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Joe Gray's start-up scores big following prime-time appearance on national TV
Former rugby star turned entrepreneur Joe Gray, who now coaches London Scottish, has received a potentially life-changing investment on the high profile BBC One television show Dragons’ Den.
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Gray, who is England capped and played for Northampton Saints, Saracens and mainly Harlequins, secured investment for his recovery start-up, MyoMaster.
Fresh off turning over an impressive £1m in the last quarter, Gray and his wife and MyoMaster co-founder Lottie Whyte received a £100,000 investment from Gary Neville and Sara Davies.
The business specialises in creating high-level sports recovery solutions including massage guns, compression boots and portable ice baths. They also have a connected app in development.
At age 17, Gray almost had his leg amputated after a horrific injury and was told that he would never run or play rugby again. He went on become the only player to have won every domestic and European trophy available to players in the top two tiers of English rugby.
Now 35-years-old, Gray came up with the concept in 2021 when he tried to treat a recurring Achilles tendonitis injury using a device made out of makeshift tools in his kitchen. His wife then helped to drive the business forward, using her maternity leave from a high-profile job as an opportunity to grow the business.
They went on to secure cash backing from Google’s Black Founders Fund and were recogised as one of the UK’s ‘Entrepreneurs of the Year’.
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They are now targeting further expansion after the successful appearance on Dragons’ Den, where founders pitch ideas to wealthy investors.
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The episode aired on Thursday 29th February and saw the MyoMaster husband and wife team face Dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies, Steven Bartlett, and guest Dragon Gary Neville. Neville and Davies each ended up investing £50,000 into the business.
They actually received a total of four offers from the Dragons – including Jones and Meaden – before ultimately shaking hands with Neville and Davies.
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“Going into the Den was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said MyoMaster co-founder Lottie Whyte.
“Presenting to some of the biggest names in the business world and being grilled on every aspect of our brand was an amazing experience.
“By combining Gary’s sporting connections and experience with Sara’s business expertise, this can really help open doors for us on this next phase of our journey. Going on the show has given us the drive to continue innovating our business and change the way people approach recovery and performance optimisation.”
You can watch the full episode on the BBC iPlayer.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments