Verifying Switch

Mark & Stephen Ainsworth
Whitby, ON

The pitch

Mark & Stephen Ainsworth from Whitby, ON, pitched Verifying Switch in Season 15, Episode 8, asking the Dragons for $1M for 10% of the company.

Asked for$1M for 10%
Valuation$10Mimplied by the ask
OutcomeNo deal

Offers in the Den

Dragon	Offer	Result
Lane Merrifield	Felt the valuation could not be justified for a $1 million investment	Out
Jim Treliving	Felt a $1 million investment on no sales was not doable	Out
Michele Romanow	Felt the overvaluation made a deal impossible	Out
Manjit Minhas	Felt execution and business sense were lacking	Out
Arlene Dickinson	Felt the valuation was haywire	Out
Vincenzo Guzzo	Felt they came in over their true valuation	Out

Mark Ainsworth and Stephen Ainsworth, brothers from Whitby, Ontario, asked for $1,000,000 for 10% of their Electronic Verifying Switch, a patented device that replaces the standard wall plate on fire alarm systems to speed up annual testing, cutting inspection time by 20% to 30% year after year. The switch costs between $21 and $26 wholesale, the founders have invested about $200,000 to date, and lifetime sales over roughly two years total about $65,000, with the founders acknowledging the company is not currently worth the implied $10 million valuation.

Lane Merrifield, Jim Treliving, Michele Romanow, Manjit Minhas, Arlene Dickinson, and Vincenzo Guzzo all went out, each citing the mismatch between the low sales figures and the high valuation being asked for. No deal was made.

Pitch details from CBC’s Dragons’ Den pitch page.