WINCHESTER entrepreneur David Hellard has said how having two dragons behind him has given him the confidence to grow his business.

Caffeine Bullet creator David Hellard took on the dragons last Thursday (April 7) to showcase his energy chews and strike up a deal with all five dragons.

With the help of David's singing, knowledge, business strategy and charm, the Sparsholt businessman accepted an offer from Steven Bartlett and Peter Jones, who offered him 25 per cent of his company in exchange for £60,000.

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David said: "I was pretty excited when Steven came in because he's got quite unique experience. When I said I wanted all five dragons, I absolutely did, because they've all got such different skillsets and background.

Hampshire Chronicle: David Hellard pictured with Caffeine Bullet chews

"Social media is something that I haven't really embraced myself and not something I really enjoy, so having his experience guiding our team is really useful because often, if you haven't got the concept or approach right, no matter how hard you try, you're only going to achieve so much, so he's really going to help us ensure that we're getting the right messaging to the right people and educate people on how to use caffeine for its benefit for it's performance and for getting more out of their life."

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The 43-year-old introduced the Caffeine Bullet, a chew packed with 100MG of caffeine per chew, designed as an instant hit of caffeine, which David told the Dragon's is proven to absorb quicker than tablets and drinks.

David said: "I feel a lot more confident now that I'm able to hire and spend money, because when you're in a business and you're growing and not taking a salary, every single penny that you spend, you question, 'is this worth it, can I afford to spend this much?', because you never know if a rival product will come out or if the market will change, so having the dragon's behind you just gives you a little more confidence, but also the freedom to start investing properly in the company and helping it grow."

Hampshire Chronicle: David Hellard. Credit: BBC

David has been working on creating a product for vegans, as well as making sure that the packaging is environmentally friendly.

He said: "We're in the middle of developing a product for vegans but it's currently made out of plastic, which I hate, but we can't afford to do anything else because the quotes we've had will cost 10 times more to get packaging that is compostable, which would mean doubling the price of the product.

"If we did that, people just wouldn't buy it, so hopefully with the growth that Dragon's Den help with and the raised profile, we're going to reach a size where our order quantities go up, so suddenly we're going to be able to afford to have packaging that is more sustainable, which is a real priority for us."

David has also been working on a product with less caffeine.

He said: "If you have a Caffeine Bullet, you're going to be up and active and quite a lot of the time, you just need a little pick me up rather than a rocket up your a**. So we're looking at something that's going to be a little gentler for when you need a helping hand, rather than something that's going to set the world on fire."

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