A brewing entrepreneur who failed to get TV’s Dragons to back him has revealed that he has secured almost double the investment he wanted from angel investors.
Mark Wong pitches to the Dragons
Mark Wong, aged 24, enjoyed the wind-down benefits of beer while at university, but was then diagnosed with alcohol-induced liver damage.
He went on to discover that plants can create the relaxing element of beer with inducing drowsiness, as alcohol does. He started brewing his own non-alcoholic beer in his university room and Impossibrew was born.
The beer is now in commercial production, being made at Allendale, in Northumberland, and has already won a gold award at the European Beer Challenge, beating nonalcoholic brews from Stella Artois and Leffe.
He went into the BBC’s Dragons’ Den asking for £50,000 for 10% of the business, but was rejected by the five business gurus. However, he has now raised almost double that investment from angel investors, one of whom is a chief finance officer for a FTSE 250 company.
The company itself has grown by 930% since launch in 2020, with multiple sell-outs. Mark has since launched a popular Hazy Pale Ale and has extensive plans to expand to the US and further before 2023.
Mark said: “It was a great learning opportunity. I never thought I’d be on Dragons’ Den, let alone being invited to pitch. For that I’m extremely grateful. The comments from the Dragons were very constructive, and I didn’t regret a single moment in the Den.
“We’ve only just begun the journey to change the way we drink and I can’t wait to show them our progress in three to five years.”
