PerfectTed has secured a fresh £1m in funding from Steven Bartlett as the Dragons’ Den star doubled down on his investment in the rapidly growing energy drink brand.
It follows Bartlett and Peter Jones investing a combined £50k following an appearance on the BBC One show that aired in March 2022, in a deal that valued the fledging business at £500k.
Now a video released on one of Bartlett’s YouTube channels reveals the entrepreneur has followed his original backing with an additional £1m from his Flight Fund VC firm, as the brand looks to supercharge sales to reach £25m by 2025.
PerfectTed declined to share details of the deal, but documents filed to Companies House in May showed the business raised an additional £500k in equity at a valuation of £19.5m.
Separate filings associated with the raise were also signed on 25 April by the three PerfectTed co-founders, Marisa Poster and brothers Teddie and Levi Levenfiche, alongside Bartlett on behalf of Flight Story General Partner Ltd.
It isn’t clear how the rest of the deal for the remaining £500k is structured.
The YouTube video gives viewers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the journey taken by PerfectTed and Bartlett since the Dragons’ Den agreement.
Part of the film shows the three PerfectTed founders across the negotiating table from Bartlett and his Flight Fund team thrashing out a deal.
“When we first spoke, you were talking about a range of £500k to £1m,” Levi Levenfiche said.
“I think we need to be on the top end of that at £1m. And in terms of the equity, we’re conscious you want to get to 15% extra.” He suggested further equity could be unlocked as the business hit sales targets, with an initial 5% followed by another 2.5% at £30m revenue, a 2.5% at £45m and a final 5% at £60m.
“We think it aligns us all to outperform and f**king take this thing to the moon,” he added.
The film then shows counter-offers being proposed by Bartlett.
The deal took a year to be fully negotiated before it was “signed, sealed, delivered”, said Bartlett in a separate individual interview as part of the film describing the events. But no details of the final agreement are shared.
A screenshot of a Flight Fund webpage – which isn’t currently online – shown on the video said Bartlett’s investment vehicle had signed a legally binding deal to invest £1m in PerfectTed.
PerfectTed has grown quickly since launching in 2021, with its range of matcha green tea energy drinks listed nationwide with the likes of Tesco, Waitrose and Holland & Barrett.
Earlier this year, it released a matcha powder across the UK in Sainsbury’s, since extending the range into Tesco, Holland & Barrett and foodservice.
The brand claims to be the fastest-growing natural energy drink in the UK and the largest matcha brand in Europe.
Bartlett’s YouTube video added sales at the company had rocketed from £9k a month when the Dragon first became involved to £1m a month today.
“I know without Steve we would still be successful, but the opportunities he’s been able to afford us have been life-changing and business changing,” Teddie Levenfiche said.
“We did £200k in our first year of sales, £2.5m in our second year… and now we’re doing £12m in our third year, so it’s been pretty phenomenal growth. In our mind, we believe we can build a £100m business at least.”
The business does not yet file full accounts at Companies House, but the latest IRI category data showed retail sales value of the drinks boomed by 261.4% to £2m in the 52 weeks to 13 July 2024. An industry source said the matcha powder side of the brand was already “much bigger” than the drinks.
“The reason why I wanted to invest in PerfectTed was because I just want to do legendary things and I want to be involved in really cool, legendary, disruptive things,” Bartlett added in the video.
“And for me, it’s less about how much money I’m going to make. And… some people might not believe it, but if PerfectTed sells for £100m, £200m, £300, £400m, whatever – which actually I’d be shocked if it doesn’t – it’s not going to change my life in any way. It’s not going to change my life at all. So, really what matters is just enjoying the journey.”
Bartlett raised more than $100m (£81m) for Flight Fund in 2023 to find the next European ‘unicorns’. The vehicle invests between £810k to £8.1m in high-growth companies across six emerging sectors: blockchain, biotech, health & wellbeing, commerce, technology and space.
PerfectTed declined to comment on the story.
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