Dragons’ Den saw two teenage sisters win over the investors with their groundbreaking business.
A contestant on Dragons’ Den who is making history as one of the youngest-ever successful entrepreneurs on the show has revealed what the experience was really like. Cat Black and her sister Honor Black were just 16 and 17 years old when they stepped into the Den, with their episode airing on Thursday, August 24.
The pair were asking for £15,000 for a 10% stake in their business Maiden, a brand dedicated to empowering girls and women. Their company, which designs cricket clothing, teamwear and equipment specifically for women and girls, had been launched after their own experiences.
“We started Maiden because we were tired of being at the sidelines,” Honor explained to Steven Bartlett, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Peter Jones and guest Dragon Gary Neville.
“We felt when playing at every level that we were forced to make kit with boys’ kit or unisex gear that wasn’t designed for us. And so we decided that we would make something that worked for us and others like us.”
The sisters won over all five Dragons, with Peter praising: “I think this is a movement, I don’t think this is an individual investment for a Dragon.” In an exclusive interview, Cat, who was sitting her Spanish GCSE just the day after filming Dragons’ Den, revealed what the experience was really like.
Maiden had been approached by Dragons’ Den when the company first started in 2024, but Cat and Honor declined the opportunity, before deciding they were ready the following year. Before Dragons’ Den, Cat, who had prepared by watching dozens of grillings from the BBC show and its US counterpart Shark Tank.
After watching those, the experience became “even more scary”, she admitted. She went on: “I was properly scared, and I had my Spanish GCSE the day after Dragons’ Den so I really hadn’t clocked it in my mind until the train up when I was doing Spanish flash cards, and I was like, ‘Wait I need to be learning my pitch,’ and then it finally hit me.
“Honor and I were up until 2am reading each other the script, and we fell asleep listening to it on our phone, and that was when it was like, ‘oh my god it’s actually happening, it’s so real’.”
She added: “In the Den, everything goes quiet. You’re focused on not messing up, so when I got out, I was like, ‘Oh I’ve just done it’. It goes so quickly… but it was amazing, I can’t express how proud I am now, because back then I didn’t realise how much of an achievement it was.”
She went on: “When we ended up getting all five Dragons, we were like, oh my god, no way. We’d never even thought about what would happen if we had got Dragons!”
After filming in the Den, Cat was given the opportunity to meet the other Dragons. “It was hugs all around, I met all of them, definitely a bucket list moment ticked off,” she said.
She added: “I remember hugging them so many times, I was so overwhelmed. Peter Jones really understood the situation more than the others, just because he started a business at 16, so he was like, ‘This is an amazing achievement, and I hope it all goes well for you’.”
Dragons’ Den is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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