Desi Today Magazine
Restaurant magnate Vikram Vij is poised to join the cast of CBC’s Dragons’ Den this spring. The BC based restaurant-owner will be joining remaining dragons, marketing maven Arlene Dickinson, personal finance guru David Chilton and franchise king Jim Treliving.
Vikram Vij immigrated to Alberta in 1989 and has been dominating the West Coast restaurant scene for more than a decade. He opened his first restaurant in Vancouver in 1989, which has been graced by celebrities like Martha Stewart and Harrison Ford — despite its strict no reservations policy. Since then, Vij and his wife have opened two more restaurants and launched a line of pre-packaged curries sold in grocery stores across Canada.
“I love looking at entrepreneurs that have either had family businesses or have had their own passion and they have churned this passion from a milk to butter … Those are the kind of people I would love to share my wealth with and knowledge,” Vij said.
“I’m going to be a practical Dragon. And if you want me to take my wallet out and give you some money you better make sure that you have lined your ducks in a row properly.”
This won’t be Vij’s first time on TV. He has already been a judge on the Food Network’s Top Chef Canada and Chopped Canada, as well as CBC’s Recipe to Riches.
Aanikh Kler from Vancouver, BC was also recently pitching his ringtone, UndrTheRadr Ringtones, to the Dragons. UndrTheRadr is a set of ringtones that only teens can hear, meaning they’re able to get all the texts and phone calls they want and adults will have no idea. When you download UndrTheRadr, you’re not only getting ringtones that only youth can hear, you’re also supporting Free The Children, an international charity dedicated to providing education to children and teens in developing countries. 20 cents of every $1 download goes to helping teenagers around the world get the education they need to change their lives.
Dragons’ Den, which earned a Canadian Screen Award for best TV reality series earlier this month, features entrepreneurs pitching business proposals and ideas to a panel of venture capitalists, who must then decide whether or not to invest in the projects.
