Anshu Ahuja has spoken out after appearing on the BBC show and failing to secure investment from the Dragons.
The Dragons failed to invest(Image: BBC)
A Dragons’ Den hopeful has revealed she’s actually relieved not to have landed backing on the BBC One programme.
During tonight’s episode, Anshu Ahuja stepped into the Den, seeking £100,000 for 3 percent of her venture, DabbaDrop.
The entrepreneur and her business partner had developed their eco-friendly takeaway enterprise, drawing inspiration from Mumbai’s dabbawala delivery system, back in 2018, and had priced the company at over £3,000,000 just a few years down the line.
The businesswoman was pursuing investment from the panel, which included Peter Jones, Sara Davies, Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden, and Steven Bartlett, to help expand DabbaDrop and drive its development beyond London.
Anshu brought DabbaDrop to Dragons’ Den(Image: BBC)READ MORE: Coronation Street’s Jack P Shepherd mesmerised by new wife amid ‘mind blowing’ honeymoon updateREAD MORE: Harry Potter films ranked from best to worst opposite books and how to watch
Nevertheless, despite her admirable principles behind the environmentally conscious offering, and the fact that DabbaDrop had generated over £800,000 in its most recent year, Anshu couldn’t persuade the Dragons to back her, reports the Mirror.
Indeed, Peter urged her to “pivot” on one crucial aspect of her business approach, whilst Touker branded the valuation “crazy” and Sara worried DabbaDrop was in “distress.”
Yet despite their comments and not securing an investment from Dragons’ Den, Anshu has had no regrets.
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In an exclusive interview, she reflected on Touker’s harsh remark on their valuation, saying: “We had done quite a lot of work going into Dragons’ Den and our own fundraising round, so the £4million valuation was independently valued, based on our £850,000 revenue and a lifetime value of the 1,500 subscribers at that point of nearly £400 per subscriber. At that point, we also had a 1,000-person waiting list, which is currently, even before airing, standing at 4,000 people.”
Anshu knew it was a “risk” to go on national TV and pitch her business, but she was willing to take the leap, as the team was fundraising for DabbaDrop when she was approached for the show.
They’d already received interest from more than 2,000 investors, had reached millions of views on an Instagram reel, and pledged more than £1,000,000.
“It is risky going on national TV, but why not? Let’s take the risk, and it might be worth it,” she said.
DabbaDrop launched in 2018 and now has a valuation of more than £3million(Image: Supplied)
“Also, the opportunity to talk to five smart, brilliant people was what I was most excited about, being up there talking about our story and our vision, all about the Dabba dream, and having them dissect it and come up with interesting ideas of how to take it further.
“I know it sounds mad, but I was thrilled about being chosen to have that conversation, regardless of what happened at the end.”
With the help of the investors and support they’ve received, Anshu already has plans for DabbaDrop to expand with more products and to build new hubs in other cities, after demand for the service across the world in Mumbai, New York, and Sydney.
“It’s not just us that believe in it, there are investors across the world who think this is a great idea and have the same sort of vision for it as we do,” she said.
The entrepreneurs have succeeded without Dragons’ Den investment(Image: Supplied)
Since going on Dragons’ Den, before the episode had aired, Anshu revealed that the company had already doubled its number of subscribers and profits.
She reflected:” We’ve really taken the advice that the Dragons gave us to work at bettering our model. Actually, in a lot of ways, I’m glad we didn’t get the investment, and look at how great we’re doing, we’ve used that moment to go away and think about how we can be better.
“I’m really proud of how far we’ve come in just a year with no help.”
“I have absolutely no regrets,” she declared. “It was worth every minute of that grilling, even Touker saying, ‘You just take other people’s money and go and spend it.’ It was worth all that stress, chaos, and embarrassment. It was worth it, I’m still smiling.”
Dragons’ Den airs Thursdays at 8pm on BBC One and is available to watch on iPlayer.
