A young Scottish inventor made a memorable moment in Dragons’ Den after belting out a ballad on the bagpipes.
University of Strathclyde engineering student and entrepreneur Robbie MacIsaac appeared on Thursday night's show in a bid to secure investment for his FLUX Blowpipe bagpipe moisture control technology, which he invented when he was 14-years-old.
The 22-year-old, who has been bagpiping since the age of nine, marched into the den whilst playing traditional Scottish folk song, ‘The Braes o’ Killiecrankie’.
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Without prior warning the Dragons would be graced by the bagpipes, they were left blown away by Robbie’s performance. As he entered the Den via the lift, the Falkirk man played on the antique pipes that were produced in Glasgow way back in 1910, 112 years ago.
Some of the Dragons chose to take a closer look at the pipes and even give them a go, including Deborah Meaden and Sara Davies.
Yet, despite Robbie’s impressive piping performance in the Den - and a solid pitch for £40,000 investment - the young business owner and engineer exited without investment.
Robbie said: “Entering the Dragons’ Den is an experience I’ll never forget. I wanted to represent Scottish innovation and music as a passionate engineer, businessman and bagpiper. I knew the bagpipes would be a great emblem to represent the country.
“Although I didn’t get investment, all of the Dragons were hugely encouraging about my invention and impressed with the traction of the business - and my performance on the pipes too! - giving me lots of valuable advice and optimism for the future. “
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Robbie is currently in the final year of Strathclyde’s BEng Product Design Engineering Course.
In a previous high-profile appearance in 2016, Robbie closed the main stage at the last ever T in the Park festival with a stunning solo performance.
Combining his skills in music and engineering, Robbie invented The FLUX Blowpipe – an attachment for the bagpipe that absorbs excess condensation from a pipers breath - whilst still a schoolboy, and launched it to market in 2020.
The FLUX Blowpipe is a revolutionary and patented technology engineered to control the issues pipers have with moisture in their bagpipes. The invention prolongs the lifespan of the instrument by trapping condensation at the source directly from the pipers breath before it enters circulation in the bag.
Piper’s Lung Disease, also known as hypersensitivity pneumonitis, can be caused by being exposed to fungus from excess moisture within the instrument.
FLUX Solutions have customers in countries across the globe including the UK, Germany, France, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Robbie added: “I have since doubled the annual turnover of the business and released a new product for musicians to store their instrument at a constant humidity, supporting a healthier and enriched instrument."
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