Architecture alumnus George Hintzen recently appeared on BBC’s Dragon’s Den and was granted funding for his business TOAD.ai.
Last month, alumnus George Hintzen pitched his business TOAD.ai, a data-driven outdoor advertising agency powered by technology, to the investors on Dragon’s Den. On the show, George asked for £100,000 for a 10% stake in his business.
In his pitch, George discussed TOAD.ai’s mission to help brands connect with their audiences through outdoor advertising. The technology provides price, location and availability for signage sites across the country, which is layered with audience data such as demographics, age and interests of target audiences. Upon inputting the demographics of the target audience, the technology will then pinpoint the best location to place your advert based on your requirements.
British Businessman and Dragon Tej Lalvani made an offer, in which George and his business received £100,000 in funding.
Reflecting on his experience and his time at Westminster, George said: "Going on Dragons' Den was an amazing experience, and very unlike anything I'd done before. It required sustained composure and considered answers in front of the Dragons, and also during the surrounding interviews over a long day of filming. In the weeks before and after filming, due diligence was also a taxing exercise, as both the BBC and investor had to make sure that the business stacks up.
“During my time on the MArch course at the University of Westminster, our design tutors Arthur Mamou-Mani and Toby Burgess encouraged us to investigate new construction systems, and new building uses, and to maintain an attitude of enterprise and discovery, and look past the status quo, which was really productive.
“Emphasis was always placed on the rigorous analysis of phenomena, and scalable systems, which likely influenced my motivation to create geospatial analytics software. Architecture is a challenging course, but with huge rewards, and the team at Westminster always encouraged ambitious work, and enabled our mad requests, where possible!”
Learn more about Architecture and Interiors courses offered at the University of Westminster.
