has been known to make huge successes out of the businesses that pitch to the programme – but the investors have also missed out on some high-ticket items.
That includes brands that later went on to become household names, and rake in billions in profit.
Perhaps the biggest blunder the Dragons ever made was rejecting beer company BrewDog, which has gone on to launch its own bars across the UK. But their segment never even made it to air.
Pals James Watt and Martin Dickie applied to be on Dragons’ Den in 2008 with their craft brewing business, and were invited for a screen test, where they delivered a pitch to producers.
But bosses ditched them before they could progress to the Dragons, deciding their business wasn’t a worthy investment for the money moguls.
Dragons’ Den rejected a company that went on to make billions (Image: BBC)
CEO James confessed via LinkedIn in 2021: “We were totally crushed. We were prepared to offer the Dragons 20% for £100,000. Based on our latest BrewDog valuation, that investment would now be worth almost £360m, meaning the Dragons missed out on by far the best deal in den history.”
He added: “We got over the rejection eventually. But it took a while.”
Now the company is valued at around £1.8billion, according to City Index. The pair managed to raise £75.million through share sales and were given a market cap of £1.8billion.
It wasn’t enough to convince the Dragons to give Watt another chance, however. When bosses were looking for new Dragons to be on the panel, James applied – and made the final shortlist.
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Brewdog has launched its own bars across the UK (Image: Getty)
He explained: “Once more I made it to a final screentest as I sat alongside Deborah Meaden as we assessed whether we would invest in a prospective business.
“Once more I fell short at the final hurdle, narrowly missing out on fulfilling one of my lifelong ambitions and becoming a Dragon.”
Earlier this year, Watt took aim at the Dragons on X – formerly Twitter – to get them to invest in his new business. He wrote: “Hello Dragons, I’m James Watt. Last time I launched a business the Den turned me down and the dragons missed out on what would have been the most lucrative investment in their history.
“Well today, I’m here- in your den, to offer you the opportunity to invest in my brand new business, Social Tip.” He explained that the new marketing platform will allow social media stars to influence others by promoting their favourite brands, and appeal to the Gen Z market.