Dragons’ Den star who made history at 15 is now backed by billionaire
The only way is up.
A history-making Dragons’ Den contestant’s business has continued to grow under the guidance of one of the UK’s richest entrepreneurs – here’s what he has been up to since his appearance on the BBC show.
In 2023, Shaye Bhattessa-Sharma, then 15, became the youngest person ever to secure an investment from a dragon, Peter Jones, 58, as viewers will rediscover on a repeat episode airing tonight.
Accompanied by his father Raj, he pitched a football board game called Football Billionaire in which players trade goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards.
Shaye accepted a £50,000 offer from Peter in exchange for a 20% stake in the business, but the following year he revealed that after a ‘mutual discussion’ they decided not to press ahead with the deal after Dragons’ Den.
Since then, the 17-year-old has partnered with Phones4U magnate and billionaire John Caudwell, 72, for a new version of the board game.
According to The Sunday Times Rich List, John is the 109th richest person in Britain, worth £1.54 billion.
Shaye was just 15 when he pitched his football board game on the show (Picture: BBC) Peter gave Shaye an offer – although ultimately the deal did not go through after the show (Picture: BBC)John’s charities receive 10% of the sales of the game.
In 2013, the entrepreneur signed the Giving Pledge, a movement where wealthy people promise to donate the majority of their fortune to good causes.
Speaking about the new partnership, Shaye told The Mirror in November: ‘The impression of billionaires is that they’re not always positive. But I know a lot of them give back. John has always been an inspiration.’
John added: ‘It struck a cord with me. Why wouldn’t I help a young guy on his entrepreneurial venture while promoting the charity at the same time? It was no-brainer.’
Perhaps Peter is now regretting not sealing the deal, but it would not be the first time a Dragon has missed a huge opportunity.
Shaye is now working with billionaire John(Picture: shaye_bhattessasharma)To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Up Next
Previous Page Next PageThree years ago, entrepreneur Mark Wong entered the Den on the BBC One competition with his non-alcoholic beer brand Impossibrew, asking for £45,000 for 10% of his company.
However, despite an ‘impeccable’ pitch he was rejected by all five Dragons Peter, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies and Steven Bartlett as he did not have a proven trackrecord, aka turnover.
Since then, though, Impossibrew has skyrocketed, with a January fund aiming for £500,000 investment reaching £1,575,390 from 1,204 investors.
Now, the pre-money valuation of the company stands at £12,000,000, and Impossibrew saw more than £500,000 in sales from January 2025 alone.
In fact, the company is selling a beer every 15 seconds on the website, with more than 1million cans sold in the last 12 months.
Dragons’ Den is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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