Member Article

Comics idea crosses contintents for success

A Middlesbrough graduate has attracted interest from some of the most well-known names in the digital world after making the most of North East business support networks.

Kevin Mann, founder of Take Comics, secured a place on the TechStars programme in Coloradoafter recognising a gap in the market for a new product to digitalise the comic book market. The programme included mentoring support from Yahoo, Google and AOL and culminated in an intensive pitch to 150 representatives from the digital technology industry.

Take Comics was one of just 10 companies chosen to attend from 650applications to the programme, which is usually only open to North Americans, and the business now has the backing of Microsoft and is in negotiations with six major publishing firms.

Kevin says he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to attend TechStars without the help and advice he received from support agencies in the region including Business Link, Teesside University, DigitalCity, One North East and NorthStar Equity Investors.

Kevin said: “It was a privilege to have the chance to attend such a high-profile event and to get my product noticed by some of the best people from the technology industry.

“The support I’ve had in terms of advice, mentoring and access to funding streams towards the development of my product has been instrumental in getting me to the position where I am today, on the verge of securing some potentially major deals.”

Kevin, a computer science graduate from Teesside University, first came up with the idea for digital publications when he was commuting from Middlesbrough to Durham to his then job with an architectural design firm.

He continued: “During the long bus journey I used to read comic books to occupy my time but I became frustrated with how hard it was to get hold of them, when it was so easy to get hold of other products like music on MP3 players. This was when the idea developed for digitalised comic publications which could be extended to other markets.

“Without the financial support from NStar, One NorthEast and Business Link to develop the prototype, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to showcase the product in such a high profile arena.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .