Dating app heads for Edinburgh after Dragons’ Den appearance

The founders of a “double dating” app are moving the business to Edinburgh following their appearance on Dragons’ Den.

The Double team on Dragons' Den

The trio behind Double secured a £75,000 investment from Moonpig entrepreneur Nick Jenkins on the BBC show and have now joined the Entrepreneurial Spark (ESpark) accelerator programme in a bid to grow the business further.

Double, currently based in London, will move into ESpark’s Edinburgh “hatchery” currently being fitted out in the former executive wing at Royal Bank of Scotland’s Gogarburn headquarters.

Gary MacDonough, who co-founded Double with Loren Gould and Ben Greenock, said: “By the time we went to film Dragons’ Den we only had £2.36 in our bank account. We weren’t taking salaries either so just living was getting quite difficult.

“However, we knew we had a great product, making the dating experience to be more fun, less awkward and safer. We just needed funding and business know-how to really scale it up, as it has the potential to become a household name among sociable singles everywhere.”

ESpark chief executive Jim Duffy added: “We’re excited to be welcoming Double into our Edinburgh Hatchery. It is an exciting business with enormous potential and we think they will find our Hatchery an ideal environment from which to launch themselves to a wider market.”

Along with Jenkins, the team has also secured investment from Michael Birch, founder of social networking site Bebo.