Dragons’ Den has been re-born. The last few weeks saw the departure of both Arlene Dickinson and David Chilton, but also welcomed Canadian fashion icon Joe Mimran into one of the seats. CBC’s popular Canadian venture capital reality show still needed to fill a spot and so today made some major announcements.
Out of the Den is restaurateur Vikram Vij, entering is both Alberta-based brewery owner Manjit Minhas, and internet entrepreneur Michele Romanow. In addition, Michael Wekerle and Jim Treliving will be returning to the show for the upcoming tenth season.
CBC executive director Jennifer Dettman, said, “Both these women are accomplished entrepreneurs. Michele is a millennial on a mission, having built four successful companies before her 29th birthday, and Manjit’s entrepreneurial expertise covers everything from product developmDragons’ Denent, marketing, manufacturing to global distribution. They’re definitely fantastic additions to the Den.”
Manjit Minhas co-founded Minhas Breweries and Distillery and is reportedly the tenth largest brewery in North America and produces over 90 different kind of beers, spirits, liqueurs and wines.
Michele Romanow founded Buytopia.ca and has also appeared on the “Next Gen Den” web series. During an interview with BetaKit, Romanow said, “I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life. My specialty is in consumer tech and scale. What it means to scale up your user base, e-commerce. The executive producer of Next Gen Den also produced Ventures, years ago, where they followed entrepreneurs and their story. I remember watching it and thinking, that’s what I want to do. Lots of people on my path encouraged me, and now I’m giving back.”
