Kare Kits Inc. & The Dragons Den

Venture Grad Pitches Dragons' Den



Tune in on Wednesday, February 10th 2010 and watch BCIT Venture grad, Maura Ingraham, pitch her vegan condom company to the hard-as-nails panel of successful Canadian entrepreneurs on CBC televisions' Dragons' Den, in the hopes of landing an investment deal.

"When the first episode of Dragons' Den aired I instantly wanted to be on it – but I wasn’t ready yet," smiles Ingraham. "Then when I reached the stage where I knew my business inside and out and was confident about our ability to succeed, I watched for the auditions to come around and then boldly went in with our pitch. The fact that the BCIT Venture Program was the host gave me a huge home turf advantage. Fortunately, we nailed the audition and they brought us to Toronto to do it for real!"

After graduating the BCIT Venture Program in 2001, Ingraham invented a multi-component safer sex kit that she marketed in local pubs, sex shops, and beer & wine stores. While the kit wasn’t a hit, the GLYDE® premium condoms she had sourced from Australia were a smash success! Together with her life and business partner Dietrich Pajonk, she negotiated the exclusive North American rights and discovered that GLYDE® had very unique properties – it’s the first latex condom designed for the conscientious consumer!

GLYDE® condoms are vegan, cruelty free, fair trade, and the flavoured varieties are made with organic food grade fruit extracts. It’s the first condom in the world certified by The Vegan Society, the PeTA Caring Consumer program, and by Ethiquette. Ingraham’s company, Kare Kits Inc., has been selling GLYDE® in health food stores in the United States for over three years and launched the brand across Canada in July 2009. Already GLYDE® is available coast-to-coast, including at a selection of Pharmasaves.

"Having grown up off Commercial Drive in Vancouver’s East Side, I was instilled with a sense of accountability to my community and my planet," says Ingraham. "Finally with the rise in popularity of socially conscious products, I am proud to be responsible for bringing the first ethical condom to my fellow Canadians."

The buzz around GLYDE® is really heating up, not only with the Dragons' Den show, but Marie Claire & Women's Health magazines are spotlighting GLYDE® in upcoming issues, and The Doctors will be reviewing GLYDE® on a future episode of their popular USA medical advice program. GLYDE® has also partnered with the BCIT Student Society for their popular harm reduction event, the Latex Luau, to be held at the Burnaby campus on Friday January 29th, 2010.

For more information, contact:

Maura Ingraham, 604.215.2119, maura@karekits.com