Brunel Design alumni Ben King & Luke Gray have been awarded £60,000 by Dragon's Den Deborah Meaden for their innovative new duvet cover design.
The award will help them to bring their product to market. 'Swift' is a duvet cover is designed to streamline the difficult task of changing a duvet cover. It unzips down the middle and bottom. The duvet can be placed inside it and zipped up easily.
Ben and Luke met while studying Product Design here at Brunel, and after working for other companies including Joseph Joseph, they began working together on start up Made by Koa.
The project previously won them a £15,000 grant from The Design Council’s Spark programme which asks designers and engineers to create a product that supports independent living.
Ben says of the product: “One of the things that kicked off our focus on this project was Luke’s grandma, she can no longer fit a cover for herself and she had to ask neighbours or family to help. She can use our cover."
Luke said: “Changing the bed is a hassle and our cover solves that and streamlines hectic lifestyles. We’re excited to have support for Swift which reduces the hassle and makes the whole experience more delightful.”
Ben and Luke admitted to many sleepless nights prior to the pitch. “Winning the award meant so much to us as turning an idea into business is really hard. In the months leading up to the business pitch we were barely sleeping”.
They are still competing for a share of a further £150,000 investment.
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