On each episode of Dragons’ Den there is inevitably a business that has not prepared enough before pitching to the entrepreneurs for funding. Viewers (well this one anyway) will grumble about founders that have not done their homework and do not have numbers and evidence to back up claims. One start-up keen to avoid that was lab-created diamond jewellery retailer Kimaï, with co-founder Jessica Warch telling the Evening Standard: “We watched old episodes, noted many of the questions asked and had answers ready for them. Plus we learnt all key numbers off by heart in case they were needed.”
That studying paid off, as those watching the latest programme on BBC One will have seen. Warch and co-founder Sidney Neuhaus, both aged 30, impressed the investors as they showed off their jewellery featuring lab-grown diamonds and said annual revenue is on track to reach £5 million.
Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden calls a ring she tries on “beautiful” and the narrator said: “Bling without the ethical, or environmental baggage is the offering.”
Neuhaus and Warch, friends who grew up in Antwerp, which has been at the centre of the diamond trade for centuries, received offers from Meaden and Sara Davies but opted to accept a deal from Steven Bartlett to tap into his digital marketing expertise.