Graphic.ly

From start-up to $1million investment.

Frustrated with not being able to purchase his favourite comic books, Kevin Mann successfully created software for reading comics on computers and mobile phones and established the first community where members can both purchase and discuss comic books with each other, creators and publishers.

After successfully completing a DigitalCity Fellowship, Kevin was introduced to DigitalCity Business and was offered a place on the Business Growth Workshop System (BGWS). The BGWS consists of a cycle of workshops designed to give businesses all the basic tools and knowledge they need to develop successfully. Crucially Kevin fully bought into one of the BGWS’s central themes – that creative ideas are best driven through great business operations – and referred to the BGWS folder he developed through the course as ‘an operations manual to run a business’.

Kevin received Proof of Concept funding to develop his idea further and began to piece together a fully fledged business and development team. Tapping into DigitalCity Business's mentoring support whenever a problem arose that he needed assistance with - including employment law, accounts and legals - Kevin quickly developed a prototype product that was ready for its next stage of growth.

Kevin applied for, and successfully became, the first foreign business to be accepted onto the TechStars programme in Boulder, Colorado. Here, Kevin and his team rapidly and rigourously developed the product and business further and on completion of the programme, Kevin received over $1million of pound investment.

Kevin was named as one of BusinessWeek's top ten Tech Entrepreneur's for 2010.