$1Mfor 10%
Protein Candy
Valued at $10M
The pitch
Julian Ilson from Montreal, QC, pitched We3 in Season 13, Episode 3, asking the Dragons for $300K for 5% of the company.
- Asked for$300K for 5%
- Valuation$6Mimplied by the ask
- OutcomeNo deal
Offers in the Den
| Dragon | Offer | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Arlene Dickinson | Believes the app could make loneliness worse, and valuation is too high | Out |
| Manjit Minhas | Feels differently about technology's role in friendship, values misaligned | Out |
| Vincenzo Guzzo | Morally opposed to friendship apps | Out |
| Michele Romanow | No clear differentiation from existing apps with millions of users | Out |
| Lane Merrifield | $300,000 for 40% | Declined |
Julian Ilson, of Montreal, QC, asked the Dragons for $300,000 for 5% of We3, a free mobile app that privately connects users to compatible people nearby to form friendships, using a compatibility algorithm based on social science and machine learning. The app has connected around 30,000 users in over ten countries, though only about 5% to 10% of users are in areas dense enough to form active friend groups called tribes; of those, 12% convert to paid users generating revenue through tokens, and the company made $1,000 in revenue in the past month. Julian Ilson valued the company at $6 million.
Arlene Dickinson, Manjit Minhas, and Vincenzo Guzzo went out citing personal or moral objections to technology mediating friendship, while Michele Romanow went out saying there was no clear differentiation from established apps with far larger user bases. Lane Merrifield offered $300,000 for 40% of the company, which Julian Ilson declined as too much equity, leaving the business without a deal.
Pitch details from CBC’s Dragons’ Den pitch page.
We3 today
- StatusIn businessLast checked September 2026
We3 is still operating and sells through its website.