Female urinal maker PEEQUAL bags £100,000 from Deborah Meaden on Dragons' Den
What's the deal? PEEQUALDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a UK startup making female urinals, secured £100,000 from investor Deborah MeadenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → on Dragons' Den, which aired Thursday, September 24. Founders Amber Probyn and Hazel McShane accepted the deal for a 5% stake, valuing the business at £2 million.
The ask: The pair originally sought £100,000 for 2%. Meaden matched the cash but asked for more equity — and they took it.
What does it do? PEEQUAL makes flat-packed, squat-and-go urinals for women, aimed at cutting toilet queue times at festivals and events. It launched at Glastonbury in 2022.
A tough pitch: The other Dragons passed. Peter Jones said the founders had "way overvalued" the business "to a level that doesn't make it investible." Guest Dragon Jenna Meek and Steven Bartlett also declined, though Bartlett said he believed the company would succeed.
Why now? Probyn said the BBC had invited the pair to apply several times, and "this felt like the right time to go for it." Beyond the deal, she said, the goal was "to highlight the massive inequality in toilet queue times."
What's the endgame? Since the pitch, the founders have raised just under £1 million and plan to expand globally. "Ultimately, we want to cut queue times for as many women as possible," Probyn said.
The signal: A televised deal at a £2 million valuation gives PEEQUAL national visibility as it pushes into a niche — women's sanitation infrastructure — that has drawn little venture attention.
Read more: britbrief.co.uk
