![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_239743034-e4d7.jpg\")
\n\t\tDragons\u2019 Den stars who were branded \u2018delusional\u2019 have revealed the seven-figure valuation of their company (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tDragons\u2019 Den stars who were branded \u2018delusional\u2019 have revealed the seven-figure valuation of their company (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n
Dragons\u2019 Den<\/a> stars who were branded \u2018delusional\u2019 for an astonishing valuation on their company have revealed its worth to be more than \u00a37,500,000.<\/p>\n \u2018Pet-obsessed\u2019 founders Dr Guy Sandelowsky and Shiv Sivakumar brought their novel protein-based, vegan pet food brand, Omni, to the Den last year, hoping to woo Peter Jones<\/a>,\u00a0Deborah Meaden<\/a>,\u00a0Touker Suleyman<\/a>,\u00a0Sara Davies<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Steven Bartlett<\/a>\u00a0into investing.<\/p>\n Founded in 2021, their company aims to give pets happier, healthier lives with lab-grown pet food derived from yeasts, algae and pulses, that don\u2019t trigger allergies and sensitivities but promise flavour, while still being calorie-controlled and environmentally sustainable.<\/p>\n In two years, they managed to generate over \u00a32,500,000 in sales, with 80% of their customers becoming subscribers.<\/p>\n Dr Guy and Shiv were asking the Dragons for \u00a375,000 for 1% of their business \u2013 a stake Touker blasted as something he \u2018wouldn\u2019t even get out of bed for\u2019.<\/p>\n And that wasn\u2019t the only fault he found with the entrepreneurs, after Peter revealed their seven-figure valuation was seven times more than the revenue of the previous year.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t \u2018I get really, really annoyed when people overvalue their businesses,\u2019 Peter fumed.<\/p>\n \u2018You\u2019re delusional about what this is really worth,\u2019 Touker slammed.<\/p>\n Touker had also dismissed Omni\u2019s lifetime value before Deborah and Steven stepped in to defend Dr Guy and Shiv.<\/p>\n \u2018That\u2019s absolutely brilliant,\u2019 Deborah had commented, while Steven praised: \u2018That\u2019s fantastic, turning \u00a340 into \u00a3400.\u2019<\/p>\n They were so impressed they ended up offering to invest, with Steven commenting: \u2018I\u2019ve come to learn in the Den that there are two central things that come to form my investment thesis, which are the products and how much I\u2019m passionate about the space and can relate to the problem.<\/p>\n \u2018The second one is the entrepreneurs, because different entrepreneurs could have walked through this door, with the exact same product and I would have valued the business entirely differently, if I didn\u2019t think the two people in front of me were killers.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ve come to learn from my Dragons\u2019 Den investments that do exceptionally well, that the single most important factor has actually been: are they killers? I think you guys are. So I have to try and invest in this business. I have to.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t Dr Guy and Shiv negotiated Deborah and Steven down from the 3% they offered each to a joint 2.5%, and have revealed their business has grown since their appearance on the BBC business show.<\/p>\n In an interview with Metro in March 2025, they said the response has been \u2018amazing\u2019.<\/p>\n Dr Guy said: \u2018We\u2019re trying to keep up, honestly, we\u2019re just a small business trying to help pets live happier lives, and we knew that going on the show would increase our exposure.<\/p>\n \u2018But we never imagined the demand that we\u2019re seeing now, we\u2019ve had to re-evaluate our stock levels and the number of people helping with our customer service and packaging, so it\u2019s been really, really positive.\u2019<\/p>\n He went on: \u2018It\u2019s just a testament to the fact that so many people out there watching the show understood what we\u2019re trying to do, aligned with our mission and were willing to give it a go.\u2019<\/p>\n Shiv added that their valuation is now \u2018so much more\u2019 than when they filmed the show nearly a year before it aired in 2025, with the episode also having had a \u2018dramatic impact\u2019 on the increase.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t In the year leading up to their episode airing, they tripled their business, predominantly through word-of-mouth, with Dr Guy noting: \u2018There is a real need for this.\u2019<\/p>\n Reacting to Touker and Peter\u2019s brutal takedown of their valuation, Dr Guy reflected: \u2018I feel like when we were in the Den, they were looking at our historical numbers and basing that on our valuation, but what we were basing it on was actually what our revenue was like at that point, because we\u2019re so fast-growing.\u2019<\/p>\n He went on: \u2018We can make quite reasonable assumptions about what we\u2019re going to do in the coming months as well, and I felt like that wasn\u2019t necessarily as much their focus.<\/p>\n \u2018When you look at our run-rate based on our revenue, it\u2019s not as crazy as they were sort of alluding to at all.\u2019<\/p>\n However, Dr Guy stressed that the importance of their experience in the Den didn\u2019t come down to the numbers, but their actual product.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018In hindsight, the one disadvantage of it is that we didn\u2019t get to show the nation so much of the other stuff we filmed, like the details of our products.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018As vets, we\u2019re really good at treating disease, but where I feel we can improve is in prevention,\u2019 Dr Guy explained. <\/p>\n Talking about how he founded the business with former investment banker Shiv, he said: \u2018I was seeing a lot of pets that were coming in with problems that I thought nutrition had a part to play in, like skin complaints or gut issues.<\/p>\n \u2018And all these things are multifactorial in their cause, but if you get the nutrition right you can actually prevent a lot of them, and sometimes even treat some of these problems, so we saw an opportunity to create a whole business around looking after allergy-prone pets.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Omni sells products including supplements for dogs who suffer from stress and anxiety<\/a>, especially after so many pets were brought home during Covid<\/a>, leaving them with separation anxiety as the world returned to normal.<\/p>\n He went on to explain that they\u2019ve seen impressive growth in their food sales because customers continue to keep buying the product as it works for their dogs long term in aiding their allergies and sensitivities without the need for medications.<\/p>\n In five years, they hope to have taken their product abroad and continue with their mission of \u2018bringing the benefits of novel protein food and supplements to as many pets as possible\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019d like to become a household brand,\u2019 Dr Guy added. \u2018So if people discover that their pet has a sensitive tummy or they might be allergy-prone, they\u2019ve given us a go, and as a vet, that means a lot to me, because it means we can help so many more pets and so many pet guardians to not have the stress of seeing your dog struggle with some of these problems.\u2019<\/p>\n Since our interview with the founders, the pet food start-up has surged to \u00a311 million in annual recurring revenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n A version of this article was originally published in February 2025.<\/p>\n Dragons\u2019 Den is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.<\/p>\n Got a story?<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_239743122-0779.jpg\")
\n\t\tOmni founders Shiv and Dr Guy brought their pet food business to the Den (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_239743109-984e.jpg\")
\n\t\tTouker Suleyman slammed them as \u2018delusional\u2019 (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_239743125-5576.jpg\")
\n\t\tSteven Bartlett was on the hunt for \u2018killer\u2019 entrepreneurs (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_239743029-3a34.jpg\")
\n\t\tPeter Jones was not impressed by the valuation (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_239743030-2862.jpg\")
\n\t\tShiv and Dr Guy walked away with two investors (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_239743035-ec65.jpg\")
\n\t\tDeborah Meaden and Steven Bartlett stepped in to defend the entrepreneurs (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_239743104-3ada.jpg\")
\n\t\tThey\u2019ve had huge success in the last year (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n
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