“The programme helped us translate creative vision into investor language,” explains George Caton-Coult of Pop Paper City
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“Teachers love it, young people love it and educators love it,” says Rebecca Franks of Flock XR, the new 3D creation tool created by Flip Computing Ltd. “We’re at the point now where we’ve got this amazing open source tool that’s completely free to use – and always will be. We’ve quickly realised that this absolutely needs to be out there in the world. It has to happen.”
Together with company co-founders Liz Jackson-Smart and Tracy Gardner, Flip Computing has spent the past few years delivering technical education consultancy work. After sharing their expertise on a variety of learning topics with an inclusive focus, it didn’t take long for the trio to build their own tool to sit in this space. The end result was Flock XR, an open-source 3D creation platform aimed at kids aged 9-14. Colourful, interactive and easy to use, it introduces youngsters to new creative skills and in doing so, prepares them for future creative careers.
Despite being a free-to-use tool, the company plans to monetize the service through structured learning courses that can be purchased by schools and used in classrooms. It’s a method that has already been put into practice. “At the moment, the business model is selling units of work which I’ve taken out into schools, taught and tested” explains Rebecca. “It’s a really robust product that educators can buy and one way that we can monetize the content we’ve made ourselves. We’re looking to do less consultancy and more Flock XR work so we were very much in need of an investment readiness programme that could help us navigate that.”
“It’s been great to realise that yes, we do actually fit here.”
By joining the Creative Enterprise: Investment Readiness cohort, Rebecca, Liz and Tracy have themselves embarked on their own educational journey, one designed to help them bring Flock XR to market. “We came into it with some investment knowledge,” says Tracy, explaining how their time on the scheme has broadened their understanding of the investment space. “It’s really helped us understand that Venture Capital investment probably isn’t right for us but there are other things out there. We’re a mission based organisation,” she adds. “We want to generate revenue but that’s not going to be our only factor. It’s given us a lot more understanding.”
Joining a cohort of creative companies that are each on a similar trajectory has also helped put their own offering in context. “Some are further along the journey, some are even newer than us,” continues Tracy. “It’s helpful to discuss things with people who are in a similar position.” Liz agrees: “Sometimes we don’t know where we fit between digital, technology and the creative industries so it’s been great to be in a cohort of lots of people from the creative sector to explore that side of ourselves. It’s been great to realise that yes, we do actually fit here.”
It’s also helped the team to refine their story, something that’s integral when pitching any creative company to potential backers. “The storytelling work was something we were looking to figure out, alongside the commercial side of things,” explains Tracy. “Our mentor has been very good at pointing out the aspects of our journey that we sometimes take for granted. We’re bootstrapping so while we do have some commercial background experience we haven’t had the capacity to focus on it,” she adds. “This scheme brings it to the forefront and gives us permission to stop and really think about it.”
“We feel more motivated than ever to go forward and succeed”
The process has been a validating one too, reminding the team why they set out on this journey in the first place. “Until we were on this course, we didn’t really know whether our plan was doable but it has really focused us on the commercial route and financials,” says Liz. It also provided some key pitching practice: “We delivered our pitch deck live – and got some really concrete feedback,” adds Tracy. “Again, it gave us a reason to really stop and work on it.”
Speaking of work, it doesn’t stop when the scheme ends. By being part of the cohort, Rebecca, Tracy and Liz now have new tools that they can take forward into the future of their company. “That was one of the massive appeals of the programme, that we’d have these transferable assets at the end of it,” reveals Liz. “Regardless of what happens with funding, these are things that we need and that are valuable to the business. We feel motivated, confident that everything stacks up and more motivated than ever to go forward and succeed.”