A Vancouver man ended the last regular edition of the Dragon’s Den season with a first: unanimous investment, including signed deals, by the five CBC tycoons.
On Wednesday’s airing, Bradley Friesen convinced the reality game show’s stars to combine and invest $25,000 for 10 percent of his herbal hangover relief drink company, Lastcall Beverages.
Friesen said the business was inspired by parties he hosted at his Yaletown loft during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
“Everybody I know woke up saying ‘this is the greatest time in my life,’ and ‘I'm so hung over,’” Friesen said.
He went to a Dragon’s Den audition in Edmonton last year to sell his drinks, which contain a mix of water, electrolytes, vitamin B and C, ginger and milk thistle. The powder is stored inside the specially made cap and mixes with the water when the cap is turned. The distinctive, clear crystal-shaped bottles stack onto each other.
The bottle vaguely recalls another Vancouver-made drink, Clearly Canadian, which revolutionized the new-age soft drink category in the early 1990s with a blue, club-shaped bottle and fruity flavoured mineral water.
“For the bar, it's about getting their average cheque up,” Friesen said. “You can’t put 25% more people in a room, you can't be open four hours longer and you can’t give your customers 25 percent more alcohol because they’ll throw up. The bar needs to find creative ways to sell them another product.”
Bruce Croxon, one of the Dragons, called Friesen “relentless.”
“He’s got the energy. We’ve got a real good partner,” said Croxon, co-founder of the Lavalife dating website and founder of Vida Spas. “We’re buying him, we’re investing in him.”
Friesen is hoping to raise another $40,000 by April 20 via the IndieGogo.com crowd-funding website.
