I was rejected by all five stars of Dragons’ Den – but I’ve had the last laugh as my company is worth £12 MILLION
A DRAGONS’ Den star who was rejected by all five business experts has had the last laugh as his company is now worth £12m.
Scenes that aired in 2022 showed Mark Wong, then 24, enter the Den to pitch his non alcoholic beer brand IMPOSSIBREW.
In his appearance on the BBC show, he sought a £45,000 investment for a 10% stake.
He had founded the company after being diagnosed with severe liver damage at 21 years old and the brand’s Social Blend combines functional herbs with brewing techniques.
Although Touker Souleyman praised Mark as the “most credible 24-year-old” to enter the Den, he ultimately declined.
Sara Davies shared concerns over price points, while Steven Bartlett highlighted big name competition such as Brewdog.
Deborah Meaden said she thought Mark would win “a section of the market”, but added the business having many one-off purchases would become very expensive to acquire new consumers online.
She added: “I’m afraid I’m not convinced, so I won’t be investing. I’m out.”
Lastly, Peter Jones addressed concerns with product positioning, but wished the entrepreneur luck.
Despite the Dragons’ reservations and leaving the Den with no investment, Mark has had the last laugh.
Earlier this year, IMPOSSIBREW launched a Crowdcube fund for at £500,000 investment, with its pre-money valuation at £12million.
Reflecting on the decision, Mark told The Sun Online in an exclusive chat: “I completely understand that it was too early for them, especially there’s only three months at the time.
“Then now having enough customers back us and that people are enjoying the products, there’s more traction.
“I would understand if now the project’s a bit more de-risked for them. I think in hindsight for me, I can look back now, it’s sort of 20:20.
“But I guess back then, given the information they had at the time, I think it was probably a fair enough decision.”
He added: “I remember some of them [said] it’s too early. Touker’s was that his expertise is not in the beer area.
CHANGING HABITS
“And if it was another venture that he’d be happy with it.”
Originally from Hong Kong, Mark revealed how he ultimately founded IMPOSSIBREW.
He said: “I’ve just really enjoyed beer drinking and anything about that.
“I think it’s fantastic. So it’s then over time that when I couldn’t drink anymore, and that was when things started changing.
“And when I realised, you know, there needs to be an option between between the two choices, either of drinking and not drinking we’re trying to find a halfway point.”
He added: “In terms of coming in with a functional medical angle, in some ways it was really lucky because my entire family’s in the medical area back in Hong Kong.
“That sort of brought us that upbringing and understanding. [Let’s] see if we can merge that together and make something interesting that I personally like and then it happens that other people like it too.
“Yeah, it’s been really fortunate.”
Meanwhile, Mark addressed whether he would still be open to working with any of the Dragons.
Dragons' Den stars - past and present
Dragons' Den has been on our screens since 2005 and sees entrepreneurs enter the Den to try and win investment for their businesses from the Dragons.
Over the years there have been many wealthy investors sitting in the famous seats, here’s a rundown of them all and how long they were on the show for.
- Peter Jones – series 1 – present
- Deborah Meaden – series 3 – present
- Touker Suleyman – series 13 – present
- Sara Davies – series 17 – present
- Steven Bartlett – series 19 – present
- Duncan Bannatyne – series 1 – 12
- Rachel Elnaugh – series 1 and 2
- Doug Richard – series 1 and 2
- Simon Woodroffe – series 1
- Theo Paphitis – series 2 -10
- Richard Farleigh – series 3 and 4
- James Caan – series 5-8
- Hilary Devey – series 9 and 10
- Kelly Hoppen – series 11 and 12
- Piers Linney – series 11 and 12
- Nick Jenkins – series 13 and 14
- Sarah Willingham – series 13 and 14
- Jenny Campbell – series 15 and 16
- Tej Lalvani – series 15 – 18
- Emma Grede and Gary Neville were guest Dragons during series 21.
He revealed: “I’d definitely entertain the discussion for sure.
“I think they’re very, very talented people and they’ve clearly sort of have proven acumen and so on.
“So yeah, it’d be a really valuable thing. I have absolutely no reason why we would say no to at least having a chat.”
Dragons’ Den continues on BBC One and iPlayer.