Nine days after its official launch, the Toucan app locked-in investment through a slightly unconventional approach for fintech - BBC One’s Dragon’s Den.
Aired on Thursday night, Toucan’s CEO Matt Crate and head of product Melody Truong, delivered a three minute pitch to showcase the Toucan app’s ambition of revolutionising charitable giving.
Toucan aims to bridge the gap for highly digital, highly charitable millennials, through a modern, flexible and accessible application.
All five ‘Dragon’ investors made an offer to invest in the app as a ‘five-way’ deal at a 2% share, however the final investment was negotiated by the duo with one of the Dragons, Steven Bartlett.
Crate and Truong were motivated to work with Bartlett specifically, having discovered Bartlett’s podcast during the early days of Toucan. The rapid-fire negotiation saw Bartlett agree to a 7% stake in the business for £85,000.
Commenting in a press release on the investment, Crate said: “It was an honour to step into the famous Den and pitch Toucan to five brilliant entrepreneurial minds. Toucan taps into a gap in the market by bringing a much-needed digital revolution to charitable giving, at a time where charities are struggling more than ever due to the impact of the pandemic on their funding. We want to build a world where giving is second nature, and where our users can show what they stand for, by making donations fun, flexible and accessible to all.”