A Dragons' Den duo who were rejected an investment in a recent episode have revealed they have already secured pledged funds, 13 times the amount they had asked for.
Aaron Branch, 30, and Zak Lloyd, 22, entered the Den on Thursday night’s episode of the BBC business hit, but walked away with no offers from the Dragons.
Aaron and Zak pitched their delivery business to fearsome experts Sara Davies, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and Steven Bartlett.
The pair discussed the potential of their on-demand app Delivrme, allowing "spontaneous and vulnerable" users to have anything from condoms to iPhones delivered to their front door.
But the Dragons didn’t bite at making the £50,000 investment and told Aaron and Zak they would need much more cash to make the app successful, sending the pair home.
However, the businessmen have since said that they have “no regrets” over what happened.
After announcing a new fundraising round yesterday, the businessmen have already received £650,000 of pledged funds.
Taking to Instagram, Aaron said: “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.
“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.”
The BBC's hit has seen huge successes since it first aired in 2005, with the likes of Levi Roots and his celebrated Reggae Reggae Sauce, a familiar product on the shelves after pitching to the Dragons.
However, this is not the first time the show’s panel has missed an apparent investment opportunity.
Most memorably, the founder of Tangle Teezer similarly walked away from the Den empty handed.
He pitched his innovative new hairbrush in a 2007 episode of the show, but his idea was dismissed as “hair-brained” and his appeal for £80,000 rejected.
The compact hairbrush was later applauded by Victoria Beckham and Cara Delevigne and he was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016.
