The pitch
What walked into the Den
Sue-Rose Read, a professional engineer from Invermere, British Columbia, created Oneberrie, a bath-to-sleep towel and swaddle system for babies.
Her Season 18 appearance aired in 2023, and she asked for $100,000 in exchange for 10%, which valued the young company at $1,000,000. By then Oneberrie had already booked $1.2 million in sales since 2016.
After the show
What happened next
On camera, Manjit Minhas came back with $100,000 for 20% after turning down Read's counter of the same money for 15%; the other four Dragons passed. Read accepted.
The handshake did not survive contact with paperwork. Once cameras stopped, the deal fell through in due diligence and was never signed, according to the Columbia Valley Pioneer. That makes Oneberrie a clean reminder that a televised yes is not a closed deal.
The brand itself is alive and selling: oneberrie.ca now forwards to oneberrie.com, where the Classic Towel runs $54.95 and the Complete System is $100, with a working cart and several payment options as of July 23, 2026.
Our read
The Hub verdict
The equity movement is the tell. Read asked $100,000 for 10%, countered to 15% when pushed, and ended up accepting 20% for the same money. That is a founder giving up double the slice she walked in offering, which is exactly the kind of on-air concession the format rewards with a handshake.
Then the more important number: zero. The deal never closed once due diligence started. It is the cleanest reminder in this batch that a televised yes and a signed term sheet are different things, and that the ask, not the handshake, is the only figure we can bank.
The equity doubled on air, then the deal evaporated off camera.
Worth knowing: A deal was agreed on screen but never completed, so we describe it as an offer accepted and later abandoned, not a finished investment.
