Dragons’ Den Season 16 Recap: Every Deal Worth Knowing

Series 16 of Dragons' Den, first broadcast 2015 to 2019, put 62 pitches in front of the panel. 29 of them walked out with a deal, a strike rate of 47 percent, and the Dragons collectively put about £830K behind the businesses they backed.

Series 16 had an unusually long broadcast tail, with episodes first airing between 2015 and 2019, but its full run of 62 pitches still delivered the Den's highest deal rate to that point.

Across the 22 series in our index, series 16's total investment of £830K ranks 9th highest, and its 29 deals rank 5th highest by count. Those two rankings don't always move together, since a series can rack up a lot of small deals or a handful of large ones, and series 16 sits where it sits on both counts.

How many pitches got a deal in series 16?

Of the 62 pitches that appeared in series 16, 29 secured investment, for a deal rate of 47 percent. That edged up compared with the 45 percent deal rate the series before it, which gives a sense of how choosy, or how generous, this particular panel of Dragons was being that year.

None of this means the other pitches were bad businesses. Dragons' Den has always turned down founders who go on to build successful companies without a Dragon's money, and it has funded some that later folded. The deal rate measures what happened in the room, not how the businesses performed afterwards.

It's also worth reading the 47 percent figure alongside the raw count. 62 pitches is a leaner field than the biggest series in this index, so the same deal rate can represent very different numbers of actual businesses funded depending on how many founders got through the door that year.

The biggest deal of series 16

The biggest single deal of series 16 went to Brizi, which secured £125,000 in exchange for 25 percent equity. The investment came from Touker Suleyman.

A 25 percent stake for £125,000 values Brizi at roughly £500,000 at the point of the deal, the kind of valuation math that plays out on screen every time a Dragon and a founder haggle over percentage points.

That single deal accounts for a meaningful share of the series' total investment: £125,000 of the £830K the Dragons put into series 16 overall went into just this one pitch, which is a useful reminder that a series total is rarely spread evenly across every deal made.

What the Dragons backed most in series 16

The categories that did best with the Dragons in series 16 were Other, Tech & Software and Fashion & Beauty. 'Other' topping the list is normal for this show: Dragons' Den pitches cover everything from kitchen gadgets to fintech apps, and a large share of any series doesn't fit neatly into a single retail category.

Beyond that catch-all, the categories that stood out say something about what founders were bringing to the Den that year, and which of those ideas the panel judged worth backing.

Tech & Software taking a top spot in series 16 lines up with the kinds of products that tend to translate well to a live studio pitch: something the Dragons can hold, taste or try, rather than a service they have to take on faith.

Which series 16 businesses are still trading?

Based on our tracking, Brizi, Play Me The Song, Tuk Tuk Chai and VIVIT are still trading in some form as of 2026.

Dragons' Den success is not measured only in who gets a deal on the night. Some of the strongest survivors from any given series turned down an offer, or never got one, and built the business anyway. Deal or no deal, survival past broadcast is the harder test.

Common questions

How many pitches got a deal in Dragons' Den series 16? 29 out of 62 pitches secured investment, a deal rate of 47 percent.

What was the biggest deal in series 16? Brizi secured £125,000 for 25 percent equity from Touker Suleyman.

How much did the Dragons invest in total during series 16? Roughly £830K across all 29 deals, the 9th highest total of the 22 series in our index.

When did Dragons' Den series 16 air? It was first broadcast 2015 to 2019.

The season's biggest deals

1. 1
   Beezer

   Season 16

   £125,000

   for 15%

Season 16 products still selling today

These pitches turned the season's exposure into a lasting business, and you can still buy them:

Deal

Brizi

Device de1 for prams and strollers to protect babies and young children from air pollution.

Season 16 · Ep 1Kids & Education

No Deal

Play Me The Song

Musician hiring website

Season 16 · Ep 1Tech & Software

Deal

Tuk Tuk Chai

Tea shop business and franchise

Season 16 · Ep 1Food & Drink

Deal

VIVIT

Live anatomy and physiology exhibitions with synthetic bodies and animal specimens

Season 16 · Ep 1Other