Dragons Den Deals Over £100,000
A six figure ask is a serious amount of money to put in front of five investors, and plenty of entrepreneurs who tried it went home with nothing. Out of everything in our records, 110 pitches asked for £100,000 or more and still secured a deal on air.
Below is a selection of the bigger and more distinctive entries from that group, spanning tech, food, fashion and a few categories you would not expect to produce six figure asks at all.
Zapper, £250,000 for 30%
Ben Hardyment's QR code payments platform Zapper asked for £250,000 in return for 30% of the business in season 10 and secured a deal on air.
It is tied for the single largest ask among every pitch in our records that ended in a deal, tech or otherwise.
DDN Ltd, £250,000 for 25%
Michael Cotton's automotive pitch DDN Ltd asked for the same £250,000 figure in season 6, for a smaller 25% stake, and also came away with a deal.
It is one of the largest asks we have on record for any automotive pitch, in a category where every single pitch we tracked ended in a deal.
Kimaï, £250,000 for 3%
Jessica Warch and Sidney Neuhaus pitched the lab grown diamond jewellery brand Kimaï in season 21, asking for £250,000 for just 3% of the business, and secured a deal.
Asking for a quarter of a million pounds for such a small slice of equity puts the implied value of the business at well over £8 million, among the highest valuations any pitch on this list has claimed.
Mode Al, £225,000 for 50%
David Lees asked for £225,000 in return for half of Mode Al in season 2, one of the earliest big money asks in our records, and struck a deal on air.
Giving up half the company for the investment is a steep price, but it is also one of the larger amounts raised in the show's early seasons.
Coin Metrics and Gaming Alerts, £200,000 each
Ian Daintith and Richard Adams asked for £200,000 for 25% of Coin Metrics in season 3, while Emmie Matthews and Ed Stevens asked for £200,000 for 30% of Gaming Alerts in season 5. Both pitches secured deals.
Tech and software pitches make up a large share of the six figure deals in our records, and these two are among the earlier examples of investors backing that kind of ask.
Planit Products and Pro Waste Management Services, £200,000 each
Guy Unwin and Caroline Kavanagh's Planit Products, and Paul Tinton's Pro Waste Management Services, both asked for £200,000 in return for 40% of their businesses in season 6, and both walked away with deals.
Neither business is a household name, which is a useful reminder that a lot of the biggest six figure asks in Dragons Den history went to unglamorous, practical businesses rather than consumer brands.
Nae Danger&Glencrest, £200,000 for 30%
Ross Gourlay's food and drink pitch Nae Danger&Glencrest asked for £200,000 for 30% of the business in season 12 and secured a deal.
It is one of the larger six figure asks in the food and drink category specifically, where most deals land well under £100,000.
Glassbusters and Igloo
Glassbusters asked for £200,000 for 30% in season 13 and Igloo asked for £160,000 for 8% in season 4, both business services pitches, and both secured deals well above the six figure mark.
Both appear elsewhere on our biggest deals list too, since the exact final terms of both were confirmed on air rather than left vague.
Boot Bananas and Umbrolly
Phil Osband's Boot Bananas asked for £200,000 in season 22, and Charles Ejogo's Umbrolly asked for £150,000 in the show's very first season, and both secured deals.
Twenty two seasons apart, the two pitches show that six figure asks were never confined to any one era of the show.