The Dragons offered Levi Roots £50,000 for his Reggae Reggae Sauce business.
Roots made the proposal during his 2007 appearance on Dragon's Den. The offer came from Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh, who agreed to invest the money in exchange for a 40% share of the company. The pitch became especially memorable because Roots performed a song while presenting the sauce.
The investment gave the business capital and experienced commercial backing at a stage when Roots was seeking to move from small-scale production into wider retail distribution. Reggae Reggae Sauce subsequently became the foundation of a broader branded food business.
The cash figure is sometimes confused with the equity percentage. £50,000 was the amount of money offered; 40% was the share of the business requested. That distinction matters in Dragon's Den because a headline investment can look attractive or unattractive depending on the valuation implied by the proposed equity.