The founder of Gen Z tech-enabled travel business Plotpackers has secured a £120,000 investment from Dragons Steven Bartlett and Deborah Meaden.
Dragons’ Den returned to our screens on Thursday (August 20), with Louise Truman delivering the final pitch of the night.
The idea for Plotpackers came after Truman was sexually assaulted while solo travelling at the age of 21.
Two years later, she launched Plotpackers, focusing on group travel with a commitment to sustainability.
Armed with just £3,000 in savings, Truman generated £1.36m in turnover in her first year – including £40,000 on day one after announcing the launch on Instagram.
With zero marketing budget, the female founder grew her audience by building a community of content creators.
Call from Dragons’ Den
Last February, Truman was in Costa Rica when she received a call from the BBC asking if she wanted to appear on Dragons’ Den – an opportunity she duly accepted.
She said: “I went on the show for Deborah Meaden. She’s someone I’ve idolised all my life. I was passionate about having a female investor.”
The 25-year-old entered the Den seeking £60,000 for three per cent of the business – and quickly attracted interest from Meaden, Bartlett and guest Dragon Susie Ma.
Truman spent nearly two hours in the Den and revealed that one of the pivotal moments of the pitch never made the final edit.
As well as offering her space in his London office, Bartlett said Amy Golding, CEO of his private office, would help mentor her.
Golding made headlines in 2017 as the youngest female CEO of a $100m-turnover company when she took the helm at Opus Talent Solutions. Her tenure culminated in a high-value private equity sale in 2021.
Truman told BusinessCloud: “I knew who Amy was and it really swung it for me.”
In the end, she persuaded Bartlett and Meaden to invest a total of £120,000 for a combined 10 per cent stake in the business.
Follow-up investment
The Diary of a CEO host reached out to Truman as soon as filming finished and has since made a follow-up investment for an undisclosed amount.
“We filmed on the Thursday and I was in his office in London on the Monday,” she said.
Truman praised the support of both Dragons but singled out Golding for special praise.
“Deborah’s network is insane and she’s been incredibly supportive,” she said. “She’s so much more involved than you would expect a Dragon to be.
“Steven has been really supportive and Amy has been really hands-on. I’m completely different from the person who pitched in the Den.”
Since the show was filmed, Plotpackers has also secured additional investment from Richard Johnston, co-founder of TripADeal.
The startup has invested heavily in its proprietary technology and grown turnover to £2m.
Truman said: “Appearing on Dragons’ Den has changed my life. I didn’t believe in myself until I appeared in the Den.”