Dragons’ Den star who made history at 15 is now backed by billionaire-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro

Shaye Bhattessa-Sharma was the youngest contestant to receive an offer of investment on Dragons’ Den (Picture: BBC)

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)

Three 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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