The Insect Defend Patch on Dragon's Den

"The smallest product lands the biggest deal in Dragons' Den history." That was the opening line delivered by Ron Whittick, a distributor of the Insect Defend Patch, as himself and James Krane introduced themselves to the Dragons’. And that is exactly the deal they got. 

James Krane of Milton, Ont., was a Subway Sandwich franchisee when an friend introduced him to an inventor from Phoenix, Ariz. The meeting led to the launch of Safety in Motion, Canadian distributor for Insect Defend Patch, a Vitamin B1 trans-dermal patch that protects against mosquito bites for over 24 hours.

James wanted $5-million for a 75% stake of worldwide copyrights, patents and trademarks. Brett Wilson and Jim Treliving adjusted the terms, offering $500,000 in cash, with the balance of the $5 million to be paid as a 5% cent royalty over 30 years. The biggest deal ever offered in the history of the show.

Though thrilled about the deal— which Krane feels “shows a lot of confidence in the product” — he said he’s also disappointed that it didn’t happen in the end. One of his partners in the States liked the deal, but the other didn’t and couldn’t come to an agreement on the terms.

Even though the deal did not stick, James said that having the chance to appear on Dragons’ Den was an amazing experience. The publicity the company received from the show is unbelievable and helped to get the product out in front of the world. 

The proof is in the sales as James' company Safety in Motion, which represents the patch in Canada, is seeing dramatic sales growth in chains from coast to coast. 2012 sales saw a 30% increase with over 1.3 million patches sold!

Watch the episode here:
http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/2010/03/episode-19-2.html