Another Dragons Den has comes to an end in Meaford with a winning duo walking away with a large sum of money.
The 7th annual Dragons Den Meaford took place at Meaford Hall on Wednesdaywith five contestants making their way to the stage in front of a packed house.
The contestants were Candice and Michael Ruhl of Candice Ruhl Designs and handcrafted sterling silver jewellery; Mark Lewis, creator of Bell Tower Craft Brewery; Scott Gooch, creator of Bayview Escarpment Fine Furniture and Cabinetry; Tanya Snell, creator whatsuphut.com and Zach Hannam, co-creator and Owner of Zaagi Soap Company.
Candice and Michael Ruhl took home the grand prize of $17,525 and they say the money will help grow the business. .
The finalists pitched their ideas in front of an esteemed panel of dragons which included Bill Brick of Brick Brothers Owen Sound Volkswagen; Cindy Gretton, the President of E&H Property Management; Carmenie Stemmler of Grey- Bruce Bee Products, Services & Supplies; April Stewart, the founder of Landlord Legal and Bill Van Wyck of W. R. Van Wyck Group Limited.
Along with advice and constructive criticism — each dragon had $1,250 to put toward each product or a certain product they liked.
Dragon April Stewart says they are there for all of the contestants and want to help each one in any way they can.
Stewart says the encouragement from the dragons will stretch beyond the event.
The audience was allowed to see each pitch and vote on who deserved the Audience Choice Award.
After a brief intermission, contestants were called back out on the stage together where the Dragons would then decide what project they would invest their money into.
Despite not winning any money from the Dragons, Mark Lewis still came away with the Audience Choice Award and won $2,004 for his Bell Tower Craft Brewery
Lewis says he learned a lot from the night and gained more knowledge to further enhance his business idea.
Zach Hannam took home second place with $3,950 for his Zaagi Soap Company.
Every contestant left with some cash in hand as all the money given away at the event totalled to over $26,000.
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News Release from Meaford Chamber of Commerce
The Meaford Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to announce the winners of our seventh annual Dragons Den Meaford.
The event played to a nearly filled house at Meaford Hall. Over $26,000 in cash and prizes were awarded by our Dragons and sponsors. All five contestants received valuable prizes but the big winners of the evening were:
1st place: Candice & Michael Ruhl received $3,950 in cash from our dragons. Their business, Candice Ruhl Designs offers beautifully handcrafted sterling silver jewelry for men and women. They look forward to increasing production with the purchase of a 3D printer and building a showroom in downtown Meaford. For their first place finish, Candice and Michael received a total of $17,525 in cash and prizes.
2nd place: As the second place winner, Zach Hannam took home $3,950 in cash and prizes. Zach is the co-creator and owner of Zaagi Soap Co, offering natural handcrafted soaps from locally grown botanicals. He looks forward to building his online presence and expanding production from outside his kitchen at home.
The Audience Choice award generated a lot of excitement. It was a tough decision this year with all of the contestants bringing great business ideas and presentations to the show. This year our audience choice contradicted our Dragons choice and brew master Mark Lewis won $2,004 in cash and prizes for his bold plan to repurpose the old Meaford Fire Hall into a craft brewery.
The Chamber of Commerce thanks all of our contestants, dragons, sponsors and the organizing committee for making this show a model of a local business initiative that creates real results for our local economy.
For more information on how to become a dragon, sponsor, or contestant in next years show please contact:
Meaford Chamber of Commerce
