Julie Meyer’s Swiss venture capital firm, VIVA Investment Partners AG (VIP), has entered liquidation, adding to the business difficulties facing the former Dragons’ Den star. The proceedings began on 18 August, following reports that the company had accumulated about 435,000 Swiss francs (£400,000) in unpaid claims to tax offices, IT firms and small suppliers.

Meyer founded VIP in 2018 and is still listed as its chair and chief executive on her website and LinkedIn profile, which also describe her as “Dr Julie Meyer MBE”. She lost her honorary doctorate and MBE after a legal dispute over £200,000 in fees owed to solicitors; she was sentenced to six months, suspended, for contempt of court after failing to attend proceedings. The article also says VIP’s former UK subsidiary was dissolved in 2023, while Meyer is now associated with investment ventures linked to Greece and Cyprus.