Charlene and Simon are the co-founders of Sooper Books, a storybook streaming platform curated by the pair.
In 2020, they launched Sooper Books for their daughter before offering their service to schools for free during the covid-19 lockdowns.
The 5-10 minute children’s stories consist of short digital and audible stories to multiple story episodes in series collections, featuring wibbly-wobbly aliens, a flying sheepdog, gouda trees, a posh rat and a one-leg-one-wheeled alligator monster to name but a few.
Armed with their passion to support young readers and tackle Literacy Capital and National Literacy Institute statistics, Sooper books has been a hit with young people, and the stories quickly soared to the top of Google.
Since valued at over £5 million after major investment from some of the world’s leading VCs and angel investors, the couple headed to Dragons’ Den with a very unusual pitch and request – making Dragons’ Den history.
The author-illustrator pair pitched to Peter Jones, Steven Bartlett, Deborah Meaden, Sara Davies and Touker Suleyman on the popular TV show.
With a rhyming pitch, Charlene asked for £1 for a 1% stake in the business.
Arguably the most surprising request in Den history, the couple set the Den scene by showcasing an original story featuring all five Dragons and then spent time explaining their business model, their passion in offering books for free, and who they already have on board as investors and supporters. They impressed the Dragons with names such as HRH Princess Beatrice and leading educational influencers such as Lord Nash and Lord Agnew.
Charlene said: “Facing the Dragons has been our biggest challenge yet. Not only did we have a short space of time to cover our business model and financial details – we wanted to ensure our unrivalled passion for reading and stories came through confidently for the camera, despite our nerves!”
They managed to impress, and the Dragons couldn’t miss the opportunity to be part of this unique and exciting business and the chance to offer young people access to literature.
All five Dragons offered £1, and they each gained a 1% stake in Sooper Books.
Charlene and Simon walked away with five new minds on board following a humorous moment and Dragons’ Den first where the Dragons all went to ‘talk to the wall’.
The pitch first aired on BBC One on 1 February.
Congratulations Charlene and Simon!
Sooper Books boasts an impressive team of critically acclaimed creative minds—who are also parents—including double Emmy award winning children’s TV scriptwriter and playwright Glen Berger and coveted Disney and BBC voice actor Philip Hurd-Wood.
According to Literacy Capital, every year in the UK it is estimated that 200,000 children leave primary school at 11 unable to read or write to the required level, leading to the UK having the lowest rates of literacy of any developed nation.
Based on statistics from the National Literacy Institute, in the US, where Sooper Books is fast becoming the go-to site for children’s stories, approximately 40% of American students cannot read at a basic level.
Images shared by Charlene courtesy of BBC.