Product Update

Is Thortful Still in Business? (2026 Update)

Is Thortful from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Thortful today.

Dragons' Den IndexUpdated 17 May 20266 min read

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Thortful is an online marketplace for greeting cards, built around a print-on-demand model that lets independent designers sell cards through the platform without holding stock themselves. Founder Andrew Pearce was already a seasoned entrepreneur when he pitched, having previously sold two earlier businesses for a combined £21 million. Thortful is not just still in business, it has become one of the bigger success stories to come out of the Den.

The Short Answer

Thortful is still in business, and by a wide margin it is one of the strongest post-Den outcomes in this entire index. The company runs a large, actively updated ecommerce platform at thortful.com, offering same-day sending on a vast catalogue of cards from independent designers, and it has grown into one of the best-known names in UK online greeting cards.

The Pitch

Thortful appeared in a Boxing Day special episode of series 15, in the Tech & Software category. Pearce asked for £80,000 in exchange for 16 percent of the business, pitching the print-on-demand model as a faster, more flexible alternative to traditional card shops and supermarket card aisles.

The panel pushed back hard on some of Pearce's numbers during the pitch, questioning why a founder with his track record needed outside funding at all. He held his ground and secured the investment anyway.

The Deal That Got Done

Tej Lalvani and Jenny Campbell backed the business, jointly investing the full £80,000 Pearce asked for. The equity terms were structured so their combined 16 percent stake would reduce to 11 percent once the investment was repaid, an incentive structure designed to reward Pearce for hitting his growth targets quickly.

That kind of step-down equity arrangement is relatively unusual on the show and reflects the confidence both Dragons had in Pearce specifically, given his history of building and selling businesses before Thortful even existed.

Growth Since the Den

Thortful has grown substantially since its television appearance, expanding its designer network and building out same-day and next-day delivery options that let customers send a card at the last minute without resorting to a generic supermarket rack. The company has become a well-known consumer brand in its category, with Pearce himself becoming a recognisable figure in UK entrepreneurship circles well beyond the original episode.

One widely reported detail underlines how far the business has come, Peter Jones is reported to have said Pearce had made enough money that he should be sitting in a Dragon's chair himself rather than pitching to one.

The print-on-demand model itself is also part of why the business has scaled so smoothly. Because Thortful never has to guess which designs to print and stock in advance, it can support a far larger catalogue than a traditional card retailer while carrying almost none of the inventory risk, letting the platform grow its designer network without the usual cash drag of unsold stock.

Pearce's track record before the pitch is also part of why the panel's initial scepticism made sense on the surface. A founder who has already sold two businesses for tens of millions of pounds does not obviously need £80,000 from a television show, and the willingness to take outside investment anyway, on the Dragons' terms, suggests he valued the strategic backing and network as much as the cash itself.

Common Questions

Is Thortful still in business? Yes, and it is one of the strongest post-Den outcomes in this index, having grown into one of the UK's more prominent online greeting card platforms.

Which Dragons invested in Thortful? Tej Lalvani and Jenny Campbell jointly backed the business with the full £80,000 asked for, on a step-down equity structure.

What makes Thortful different from a normal card shop? It runs a print-on-demand marketplace of independent designers rather than holding its own stock, with same-day sending options.

Had Andrew Pearce built businesses before Thortful? Yes. He had previously sold two earlier businesses for a combined £21 million before pitching Thortful in the Den.

Where Things Stand Now

To recap: Thortful pitched in a series 15 Boxing Day special asking for £80,000 for 16 percent, secured backing from Tej Lalvani and Jenny Campbell with a step-down equity structure, and has since grown into one of the UK's more prominent online greeting card platforms.

If you are asking whether Thortful is still around, it very much is, and it stands as one of the clearer examples in this index of a Dragons' Den deal that led directly to a lasting, thriving business.

Where to buy Thortful

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See the full Thortful deal breakdown and term sheet →