Have you ever wondered how Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett makes his money?
Last week the 32-year-old – who has an estimated fortune of £71m – used his considerable influence to tell the world about the UK’s leading matcha brand PerfectTed.
He invested in the startup when co-founders Marisa Poster and Teddie Levenfiche walked into the Den in 2022.
The episode was screened in 2023 and millions of viewers saw the pair secure five offers from the Dragons before choosing Peter Jones and Bartlett for £50k in exchange for 10 per cent of the business.
Jones quipped: “I think we’re going to make matcha lot of money.”
Sadly for Jones he spoke too soon as PerfectTed later revealed they didn’t end up going with him because his expertise in retail distribution wasn’t something they needed.
Instead, they went all in with Bartlett on building their brand.
After seeing the potential he quickly invested another £1m just months later via his fund at FlightStory– and made himself an integral cog of the PerfectTed machine.
Their staff now occupy a whole floor of his FlightStory HQ in central London, Bartlett has become a PerfectTed ambassador and, in return, they’ve become a brand partner on The Diary of a CEO. It’s the ultimate ‘win-win’.
The matcha startup has grown turnover to £30m and is on track to hit £100m.
It’s no wonder Bartlett is looking so happy and has boldly predicted the matcha startup will become the most valuable investment in Dragons’ Den history.
If it does hit those levels, major investor Bartlett’s share in the business could be worth matcha millions.
It’s easy to see why PerfectTed is the standout performer in the Steven Bartlett Private Office of more than 50 companies he’s founded or invested in.
At this point, it’s worth providing a quick recap on how Bartlett has made his estimated £71m fortune.
A lot of his wealth is derived from his hit podcast The Diary of a CEO, which is estimated to generate annual revenues of £20m, mainly in advertising.
This dovetails neatly into his books, including ‘The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life’ and ‘Happy Sexy Millionaire’, which he wrote after becoming a millionaire at 25.
Then comes his lucrative speaking engagements. He’s listed with both Chartwell Speakers and A-Speakers, although his standard fee is not revealed.
However, the Champions Speakers’ website describes him as a ‘high-end after dinner speaker’ who commands a fee between £15k-£20k, which puts him alongside the likes of Baroness Karren Brady and ex-SAS soldier Ant Middleton.
He’s the co-founder of Flight Group, a media, marketing and investment company consisting of Flight Fund, Flight Ventures, Flight Story, Flight Studio, Flight Talent and Flight Tech.
Bartlett, who was born in Botswana to a Nigerian mum and an English Dad, is also behind thirdweb – a software platform backed by Shopify and Coinbase that makes it easy to build web3 applications.
Earlier this year the high-profile entrepreneur signed a deal with the world’s No 1 talent agent, WME, to represent him in the USA and made global headlines for his interview with former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Bartlett is the master of marketing and recognised the power of brand and cross promotion a long time ago.
PerfectTed’s co-founders Marisa Poster and Levi and Teddie Levenfiche
It was back in 2014 that he co-founded Manchester-based Social Chain in 2014 with Dominic McGregor after identifying how social media could connect an audience with a brand.
Fast forward a decade and Bartlett has built a brand – underpinned by millions of social media followers – that can raise the profile of his investments like PerfectTed.
It also highlights the importance of Dragons’ Den to both his profile and future earning capacity.
It was 2021 when Bartlett joined the Den at the age of 28 – displacing Sara Davies as the youngest ever Dragon on the show.
Investing is a risky business and not all of Bartlett’s have succeeded.
Earlier this month Liverpool-based luxury resale platform Luxe Collective announced it was closing just 18 months after the Dragons’ Den star invested £100,000 in the business.
However, this is off-set by the performance of companies like vegan dog food brand Omni, which has reportedly grown sales by 130 per cent after securing a £75k investment from Deborah Meaden and Bartlett in the Den.
All of which brings us to PerfectTed and why it’s the perfect fit for Bartlett’s playbook on how to build a successful company.
I rewatched Marisa Poster and Teddie Levenfiche’s 2022 pitch on Dragons’ Den and it all starts with having a good story.
Porter was diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety and realised the energy drinks and coffee she was relying on were making her worse, not better.
In desperation she turned to matcha, which is a finely ground powder of green tea, and it transformed the way she felt.
Realising matcha could do the same for other people she turned it into a business with her husband Levi and brother-in-law Teddie – and enlisted Bartlett to add rocket fuel to its growth story.
The energy drink market is something Bartlett is familiar with as he was an early investor in the nutrition brand Huel.
The association was not without controversy as he came under fire for promoting the product on Facebook without disclosing that he was a director there. In January 20025 he resigned from the company’s board after nearly four years.
PerfectTed signed the deal with Bartlett on the same day the episode of Dragons’ Den was aired – exactly nine months after filming.
The company was turning over less than $10k per month when the appeared on Dragons’ Den. Today they’re generating $4m a month and are now Europe’s largest matcha brand.
In just two years they’ve grown annual revenues to £30m and are aiming at £100m on the back of national listings with the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Holland & Barrett.
Bartlett also praised the work they’ve done in raising awareness of matcha by partnering with leading chains like Blank Street, Joe & the Juice, and Black Sheep Coffee and building a robust supply chain.
“They travelled to Japan and spent months working hard to create a perfect matcha supply chain,” he said. “This allowed them to bring down costs and saving while consistently improving quality. They passed the saving directly on to customers.
“They will become the largest matcha brand in the world. They are growing fast in the USA, UAE, Australia and Europe.
“They will hit £100m sales, which would make them the most valuable investment in Dragons’ Den history.
“They will become the first Dragons’ Den business to become Dragons themselves.”
Bartlett also identified their work ethic as one of reasons for their success.
“Nobody works harder,” he said. “When I come into the office at the weekend, they’re already here. On weekdays they’re always the last to leave.
“They radiate this unstoppable energy. I call it ‘life force energy’ where you just know they’ll find a way, breaking down any wall or door in their path. They’re super f*cking smart.”
Poster has been equally gushing in her praise for Bartlett.
Writing on LinkedIn she said: “Those who believe they CAN, and those who believe they CAN’T, are BOTH right. It’s one of Steven’s favourite quotes – and honestly, it’s become one of mine too.
“I think that unshakable self-belief is what connected us from the moment we stepped into the Den.
“Steven saw three founders who believed we could figure it out. Who were willing to bet on something the Western world didn’t quite get yet: matcha!
“Just like he did with podcasting – before it was cool. Or with social media marketing – before anyone took it seriously.
“He saw people who would take action, even when we had no clue what we were doing.
“The truth is Teddie, Levi and I didn’t have a master plan.
“We had a personal problem (jittery, crash-heavy energy drinks that made my ADHD worse ), a massive gap in the market, and a stubborn little voice saying: ‘We can fix this’.
“Now, almost 3 years after meeting Steven in the Den, someone we’ve looked up to since day one, is sharing our story with millions.
“He’s right – belief alone isn’t everything. You need sharp strategy, relentless execution, and standards that most people would call insane.
“But belief is what gets you in the room. It’s what makes people like Steven see something worth betting on.”
If that happens Bartlett’s investment in matcha could be worth millions.