A TECH business that landed a £100,000 investment on Dragons' Den has had its investment pulled.
Raj Sark and Vincenz Klemt, founders of Glasgow-based Connect-In, appeared to have secured investment from technology entrepreneur Peter Jones for their Bluetooth tracker Xupo during the show.
However, shortly after airing on Sunday, Mr Jones tweeted to say that his investment in the firm had not gone through.
He tweeted: "My investment with My Lupo didn't go through as some issues arose during due diligence. I still wish Raj all the best in the future."
My investment with My Lupo didn't go through as some issues arose during due diligence. I still wish Raj all the best in the future.
— Peter Jones (@dragonjones) January 8, 2017
Xupo had hoped to used the funding to investment in its £2 coin-sized bluetooth tracker, which uses a smartphone app to help people find lost or misplaced items.
Mr Sark and Mr Klemt met at Strathclyde University, where Mr Sark was studying for a Masters degree in engineering and his partner was an undergraduate studying international business.
They came up with the idea for Xupo in 2009 after Mr Sark lost a travel bag, including a new MacBook and his passport, while connecting flights at Heathrow Airport.
The pair combined their engineering and business skills with practical thinking to design, develop and prototype a wireless tracking sensor, which they launched as “Lupo” in 2014 after a successful £27,488 crowdfunding campaign with Kickstarter. The product has since evolved into Xupo, the £20 gadget that uses Bluetooth 5 technology to offer users the ability to find lost items, ring their mobile and track items on a map.
The growing Connect-In team now employs seven people in Glasgow, including five full-time.
It had been forecasting £1m in revenues in the next year.
In a statement issued ahead of the news, Mr Jones' tweet, Mr Sark said he was 'thrilled by the investment and Mr Jones' confidence in the product'.
Mr Klemt added that the Dragons’ Den investment would be used to strenghen their position in the UK and help fund the expansion of the product in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
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