Dragon's Den has helped launch some very successful businesses in recent years.
The experienced dragons are quick to identify a lucrative business opportunity and handed over millions of their own cash to score some incredible deals.
And while it's fair to say the multi-millionaires have identified some industry winners, some other business owners have left the den with no deal before making a fortune.
Following last night's explosive episode, two businessmen who got no offers on the show say they have "no regrets" – and have already secured 13 times the investment they asked for.
Aaron Branch, 30, and Zak Lloyd, 22, came face-to-face with Sara Davies, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and Steven Bartlett to pitch their delivery business.
But the dragons felt Aaron and Zak sent them home empty-handed, feeling that they need a lot more money than the £50,000 they asked for.
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The duo is the brains behind Delivrme, an app that allows you to get anything and everything – from condoms to iPads – delivered to your front door.
Despite not receiving any offers, the duo believes they’ll become one of the rejects that will go on to make millions – joining big names like Trunki, Tangle Teezer and Oppo ice cream.
After announcing a new fundraising round on 21 January, they’ve already had £650,000 pledged in 24 hours.
"I’ve done live events in front of 2,000 people but I hadn’t felt as nervous as I did going into the Den,” Aaron said.
"The morning of the big day, I was actually sick. The doors opened and it was almost like the doorway to heaven, with the five of them sitting there. I was just drawn into that moment.
"As soon as we started speaking, it was completely comfortable and natural. It was so conversational.
"The dragons were genuinely interested in everything we had to say and the questions they asked were really high quality.
"The criticism came but we really welcomed it because we’re so young as a business and we want to learn all the holes and flaws.
"In the moment where they all said no, we actually felt really empowered because we had just been mentored for one and a half hours by five of the most successful business people in this country."
While the duo is now both successful in their own right, it has not been an easy journey for either of them.
Zak lost both his parents before he hit his teens, while Aaron was forced to rely on Universal Credit while trying to jumpstart his first business, a social media marketing agency..
Zak said: "My parents split up when I was around three and then my dad died when I was seven, but we weren't very close.
"My mum died when I was 11. Losing her was incredibly hard, especially at such a young age and it forced me to look after myself. I wanted to succeed and prove myself.
"I started out selling sweets, then fixing phones and as soon as I left school, I was working on a marketing agency before I came up with the idea for Delivrme.
"While I wish I could show her what we're achieving, I know she's proud of me."
Aaron added: "I don't come from an entrepreneurial family so there's definitely been a learning curve in my career.
"I started my first business from my partner Holly's mum's spare room with just the internet and a few books.
"I had to sign onto Universal Credit to give myself enough to survive on while I figured stuff out and through that, I got the chance to pitch to the Prince’s Trust, where I got £4,000 to get my company off the ground."
Zak first got the idea for Delivrme in 2018, but didn't meet Aaron until last year.
He said: “I kept thinking to myself 'why doesn’t this exist?’ We do food deliveries in the UK but why can’t we do everything else?
Aaron added: “I met with Zak to talk about marketing and I realised that I didn’t just want to work for him for 12 months but this was something I wanted to be involved in so I was really proud to be the first investor.”
In March 2021, the duo launched their first round of crowdfunding, aiming to get £150,000, a target they were amazed to hit in just four days.
From there, they were approached by Dragons' Den producer and the rest is history.
They finally got their chance to pitch to the dragons five months ago, where they asked for £50,000 for an 8% stake in their company.
Although impressed with the business, the Dragons felt that they needed a lot more money than they were asking for to get it off the ground.
When newcomer Steven Barlett asked the pair what they thought about the feedback, Zak said the show had been great because they are agile and can adapt to change, leading the dragon to praise the way they presented and said their "humility and self-awareness" was highly respectable.
He said: “The sticking point was really that we needed a lot more money than what we were asking for.
“We’re going to need £15 million in the next three years.
“It was a fantastic experience and such an amazing opportunity to get our idea on the screens of three million people.
"That’s marketing you can’t buy.”
Zak added: “I wasn’t too worried about not getting investment because I knew what the show would bring to the business.
“I’m excited and nervous to see the response to the show going out. There’s a mix of emotions but I really feel it will help the business in the long run.”
With a boom in delivery apps over the last few years, Aaron and Zak believe now is the time to really get it off the ground.
Aaron said: “We fit into that market really well because we offer a much wider range of products. We can go into any store and have our riders pay for goods on the customer’s behalf.
“We can get anything you want in a three-mile radius."
The entrepreneurs are taking pledges for their next round of fundraising, this time aiming to raise £2 million and they already have interest from some huge names but are keeping details under wraps for now.
They also aim to roll out the service to other cities including Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow, London this year.
