Dragons’ Den is a massively popular television show from the BBC, and in each episode multiple entrepreneurs take turns in pitching their idea, product, or business to a panel of five investors. Among the investors are Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, and Theo Paphitis – with a total of 15 other Dragons coming and leaving the show over its 15 seasons.

As stressful as the show looks for entrepreneurs, getting to meet the Dragons in the first place is a difficult task. From the arduous application to dealing with bureaucracy, entrepreneurs must be individuals that are fit for TV, and have products would be liked by viewers. Interestingly, many of the inventions that come through Dragons’ Den and get a deal don’t always end up actually getting an investment.

1. Magic Wand Remote

Founders of The Wand Company, Chris Barnardo and Richard Blakesley appeared on Dragons’ Den in 2010, showing off their product – the Kymera wand. The Kymera wand can be used to control various household appliances that use infra-red remotes, including televisions, laptops, light switches, DVD players, and more. By gesturing the wand, you can turn up the volume on your TV, or skip a song on your sound system.

A bidding war erupted in the Den, with offers from the Dragons totaling £900,000. Barnardo and Blakesly accepted an investment from Duncan Bannatyne of £200,000 for 20% of their company – valuing it at £1,000,000.

Since appearing on the show, The Wand Company have created various other products, including a Sonic Screwdriver from the 10th, 11th, and 12th Doctors (Doctor Who), a Star Trek phaser, and more recently a Star Trak Bluetooth communicator.

2. iTeddy

Imran Hakim appeared on Dragons’ Den just a year after the conception of his product – the iTeddy. The iTeddy is a teddy bear equipped with a computer, which has become a wild success around the world as an educational toy aimed at pre-schoolers and up.

Since it showed on Dragons’ Den 11 years ago, and after securing both Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones – along with £140,000 of their money for 20%, the iTeddy has become a huge success. It has turned over more than £11 million, and in only a year after achieving a deal with two of the Dragons, it was in 684 Argos stores. At its peak it was being sold in 45 countries, including placements in more than 1400 American stores.

3. Magic Whiteboard

Neil and Laura Westwood appeared on Dragons’ Den in August 2008, showing off their Magic Whiteboard. The product is a thin sheet (similar to cling film) that can be placed on almost any hard surface and acts a whiteboard – using a dry erase marker you can write on the Magic Whiteboard, and erase it when finished. Their pitch resonated with both Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis, securing an investment of £100,000 for 40% of the company.

The Westwoods have now bought back the shares owned by Deborah and Theo, after the company has been succeeding for a number of years – making £1,100,000 in 2014. Both of the dragons received £305,000 for their stake in the company and was reported to have been very amicable.

4. Waterbuoy Key-Ring

James Halliburton appeared on Dragons’ Den and showed off his invention – the Waterbuoy. The device attaches to a set of keys and when it touches water, a balloon hidden inside the key fob-sized device will inflate, and an LED will light up. The balloon will bring your keys and anything else on your key-ring back to the surface. He received offers from a number of dragons, but decided to settle on both Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones – offering up 25% for £200,000.

Surprisingly, just two months after he accepted the deal and went back to sign the relevant paperwork, Halliburton declined their offer and decided to continue without them. Halliburton’s device became a success without the help of the Dragons, signing a deal with the world’s largest marine retailer – West Marina – stocking the Waterbuoy in stores in more than 150 countries.

5. Reggae Reggae Sauce

Levi Roots appeared on the first episode of Dragons’ Den’s fourth season, asking for £50,000 for his product – Reggae Reggae Sauce, a barbecue sauce incorporating Jamaican jerk spice. He obtained a £50,000 investment from both Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh in return for 40% of his company.

Since its debut, the sauce has become incredibly popular. Initially, the sauce was carried exclusively in Sainsbury’s, with Sainsbury’s expecting the sauce to sell 50,000 bottles in its first year. To the surprise of everyone, it was selling that amount each week! It has also been featured in a limited edition range of pizzas from Domino’s Pizza in the UK in 2011, and in 2012 KFC launched a Reggae Reggae boxed meal which incorporated the sauce.

6. Tangle Teezer

Shaun Pulfrey, a former hair color technician, came up with what he believed to be an incredible idea – to combine a brush and a comb. He remortgaged his house to support his invention, however was turned down by all five Dragons when he appeared in the Den. Pulfrey was looking for £80,000 investment, however none of the Dragons wanted a part of the action.

Ten months following his rejection in the Den, the Tangle Teezer had turned over £800,000 with 25% of this being profits – the Dragons missed out on £200,000 of profits in ten months, and even more to come after Pulfrey closed a deal with Boots Pharmacy securing more shelf placements.

The product is now worth a shocking £200 million! Even if the Dragons got 0.1% of the company for £80,000 when Pulfrey went on the show, they’d have 2.5 times their investment by now.

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