Sharks back Dunny Buddy

The Victorian inventor of an innovative Aussie-made outdoor toilet roll holder, has received financial backing to grow his fledgling camping-related business.

Hitting the market in 2022, Dunny Buddy was among a number of start-ups pitching to a panel of investors on the first episode of Channel 10's Shark Tank Australia.

On the TV show Dunny buddy owner and director Darren Storace was seeking an investment of $75,000 in return for a 15 per cent equity share in the business.

During his pitch, Storace said his unique toilet roll protector and dispenser boasts a registered and patented design, and is the only one of its type on the market. He said the business had sold around 17,000 products (including the larger Paperpod) in the space of 24 months, generating $560,000 in revenue, with around half of those sales at trade shows. Pricing for the Dunny Buddy starts at $39.

He said he wanted to use the additional funds to ramp up sales on an e-commerce platform, to go with 'big box' sales from the likes of BCF, and also look at rolling out a subscription-model for toilet paper, to encourage customers to return to the website after buying one of the Dunny Buddy products.

In the end, he received offers from three out of the five 'Sharks' on the panel, and accepted a '2 for 1' deal from serial entrepreneur Nick Bell (who described the Dunny Buddy as a "genius product" with "massive potential"), and "self-made Retail Queen" Maxine Horne, of $75,000 in exchange for 20 per cent equity (10 per cent each).