Sprouter talks…to ScribbleLive

We first met the guys behind Toronto startup ScribbleLive when they participated as a presenting startup at one of our Sprout Up events. There was a lot of interest around the company and their technology – major media outlets, individuals and companies were using their liveblogging platform, and the buzz was growing online. Now the buzz has reached fever pitch – last night ScribbleLive’s Founder/CEO Michael De Monte and Founder/CTO Jonathan Keebler appeared on popular CBC show Dragon’s Den (sister shows Dragon’s Den UK and Shark Tank in the US are also hits), which puts early-stage entrepreneurs in front of five successful VC’s to hopefully get funding for their business. As anyone who watches the show knows, the Dragon’s can be less than favourable the business ideas they come across – but in the case of ScribbleLive, they walked away with a $250,000 investment for 30% of their company – and the support of three of Canada’s most powerful business players. We talked to Jonathan about their experience, and what’s coming up next for the company.

Sprouter: Can you give a brief overview of why you started ScribbleLive, and what the company does?

Jonathan Keebler: We started ScribbleLive because we saw a need for media companies to publish content in real-time. We are a live-publishing platform that can publish text, images, audio or video in real-time to 1 or 1M watchers.

S: When and why did you decide to go on Dragon’s Den?

JK: We decided to go on Dragon’s Den the week before the last auditions in Toronto. We figured we would give it a shot and see what happened. Worst case: we’d get a little publicity from the experience. Best case: a well-known investment partner that could help open doors.

S: What do you think the show, and its sister shows in the UK and the U.S., are doing for the entrepreneurship scene?

JK: I think these shows are opening up the boardroom conversations that happen every day to the wider public. Obviously, they are edited for TV to create as much drama as possible, but I love that millions of people out there are interested in seeing that kind of stuff.

S: What were your thoughts on the experience, and are you pleased with the outcome?

JK: I’m really happy with the experience, and the great outpouring of support we’ve gotten from everyone. And it’s been great to share a bit of our story with so many people.

S: Now that the episode has aired, what’s coming up next for ScribbleLive?

JK: This Fall we’re bringing online dozens of new ScribbleLive white-label sites in the US and UK, so we’re really excited about that. And look for us coming online on a new platform very soon.

Congratulations to the ScribbleLive team, and visit this section of their website to see the liveblogging from last night’s show.