Digital comic book founder sketches out plans to the US

Jan 7 2010 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

AN ENTREPRENEUR who has developed technology which he says could revolutionise the comic book industry is in negotiations with six major publishing firms following a networking trip to the US.

Teesside University graduate Kevin Mann, founder of Take Comics, has returned to the UK following a trip to the States in which he received mentoring from Yahoo!, Google and AOL and pitched his idea to 150 digital industry delegates at a major event.

The trip came about when Mr Mann won a place on the prestigious TechStars programme in Colorado after recognising a gap in the market to develop a product to digitalise comic books,

Take Comics was one of just 10 companies chosen to attend from 650 applications 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 with a view to potentially-lucrative commercial deals.

Mr Mann 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.”

Mr Mann – 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.