Product Update
Is Drynks Unlimited Still in Business? (2026 Update)
Is Drynks Unlimited from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Drynks Unlimited today.
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Drynks Unlimited pitched a range of alcohol-free craft drinks in a Den that, at the time, had not seen many low-and-no alcohol businesses come through. The short answer is yes, the business is still trading, now operating under the Smashed Drynks brand name.
The Short Answer
Drynks Unlimited is still in business. The company continues to develop and sell its alcohol-free range, and its Smashed brand has expanded rather than contracted since the pitch, adding new products to what started as a small line-up. That kind of ongoing product development is a good sign for a small drinks brand competing in a crowded category.
There is no Amazon listing for the range, which is common for craft drinks brands that rely on direct sales, specialist retailers, and hospitality accounts rather than mass online marketplaces.
The Pitch
Founder Richard Clark, a drinks industry veteran, brought Drynks Unlimited to the Den in Series 17, Episode 9, alongside UK sales director Paul Briscoe. The pitch centred on a genuinely 0 percent alcohol-free range made using cool vacuum distillation, a process that starts with a real craft beer or cider and gently removes the alcohol while trying to keep the flavour intact.
The founders asked for £125,000 in exchange for 7.5 percent of the company, implying a valuation of around £1.67 million for a drinks brand still relatively early in its growth.
Alcohol-free drinks were still a comparatively small category on UK supermarket shelves at the time of this pitch, dominated mostly by a handful of larger brewers dabbling in low-alcohol lines rather than specialist producers building the category from the ground up. Clark and Briscoe were positioning Drynks Unlimited as a dedicated player in a space that had not yet been claimed by any single household name, which is exactly the kind of gap a founder wants to point to when making the case for a premium valuation.
The Deal
Sara Davies backed the pitch, investing the full £125,000 for the 7.5 percent stake on offer. A full-price deal from a single Dragon, rather than a split investment or a renegotiated equity stake, generally signals a founder who came in with a clear, well-supported number and did not need to give ground to close it.
Davies built her own business, Crafter's Companion, from a niche product into a national retail brand, and that background in scaling a specialist consumer product gave Drynks Unlimited a backer who understood the mechanics of getting a smaller brand onto bigger shelves.
Craft drinks is also a category where the story behind the product matters almost as much as the liquid itself. Vacuum distillation, rather than simply brewing a low-strength beer from scratch, is a more technical and more expensive process, but it lets the brand claim genuine flavour parity with alcoholic originals rather than a compromised alternative. That distinction gave Davies a clear angle to help the founders market the range beyond the usual dry January crowd.
What Happened After the Cameras Stopped
The alcohol-free category has grown substantially since this pitch aired, as more drinkers look to cut back without giving up the ritual of a proper pint or cider. That broader shift in consumer habits has been good tailwind for a brand built specifically around genuinely alcohol-free craft drinks rather than low-strength alternatives.
Since the Dragons' Den investment, the company has continued expanding its Smashed range, adding dealcoholised ale and cider to its original line-up of beer and cider style drinks. Growing the product range after a deal, rather than coasting on the original line-up, is usually a sign that the underlying sales were strong enough to justify the investment in new formulations.
The company has also continued to publish updates about its own growth and community, framing itself as part of a wider shift in British drinking habits rather than a passing trend. For a small, independently run drinks brand, that kind of steady range expansion, years after the original TV appearance, is a far more reliable signal of ongoing health than the pitch itself ever was.
Where Things Stand Now
Drynks Unlimited pitched in Series 17 for £125,000 at 7.5 percent, and closed that exact amount with Sara Davies.
Today the business continues to trade under its Smashed Drynks branding, with an expanded alcohol-free range that has grown since the original pitch. If you are wondering whether this one survived past its TV moment, it did, and the product range has only gotten bigger since.
Where to buy Drynks Unlimited
Still selling as of 10 July 2026. Check today's price and availability.
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See the full Drynks Unlimited deal breakdown and term sheet →
