‘I Want To Marry It.’ Dragons’ Den Investor Commits $420,000 To N.B. Company With ‘Rolling Massager’
FREDERICTON – Curtis Kennedy and Aaron Turner of Vertiball appeared on CBC’s Dragon’s Den last Thursday night and walked away with an investment for the company’s portable mountable rolling massager.
Entering the den, Kennedy, the company founder, asked for $420,000 or 12 percent of the company.
Ultimately, Arlene Dickinson committed $420,000 for 17 percent of the company.
“I want to marry it…it’s everything I ever wanted!” said Dickinson about the product on the broadcast following the duo’s pitch.
Dickinson is the president and CEO of Venture Communications, one of Canada’s largest independent marketing firms. In 2015, she founded District Ventures, Canada’s top accelerator for entrepreneurs in the food, beverage and health sectors. In 2017, she launched her venture capital fund, District Ventures Capital, one of Canada’s most respected venture capital funds for innovative food, beverage and health companies.
In an interview with Huddle, Kennedy said he expects the deal to close within the next couple weeks.
“We were very excited to get into a strategic partnership to provide additional levels of expertise and guidance so we are working toward closing the deal with Arlene’s firm and hopefully sometime in the next two weeks, we’ll make it happen,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy received two offers from the dragons: one from Manjit Minhas and Michele Romanow for 25 percent of the company at $420,000 and the offer from Dickinson.
Kennedy suggested a shared investment between Minhas, Romanow, and Dickinson for 20 percent of the company at $420,000, which was rejected before the final deal was made with Dickinson.
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The dragons were impressed with Vertiball’s $1.4-million in sales in 11 months of operation, but became weary at the product’s potential of attracting cheaper knockoffs onto the market.
“Let’s face it, it’s a ball and a suction cup,” said Minhas.
However, other dragons disagreed.
“People in pain are willing to pay $69 for something. People pay $100 to go to the physio. I get a tennis ball is three bucks, but there’s a pretty big premium people are willing to pay when they’re in back pain,” said Romanow.
Vertiball was created out of a personal need for Kennedy after looking for ways to care for his back and muscles following years of cancer therapy. After years of physiotherapists recommending he lay on golf or tennis balls, he came up with a solution.
After developing the product, securing a patent, and running a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2019, Vertiball is now sold through their ecommerce website, Amazon, and Target.
“No two backs are the same,” said Kennedy during the broadcast. “Everyone has a different back story, I like to say.”
You can watch the Vertiball pitch here.
RELATED: Vertiball Founder Satisfied With Dragon’s Den Deal
Liam Floyd is a reporter for Huddle. Send him story suggestions: [email protected].
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