Books That Matter 'takes £10k in 10 minutes' after founder’s Dragons' Den appearance

Book subscription service Books That Matter took “£10,000 in 10 minutes” after founder Molly Masters appeared on the BBC’s "Dragons’ Den" on 10th March, the company says.

Masters asked the Dragons for £50,000 in exchange for 5% of her business, pitching her book subscription boxes that “put women in the spotlight” and highlighting the recently launched Brave Girls Book Club for readers aged eight to 12. 

Panellist Deborah Meaden declined to invest due to what she called the “divisive” nature of the women and girls-only branding, stating she couldn’t “buy into the ethos of it”, while Sara Davies and Peter Jones also backed out. 

Touker Suleyman made an offer of £50,000 for 30% of the business, however Masters turned it down due to it being too high a percentage. 

But despite leaving the Den empty-handed, Books That Matter operations manager Eva Poliszczuk says the business saw a huge surge of interest following Masters’ appearance on the show.

“Following Molly’s segment, we made £10,000 within 10 minutes of the segment airing, amounting to around 500 subscriptions, and our sales are still soaring,” she told The Bookseller. “It’s safe to say [it] has already had an incredibly positive impact on our business, in addition to the compelling conversations happening across social media about gender disparity for the English Curriculum, and having a female audience.”

Reacting to criticisms received during the pitch, Masters told The Bookseller: "Unfortunately, we live in a world where gender norms are still at play, and making spaces and communities uniquely for specific people are still seen as divisive. 

“However, it was because of this that Books That Matter was created. Along with amazing female-led platforms like AllBright and the Women’s Prize Trust, ours is a brand making space for women, and this will always be our driving force. My pitch being on TV has created an opportunity not only to talk passionately about the business I’ve built, but to hold meaningful conversations on gender, sex and equality, which is what Books That Matter set out to do."