Bristol pair take women's urinals to Dragons' Den
Peequal founders used their Den appearance to put the brand in front of investors and festival-goers alike
A Bristol-based company has used an appearance on Dragons' Den to raise the profile of its campaign for women's toilet equality at festivals, as well as to seek investment.
Amber Probyn and Hazel McShane, founders of Peequal, pitched their women's urinals to the five Dragons, who each tried out the squat-style toilets during the pitch.
The appearance gave the founders a platform in front of both potential investors and the wider public who attend festivals and events.
The urinals are designed to be about three times faster to use than traditional portable toilets, cutting the length of women's queues.
Why festival equality is the message behind the brand
When asked why festival equality mattered so much to her, Probyn described how Peequal aims to give women a choice they currently do not have.
She said current guidelines only account for portable toilets and male urinals, with nothing in place for women, and that her mission is to show the industry that a women's urinal is not a "nice to have" but something that is "here to stay".
Probyn explained that the product does not remove existing facilities but adds what she called a "fast track lane", so that women do not have to skip their favourite act, limit how much they drink, or worry about needing the toilet while queuing.
Making the case with research
Probyn also referred to research carried out at festivals to support her pitch to both the Dragons and viewers who attend events.
She said the urinals are around three times faster than portable toilets, and described the atmosphere they create on site.
"What you'll find is that the space is so welcoming. It is so beautiful. Like people are dancing in the queues. Everyone's waving at each other. Like it's such a beautiful space because everyone's experiencing liberation for the first time," Probyn said.
She added that professionals had contacted the company after positive experiences using the urinals with their families at events.
What comes next for Peequal
Looking ahead, Probyn said the company hopes to use its appearance on Dragons' Den to raise awareness of the brand among people who have not yet come across it at a festival.
"We're definitely hoping to use this like TV exposure as a way of educating everyone, as a way of saying like, this is a thing, like I said, it's here to stay. We've been around six years, but if you haven't been to a festival, you may not know about us," Probyn said.
She said the company wants festival-goers to tag events or tag Peequal online to encourage more organisers to bring the urinals to their sites, adding that audiences hold power through their spending and their voice.
Probyn also confirmed that Peequal is now selling its product internationally, and said the exposure from the show could help support that commercial expansion.
"We're open to partnerships, we're open to ambassadors or anything," Probyn said.