Simon Sansome, the creator of Snowball, a mobile app that describes itself as ‘the Trip Advisor for the disabled community’, has secured backing from all five moguls on Dragons’ Den.
The show that aired last night (30th October) showed wheelchair user, Simon, impress the full panel of multimillionaire investors with his mobile app. Snowball allows people with a full range of disabilities, including hidden disabilities, to discover accessible services and locations throughout the UK – from parking and petrol stations, to health and hospitality.
Leicestershire-based Simon, who experienced a life-changing injury in 2014, leaving him paralysed from the waist down, came up with the idea for the mobile app, which features user-generated content and reviews, after a Facebook page he created to raise awareness of accessible spots reached an audience of over 30m people.
He went on to create the Snowball app for IoS and Android users. Peter Jones proposed the £80k investment was split equally among the five Dragons, who all rushed to secure a stake in Simon’s business, each offering £16k for a 5% share.
Simon said: “When I received a clean sweep of all five Dragons, I was in shock. After eight years of hard work, it’s fair to say this was a very emotional moment for me.
“The atmosphere in the studio was electric. As I shared my story and the journey behind Snowball, I could see the panel becoming more and more engaged. When Peter made an offer and said he was also willing to share with the other Dragons, I knew something special was happening.
“To have all five of them eager to be part of the business was surreal – it’s every entrepreneur’s dream, and I’ll never forget that moment.”
Third-party investment has been key in bringing Simon’s app to market, so when the opportunity to appear on the hit show came up, he jumped at the chance to secure both financial and strategic input from the A-list entrepreneurs.
