Tinie Tempah joins Dragons’ Den as guest investor as Jnck Bakery’s collapse features among tonight’s pitches
Tinie Tempah appears as a guest Dragon tonight, taking a seat to judge a varied batch of founders that includes the brothers behind a once-stocked cookie brand and startups selling sea moss supplements and adaptive gripping aids.
Tinie Tempah takes a seat in the den
The guest appearance places Tinie Tempah alongside the regular Dragons for the evening as he evaluates pitches and considers potential investment. The music artist-turned-angel investor has framed his business work as a way of putting more value into the world than simply performing, and on this episode he will be offering up cash and commercial scrutiny to the founders who walk into the den.
Tonight’s line-up is deliberately wide-ranging, giving the new Dragon opportunities to test his investing instincts across health, consumer food and accessibility-focused products. The roster explicitly includes a high-protein, low-sugar cookie brand, a sea moss supplements start-up, and an established provider of gripping aids for people with reduced hand mobility.
Jnck Bakery’s fall and the wider batch of pitches
One of the centrepieces of the episode is the pitch from brothers who built a high-protein, low-sugar cookie business that had previously landed its products in more than 500 Tesco stores. The brand’s cookies were developed using pea protein, prebiotic fibre and a low-sugar chocolate created in-house, and were offered in multiple flavours as a healthier alternative to mainstream bakery items.
Despite that initial retail traction, the business was delisted by Tesco less than a year after the filming took place and subsequently entered voluntary liquidation with escalating debts of more than £250, 000. The brothers have publicly reflected on the end of the business, and they are now preparing to launch a new electrolyte venture called Lyte On later this month.
The den’s other entrepreneurs include a founder pitching a corporate five-a-side football league designed to get employees off desks and raising money for charities, and a company that has developed adaptive gripping aids to support people with reduced hand function. Also on the slate is a sea moss supplements start-up, representing another health-and-wellness entrant in the consumer space.
These encounters will test whether the Dragons — and Tinie Tempah in his new role — see viable market opportunities in categories that straddle consumer health, inclusive design and workplace wellbeing. The presence of the former cookie brand founders adds particular drama: they present a narrative of rapid retail gains followed by a steep reversal, and their next venture will be judged in the context of that recent failure.
What to watch for
Expect the den to probe commercial relationships and distribution risk, particularly in conversations about how a product performs once it reaches major supermarket shelving. The Jnck Bakery story highlights the vulnerability of brands that depend heavily on one retail partner, and the brothers’ pivot to an electrolyte drink will likely draw scrutiny on supply chain, channel diversification and lessons learned.
Meanwhile, pitches for adaptive aids and workplace sport aim to tap different demand drivers: unmet needs in accessibility and corporate spending on employee engagement. The sea moss supplements proposition, and other health-focused pitches, will be weighed on claims of differentiation and the ability to scale in a crowded wellness market.
Across the episode, Tinie Tempah’s presence as a guest investor puts his stated business priorities into practice as he balances cultural profile with commercial judgement. The den’s verdicts tonight will reveal whether he is prepared to back founders who are rebuilding after setbacks, as well as those launching fresh concepts into competitive categories.
