Bristol entrepreneur Chris Frappell, pictured left, secured £75,000 of investment on the TV programme Dragons’ Den on Sunday for his motorcycle chain tensioning invention.
After riding into the den on his Triumph Street Triple, the 26-year-old engineering graduate gave a composed presentation of his Tru-Tension Chain Monkey tensioner, which not only makes the task of adjusting the chain easier, but also more accurate – giving optimum performance, longevity and economy.
Frappell was able to negotiate on offers from three of the five Dragons – serial investor Deborah Meaden, keen motorcyclist Jenny Campbell and retail expert Touker Suleyman. In the end he chose to partner with Suleyman, pictured right, whose other business interests in the bicycle market was also seen as highly complementary to the existing business.
After the show, Frappell said: “Everything has happened so quickly since securing investment from Touker. It’s been a pleasure to work with him and his experienced team who have added so much value in such little time. Our brand will soon be available in Halfords and many other national retailers, with many new products now on the horizon much sooner than we could have hoped.”
As well as the chain tensioner, the entrepreneur has a complementary range of lubricants and cleaning products under the Tru-Tension brand.
Watch the show on BBC iPlayer.