King's PhD student wins Dragons' Den funding for bike indicator Startup

Agostino Stilli, a PhD student in The Centre for Robotics Research, and business partner Luca Amaduzzi, have won £45,000 funding from Dragons’ Den investor Nick Jenkins for their company Cycl. 

Cycl have designed ‘WingLights - Direction Indicators for Bicycles’. The LED WingLights attach to the end of the handlebars and are used to alert other road users if the rider is turning - just like car indicators. They are activated by tapping and flash at the same frequency as a car’s indicators.  

The company was set up by Ago and Luca to make cycling safer and encourage more people to take it up. 

While other Dragons showed interest, Nick Jenkins, Founder of Moonpig, was impressed by the ambition and clarity of the pitch, the business model and ethos behind the company.

Speaking about Dragons’ Den, Ago said:

“As a keen cyclist I wanted to use my knowledge in mechanical engineering to create something that improved road safety. Cycl has already sold more than 17,000 units and is distributed in 15 countries.  The investment from Nick will really help us develop the product further and reach new audiences. Pitching to the Dragons was nerve-wracking but a great experience and we’re really pleased to have Nick Jenkins on board and to learn from his experience.”

The episode aired on 29 January, 8.00pm on BBC. Catch up on BBC iPlayer.

King’s students and staff can buy winglights for the discounted price of £10.00 (normally £26.99) by using the code KINGS2017 on the Cycl website. 

Cycl are on the Entrepreneurship Institute’s King’s20 accelerator programme. Application for the 2017-2018 accelerator opens in April.