Dragons' Den investor Alan Sugar founded the electronics company Amstrad.
Sugar established Amstrad in 1968, using a name formed from his initials and those of his business partner Stanley D. The company began by selling audio products and later expanded into consumer electronics, computers and telecommunications equipment. Its affordable products helped make the Amstrad name familiar in Britain during the late twentieth century.
Amstrad became particularly associated with home computers. The company released the Amstrad CPC range in the 1980s and later produced the Amstrad PCW, a word-processing computer aimed at home and small-business users. It also entered the satellite television market through set-top boxes.
Alan Sugar joined Dragons' Den as an investor after becoming prominent as an entrepreneur and businessman. Viewers sometimes confuse Amstrad with Sinclair, another British computer company from the same era, but Sinclair was founded by Clive Sinclair rather than Sugar.