Fussy appeared on Dragons' Den four years ago, and the day after the episode aired, founders rang their suppliers at 6am to beg for more stock as the company sold out for three months. According to Metro - Main, Matt Kennedy described the impact as monumental, saying it catapulted the business ahead by a couple of years compared to where it would have been without the show. During the pitch, Fussy asked for a £50,000 investment for a 1% stake, valuing the business at £5 million, but producers were concerned that this valuation was 'ridiculous'.
Despite this, Fussy secured investments from Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden on the show. Fussy impressed Sara Davies, Touker Suleyman, and Steven Bartlett on Dragons' Den, with Bartlett later expressing regret over not investing. At a press conference, Bartlett said he was on the fence during the pitch and realized afterward he should have invested, acknowledging the business has done brilliantly.
I was sat in the chair, and I could see the regret.
He is a fan of Fussy's product and uses it 'begrudgingly'. Post-show, Fussy's revenue reached £20 million this year, according to multiple reports. Deborah Meaden's title as 'the Queen of Sustainability' aligns with Fussy's values, according to Metro - Main, where Matt Kennedy described this alignment as providing more trust and authority for the new product.
The Dragons' Den appearance not only boosted sales but also validated Fussy's market potential, leading to sustained growth and industry recognition.
Sometimes you have that moment where you go, 'I think I might regret this one', but for whatever reason you choose not to [invest] and that was Fussy.
I was sat in the Den thinking there's so many reasons for me to invest in this, and I was on the fence and I fell over the other side of the fence and the minute when I got back to the green room, I was sat there thinking, 'Jesus I should have should have done this,' and the business has absolutely done brilliantly.
It was monumental in the impact Dragons' Den had on the business.
It basically catapulted us along a couple of years, versus where we would have gone without it.
And it's one of those shows that's really real... you're in there for two hours with a full-on pitch, questioning, we went to the wall about five times and we were asking them questions, and all that gets cut down to 10 minutes.
It really changed the business, it got the brand right out there, having Deborah on board as well, whose title is 'the Queen of Sustainability', which obviously ties really well in with our values, has just given us that bit more trust and bit more authority when you're a new product and nobody's heard of you.
To give you an idea of the journey we've gone on, in the last three years we've gone from 0 to £20,000,000 in revenue this year, and a valuation of around £40,000,000.