Product Update
Is Brighter Bikes Still in Business? (2026 Update)
Is Brighter Bikes from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Brighter Bikes today.
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Brighter Bikes is a cycling safety brand that, like a few others in this batch, secured a Dragons' Den deal on air only to have the Dragons walk away from it afterward. The good news for anyone tracking this one down is that the company kept going regardless, and it is still active today.
The Short Answer
Yes, Brighter Bikes is still in business. UK company records show Brighterbikes Limited as active, and the brand maintains its own website, brighterbikes.co.uk, selling its wireless indicator and brake light system for cyclists directly to customers.
Founder Steve Ransom also runs an established business called Traffic Angel, developing sensors and CCTV systems for lorries, giving him an existing base of engineering and manufacturing experience to draw on for Brighter Bikes.
The Pitch
Brighter Bikes pitched in series 16, episode 7, in the Other category. Ransom, based in East Sussex, brought a wireless unit combining an indicator and a brake light that can be mounted to a cycling helmet, bag or backpack, or a bike's seatpost, operated using buttons fitted to the handlebars, aimed at making cyclists more visible and predictable to other road users.
He asked for 90,000 pounds for 20 percent of the business, and the pitch reportedly stood out for a memorable moment where the Dragons discovered the scale of Ransom's existing business ventures partway through questioning.
The Deal That Fell Apart
On air, Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones each agreed to invest 45,000 pounds, together making up the full 90,000 pounds asked, for 7.5 percent each. That looked, at the time, like a clean and well-structured joint deal.
After filming, though, the two Dragons pulled out. Reporting at the time suggested their advisers felt the terms Ransom had negotiated undervalued the business relative to what it was actually worth, an unusual reason for investors to walk away, since it is normally the founder pushing back on valuation, not the other way round.
How the Business Continued Without a Dragon
Losing an agreed Den investment could easily have ended a young hardware business, but Brighter Bikes and Ransom pressed on independently. Staying outside a Dragon's cap table also meant Ransom kept full ownership and control, avoided the pressure that comes with being publicly associated with a high-profile investor, and could keep tightening the business's systems on his own terms.
The company has remained registered and active on Companies House in the years since, and the product continues to be sold directly through its own site, evidence of a business that adapted to losing its expected investment rather than folding because of it.
An Unusual Reason for a Deal to Collapse
Most collapsed Dragons' Den deals fall apart because due diligence uncovers a problem with the business, unclear intellectual property, weaker sales figures than presented on air, or a founder unwilling to give the Dragons the operational access they expect once negotiations move past the studio. Brighter Bikes is a rarer case, where reporting at the time pointed to the Dragons' own advisers concluding the terms undervalued the business, prompting the investors themselves to step back rather than the founder.
That distinction matters for how you read the outcome. A collapse driven by an investor deciding they underpriced their own stake is a very different signal from one driven by problems found in the business, and it is consistent with a company that has gone on to remain active and keep selling its product years later under its own steam.
Where Things Stand Now
Brighter Bikes pitched in series 16 for 90,000 pounds at 20 percent, secured a joint on-air offer from Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones, and then saw both Dragons pull out of the investment after filming. The company has kept trading since under founder Steve Ransom, remaining active on Companies House with its own direct-to-consumer website.
If you are after the cycling indicator and brake light system from Dragons' Den, Brighter Bikes is still selling it, direct from its own site.
Where to buy Brighter Bikes
Still selling as of 22 May 2026. Check today's price and availability.
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See the full Brighter Bikes deal breakdown and term sheet →
