A former Nottingham student who successfully appeared on Dragon's Den said the investors were "almost asleep" when he delivered his pitch. Zain Peer, who studied at University of Nottingham, said he has seen an "incredible" reaction since he featured on the BBC One show.
The 32-year-old, along with business partner Shez Shaikh secured a double investment for their business London Nootropics when they entered the Den for an episode which aired in February. Both Deborah Meaden and Sara Davies pledged a combined £50,000 for 25 per cent of the business, which makes stress-relieving coffees using CBD.
Reliving the day of the pitch, Zain told Nottinghamshire Live he and Shez were meant to appear at around lunchtime on June 29, however the slot kept on being pushed back. "We didn't actually go on until about 8pm," Zain recalled. "There's only so much practising you can do in five hours, we just watched the England match with Germany!
Read more: Dragons' Den: Ex-Nottingham student gets double investment for coffee brand
"They [dragons] start filming at like 5am so they were like, finished. We were on super late and the dragons were almost asleep, so we were like 'oh my God how are they going to drink coffee at 8.30pm?'.
The pair got off to a wobbly start with the potential investors, losing three of them in quick succession. "In there we didn't know what was going on, but when the three guys went out it felt like they were dropping like flies."
During the grilling, the pair were criticised by the newest dragon, Steven Bartlett, who called the business name "forgettable" and said that similar businesses were "way better". However, Zain said that was "probably the nicest thing he said" in the pitch. "He was so rude it was unbelievable," he added.
"It was shocking, in any normal business meeting if someone was that rude you'd probably call them out. The things he was saying I won't repeat, it was bad. It was plain rude and nothing to do with business." Zain continued: "We don't know what he's really like, he's on TV and it's just a show. I'm sure in normal situations he's a nice guy - we didn't take anything personally."
An intervention by Shez, who co-launched the business in March 2020, saved the pitch from collapse. "He actually talked for 10 minutes straight," said Zain. "It felt like Deborah was going to go out. We were in there for an hour and a half but it felt like 10 minutes. The whole thing happened so fast, I remember Shez said afterwards that during the pitch he was outside his body looking at himself doing it."
London Nootropics sells three blends of premium adaptogen coffee, which is priced at £1.25 per serving. An adaptogen is a herbal medicine which works to help the body fight off both emotional and physical stress
Almost a year after the pitch, Zain said the pair were still in discussions about the investments, but said the reaction since the show aired was "incredible". "We're so grateful," he said. "It's probably the best thing that's happened to us."
He added that the product was now stocked in some hotels and workplaces, and talks were ongoing with a "very large" airline. Zain studied economics for three years in Nottingham and said his time in the city was "amazing". "I love Nottingham, it was incredible. I'm still in touch with all my university friends."
