One of South Africa’s biggest coffee brands teams up with company that wowed Dragon’s Den investors

Platō, one of South Africa’s fastest-growing coffee chains, has partnered with UK matcha brand PerfectTed, which featured on the TV show Dragon’s Den, to become its official importer and distributor in South Africa.

Founded by brothers Stephan and Petrus Bredell, Platō is one of South Africa’s most successful coffee brands today, with over 140 stores across the country.

It has also recently started expanding internationally. In November 2025, Platō opened its first store outside of South Africa, in Harare, Zimbabwe, and in April 2026, it opened its first store in London, United Kingdom.

The brand has also had several successful collaborations and partnerships, including with sports and wellness brand USN and cookie producer Mondvol.

In a recent Instagram post, Stephan Bredell announced that Platō has officially partnered with UK-based matcha company PerfectTed Energy.

“I vividly remember seeing PerfectTed Energy on Dragons’ Den,” he wrote. “I immediately thought that this was a matcha brand that just felt different. A genuinely great product that didn’t feel too intimidating or serious.”

“Not overly wrapped up in the typical matcha-wellness world. That immediately caught my attention because in many ways that’s what I’ve always tried to do at Platō.”

When Bredell founded Platō, he deliberately wanted the brand to cater to both serious coffee drinkers and those who enjoyed their coffee with cream and syrups, since he felt many “proper” coffee shops were quite exclusionary.

“The goal has always been to offer speciality coffee but not make it snobbish. To just create a great product, do the basics very well and keep it consistent and accessible to everyone.”

Bredell explained that he started following PerfectTed and connected with Teddie Levenfiche, one of the company’s co-founders, on LinkedIn.

“After chatting to him, it became abundantly clear that we were both trying to solve the same problem in different categories: Premium drinks made less complicated,” he said.

“Fast-forward a few months, and we opened up the very first Platō branch in London, which was coincidentally located literally one block away from the PerfectTed office.”

They decided to meet up for a coffee and came to an agreement – the timing simply made too much sense to ignore.

“So without further ado, I am incredibly proud to share that we are now the official importers and distributors of PerfectTed in South Africa,” Bredell said.

“In my completely unbiased, humble, professional coffee-guy opinion… I would say they are the best matcha brand in the world! We are so excited for this partnership, and I really believe that coffee and matcha can coexist.”

PerfectTed Energy on Dragon’s Den

In March 2023, two of PerfectTed’s co-founders, Marisa Poster and Teddie Levenfiche, appeared on Dragons’ Den, a UK-based TV show.

Much like the popular show Shark Tank, Dragon’s Den features entrepreneurs, inventors and small businessmen pitching their ideas for the chance to receive real cash investments.

At the time, they were both only 25 years old and had no experience in the market they were entering.

“Everything we do, we’re figuring out on the fly,” Levenfiche said. “We have no food and beverage experience.”

However, they had confidence in their concept. “There’s a massive opportunity in the natural energy drink sector, and we want to ride the wave and be at the forefront,” Poster said on the show.

Their business was built around many of the natural benefits of matcha, which give drinkers a steady energy lift without the sharp spike.

PerfectTed sells a wide range of matcha-based products, including fruit-flavoured energy drinks, powders, capsules, lattes, and home-brewing kits.

“For years, I’ve struggled with ADHD and anxiety, which was particularly challenging while studying at university in the US,” Poster said.

“I would consume copious amounts of coffee and energy drinks to help me get through the long study days, but the caffeine gave me jitters, crashes, and exacerbated my anxiety symptoms.”

“That’s when I discovered matcha, a powdered Japanese green tea that offers slow-release energy. I was hooked, so naturally I recommended it to everyone, including Teddie, who at the time was studying to go to law school.”

Securing a £50,000 deal

Even though matcha was steadily gaining popularity, it had not yet reached the level it has today. Many people were put off by the drink’s flavour profile and perceived level of difficulty.

“We found a massive barrier to people switching to matcha was its umami flavour and the time it took to prepare,” Levenfiche said.

“So when Marisa moved to London last year, we quit our jobs in finance and created an on-the-go solution: the UK’s first natural-powered energy drinks flavoured with real fruit so that everyone else could feel as amazing as we did.”

Their appearance on Dragon’s Den was the first time PerfectTed was raising any capital, although they had already made significant investments into the business themselves.

“Today we’ve put £245,000 into the business – £120,000 in directors’ loans and £125,000 from family loans,” Levenfiche said.

“We both worked in the US before. While I was there, I was investing because I always knew I wanted to do something entrepreneurial. I knew I needed to save up to be able to do something.”

Despite having only launched in 2021, PerfectTed had already achieved impressive success by the time they appeared on Dragon’s Den.

“We’ve done £90,000 in sales, £53,000 of which has come in the last three months, and we’re on track to do £40,000 this month,” Levenfiche said.

To help their business grow further, they requested £50,000 in return for a 5% stake in PerfectTed.

In a rare victory sweep, the pair received offers from all of the dragons, but ultimately reached an agreement with Steven Bartlett and Peter Jones, who each invested £25,000 in exchange for 5% of the business.

Now that PerfectTed’s Platō collaboration has been confirmed, South Africans can expect to start seeing the brand’s matcha products in stores and restaurants near them.