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A £150k investment blunder and a blind date: How did BrewDog founder meet Georgia Toffolo?

The pair, who split their time between Aberdeenshire and London, got engaged last month.

James Watt and Georgia Toffolo.
James Watt and Georgia Toffolo got engaged last month. Image: Georgia Toffolo/Instagram.

BrewDog founder James Watt has revealed he lost £150,000 in a “doomed investment deal” but gained a fiancee in the process.

The Aberdeenshire businessman, who got engaged to former Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo last month, made the revelation in a LinkedIn post.

Watt, who stood down as BrewDog’s chief executive in May, said he invested £150k in a business called Clean Kitchen in 2020.

BrewDog co-founders Martin Dickie, left, and James Watt.
James Watt co-founded BrewDog with Martin Dickie in 2007. Image: Paul Glendell/DC Thomson.

Doomed investment came before James Watt met Georgia Toffolo

“Unfortunately the business did not quite make it and I lost every single penny of my investment.

“This loss remains the single largest sum that I have ever lost on a single investment,” he posted.

However, it was not all bad for the successful businessman – who is estimated to be worth £262m.

James Watt and Georgia Toffolo
The pair share their experiences together on social media. Image: Georgia Toffolo/Facebook.

Watt said: “They say that every cloud has a silver lining and in this case one of the Clean Kitchen founders was good friends with Georgia Toffolo and asked if he could set us up on a blind date last year.”

And despite him having no idea who she was, he agreed to it.

“She bumbled into my apartment like a little ray of sunshine and we have been pretty much inseparable ever since.”

Georgia Toffolo and James Watt.
Georgia Toffolo and James Watt got engaged in October. Image: Georgia Toffolo/Facebook.

In October, their relationship turned up a notch, as the 42-year-old asked Toff, 30, to marry him.

The ex-Queen of the Jungle said “yes”, describing it as being “the best moment of my life so far”.

It is believed Watt popped the question in front of their families on a trip to the Greek islands.

‘The best £150,000 I have ever spent’

Watt added: “My investment in Clean Kitchen has been simultaneously the worst £150,000 I have ever spent and, hands down, the best £150,000 I have ever spent.

“Sometimes the real return on investment is the one you’d never predict.

“And I am pretty sure that planning a life with Georgia is a far safer bet than investing in start-ups.”

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