The pitch
What walked into the Den
Oussama Saoudi runs KaleMart24, a healthier take on the corner store, and he presented it during season 20, episode 13.
His figure was $500,000 for 5 percent, which lands the company at a $10 million valuation. That is an ambitious mark for a young retail concept.
After the show
What happened next
No Dragon invested. One said working together could be challenging, and another told Saoudi he needed to do more work as a founder.
Expansion, however, is documented. The brand's own press page records a seventh location opening in January 2025, and its site still runs a working merch store with a live checkout.
Our read
The Hub verdict
Five percent for half a million dollars sets a $10 million valuation on a healthy corner-store concept, and the interesting question is whether the retail footprint justified it. The company's own press releases, recording a seventh location by early 2025, suggest real expansion behind the pitch rather than a slide-deck dream.
No Dragon invested, and the objections were personal rather than financial. One said working together could be challenging, another told Oussama Saoudi he needed to do more work as a founder, which is a panel declining the operator rather than the numbers. The expansion carried on without them, with the merch store still running a live checkout alongside the shops.
