Durham College alumna takes on CBC’s Dragons’ Den

Lorelei Hepburn, a 1994 graduate of Durham College’s Environmental Technology program, faces the members of the Dragons’ Den to pitch her product, the Nemaglobe. Hepburn will appear on the show’s sixth season.

Durham College alumna Lorelei Hepburn, a 1994 graduate of the Environmental Technology program, will be appearing on the popular CBC television show, Dragons’ Den, as part of its sixth season.

The show’s premise is to let budding businesspeople pitch their ideas for new business concepts and products and earn funding from a panel of Canadian business experts. Hepburn’s pitch was originally slated to appear during the show’s fifth season, but was kept until the sixth instead.

She approached the Dragons with the Nemaglobe, a spherical container with a bug-busting surprise. “It’s a natural worm that goes after white grubs in moss,” said Hepburn. “What makes it unique is that the packaging is completely biodegradable. It’s a natural way to control grubs and when you finish you have no packaging.”

Hepburn is no stranger to green products. While attending Durham College she founded The Environmental Factor, a lawn care company specializing in pesticide- and chemical-free products. The Environmental Factor has since spread beyond Ontario to New Brunswick and British Columbia and recently set down roots across the border in Buffalo.

Despite her lawn care expertise Hepburn described her visit to the Dragons’ Den as nerve-wracking.

“The Dragons are very smart and very entertaining, but you have to know your business,” she said. “You can go out and sell to customers, talk about your products and win awards, but these are your peers. I had to make sure every fact and figure was correct.”

Hepburn was named an Alumni of Distinction in 2001 and is currently a member of the college’s Environmental Technology program advisory committee.

For more information on her product and the Environmental Factor, please visit www.environmentalfactor.com.