Grates Cove-based skincare company 7 Fathoms recently appeared on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, where they successfully pitched their business to one of the show’s investors.

The company is making skin and hair products incorporating the bioactives found in North Atlantic seaweed, one of the province’s most abundant natural resources.

On the show, the two founders, married partners Courtney and Terrence Howell, secured a partnership with investor Manjit Minhas. The founders asked for $100,000 for 12 percent and Minhas offered $100,000 for 20 percent, which was accepted. 

In the pitch, Terrence described himself as “a professional patient” after 40 years suffering with Crohn’s disease. He said he developed contact dermatitis after becoming allergic to the plastics in a medical device. Walking along a beach, he touched Laminaria digitata, a type of seaweed, and found it cured his dermatitis after three days.

The couple said the difficult conditions of the North Atlantic trigger seaweed to produce powerful protective compounds which they are now harvesting and using in their products.

During the pitch, the founders gave investors the chance to touch thick, glistening fronds of raw seaweed they had brought along and which dripped with raw, gelatinous compounds. 

The company is currently selling to health stores, health practitioners, and certain pharmacists. The five-year-old venture has worked with Bounce Health Innovation, the National Research Council, Natural Products Canada, and taken part in the Emergence incubator at PEI BioAlliance,