There wasn’t a lot of head-butting this time round (The Independent)
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It’s hard to believe that Dragons’ Den has been on our screens for almost 20 years now, having started all the way back in 2005, but here we are – on series 19. And with a new dragon in tow no less.
Tonight, four entrepreneurs took to the den to pitch their products to the fire-breathing investors. They included a cold brew coffee business, a plant-based packaging company, an intriguing Peloton rival and a charity donation app, which almost had the backing of five dragons simultaneously.
The show, which airs on Thursday nights at 8pm, has already raised a few eyebrows this series, with new dragon Steven Bartlett butting heads with fashion tycoon Touker Suleyman, but has also seen Dragons’ Den history made when entrepreneur Charlotte Morley, who created the baby clothes rental subscription company Thelittleloop walked away with two dragons and double her investment in last week’s episode.
So far this series, we’ve seen a teeth whitening business, a cheese subscription service and… uh, a poop gel to clean your butt?
As the seventh episode of the most gruelling business show on British telly concludes, and three entrepreneurs clinch a deal, we’re here to round up all the startups seen on screen.
First in the den was Annie Mitchell, founder of cold brew coffee company Bottleshot, who walked away with Peter Jones’s £80,000. The company sells two kinds of cold brews. The main one is the iced black coffee, which the company says is “made from 100 per cent freshly ground arabica beans”. These beans have been “brewed low and slow and mixed with filtered water”. One can is the equivalent of two espresso shots.
Bottleshot was acquired by Grind in early 2023, and you can only find a pack of 12 bottles on Amazon’s website.
Businesses centred around sustainability tend to do well in the den, especially with Deborah Meaden, but it wasn’t to be for Vahid Nagori and Thibault Denis, co-founders of Green Bell Packaging, a company which makes plant-based bags made out of cassava instead of plastic. It seemed like there were too many holes in the business for any dragon to invest, but if you’re interested, the company currently sells plant-based mailing bags on its website.
Deb? Debbie? Deborah? Steven Murr, the founder of TurboRocks couldn’t quite get Deborah Meaden’s name right, but he did walk away with £80,000 and two new business partners in the form of Sara Davies and Touker Suleyman.
TurboRocks makes rocker plates for indoor bikes. They more accurately simulate the act of riding outdoors, with your bike swaying left to right as you cycle. The brand sells a number of different rocker plates at different price points.
