin has taken the decision to raise additional, vital working capital through crowdfunding, which will be used to obtain the industrial machinery required to keep up with international demand and in particular large orders from the US and Australia.
GripIt Fixings – featured on Dragon’s Den Pitches to Riches on Sunday – manufactures a revolutionary design of universal fixing designed for use with all types of plasterboard installation, holding loads of up to 225kg for everything from curtains to radiators.
Daykin came up with the idea for GripIt in 2008 while installing curtain rails with his then 74 year-old grandfather. It took the pair just a matter of days to come up with a prototype for the fixing and the patent was granted in 2009, when Daykin was 14.
The product is now sold in over 3,000 stores across the UK – including B&Q, Wickes, Screwfix and Currys – and is available in 33 countries.
Since filming took place prior to Christmas for Dragon’s Den Pitches to Riches, the business has grown considerably and in just the first two months of 2016, GripIt Fixings has already exceeded its 2015 annual turnover, making it well on track for its target of a £2.5m turnover this year.
GripIt Fixings employs 20 members of staff at its 9,000 ft2 warehouse in Melksham, Wiltshire, and aims to recruit a further 10 people in 2016.
MD Jordan Daykin said: “This is a new round of financing to fund additional growth, following Deborah’s hugely successful backing in the Den, which has been paramount in our rapid development.
“We are extremely excited about bringing an even greater offering to the market and I’m delighted to be able to invite new investors, large and small, to join us on this journey to worldwide expansion.”
Investor Deborah Meaden said: “GripIt is a rare combination of a great solution-led product driven by a truly smart entrepreneur. I am not surprised by the success but the speed at which the market has adopted GripIt speaks volumes about the opportunity for further growth.”
