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Image Source: BBC.co.uk
The 13th series of Dragons’ Den commenced on BBC2 on Sunday evening and got off to an exciting start. (If you’re in the U.K. you can catch up here!) Three new dragons have joined the den; fashion retail mogul Touker Suleyman, Indian Food Chain Bombay Bicycle Club founder Sarah Willingham and Greeting Cards Website founder Nick Jenkins. Combined with seasoned dragons Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones, this is a wise and tough panel not to be reckoned with.
The first episode saw four candidates with diverse business ideas. We were very impressed with first contestant Ben Fridja’s pitch. Fridja is an innovative clothes steamer supplier, widely used in the fashion industry but the founder is hoping to grow popularity of the devices amongst domestic users. Available in an array of pop colours including lime, pink, blue and orange. Ben gave a very clear presentation and successfully secured his required £70,000 investment and a double dose of expertise and support from two dragons, Deborah Meaden and Nick Shelton.
The following two potential investees with businesses in shaping underwear and crowdfunding property were not so successful and went home with advice rather than investment. However, last but not least came yoga teacher Thierry Giuntas with a simple but innovative beam block prop for a new type of yoga practice. He was presented with three options – to receive his requested £50,000 investment from Peter Jones or the same amount divided by Peter Jones and Touker Suleyman or Peter Jones and Sarah Willingham. After a heated moment, he decided to take up the investment between Peter Jones and Touker Suleyman as they shared his aspirations for the beam block to become a household product.
With Goldgenie being a previous winner on Dragons Den, the show is close to Goldgenie’s heart and we will be following the exciting exchanges in the Den for the rest of the series.
For a trip down memory lane, watch Goldgenie founder Laban Roomes’ 2007 visit to Dragons Den on the video below:
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