The international business said that although the rejection was “a huge kick in the teeth”, it worked out for the best as it made the co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie look into other options for finance.
BrewDog posted on its website: “Back in 2009, after BrewDog had been running successfully for two years, we applied to go on Dragon’s Den and pitch to the dragons.
“We got through the initial application process and were selected for a screen trial in Manchester. Martin and I put on our best clothes, practised our presentation and drove down to the BBC studios where we pitched our hearts out during the screen trial and thought we did quite a good job. However, the producers did not.”
Kick in the teeth
The post also claimed the producers didn’t think the business was “a good enough investment proposition for the dragons and BrewDog was not unique enough, special enough or with enough growth potential to make the grade and appear on the show”.
It added the decision was a “huge kick in the teeth” with a “stinging rejection that still burns today” before claiming that pitch would have seen BrewDog offer Dragon’s Den 20% of the business for a £100,000 investment.
However, the Scottish-based business explained how despite being turned down to appear on the BBC show, BrewDog is still a “pretty neat little business, which is currently valued at £1.8bn and which has raised more than £250m”.
Lucrative investment
Had BrewDog been able to pitch and had any of the dragons invested, that £100,000 would now be worth £360m, the post claimed and called it “the most lucrative investment not only in the history of Dragon’s Den but pretty much in investment history overall”.
However, the post wasn’t all negative as it also said Watt and Dickie were happy they got turned down as it made them go back to the drawing board when it came to how to finance the business.
The Morning Advertiser tried to contact the BBC but had received no response at time of publication.