Lab Grown Startup Hits Reality TV Jackpot

By John Jeffay / January 28, 2024 / www.idexonline.com / Article Link

(IDEX Online) - A luxury lab grown startup has won an investment of just over $315,000 on the UK reality TV show Dragons' Den.Sidney Neuhaus and Jessica Warch, friends from Antwerp, established the jewelry brand Kimai in 2018 and found fame a year later when Meghan Markle wore a pair of their earrings. They sent her a cold email.The pair impressed Steven Bartlett, one of the dragons (judges) on the BBC show (equivalent of Shark Tank in the US) so much that he invested ?250,000 in exchange for a 3 per cent equity stake in the business. He wanted 5 per cent but they bargained him down.Last year the company made ?3m ($3.8m), with a net loss of ?100,000 ($127,000). This year they say they're on track to generate ?5m ($6.35m) revenue, and ?500,000 ($500,000) profit.Jessica told the judges: 'We've launched without investment, and then two months after our launch we got Meghan Markle to wear our pieces, which enabled us to grow the revenue significantly, and from there we raised $1.2m."Bartlett, one of five venture capitalists on the panel, decided to back the duo with his biggest single investment since joining the show."Rock solid on their numbers, vision and convictions. Kind, humble, smart, tenacious and passionate," he said."They are the absolute full house. I'm going to support them in any and every way I can. "I'll bring a wealth of knowledge to the business as it relates to marketing, innovation, community growth, scaling."Pic shows Sidney Neuhaus (right) and Jessica Warch (left), courtesy BBC/Dragons' Den.

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