Dragons' Den viewers slam 'rude' guest judge Emma Grede for 'belittling' 23-year-old female entrepreneur's pitch for a menopausal cooling device

Dragons' Den viewers slam 'rude' guest judge Emma Grede for 'belittling' 23-year-old female entrepreneur's pitch for a menopausal cooling device
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Dragons' Den viewers slam 'rude' guest judge Emma Grede for 'belittling' 23-year-old female entrepreneur's pitch for a menopausal cooling device
Published: Feb, 20 2025 22:49

Dragons' Den viewers were left furious after Thursday night's episode, accusing guest judge Emma Grede of 'belitting' a young female entrepreneur's business proposition. Nitya Dintakurti, who lives in London and is from India, went on the BBC show in the hopes of securing £100,000 for her menopausal cooling device.

 [Nitya Dintakurti, who lives in London and is from India, went on the BBC show in the hopes of securing £100,000 for her menopausal cooling device]
Image Credit: Mail Online [Nitya Dintakurti, who lives in London and is from India, went on the BBC show in the hopes of securing £100,000 for her menopausal cooling device]

Her product, the Coolzen, was pitched as a wearable cooling device designed to provide instant relief from hot flushes. Having graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering from Kings College London, Nitya was convinced her innovative product for women could be a hit - but sadly failed to score an investment from any of the five dragons.

 [Her product, the Coolzen (pictured), was pitched as a wearable cooling device designed to provide instant relief from hot flushes]
Image Credit: Mail Online [Her product, the Coolzen (pictured), was pitched as a wearable cooling device designed to provide instant relief from hot flushes]

The young entrepreneur, 23, who had graduated university just three years prior, had hoped to secure the money in return for 2.5 per cent of the corporation. But the dragons were immediately skeptical of the product, as it had not undergone clinical trials.

 [Emma (pictured), who is was a guest Dragon on the episode, told Nitya she wasn't sure if she was the 'right person' to be the face of the brand]
Image Credit: Mail Online [Emma (pictured), who is was a guest Dragon on the episode, told Nitya she wasn't sure if she was the 'right person' to be the face of the brand]

Guest dragon, Emma Grede, who has appeared on the BBC show before, was initially complimentary but quickly fired out criticism when she asked the entrepreneur about her distribution of the menopausal product. While many agreed with what she was saying, others disliked the delivery of her comments, with one alleging she had spent 25 minutes 'belittling' the business founder.

 [Despite their initial enthusiasm, the 23-year-old didn't get any offers from the Dragons]
Image Credit: Mail Online [Despite their initial enthusiasm, the 23-year-old didn't get any offers from the Dragons]

Dragons' Den viewers slammed guest judge Emma Grede, accusing her of 'belitting' a young female entrepreneur's business proposition on tonight's episode. Beginning her pitch, Nitya said: 'Imagine every cell of your body on fire - sweating profusely and turning red unannounced.

 [After the pitch, dragon Peter Jones also leapt at the opportunity to ask Nitya questioned about the product]
Image Credit: Mail Online [After the pitch, dragon Peter Jones also leapt at the opportunity to ask Nitya questioned about the product]

'This is how dome women would describe their menopause,' she added before going on to unveil the product, demonstrating on a friend and offering the dragons to try for themselves. The product, which is designed to detect the onset of a menopause-induced hot flushed, purported to deliver cooling effects within just 45 seconds to reduce discomfort caused by symptoms. The device could also be connected to the 'Unpause' mobile app to easily control the settings.

 [Nitya confirmed that while she was based in London, her co-founder and most the team resided in her native India, and that they had sold 'close to 130 devices' that had generated £16,000]
Image Credit: Mail Online [Nitya confirmed that while she was based in London, her co-founder and most the team resided in her native India, and that they had sold 'close to 130 devices' that had generated £16,000]

After delivering her pitch, Emma, 42, immediately had questions, asking Nitya how she planned to get the product out to consumers. She explained that she hoped to reach consumers through clinicians - a response that didn't impress the guest dragon. Emma said; 'Already this tells me you're not really thinking about bringing this to market in the right way.'.

Image Credit: Mail Online

She noted that rival companies targeting of customers directly was the better approach since it reached 'the person suffering'. 'You want to bypass the doctors and get straight to the sufferer,' said the judge, adding that many women struggle to get through to doctors when discussing their symptoms.

Image Credit: Mail Online

Nitya Dintakurti, who lives in London and is from India, went on the BBC show in the hopes of securing £100,000 for her menopausal cooling device. Her product, the Coolzen (pictured), was pitched as a wearable cooling device designed to provide instant relief from hot flushes.

 [Several took to the comments to lament their frustrations following the 'brutal' takedown, with one calling the judge 'nasty']
Image Credit: Mail Online [Several took to the comments to lament their frustrations following the 'brutal' takedown, with one calling the judge 'nasty']

Emma (pictured), who is was a guest Dragon on the episode, told Nitya she wasn't sure if she was the 'right person' to be the face of the brand. Despite their initial enthusiasm, the 23-year-old didn't get any offers from the Dragons. 'This is a consumer facing product, you need to figure out out you're going to get it in their hands,' she said. 'It doesn't seem to me like you've got that far yet.'.

'I think it's interesting that you've come here asking for £100,000 when your competitor's just raised £50 million,' she added, giving the example of a rival business in the US. She complimented her efforts but said she would have 'rather' she'd asked for money to spend on clinical and market trials instead.

'But you haven't said that today,' she said, while Nitya struggled to hit back. 'You're picking up a ton of information and if you're smart as an entrepreneur, you'll gobble up. Because this, here, with these dragons, is an amazing opportunity for you to think about future of your business and what you're doing,' she lamented.

'I don't think you've come and told a compelling story. I don't think you're in the running when you think about where the competition is,' she said, adding that she wasn't sure Nitya was the right person to spearhead to product. Fellow judge Steven Bartlett was quick to call the commentary 'savage' but went on himself to turn down the offer of investing.

And viewers at home agreed, taking to social media to lament their frustrations following the 'brutal' takedown, with one even calling the judge's comments 'nasty'. After the pitch, dragon Peter Jones also leapt at the opportunity to ask Nitya questioned about the product.

Nitya confirmed that while she was based in London, her co-founder and most the team resided in her native India, and that they had sold 'close to 130 devices' that had generated £16,000. 'Emma is nasty. Didn't like her the last time she was on. So arrogant. There's way's of speaking to people but note like that,' one wrote.

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