After its appearance in the Dragon’s Den, the Beezer app seems to be doing quite well. Currently, the app market is exploding. There is an app for virtually everything. Brian Smillie, the creator of the Beezer app identified a gap and offered a solution.
Today, Beezer.com makes life easier, simpler, cheaper, and generally better. For the year 2020, their net worth was about a staggering €5 Million and their annual revenue per year is around $1 million.
What is this app all about and what does it do?
What Is The Beezer App?
The company was launched in 2014 by Brian Smillie. With this firm, he created an app platform that could bypass the app stores that are available on the current mobile devices. By doing that, Beezer became a leading developer of mobile applications.
There was one major issue that Brian’s clients were experiencing. Once an app is created, nobody downloads it. There was something that was quite wrong with the app distribution model and Beezer was now the solution to the issue.
Beezer came in and completely changed how mobile apps are developed and offered major advantages to the SME and people that wish to make an app. Customers can now create their apps, distribute them, and manage them easily. They do all that without encountering any challenges and without having any developer and technical skills just by using Beezer.
Appearance On Dragon’s Den
The company appeared on BBC’s Dragon’s Den on August 26, 2018. This Scottish easy-to-use app business asked for a £125 000 investment with a 4% stake in the company. That became the most intense and gripping negotiation episode that the show has ever seen.
Four of the five Dragons presented an offer to Beezer. They include Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meadon, Peter Jones, and Tej Lalvani. Jenny Campbell was the only Dragon that did not make any offer since she did not believe that the business model made any sense.
Peter Jones said that he would invest £125 000 for a 15% equity of the business. That was a considerably higher stake in this business than what Smillie offered initially. The mood became tense near the end of the negotiations and Jones dropped to a 10% stake of the promising business. Eventually, Brian was backed into a tight corner and he realized that Peter Jones’ offer was too good to refuse.
Strangely, that investment did not go through as expected in the end. The deal collapsed. Brian said that they have left the door open for Jones, and more negotiations are going on. Since £125 000 is just three months’ salaries, Beezer now focuses on raising £1 million for 20% of the business. This will let them grow internationally and create a marketing function.
The company’s annual revenue is estimated at $1 million with revenue per employee being around $145,000. Brian Smillie stuck to his guns and was convinced that his app was worth more than the £125, 000 he was first offered.
It might appear quite strange with the way Brian rejected Peter Jones’ investment after appearing on Dragon’s Den. However, his determination to create a mega-firm that is going international is quite inspirational.