Dragons’ Den has given us TV gold, and the investors a goldrush. Its most successful pitches (including hair sensation, Tangle Teezer and airport irritation, Trunki) are now household names. And special shout out to Startups-100 titan, Reggae Reggae sauce.
It’s easy to forget that the show has only been around since 2005. Today, the format is familiar to most Brits. But when it first aired, reviewers were entranced by this amazing opportunity to watch business pitches on prime time telly.
Ahead of the show’s 20th anniversary next January, we’ve decided to check where the fresh-faced pitchers from Series 1 are today (plus gawp at the floppy noughties haircuts of the original Dragons). Find out if the founders, and their businesses, survived the den.
1. Charles Ejogo and Umbrolly, Episode 1
- Investors: Duncan Bannatyne and Peter Jones
- Agreed amount: £150,000 for 40% of equity
Ejogo became one of the first entrepreneurs to successfully pitch to the Dragons, proving it is possible to leave the den alive. In the first ever episode, broadcast on 5 January 2005, Ejogo won over two investors with his umbrella vending machine business idea. Caught in a shower? Simply pop in a coin and the machine will spit out a brolly to keep your suit dry.
Unfortunately, seven months later, Bannatyne and Jones took a rain check, and the offer fell through. Ejogo was undeterred, and he was able to secure alternate angel investment, which he used to take Umbrolly to the US, France, and Germany in 2008.
Sadly, the sun stopped shining on Umbrolly in 2010. After losing its UK operating partner, it was forced to dissolve. Now based in Dubai, Ejogo is today working at a travel startup.
2. Tracey Graily and Grails Ltd1, Episode 2
- Investors: Doug Richard and Rachel Elnaugh
- Agreed amount: £120,000 for 40% of equity
Graily probably wouldn’t have much success pitching her tailor-made business suits for women today, with flexible working having drastically changed how we dress in the office. 2005 was the era of The Matrix, however, and the Nehru suit was in fashion.
Richard and Elnaugh both fell for Graily’s pitch and invested £60,000 in the mother-of-two’s company. Unfortunately, the offer fell through. Graily reportedly became ill, and the business was wound up owing thousands of pounds one year later.
Graily set up as a sole trader in 2009 and began offering consultancy services. Tragically, however, the businesswoman died after being hit and trapped by her own car in 2012.
3. Tracie Herrtage and Le Beanock, Episode 3
- Investors: Rachel Elnaugh
- Agreed amount: £54,000 for 49% of equity
Interior decor could be.. questionable in the early 2000s. But Le Beanock (the beanbag and hammock hybrid we’d all been waiting for) succeeded when Herrtage pitched it in episode three of the first series. She was offered over £50,000 by the sole female Dragon.
Despite the apparent happy ending, however, Herrtage says she ended up £10,000 in debt because the money never came through and no deal was signed. Likely, this was due to Elnaugh’s company Red Letter Days going into administration in 2005.
After going to her fellow Dragons Jones and Bannatyne for financial support, Elnaugh was unable to revive Red Letter Days and she agreed to leave the show one year later. Companies House filings show that the Le Beanock was dissolved in 2018.
4. John & Phillip Petty and IV Cam, Episode 3
- Investors: Peter Jones and Doug Richard
- Agreed amount: £50,000 for 30% of equity
John Petty’s pitch was hardly smooth. He failed to explain clearly to the Dragons what his product (a camera that could accurately measure 3D items) did. Thankfully, Phillip Petty turned up to translate the techtalk, and the brothers managed to secure a sizable windfall.
However, a behind the scenes dispute with the Dragons meant that the deal ultimately failed. Jones and Richard wanted to licence the tech, rather than manufacture it. Unconvinced, the Pettys walked away, applying for funding via a bank loan instead.
The Dragons’ gold might have gone untouched, but the Pettys’ business is still going strong today, making it the first business to have escaped the Den, and still live to tell the tale.
5. Paul Thomas and Mycorrhizal Systems, Episode 4
- Investors: Simon Woodroffe
- Agreed amount: £75,000 for 25% of equity
Paul Thomas went digging for truffles and found them. Having correctly identified the huge value and market potential of these edible spores, he decided to buy land to cultivate the UK’s first ever truffle farm — and visited the Dragons for help.
Thomas was, sadly, ridiculed. Almost all of the Dragons rubbished the idea and, despite receiving an offer from Woodroffe, Thomas turned down the investment after the show.
To investors, Mycorrhizal Systems is the truffle that rolled away. In 2015, Thomas’ company harvested the first ever truffle cultivated from UK soil; a prize that promises a big payout for the business. Thomas has since gone on to sell his exciting invention across the world.
6. Elizabeth Galton Ltd, Episode 5
- Investors: Duncan Bannatyne and Rachel Elnaugh
- Agreed amount: £110,000 for 30% of equity
If you haven’t seen Galton’s bold jewellery line, you’re in for a treat. The four male Dragons were perplexed by her giant metallic cockroaches that resembled warped garden ornaments. “I’m completely diverted by this bug on your chest”, said a baffled Doug Richard.
Bannatyne and Elnaugh both agreed to invest £55,000 each in the business. Still, Elnaugh’s financial woes meant Galton rejected her offer after filming and instead secured the money from another private investor. Rubbing salt in the wound, Elnaugh also reportedly wore Galton’s £3,000 design in a photoshoot without payment, causing the two to fallout.
Galton’s wings appear to have been clipped by the financial crisis, and the company dissolved in 2008. But she has since gone on to have a very successful career as a creative director for multiple luxury jewellery brands, and is currently working as a consultant.
7. Nik Rawcliff & Paddy Radcliff and Snowbone, Episode 6
- Investors: Rachel Elnaugh
- Agreed amount: £75,000 for 33.3% of equity
Pitched by “radical snowboarder” Nik Rawcliff, the Snowbone boasted a discreetly designed handlebar that could flip up to turn the board into a BMX-style bike. Coming in the wake of video games like SSX 3, it aimed to capitalise on rising snow sport mania.
Elnaugh agreed to put £75,000 into the company. Completing a bad run on the investment slopes, however, she only managed to put £25,000 into the brand before her own venture collapsed, leaving Rawcliff and Radcliff searching for investment.
The duo fared well. In 2008, Snowbone even won £50,000 in a design competition. However, sales never quite left the dry run, and in 2015, Companies House filings show that the brand became dormant. Let’s hope Snowbone can kick-flip things off again soon.
8. Huw Gwyther and WONDERLAND, Episode 6
- Investors: Peter Jones
- Agreed amount: £175,000 for 40% of equity
Until the final episode, Series 1 of Dragons’ Den was looking like a series of failures and poor investment decisions. Until, mercifully, Huw Gwyther came along with Wonderland, a high-end fashion and culture magazine, pitched under the name Visual Talent Ltd.
Spotting Gwyther’s clear editorial expertise, Jones immediately leapt on the idea and it proved to be one of his best decisions yet. Today, the magazine has hundreds of celebrity fans, over one million followers on Instagram, and is estimated to be worth around £220m.
Like Alice, Gwyther has written a fairytale ending with Wonderland. Now, he’s enjoying the results. In 2023, he stepped down from directorial duties at the magazine, and is working as a freelancer brand developer. Well, at least someone got their happily ever after…
20 years later
Series one might not have brought the best Return on Investment (ROI) for the Dragons. But business is a gamble. One winner in eight is a fairly standard success rate for investors.
Two decades on, the Dragons will be hoping that Series 22 brings them a bigger pot of gold to guard. And of course we’ll be tuning in, to see which brave entrepreneur can slay the Dragon and win funding for their next great venture.
Is it worth meeting the Dragons? Amelia Christie-Miller, founder of Bold Bean Co, gives us her honest review of Dragons’ Den and what it did for her business.
