Product Update
What Happened to Waxu After Dragons’ Den?
Waxu left the Den without a deal. Here is what happened next: how the pitch went, why the dragons passed, and where Waxu is today.
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Gemma Cafferkey pitched an intimate waxing brand in series 14 and got warm words from all five Dragons but no cheque. The short answer is that Waxu is still in business today, and it has grown into more than the single-treatment idea she brought into the Den.
The pitch
Waxu appeared in series 14, episode 11. Gemma Cafferkey asked for 50,000 pounds for 10 per cent of the business, a 500,000 pound valuation, pitching a specialist intimate waxing service and product range aimed at a category the beauty industry had historically under-served with proper training and hygiene standards, one that most salons at the time either avoided entirely or treated as an afterthought rather than a dedicated specialism.
By most accounts of the episode, every Dragon responded positively to the pitch itself. None of them chose to invest, which is a fairly unusual combination: universal approval with zero offers. It is the kind of outcome that tends to stick in a founder's memory more than a blunt rejection would, precisely because there was no single objection to point to afterwards.
Why positive feedback didn't turn into a deal
Warm reception and investment are two different things in the Den. A Dragon can respect a founder and still pass if they do not see a scalable path to a return, are already invested in something adjacent, or simply think the category, in this case a personal, service-heavy niche within beauty, is harder to grow beyond a single founder's reputation.
Intimate waxing sits at the intersection of a personal service and a product line, which makes it trickier to scale than a pure product business. That combination likely explains the gap between the praise and the lack of offers, since a Dragon backing a service business is really betting on training, quality control and reputation holding up across dozens of individual practitioners, not just one product coming off a production line.
What Waxu built after the show
Waxu has expanded well past a single treatment concept. The brand now operates a network of approved salons offering its treatments, searchable through a salon finder on its own website, alongside a professional product range sold to the wider salon trade through partners such as Salons Direct.
It has also moved into training. Waxu's Waxing School Ltd offers accredited waxing qualifications, including dedicated female and male intimate waxing courses, run from locations in Nottingham and through a partner venue in Liverpool. That is a meaningfully broader business than the one pitched in the Den, built on brand credibility and expertise rather than a single product SKU. Training arms like this also solve a real industry problem, since intimate waxing has historically suffered from inconsistent technique and hygiene standards across salons, and a formal, accredited qualification gives the brand a way to raise the floor across its whole network rather than just its own treatment rooms.
Is Waxu still in business?
Yes. The company's own website remains active with current content, including material dated as recently as late 2024, its salon network is live and searchable, and its training arm is actively enrolling students on accredited courses.
The picture is of a brand that used its no-deal Dragons' Den appearance as a credibility marker rather than a setback, then built outward into salon partnerships and training rather than staying a single-product pitch. Universal Dragon approval without an offer is, in hindsight, a fairly accurate preview of what came next: a business that convinced everyone it was sound, and then went and proved it without needing anyone else's money to do it.
Where things stand now
Waxu asked for 50,000 pounds for 10 per cent in series 14, earned praise from every Dragon in the room, and still left without a deal. Years later, the business has grown into a salon network and an accredited training school built around intimate waxing expertise.
If you are wondering whether the brand from that episode survived its no-deal ending, it clearly did, and it has grown into a wider business than the one Gemma Cafferkey first pitched, now shaping standards across a whole network of salons rather than just running treatments under its own roof.
Where to buy Waxu
Still selling as of 5 July 2026. Check today's price and availability.
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See the full Waxu deal breakdown and term sheet →
