Product Update

Is Cush'n'Shade Still in Business? (2026 Update)

Is Cush'n'Shade from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Cush'n'Shade today.

Dragons' Den IndexUpdated 6 April 20266 min read

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Cush'n'Shade is one of the small handful of Dragons' Den pitches that turned into a genuine long runner. The fold-away sunshade and cushion combo went into the Den back in series 5, and nearly two decades on you can still buy it. The short answer, if that is all you came for, is yes, the product is still on sale.

The Short Answer

Cush'n'Shade is still selling today. The brand runs its own website, ships internationally, and has a dedicated US distributor in Paradise Sun Products. That is a rare outcome for a product this old, and it is worth noting up front because plenty of series 5 pitches did not make it anywhere near this far.

There is a wrinkle worth flagging honestly. The original Irish limited company behind the product, Cush'n Shade Limited, was dissolved in 2014. That does not mean the brand died. The product, the website and the trading activity have carried on regardless, most likely under a different corporate structure or through the US distribution arrangement. Company dissolutions happen for all sorts of administrative reasons and do not always signal the end of a business, and in this case the evidence on the ground, an active website with current stock and testimonials, says the product is still very much alive.

The Pitch

Cush'n'Shade appeared in series 5, episode 4, pitching a portable beach cushion that unfolds into a 50+ UV sun shade. It is a neat piece of product design aimed squarely at the Sports & Outdoors market, small enough to carry in a beach bag but functional enough to replace a full parasol.

The founders asked for £100,000 in exchange for 40 percent of the business, a fairly steep equity ask that put the company's implied value at a modest £250,000. Steep asks like that tend to spook Dragons who worry the founder is either desperate or has not done the maths, but this pitch found a taker.

Part of what made the pitch work is how easy the product was to demonstrate live in the studio. A folding cushion that becomes a functional sunshade in a few seconds is the sort of thing a Dragon can pick up, unfold, and understand instantly, without needing a lecture on the underlying mechanism. That kind of instant, physical demonstration tends to be one of the strongest cards a founder can play in the Den, regardless of category.

The Deal

Cush'n'Shade walked away from the Den with a deal done, though the specific Dragon and the final terms are not detailed in the public record we have on file, so we are not going to guess at names or numbers here. What matters more for anyone asking this question today is what happened after the cameras stopped, not the exact cap table on the day.

A Den appearance is a marketing event as much as a funding round, and for a beach product a national TV slot is free advertising to exactly the audience that buys sunshades and travel cushions.

What Happened Next

The product found its footing in a crowded but forgiving category. Beach and travel accessories do not need to reinvent themselves every season, and a well-designed item with a patent and a TV credit behind it can keep selling steadily for years without much fanfare. That appears to be exactly what happened here.

The brand built out a proper e-commerce presence, picked up a US distributor, and kept the product line fairly focused rather than sprawling into dozens of variants. That kind of discipline is often the difference between a Den product that fades after eighteen months and one that is still on shelves fifteen years later.

It also helps that the product category itself is evergreen rather than trend-driven. People go to the beach every summer regardless of what else is happening in retail, and a compact, well-reviewed sunshade does not really go out of fashion the way a lot of consumer gadgets do. That steady, unglamorous demand is exactly the kind of foundation a small product business needs to keep trading for close to two decades without needing to reinvent itself.

Where Things Stand Now

Cush'n'Shade pitched in series 5 for £100,000 at 40 percent, secured a deal on the day, and today the product is still for sale through its own website and an international distributor network. The original Irish company was formally wound up in 2014, but that has not stopped the brand trading.

If you are trying to decide whether to buy one, the practical answer is that the product is current, in stock, and being actively sold as of 2026. That is the outcome that matters far more than which entity happens to hold the paperwork.

Where to buy Cush'n'Shade

Still selling as of 6 April 2026. Check today's price and availability.

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See the full Cush'n'Shade deal breakdown and term sheet →