Dragons’ Den: Social Chain founder Steven Bartlett is named as show’s youngest ever Dragon

Bartlett said he wanted to inspire ‘young and under-represented’ entrepreneurs to follow in his footsteps

Steven Bartlett, 28, will join the next series of Dragons’ Den (PA)

Dragons’ Den has found its new Dragon – and they’re the show’s youngest ever.

It was announced in January that Tej Lalvani would be leaving the BBC series after four years, with speculation emerging about his replacement.

On Thursday (13 May), it was revealed that the show’s new panellist would be 28-year-old Steven Bartlett, who is the founder of social media marketing agency Social Chain.

Bartlett dropped out of university to build the group’s two flagship companies, Social Chain and Media Chain, when he was just 22 years old and living in Manchester. He took Social Chain public aged 27, with the company currently valued at over £300m.

Bartlett’s debut book Happy Sexy Millionaire was a bestseller, while he also hosts the popular The Diary of a CEO podcast. He has been named on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.

Speaking about joining Dragons’ Den, Bartlett said: “I’ve been watching Dragons’ Den since I was 12 years old – it was my first window into the real world of business and investing.

“It’s a tremendous honour to join the Den, hopefully representing a new generation of entrepreneurs, inspiring young and specifically under-represented entrepreneurs to follow in my footsteps.”

He will join Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and Sara Davies on the show’s 19th series.