14 hours ago
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For most contestants on Dragons’ Den, getting called ‘delusional’ would be enough to send them scampering out of the door with their tails between their legs.
But for Dr. Guy Sandelowsky and Shiv Sivakumar, who have co-founded pet health brand Omni Pet, not only were they able to prove the Dragons wrong, they have since landed a whopping £11,000,000 investment and boast £13,000,000 of annualised revenue.
The business owners appeared on the BBC show in February 2025 and secured backing from Deborah Meaden and Steven Bartlett.
Since then, the company has seen rapid growth, adding more than 100,000 new customers and closing out 2025 with £8.4 million in sales.
However, following the most recent injection of cash into their company, both Guy and Shiv have told Metro about their extraordinary journey.
Asked what they made of their Dragons’ Den episode 18 months ago,former investment banker Shiv said: ‘Honestly, we’re just so grateful for the experience.
‘As a consumer brand, we know the power of a programme like Dragon’s Den, and it really helped bring our mission to millions of people across the country.
‘As an early-stage business, it’s difficult to get your message out there because we’re competing against the giants of the pet food industry while trying to do something genuinely different. The platform gave us that opportunity.
‘Of course, there was a lot of scepticism about the business, our valuation and how we measured things like customer lifetime value. Peter Jones and Touker Suleyman questioned our approach, which reflects a more traditional way of looking at businesses.
‘That’s completely valid – valuations are subjective, and we respected that feedback. What’s been really rewarding is that since the show aired, we’ve welcomed hundreds of thousands of customers to the business. Stephen Bartlett has also continued to support us and has been a fantastic advocate.’
Guy, who is an experienced veterinarian, also described their company’s recent success as ‘extremely validating’.
‘As founders, you’re always taking a risk. Even if you believe in your idea, when respected business figures question your valuation, it inevitably creates moments of self-doubt,’ he said.
‘Now we’ve been backed by some of the most respected investors in consumer businesses, including Redrice Ventures and others with fantastic track records.
‘We’ve grown from around a £1 million annual run rate to approximately £13 million annualised revenue in just over a year, entirely through direct-to-consumer sales and Amazon. We’re not even on supermarket shelves yet.’
During their Dragons’ Den appearance, Peter Jones questioned whether the business was worth what the founders claimed, while fellow Dragon Touker Suleyman branded their expectations ‘delusional’.
Commenting on Touker’s choice of words, Shiv added: ‘Whenever you’re trying to do something different, it’s quite normal to be called “delusional”. Human nature is to follow what’s already working, so if you challenge the status quo, people naturally question it.
‘Sometimes that’s actually a sign you’re onto something. Not always—but many successful businesses started with founders who saw something differently.
‘Of course we’ve had moments where we wondered whether we were the delusional ones. But now we’ve served over 300,000 customers, helped tens of thousands of dogs, and continue to raise awareness around allergies, nutrition and dental health.
‘Pet nutrition has largely been controlled by legacy companies for decades. We wanted to challenge that by doing something genuinely different, and people are switching to Omni because they’re seeing the benefits.
‘If people want to keep calling us delusional, that’s fine. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing.’
Recently, string of investors including IW Capital and Redrice Ventures are backing the duo’s vision, with £11,000,000 set to fuel the next stage of Omni’s growth.
The business, which creates products designed to help tackle issues including obesity, allergies and digestive problems in dogs, has become one of the fastest-growing names in the UK pet nutrition market.
According to UK Pet Food, the trade body for the UK pet food manufacturing industry, over 50% of dogs and 43% of cats are overweight and this number is rising.
Omni Pet is aiming to tackle this growing health concern with calorie controlled, protein products backed by rigorous clinical research and sustainable champions such as Chris Packham and Deborah on the show.
Dragons’ Den is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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