Louise Truman, a 25-year-old entrepreneur, secured a £120,000 investment in her company, Plotpackers, from two Dragons on the BBC programme Dragons' Den.
History-making panel
The show returned on Thursday, August 20, with a history-making panel. Jenna Meek and Susie Ma joined Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Steven Bartlett, replacing Touker Suleyman and Sara Davies after their exits. This marked the first time more female investors appeared on the panel than male.
Truman was seeking £60,000 in exchange for 3% of her business, Plotpackers, which helps young people build itineraries and design trips for solo travellers around the world.
Traumatic event inspired business
Truman shared her journey: “For as long as I can remember growing up, all I wanted to do was travel. And as much as that’s a cliche, I’m now 25 and my most treasured memories are from my adventures around the world and all of the incredible people I have met along the way.”
She added: “But I am also no stranger to the dangers of travel, from the environmental toll to the personal safety risks that I’ve faced. Following an extremely traumatic event when I was 21 on a solo backpacking trip, I looked into group travel as a solution for my safety, but felt that there lacked budget-friendly options that could deliver on sustainable, ethical and exceptional customer experiences.”
“So in September 2023, I launched Plotpackers. I aimed to create a way for people to travel freely, whilst minimising risk to both themselves, and the world around them.”
Dragons praise entrepreneur
Truman explained that within a year, she transformed her idea and £3,000 of savings into £1.5m in sales. At the time of filming, her company was making £40,000 a week, and was set to make £2.5m.
Deborah Meaden remarked that Truman's business plan was “extraordinary” and Jenna Meek commented that she was “amazing”. Steven Bartlett added: “You’re a huge, huge inspiration for so many reasons. For taking that moment of pain and trauma and turning it into something, that really needs to be applauded.”
He continued: “The thing that has my heart is not just your story but generally that we need to do something about the loneliness epidemic in this world and it’s really been hard to find a scalable way to solve this problem, and I think it’s you.”
Investment deal secured
Steven offered Louise the £60,000 she requested, for 6% of the business, and offered her space in his office. Competing against him, Susie Ma and Deborah also put forward their offers. Louise combined Deborah and Steven’s offers, securing a £120,000 investment.
“I genuinely don’t have the words for how incredible this feels, Deborah is someone I’ve watched on my TV since I was 5 and Steven is in a league of his own, I’m so excited to start working with them,” Louise commented. Dragons' Den continues Thursdays at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
