First into the Dragons’ Den tonight will be an entrepreneur who showcases personalised pet portraits embroidered onto clothing.
Lucy & Lola, founded by Lucy Bowes, says every portrait is designed from the customer’s own photo – approved by them with unlimited revisions.
It is then stitched – never printed – in its Cambridge studio by a team of local young women, who are also trained by the startup.
The business was founded in 2021 after Lucy took out a £1,000 loan to buy a single embroidery machine. Her co-founder is a rescue dachshund called Lola, who remains the brand’s namesake and ‘least cooperative model’.
Lola will be appearing alongside Lucy in the Den.
“I had an Etsy shop side hustle drawing pet portraits,” explains Lucy. “I wanted to see if I could learn to embroider them onto clothes.
“I bought an iPad off Facebook Marketplace and roped in my boyfriend to do all the sewing.
“We had no idea what we were doing and never expected to sell much but… one morning we woke up to hundreds of orders!”
Will Lucy & Lola have the judges in stitches – and gain investment?
Episode 13 of series 23 sees the return of guest judge Jenna Meek alongside regular Dragons Peter Jones, Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden and Steven Bartlett.
The other businesses pitching in the Den tonight are PEEQUAL, Rite Tackle and Sylt Pickling.
All Dragons’ Den investments made by Deborah Meaden
All Dragons’ Den investments made by Peter Jones CBE