An entrepreneur who won an investment on Dragons' Den has spoken about how he will use the cash to improve his shopping cashback app. Jinesh Vohra bagged a £50,000 investment and three dragons in return for five percent equity in his business.
He runs Sprive, an app where you can get cashback from your purchases to go towards paying off your mortgage. You can use the app at major supermarkets including Asda, Morrisons and Tesco, as well as many other big name chains.
He will be working with Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones to further develop the app. Mr Vohra said their investment has already proved "transformational" for the company.
He said: "We've effectively doubled in size, and it has been amazing to see so many people connect with our mission of helping homeowners pay off their mortgage faster through everyday shopping. On a personal level, the best part was sharing the experience with my boys and watching it with them.
"Seeing how proud they were meant everything to me. Hopefully it shows them that anything is possible." He said it was amazing going on the BBC show having watched it for many years.
An incredibly intense dayMr Vohra, who lives in Watford, said: "The BBC team were fantastic and did a lot to make sure we felt comfortable, but the day itself was still incredibly intense. I was in the studio for around seven hours, and the actual pitch and questioning lasted about an hour and a half.
"It's a long, draining day, with bright lights, cameras in your face and no retakes, so you really have to stay composed under pressure. I'm proud that I managed to hold my nerve."
Peter Jones was the first dragon to say he would like to back the company. The entrepreneur said it was a dream come true to have a trio of dragons joining the venture.
He said: "The dragons are hugely trusted when it comes to money and business, so for them to really challenge me, dig into the detail and then still say they wanted to back Sprive was massive. It sends a strong signal that Sprive is credible, legitimate and a business people can trust with something as important as their mortgage."
Although the dragons often give the candidates a grilling about their company financials and business goals, Mr Vohra said they are normal people off camera.
He said: "All of them were really nice. I'm a big football fan, so even though I don't support Manchester United, it was great to see how down to earth Gary Neville was.
"I listen to his podcast quite regularly, so that was a nice moment for me. Four of the five dragons came over afterwards to speak to me, which was also really generous of them.."
"What stood out most was how excited they were about what we're building. That was amazing validation from people I really respect because of what they've achieved."
What things didn't make the final edit?The entrepreneur said there is a lot you don't get to see in the final show. He said: "There was a huge amount that didn't make the final edit. In reality, the experience felt much more like a serious investor pitch than many people probably realise."
He said the show also took out a some of the time he spent explaining his wider mission for Sprive. Users have previously shared their stories saving large amounts on their mortgage.
Mr Vohra said: "I spoke about the fact that around three million people are expected to still have a mortgage in retirement, which is a major issue in the UK housing market. I also talked about how 59 percent of mortgage products sold are now 40-year terms, because many people only get onto the property ladder in their late 30s or early 40s.
"The result is that people end up paying far more in interest over time. At the time of filming, we were on track to save customers £100million in mortgage interest, and I would have loved that to have come through more strongly in the programme."
He said the dragons were so impressed with his customer anecdotes and how the company helps people with their mortgage debt, that at the end, both Gary Neville and Steven Bartlett said they probably bowed out too early.
What are the next steps for the company?Mr Vohra said you may think the money lands straight in the entrepreneur's bank account, but this isn't how it works. He explained: "We haven't completed the deal yet, as there is still a full due diligence process to go through.
"I think sometimes people watch the show and assume the money lands in your bank account the next day, but that's not how it works in reality. My understanding is that the dragons want founders to be clear about where they can add the most value, and for Sprive I think that is likely to be through their network and strategic advice.
"That's where I believe they could really help us as we scale." The businessman said he has big plans for Sprive going forward.
Mr Vohra said: "One major area of focus is building an online shopping assistant so that every shop customers make can help them save towards their mortgage. We're also looking at building what we believe could be the world's first savings product where the value created helps people pay off their mortgage faster.
"We're continuing to add more great brands to the platform, and we're also introducing weekly prize draws where one new customer has their next monthly mortgage payment paid by Sprive." He said he would like to eventually have much bigger prize draw events, co-sponsored by the brands he works with.
He also has ambitions beyond Sprive and finding other ways to help people use their everyday spending to pay off other forms of debt, such as student loans. Mr Vohra said: "I believe there's a real opportunity there. In fact, I think a product like this could potentially help the government save around £1.5billion over five years if people with student debt were able to put even £25 a month towards repayments through everyday shopping. I've tried to get traction on that idea, but so far without success
