Independent strategy proposal / 30 October 2026
PadX. Peter Jones.
A powerful investment match.
A compelling product in a fast-growing sport. An investor who knows the game. Dragons’ Den is the stage to bring them together—and accelerate PadX’s next chapter.
01 / The investment opportunity
A clear proposition.
A growing market. A bigger stage.
PadX should go onto Dragons’ Den. It brings together the ingredients of a compelling investment story: a visual product, recurring subscription potential, a route through clubs and a sport gathering extraordinary momentum.
This is a clean, easy-to-understand proposition: turn the match people already love playing into insight and highlights they want to revisit. The investment story connects the court, the player and the club in one clear experience.
PadX’s website describes camera-equipped courts that produce match analysis and highlights without a wearable. “Wave to Save” lets players raise their arms to save a recent moment. Free and paid plans give players a clear progression into deeper features. [1]
Made to be demonstrated
A rally. A gesture. A saved highlight. A useful insight. The product story translates naturally into a memorable television moment.
Built around repeat play
Every match creates another opportunity to engage a player, show the value of analysis and introduce a deeper subscription experience.
Clubs multiply the reach
An equipped club introduces PadX to the players who use its courts. Player enthusiasm and club adoption can reinforce each other.
The conviction behind this proposal
PadX is exactly the kind of opportunity we believe deserves a Dragon’s attention: tangible technology, an engaging demonstration and a clear place in a growing sport. Peter Jones is the standout investor to pursue.
The market momentum is substantial. On 20 October 2026, the LTA reported 1.5 million padel participants in Britain, across 2,445 courts at 682 venues, following one million participants earlier in the year. PadX’s opportunity is to make match insight part of this expanding playing experience. [2]
02 / Investor fit
Peter Jones is the natural
investor for this opportunity.
Peter Jones understands racket sports from the inside. His official biography describes qualifying as an LTA coach at 16 and founding his own tennis academy in Windsor. Sport and entrepreneurship were connected from the start of his career. [3]
He has already backed the category. Active Away says Jones invested after its 2016 Dragons’ Den appearance and remains an active shareholder. Its racket-sports business also has a dedicated Head of Padel. There is a direct commercial bridge between his tennis background and PadX’s market. [4]
Our conviction: Peter Jones is likely to recognise the investment appeal of PadX. His tennis background and existing racket-sports investment make him an exceptionally strong match. The opportunity is to bring his commercial experience, relationships and profile behind a focused club rollout.
Watch the real Dragons’ Den pitch on Active Away’s website ↗
The pitch should address him with confidence: you know the players, you understand the clubs, and you have already invested in the experience economy around racket sports. PadX brings technology into that same world. We believe this is a business he would have strong reasons to want to back.
03 / Equity as an accelerator
Think bigger than
the percentage.
The exciting question is what the right investment partner can help PadX become. Capital, commercial introductions, a recognisable champion and national visibility can contribute to a business worth substantially more.
A founder’s percentage is only one part of the value equation. A larger business can make a smaller percentage more valuable. The case for bringing in a Dragon is to accelerate the company’s growth and increase the value of the ownership the founders retain.
For example, a 15% investment leaves existing owners with 85% of their previous economic share. A 17.6% increase in company value preserves the value of that holding; growth beyond that level increases it. The calculator below makes the opportunity tangible.
Explore the value of accelerated growth
Illustrative scenarios only. These are not PadX valuations, forecasts or proposed deal terms. Values mean total company equity value at the same future date.
Enter an investor stake from 0% to 99%, a positive value without investment and a non-negative value with investment.
At £2,500,000, the existing owners’ combined 85% would be worth £2,125,000: £125,000 more than the £2,000,000 scenario without the investor.
Formula: break-even value = value without investor ÷ (1 − new stake). Assumes a primary issue of ordinary shares, proportional dilution, equal share economics and no further funding. Excludes tax, preferences, control rights, timing and risk; a secondary share sale requires a different comparison.
Make the investment about acceleration
Present the equity as an investment in a larger future: more equipped courts, more players experiencing the product and stronger commercial reach. Connect the capital request to a clear rollout plan and the investor’s contribution to the growth it can help unlock.
The strongest pitch gives Peter a specific role in that future: champion the product, help open the right commercial conversations and support a business with a clear ambition to scale.
04 / The television moment
Let the rally tell the story.
Begin with a real point
Show a short, rights-cleared match clip from an equipped court. Establish the player’s question: what actually happened, and what can I learn?
Demonstrate one memorable action
Show the highlight-saving gesture and the resulting clip. Build a polished demonstration around the gesture and the resulting highlight, supported by a crisp match recording.
Reveal one useful insight
Show an authentic match output and explain what it reveals. Make the player benefit immediate: a clearer picture of the game they have just played.
Explain how the business earns
Separate player subscription economics from club installation economics. State who pays for hardware, support and processing using actual contracts and costs.
Make a fundable ask
Specify the capital required, the milestone it funds and the evidence behind the valuation. Show exactly how the investment will support the next phase of club adoption.
Suggested framing, not an approved PadX script:
“Padel is growing. Players want more from every match. PadX turns the court into insight, highlights and a deeper connection with the game. Peter, you have built businesses around your love of tennis. This is the opportunity to help shape the next chapter of racket-sports technology.”
05 / Turn interest into adoption
The real conversion is
the next tracked match.
Turn the television story into two clear journeys on PadX’s own site: players find an equipped court; clubs request a rollout conversation.
| Stage | Proposed action | Evidence of progress |
|---|---|---|
| Build the foundation | Validate the demonstration, cohort retention, unit economics and installation capacity. | Reliable demo; documented repeat play; costed deployment plan. |
| Prepare the audience journey | Prepare player and club landing pages, a truthful coverage map, support capacity and a short product explainer. | Successful test journeys; clear route for people outside coverage. |
| Plan the launch moment | Agree permitted publicity with production. Ready the site for traffic and route club enquiries to a named owner. | Working attribution, tested forms and operational response capacity. |
| Convert the momentum | Follow up opted-in enquiries, schedule club demos and compare cohorts with the prior baseline. | First tracked matches, repeat use, paid retention and signed club deployments. |
Track existing-court players separately from new-club prospects. Compare activation, retention, acquisition cost and contribution margin with a pre-exposure baseline. Use these measures to show how attention becomes lasting commercial value.
One demonstration. Several growth engines. The same compelling story can energise players, attract club operators and give investors a clear picture of PadX’s ambition. Build the campaign so each audience has an immediate next step.
06 / Build the winning presentation
Give investors a story
they can see scaling.
Bring the product to life
A short rally, a saved highlight and a clear insight. Let real product outputs carry the demonstration.
Make the business concrete
Present current club adoption, player engagement, subscription revenue and court economics in a concise, well-supported investment brief.
Show the next chapter
Connect the funding to a compelling rollout: more equipped clubs, deeper player engagement and a stronger position in racket-sports technology.
07 / The recommendation
Take PadX to the Den.
Lead with conviction.
This is a compelling opportunity to put a visual technology product in front of a relevant investor and a national audience. The product story, the growth of padel and Peter Jones’s racket-sports background belong in the same conversation.
Build the pitch around the opportunity to create a bigger business. Make the demonstration memorable, the economics clear and the ambition unmistakable. The BBC’s official application guidance provides the route into the programme. [6]
The investment case in one line
A growing sport. A compelling product. A natural strategic investor. PadX should make its case to Peter Jones on Dragons’ Den.
Sources & scope
- PadX official website — public product description and plan structure, reviewed 30 October 2026.
- LTA: World Padel Day participation update — 20 October 2026; Britain, not a PadX customer count.
- Peter Jones: official biography — tennis coaching and academy background.
- Active Away: About Us — company account of Jones’s investment, current shareholding and padel team.
- BBC: About Dragons’ Den — published rules on investment offers and due diligence.
- BBC: Apply to enter the Den — official casting guidance.
Independent advocacy for PadX’s investors and founders. Assessments of investor fit and potential interest are the proposal’s opinion, not a statement from Peter Jones. Product descriptions are sourced to PadX; company values in the calculator are illustrative. Image credits and licences appear alongside the artwork.