THANKS A MILL
I went on Dragons’ Den and turned down FOUR offers – but I had the last laugh and don’t regret a thing
AN ENTREPRENEUR on Dragons' Den made a bold move during their pitch after they rejected the chance to go into business with all five Dragons.
During the latest episode of the popular BBC series, budding entrepreneur Matt Crate and his business partner Melody Truong decided to showcase their business to the panel.
3
3
Matt and Melody asked the Dragons for £85,000 in return for a three per cent stake in their business.
The CEO explained how he wanted to expand his charity-giving idea by offering a modern fintech solution to donors wanting to make an instant difference.
He added that his vision of the Toucan App is to make donating fun, flexible and accessible to all by re-defining charitable giving.
While all five Dragons seemed to show interest in the business, they weren't keen on Matt's offer of a three per cent stake.
Taking the lead on Matt's pitch, Touker Suleyman initially said he would give Matt and Melody a fifth of the money they needed for a five per cent stake in the business.
Peter Jones then stepped in and offered the pair the full £85,000 they asked for - but for 10 per cent.
He later went on to propose a rare five-way deal between himself and his fellow Dragons, Deborah Meaden, Sara Davies, Steven Bartlett and Touker.
Instead, he turned to newcomer Steven to see if he could persuade him to make another offer - and he did just that.
Matt explained why he rejected Peter's rare offer, admitting that he planned to get Steve on board before he had even stepped foot in the room.
Most read in TV
He told the : "Obviously, the question everyone is asking me though, is why did you turn down five Dragons and why were you so intent on getting Steven?
"There are three really simple reasons for that. Number one, I wanted just from a personal point of principle, I wanted to have conviction in my decision for entering the den."
Dragons Den airs on Thursday at 8pm on BBC One.
3
Topics