Dragons’ Den star called ‘delusional disaster’ now worth £40million after incredible success

Dragons’ Den star called ‘delusional disaster’ now worth £40million(Image: BBC)

Dragons’ Den star Alessandro Savelli left the show empty-handed but ended up being worth £40million. The star co-founded and is the CEO of the popular Pasta Evangelists – a fresh pasta brand which originally started as letter box posted food kits.

Following his appearance on the show, Alessandro’s company is set to open 100 new restaurants across the UK in the next few years, including in the Midlands, Scotland and in the south of England. In a recent chat with The Grocer, the CEO discussed the brand’s plans to expand.

He said they’re pumping £30million into new restaurants. “The demand for our fresh, beautifully cooked artisan pasta is growing,” he explained.

The star co-founded and is the CEO of the popular Pasta Evangelists (Image: BBC)

“Our intention is to become the UK’s fastest-growing, casual dining hot spot and the hottest place to eat for pasta lovers of all ages.”

He continued: “The hospitality industry is going through tough times at the moment, but we are confident that our business model is robust and dynamic.

“And the proof of this is we have already bucked the trend with the confirmed opening of five more restaurants in the space of three months, and more to come.”

Alessandro and his business partner Finn Lagun took part in the show in 2018 asking for a £75,000 investment for a 2.5 per cent cut of the company. Their pitch was rejected, with Jenny Campbell saying Finn was ‘delusional’ and ‘a disaster’.

Anshu Ahuja also failed to get the Dragons to invest(Image: BBC)

“And the proof of this is we have already bucked the trend with the confirmed opening of five more restaurants in the space of three months, and more to come.”

Alessandro and his business partner Finn Lagun took part in the show in 2018 asking for a £75,000 investment for a 2.5 per cent cut of the company. Their pitch was rejected, with Jenny Campbell saying Finn was ‘delusional’ and ‘a disaster’.

Anshu Ahuja also failed to get the Dragons to invest(Image: BBC)

There were many people who were rejected on Dragons’ Den, including Anshu Ahuja – who entered the Den in an episode that aired, hoping to seek £100,000 for 3 percent of her business, DabbaDrop.

The founder and her business partner had built up their sustainable takeaway business, inspired by the dabbawala system of Mumbai, in 2018, and had valued the business at more than £3,000,000 just a few years later.

The entrepreneur was looking for investment from the likes of Peter Jones, Sara Davies, Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden, and Steven Bartlett to help upscale DabbaDrop and encourage its growth outside of London.

However, despite her inspirational ethics behind the sustainable product, and the fact that DabbaDrop had turned over more than £800,000 in its latest year, Anshu failed to convince the Dragons to invest.

Speaking about the show, she said: “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 was willing to take the leap as the team was fundraising for DabbaDrop at the time of being 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.