Irish couple secure Dragons' Den deal for their anti-roll baby changing mat
Dragons' Den deal for James and Aileen McCauley, co-creators of The Wriggler anti roll changing mat
Their business inspiration came from 'clients' who wriggle and try to evade being pinned down so Dublin couple, James and Aileen McCauley, were well able to cope with corporate twists and turns when negotiating with the crew of Dragons' Den.
The entrepreneurs from Malahide managed to keep their cool during some tense times and have secured an investment in their Wriggler anti-roll baby changing mat.
This mat is designed for babies who wriggle and writhe during nappy changes — it is a portable changing mat that looks like a toy teddy and has straps to secure a baby while the nappy-changing mission is underway.
Husband-and-wife team, James and Aileen, set up Pluxty which makes The Wriggler: "It keeps even the twistiest toddlers in place making it the ideal toddler changing mat. It frees up your hands and puts an end to the toddler nappy change tantrum." The idea came about when they had their own children — who are now aged seven and five years.
The pair headed to the BBC One studios in Manchester around 10 months ago (during a lockdown travel restrictions window) to meet with the UK Dragons: Sara Davies, Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden, Tej Lalvani, and Theo Paphitis.
“We were looking for an investment of £50k [approx €58.3] for a 25% stake in The Wriggler," says Aileen.
Their preference was for either Sara Davies "who is a mum of young kids with great experience of bringing craft products to the market or Touker Suleyman with 40 years of retail and manufacturing experience in the baby space,” commented Aileen.
However, there was a somewhat bizarre offer from Touker which even surprised the other Dragons and had them rushing to the couple’s defence.
In the end, there had to be some wriggle room in the negotiations so the Wriggler creators took an offer of £50k for a 35% stake in the business from Sara Davies.
"You are standing by that wall with the cameras on you and you are trying to make a decision so it's pretty nerve-wracking alright. But we are absolutely delighted with this now," said Aileen.
Sara Davies is the founder and owner of Crafter’s Companion, a company she started while she was still a university student. The company makes crafting products including themed collections, papercraft, arts, sewing, home décor, and haberdashery. It had a turnover of £34m in 2019 and employs 200 staff dealing with exports to more than 40 countries.
“It’s quite bewildering to take in everything, number crunching, negotiating and having to make a decision in such a pressurised space knowing our every word and move was being scrutinised by the Dragons in front of a studio full of cameras,” explains James.
The McCauleys didn't bring a real-live baby to the show but had a doll 'Sam' which is the size and weight of a typical eight-month-old. James pitched in with the nappy-change demo and the pair were the only entrepreneurs who managed to secure investment in this episode.
“The Wriggler has been like our third child and like any parents, we want to give our children roots and wings. We feel we’ve given The Wriggler strong roots and doing a deal Sara will help to give it the wings it needs,” James added.
The Wriggler costs €39.99. The company may look at expanding the colours and styles offered and will also look at complementary products aimed at six months to toddlerhood.
"That's where our products are best placed as well so any complementary products that kind of would surround that age I think we'd be focusing on."
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