A BELFAST cosmetics firm has been awarded €80,000 on RTE's Dragons' Den.
BPerfect and its creator Brendan McDowell got the backing of two dragons in last night's show.
Alison Cowzer and Barry O’Sullivan were so impressed with the product range that they made a joint offer of €80,000 investment for 20 per cent of the company.
Gavin Duffy offered the same amount for a 35 per cent share but in the end Mr McDowell accept the first offer and negotiated a 10 per cent buy-back after 12 months if he returned the Dragons’ investment.
Alison Cowzer is co-founder and marketing/innovation director of East Coast Bakehouse, Ireland's only large scale biscuit manufacturing business based in Drogheda, and declared herelf "very impressed with the range".
Barry O'Sullivan is CEO of Altocloud, a Silicon Valley technology company which also has a base in Galway. Mr O'Sullivan said he and Ms Cowzer would be the "perfect team for Brendan".
Founded by Brendan McDowell in 2014 with just £500 funding, BPerfect has seen turnover soar from £146,000 in 2015 to £244,000 last year. It recently secured a contract with Gordons Chemists.
Speaking after securing Dragons' Den funding Mr McDowell said he was "overwhelmed" by the response to his appearance.
“From day one, I had a vision for BPerfect to be the leading, home-grown cosmetics brand in Ireland - we now have a global vision. To be on such an amazing show as Dragons' Den, on my home turf, is just the icing on the cake."
