Sisters Amelia and Lydia Miller secured investment from Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett – and the offer of his London penthouse office suite – for their one-week-old startup ivee.
The tech platform is aimed at getting people back to work and is already valued at £6.5m after signing clients including Red Bull, Deliveroo, TransPennine Express and OVO Energy.
The siblings were given less than 12 hours’ notice before appearing on the show but received offers from four different Dragons after their polished pitch.
They were inspired to set up ivee after seeing how difficult their own mother found it to return to work after taking time out from her career to have children.
The sisters sought a £75,000 investment for a 3 per cent stake of their business but ended up receiving offers from four different Dragons before accepting investment from both Steven Bartlett and Deborah Meaden.
Sisters Amelia and Lydia Miller, of ivee, with Dragons Steven Bartlett and Deborah Meaden
More than 70,000 users have joined ivee’s platform since filming for the show took place in July 2024.
Writing on LinkedIn after the programme was aired on Thursday night, Amelia Miller said: “We just slayed the Dragons. Our episode aired 30 minutes ago and we have already seen an 80,000 per cent increase in our site traffic. 80,000 per cent!!! I literally cannot process this.”
Lydia added: “Thank you for believing in us. We are only just getting started.”
Ivee’s tech-driven solution connects people wanting to return to work with top employers looking for talent.
Amelia said: “We created ivee after seeing how difficult it was for our mum to return to work after taking time out. She faced a 60 per cent salary cut and struggled to rebuild her professional network and confidence.
“We realised this was not just a personal issue, but a systemic one. It’s a challenge that’s growing, as AI-driven job displacements force more people into non-linear careers.
Ivee co-founders Amelia and Lydia Miller on Dragons’ Den
“20 per cent of our new users now join us after redundancy, overtaking caregiving and sick leave as the primary reasons for being out of work.”
Lydia, who has a background in venture capital after working with Deloitte Ventures, said: “Our mission is to build the recruitment landscape that allows for career transitions, rather than screens them out.
“Companies shouldn’t need to rely on expensive returnship programmes, hundreds of job platforms, or sift through the same pool of already-employed AI applicants on LinkedIn, who all bring extended notice periods and poaching fees.
“Our tech resurfaces this untapped talent pool, who are ready to work, but overlooked by current recruitment technology. Clearly, the Dragons agree.”