Baby products entrepreneur Ollwyn Moran (pictured), who turned down investment from Gavin Duffy on the first episode of RTE's Dragons’ Den last Sunday, received €100,000 from taxpayers through Enterprise Ireland in December 2015.

Seven months earlier, in May 2015, the state agency made a payment of €25,000 to Cognikids, which operates through Noram Ltd.

On the TV programme, Moran was seeking investment of €150,000 from the Dragons. Duffy said he’d invested for a 35% stake, and Moran countered by offering 10%. When Duffy lowered his equity demand to 30%, Moran upped her shares offer to 20%, which placed a value of €750,000 on the startup. Duffy demurred and Moran walked away without extra finance.

To date, Moran has invested €25,000 of her own cash in the business, which had a negative net worth of €16,200 in December 2014. She raised €45,000 from Leapside Ltd in May 2015

Cognikids, previously known as Creeper Crawlers, was founded in 2012 with a focus on supporting the natural developmental stages of babies through fun and functional developmental products.

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Moran has two children and is a neurological developmental therapist. She first developed the Easy Grip Crawl Suit that stops babies slipping on wooden and tiled flooring. More recently she developed GRIP, a baby bottle gripper that supports the development of the pincer grip.

Cognikids products have secured listings with Lloyds Pharmacies and Mothercare.