Inside the Dragons' Den

Where are they now? - Gelfast

One of the superstars from the first season of Dragons' Den was Gelfast.  With there no nonsense attitude, A++ management team, and thriving business, the Brothers Shoham managed to ignite a bidding war, which ended with Robert leading the deal.

Now one year later the firm, Medonyx, maker of Gelfast, is booming! CEO Gilad Shoham (still one of my favorite contestants to date) reports:

This year Medonyx is on track for breaking $1.5 M in revenue without hugely increasing our operating costs. We have several new really innovative products nearing market intro, and are generally doubling our revenue every 5 or so months. We are working some larger deals now to fuel growth acceleration in '08. Being on DD certainly was a pivotal event in our history, helping to get us where we are now and where we're going.  Still the best show on TV!!

Good luck to Gil and his team.

Stay tuned to CBC on Oct 1st for the premiere of Season Two.

Where are they now? Marc Forrat, Chocolatier from London!

After appearing on DD, Marc Forrat continued with his ambition to start a chain of gourmet chocolate stores all over Canada. The first entrepreneur to answer his call and share his dream is from the North West Territories.

Her name is Leanne Tait, from Yellowknife, NWT, she owns a successful marketing company and has decided to become part of Marc Forrat's dream by purchasing from him, the first distributorship in June 2007. Marc will teach Leanne how to make his delicious Truffles and chocolates in her own store as the opening is schedule for fall 2007 just in time for the holiday season (and just in time for Season Two).

Six more potential distributors are on the works as we speak, Forrat has also signed a starter deal with a chain of Gourmet coffee shops as a trial test market and has caught the attention of the largest European manufacturer of Gourmet high-end Chocolate in Europe.

Forrat recognizes the Dragons' Den as the instigator of his sudden "Marathon for Success". On a personal note, Forrat thanks the Small Business Center of London. He believes that they were the reason for him going on the show and reminds everyone out there: "Canada is an amazing country, where a guy like me, from a modest family, new to Canada, can start a company, meet some great minds on the way like his Mentor Robert kuenzlen, appear on a reality show, and turn it all into an amazing adventure of success, sharing and fun! Thank you all! and don't forget to eat chocolate!!!"

If you'd like to know more you can check out www.finetruffles.com

Where are they now? - Cenabal

The first pitcher to get Dragon money was Jennifer Macdonald from the London area.  She received capital for her salad dressing business in episode one of season one.  So now a year later, how's it going?

According to MacDonald: "The Dragons are an asset to Cenabal. We conference monthly to discuss growth and new opportunities and they are available, virtually anytime, to advise me on the larger business decisions."

This in turn has lead to success for the salad dressing company: Cenabal yearly sales have tripled. We have grown from one distributor and 33 retail outlets in June of 06 to four distributors and 100 retail outlets in June of 07. Cenabal launched a new product line in June and I am working on two additional lines for release late this year or early next year. says Jennifer

Cenebal has also been extremelly successful in getting distrubution deals across Canada.  So if you want to buy some great salad dressing or if you simply want to learn more, check out www.Cenabal.com