A teenage boy who is marketing a towel that stays cold for two hours has bested 15,000 other inventors to win a £150,000 cash prize ($200k) in an international competition.
16-year-old Harrison Nott is juggling his normal schoolwork while running his CoolTowel company, which earned £100k in revenues last year.
He became an entrepreneur in 2023, founding CoolTowel in his bedroom. He’s gradually scaled up his business, sending out more than 30,000 orders.
Reportedly, the towel is made of a three-layer polyester material that holds onto moisture. The directions say it “delivers cooling relief by wetting, wringing, and snapping the towel”.
Harrison, from Essex, England, was soon selling his wares via TikTok and a Shopify website—hitting £15,000 during his best day, last summer.
Now, after recent headlines, he’s coping with a quickly ballooning business.
“I’ve been very, very busy,” Harrison admits. “It’s gone from a relatively small side hustle run from my bedroom to a big business.
“I’ve had to grow up very fast. My school has been very helpful; I’m on a part-time timetable now to accommodate the needs of my business.”
In November, Harrison attended an Alibaba.com CoCreate Pitch event in London after applying with “15,000 other young entrepreneurs from around the world”.
He was one of just 30 chosen to pitch their business to judges at the event. And though ten others won $20k investments, Harrison was the only one to take home the grand prize of $200k, after wowing judges with his pitch.
One of the competition judges, ex-England footballer Rio Ferdinand, was so impressed with young Harrison that he exchanged numbers with him—and the boy hopes he becomes an investor, to help him take his business to the next level.
“I felt like a celebrity. It felt like a dream… ” (Watch one of his TikTok promotion videos below…)
@cooltoweltiktok ❄️🛍️ You NEED this CoolTowel! Its perfect for hot days, sport , menopause pets and more! Hurry! ❄️🛍️ #cooltowel #Coldsweattowel #Cooldown #Overheating #Hot #Viral #Getyours #tiktokshop #fyp
♬ original sound - CoolTowel
Harrison says he’s been lucky to have the inspiration of his dad, 42-year-old Matthew Nott, to guide him in his business.
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“I’ve seen my dad running a business my whole life and I’ve always wanted to run my own, and have the financial control to do things for myself.
“I started my first business at eight, reselling items on eBay. I’ve started loads of different start-ups, most of them failing and losing money.
“They’ve given me the skills I needed to start a new one.
With a passion for fitness and playing squash, Harrison was frustrated by the lack of high-quality cooling towels in the UK, and that discontent drove him toward his goal.
He trademarked his brand with the help of his business teacher—and became a company. Determined to give back to his community, Harrison donates CoolTowel products to charities that support individuals with illnesses.
“It’s about building up a solid brand that people trust.”
Going forward, he hopes to be able to teach other people how to build up their own successful business.
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“I want to help people be their best self and launch their business if they want to, or get that skill they want to learn,” said Harrison, who has sponsored his own ‘sports day’ at this school, and presented an assembly about his business model.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes but now I’ve got the formula.”
He plans to take A-level Business Studies, and his dad Matthew admires his commitment to bettering himself—in whatever he does.
“He’s a chip off the old block. When he fails at something, he doesn’t just say, ‘Oh I tried’. He works out where he went wrong.
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“That is so important in life.”
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