BBC DRAGONS' DEN Dragons floored by teen entrepreneurs

Hi Dragons. I'm Honor and I'm 17. I'm Cat and I'm 16. And we are supported by our business lead, Nicole. We co-founded Maiden, a brand dedicated to empowering girls and women through kit, clothing and community. We're asking for £50,000 for a 10% stake in our business. I almost quit cricket after a humiliating experience on the pitch during my time of the month, playing in a mixed team. The players laughed and I didn't feel understood by those involved. The kit we have was not designed for such a situation. This pushed me to help create something that made girls feel confident and comfort in the sport that they play. We launched in March of 2024 and the response was immediate. Girls loved it. Parents thanked us. Schools reached out. And the message was clear, that we weren't alone. But this isn't just a product, it's a mission. We've engaged 60 ambassadors, we've secured sponsors, and we've created a network of over 2,000 key influencers. And now we want to scale. We've generated £40,000 this year with no external investment. Women's cricket is growing. The timing's perfect and we're at the forefront of change. We want Maiden to be the go-to brand for female cricket. And as our brand does always say, "It's okay boys, we will take it from here." Thank you very much. Thank you. There should be a headband, trouser and a top. Which is what me and Honor are sporting currently. Feel free. So the inside, which Steven you're holding, this is a short protection layer which acts as a period protection layer there as well. At the bottom of the trouser, you also have poppers because one of the biggest issues, which all mums said to us while we were creating the brand was that they always had to sew their sons and daughters' trousers up because they were never the right fit or length. If I go tops... men's shirts, they were just so big and they would come down to about here with a longer bit at the back for some reason, really long sleeves, really long buttoned collars... So the tops, the sleeves are shorter with a nicer V-neck cut at the collar. They're much more fitted, erm... And that's kind of the main kit in full detail. And what about price? So how much, for instance, I'm guessing this is your hero product. So how much are those? They are £40. £40 and what are you buying those for? So they're the light wash blue and the white are slightly different, but it's £10 to £11 pounds. 10 to 11 pounds, and where are they being made? They're being made in India. Okay, so £10 to £11 pounds, selling at £40 for the trousers... And what about the top? So the tops are being made for £9, retailing at £26. Thank you. Can you give me a little understanding as to sort of the size and scale of the opportunity? So, cricket is the third fastest growing sport for women after soccer and erm, basketball in a recent Deloitte report. In the UK specifically, the ECB has been seeing huge growth, 20%, 25% year-on-year... And they're on a mission to have 6,000 girl teams by 2026. If I could say on a slightly less statistical kind of point of view, as someone who's grown up playing the sport, I started about age six, and it was me in a team of about 40 boys. And as I went up and up in schools, there were more girls playing cricket, and I was finally in a girls-only team, and definitely from such like playing from such a young age, we could see the change and see that there was no change in that needed to change within the sport, like the kit. And that's what Cat and I have basically decided that needed to happen. I think to have an opportunity here, I would like to offer up and I think it would be great, I'd like to offer £10,000 for 5%, in the hope that other Dragons might want to get involved, because I think this is a movement. I don't think this is an individual investment for a Dragon. I'm in for that, and I think I could definitely help you in product terms. Thank you. Thank you, Gary. As would I. My only claim for connection is I'm... I've got a lot of experience being a woman. Yeah. [Laughter] Deborah, we need that. We need that. Yeah, absolutely. 100%. Thank you, Deborah. So, I will 100% match what the other Dragons have said and I'll give you... Wow. £10,000 for 5%. I think to have access to all five Dragons... Yeah, I know. And the impact that's going to have on your business, from where you're currently at, which is effectively pre-launch. I agree. Yeah. It's really important that you consider it and don't feel in any way, even a slight bit of pressure to accept our offer. You must make the right decision for you. I just wanted to say thank you for giving us a moment... that I'd be absolutely so grateful to take all of your offers. So thank you very much. [Applause] Well done. We will definitely help you. Thank you so much. Well done. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks guys. Thank you so much.