BUSINESS LEADER - Dating app Thursday only works one day a week.
Q: Can you tell us how it works?
A: If you sign-in on a Wednesday, it will tell you to go away. Once Thursday comes around, the app will come to life and show you people that want to go on a date.
Q: Do you have any concerns about the longevity of the idea?
A: Since we launched in Oct 2021, we've hosted 322 events and every week, without fail, they sell out. The number of users increases month-on-month and we're looking at new territories, both in the UK and abroad.
Q: How have you funded the business so far?
A: Our first round was on Crowdcube in 2018. We also raised a round of £100K from friends and family. Then in lockdown, we raised an additional £350K through angel investors and following this, we had our official seed round for £2.5M last summer.
Q: What have you learned through your fundraising?
A: Raise what you need, rather than what you can.
Q: When you're raising, what are the expectations from those funding you?
A: We were told to hire lots of senior people, as fast as we could. But it would have been expensive, and we would have run out of money. We've been very careful about hiring and taken the process very slowly.
Q: What is the most outlandish thing you have done to raise money?
A: We held up a sign outside of a Lamborghini garage asking if anybody rich wanted to give us some money. We raised ~ £20K that day.
Q: How do you organise your marketing?
A: We have a team of eleven in total, but we don't have a marketing department. It is a case of us all getting together and discussing ideas, and no idea is stupid.
