The founders of an app where users go on blind dates accompanied by their friends have won £75,000 of investment from the BBC Dragons as experts say this month is the busiest time of year for dating.
Gary MacDonough, 28, Loren Gould, 29, and Ben Greenock, 26, are the three founders of Double, which allows users to “double up” with a friend to go on dates, hopefully making the experience less awkward and nerve-racking.
The trio launched in February 2014 but, by their own admission, were “naive” about the amount of money they would need to run their business. Within months, they had run out of money and were in serious debt — with Mr Gould, a graphic designer, sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs of Mr MacDonough’s Brixton flat.
They applied to be on BBC show Dragons’ Den and appeared on the show on 27 December. Dressed in garish white suits with red hearts emblazoned over them, they asked the Dragons for £75,000 in exchange for 10 per cent of their business. Three were interested — Deborah Meaden, Touker Souleyman and Moonpig.com founder Nick Jenkins — with the group accepting an offer from Mr Jenkins of £75,000 in return for 15 per cent of the business.
Mr MacDonough, who was inspired the start the app after a female friend complained about meeting a blind date alone, told the Standard: “We just saw the appearance as being good for publicity. We practised a lot as we knew we were going to appear in silly suits and that would make us a target. We wanted Nick all along as he has a tech background. He was our first choice and we are really happy.”
Following their appearance, Jenkins introduced the trio to Michael Birch, founder of social network Bebo, who also invested £75,000. “We are going to use the money to launch in the States,” said Mr McDonough, adding “It has been a real rags-to-riches story.”
Last year, Match.com released data suggesting January 3 was the busiest day of the year. Kate Taylor, Match’s dating expert, said: “Singletons often stride into Christmas feeling quite smug. No arguments or in-laws. But after spending the holidays surrounded by family, couples, Richard Curtis films and mistletoe, having nobody to pull the other end of your cracker can start feeling lonely. January is always the time when we embrace a fresh start.”
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