Dragons’ Den rejects Harry and Charlie Thuillier are reportedly worth an incredible £86million after their stint on the show – which saw them branded ‘useless’ by Peter Jones on the BBC show.
Since the incredible flop, the duo have gone from strength to strength.
Charlie and Harry began Oppo in 2014 after two years of trial and error to create the perfect healthy alternative to ice cream.
The 35-year-old brothers went on the BBC programme to pitch their healthy ice cream brand and asked the Dragons for a £60,000 investment in exchange for seven percent of their business.
Unfortunately, the Dragons thought their product would face “too many hurdles” when trying to appeal to the mass market, but they didn’t let the comments get them down.
Charlie told The Sun: “Peter Jones even told us healthier ice cream was about as useful as mudguards on a tortoise. We struggled not to laugh. Even though we had other investments, we would have liked an offer of course.”
(Image: BBC)
The brothers eventually admitted that the Dragons were right but with their determination, the duo managed to crack the supermarket sector.
Charlie continued: “In many ways, the Dragons were right. Selling to supermarkets is very difficult and would have been a very risky investment for them, but they just couldn’t see we had the kind of resilience to ride the rollercoaster.”
(Image: OPPO)
The pair were told that their product was “about as useful as mudguards on a tortoise” and sent packing, yet their business has since increased over 100 times and now have a whopping 959 investors – including tennis player Andy Murray.
After the brothers appeared on the show, Oppo began trending on Google in the UK, their products sold out and a Dragon even approached them for a rematch.
(Image: BBC)
Charlie revealed: “Touker [Suleyman’s] team were in touch a couple of times in 2017 and 2018 but we didn’t meet with them as we weren’t in a position to accept investment at that time.”
He also admitted that the “majority” of their investors sold their shares in 2019 “for 6.4 times their original investments”.
The brand has since won four Great Taste Awards for their ice creams and are sold in major retailers such as Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
