A Dragons’ Den business that scored investment from three of the show’s stars reportedly raised millions in funding last year.
Former Goldman Sachs director Jinesh Vohra shook hands with Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Touker Suleyman after pitching his app, which focuses on taming mortgage overpayments, to save in the long run on interest payments.
The free app Sprive launched in 2021 and seeks to help homeowners pay off their mortgage quicker, by putting aside cashback for that purpose from their weekly shops, having partnered with brands including John Lewis.
Vohra said the company works with over 2,500 brands, so that the expenses from food shops, coffee runs and takeaways, which are made through the app, save money on your mortgage.
The app is also always on the lookout for better mortgage deals for its customers.
Vohra explained to the gathered Dragons, who also included Gary Neville and Steven Bartlett in the line-up, that Sprive can put up to £25 a month towards a person’s mortgage, potentially saving thousands in interest.
A year before even walking into the den, the startup had closed a round of £5,500,000 funding from investors, according to a report in Fintech Finance News.
Vohra’s appearance on the hit BBC One investment show aired in February, during which he scored a combination of three Dragons for the price of five per cent and £50,000 funding.
‘The power of three Dragons and the Dragons you’ve got – that’s pretty serious,’ Peter Jones told him in the den.
Speaking to BBC Radio’s Desi Stories in March, Vohra said he had been duty-bound to keep the investment a secret for some time while waiting for the episode to air, but was at the stage of working out the contract with the Dragons and their lawyers.
He said: ‘I wanted five, but unfortunately two Dragons backed out. The Dragons have so much trust. When it comes to financial services, trust is so important. I’ve never built a business. I had a corporate job.
‘To get three was just amazing and the three Dragons who have been on the show for a long time, it’s just out of this world.’
He concluded: ‘Most people don’t realise, a lot of people taking out mortgages now, for every £1 you borrow, it can be £3 in interest. It’s scary amounts over the lifetime of a mortgage.
‘If you think about it, most people spend a lot of what they earn. When you can turn every single shop into a mortgage overpayment, it’s massively impactful.’
Dragons’ Den airs on BBC One and is available to watch on iPlayer.
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