After a five-month hiatus, everyone’s favourite business show, Dragons’ Den, returns to our screens tonight for the second half of series 22, but there’s a major change on the horizon.
In early March, Sara Davies announced that she was leaving the show after six years to focus on her company, Crafter’s Companion, which she bought out of administration earlier this year.
Before she bows out at the end of this series, she will star alongside her fellow dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and Steven Bartlett.
On this week’s episode, they will size up pitches ranging from an Indian meal delivery service and neurodivergent T-shirts to affordable luxury skincare and a virtual gifting app.
Earlier in the year, we saw season-your-own crisps, Italian frozen pizzas, a menopause device, a solid shampoo bar dispenser and much more. Will any of the businesses win over the dragons this evening? Here’s everything you need to know about the startups and their products.
First into the den tonight is Anshu Ahuja, founder of DabbaDrop, a zero-waste meal delivery service that swaps plastic Tupperware boxes for traditional metal tiffins that stack. But while the dragons delighted in her meals, will they see enough potential in the startup’s scalability?
A simple concept: subscribers receive four rotating pre-cooked vegetarian meals from around the world weekly in reusable dabbas (containers), which are then collected and swapped out with each delivery. Currently, only delivering to London zones 1-3, each delivery serves two. It costs £30 per week, including delivery.
Next up in the den is one of the youngest entrepreneurs to ever face the dragons. Twelve-year-old Max Palfrey is joined in the lair by his dad, Matt. The father-and-son duo are hoping to impress with a product born from Max’s own experience living with neurodivergence, but will the dragons be impressed with their venture?
The Comfa fidget T is a sensory-friendly T-shirt designed with built-in pop-fidget toys built directly into the hem. The kids’ fidget T-shirts cost £19.99 (Comfa.co.uk) and come in a variety of colours. There are also adult fidget T-shirts, which cost £24.99 (Comfa.co.uk) and come in black or white.
Third in the den is serial entrepreneur Jonathan Penna, co-founder of Azio Beauty, a luxury skincare brand that promises premium products without the price tag. Touting a unique business model that cuts out the middleman, will Penna have the dragons racing to invest?
Founded in 2022, Azio Beauty cuts out traditional markups in a similar way to Beauty Pie. It directly partners with skincare laboratories, selling its products directly to consumers, removing the need for retailers or wholesale.
The range includes firming serums (£24, Aziobeauty.com), face and neck lift creams (£29, Aziobeauty.com), tinted SPF (£27, Aziobeauty.com) and night creams (£24, Aziobeauty.com) with ingredients like peptides and retinyl palmitate at a fraction of the cost of traditional luxury brands.
Last in the den are co-founders Omid Moallemi and David Parr. The two friends have created an innovative app that aims to make sending last-minute presents quicker and easier.
Launched in 2019, Prsnt has virtual gifts from more than 100 high street and luxury brands, including Costa, Bloom & Wild, Fortnum & Mason and Nike. It lets users send real gifts, from cocktails and spa days to coffee and skincare. Ranging in price from £3 to £1,000, each gift can be personalised with video messages and can be digitally unwrapped. The recipient gets a QR code to redeem their gift online or in-store.
The pair kick things off by sending Sara Davies a coffee for two, but will charm translate into cash?
Missed out on the businesses earlier in the series? Catch up now with our episode roiund-ups
