The appointment strengthens The Dots’ position as the professional network of choice for the creative industries. Sir John Hegarty, advertising legend and co-founder of the award winning agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty has today been announced as Chairman of the fast-growing creative professional networking platform – The Dots (www.the-dots.co.uk). After more than six decades of being […]
Creative industries professional networking platform The Dots lands £1.5 million investment following rapid growth
Sir John Hegarty, co-founder of global creative agency BBH, joins The Dots as Chairman.
Best described as the LinkedIn for the creative industries, professional networking platform The Dots (the-dots.co.uk) today announces that it has secured £1.5 million investment supported by advertising legend Sir John Hegarty, and funded by a powerful consortium of angel investors from Hambro Perks, Angel Academe and Coral Reef. The news strengthens The Dots’ position as the rapidly-growing network of choice for the creative industries.
The Dots’ continued success is cemented with the announcement that one of the world’s most respected admen, Sir John Hegarty (co-founder of global creative agency BBH and incubator The Garage) has been appointed Chairman of The Dots’ board.
- The Dots was founded last year by native Brit Pip Jamieson, an entrepreneur who has spent the last 15 years immersed in the creative industries, including executive roles at MTV Australia.
- Named as one of Australia’s top female entrepreneurs, Pip is back in her hometown London, and set to make waves with her successful start-up.
- This first round of investment was led by Hambro Perks, an investment group founded by Rupert Hambro and Dominic Perks, whose portfolio companies include Laundrapp, Seeinit and (Tech Awards laureate) What 3 Words.
- Additional investors include seed stage VC Coral Reef, and Angel Academe; a female-led syndicate investing in start-ups with at least one female founder.
- Funds will be used to accelerate UK growth, with further investment expected to be raised to support international expansion.
- Since launching in September 2014, The Dots has rapidly become the go-to platform for the creative sector, attracting thousands of clients to promote their brand and recruit talent, including the BBC, Tate, Net-a-Porter, Vice, Airbnb, Sony Music UK, Condé Nast, Spotify, Facebook, Red Bull, WPP, Selfridges, Channel 4, Liberty, Saatchi & Saatchi, Viacom, Fremantle Media UK, Twitter & Somerset House.
- The UK’s creative industries contribute 5% of the UK’s GDP and employ 1.8 million people, with the sector expected to grow 35% between 2015 and 2020, a faster rate than more traditional sectors. According to Nesta, creative roles are hard to automate and subsequently critical for the future prosperity of the UK’s economy.
- The Dots is on a mission to generate one million commercial opportunities for creative professionals by 2018; helping build a stronger, more profitable and diverse creative sector.
Quotations:
Sir John Hegarty, Chairman commented,
“The Dots is critical for the future success of the creative industries – putting creativity at the heart of commerce and industry, whilst also helping creative people realise their full potential. It is the future of networking and recruitment and I’m privileged to be a part of it.”
Pip Jamieson, Founder & CEO, The Dots, commented,
“Creativity is fundamental to building competitive advantage in the new knowledge economy – it is what fuels our economy. Until The Dots, there was no single platform that harnessed the creative talent of top professionals across a myriad of creative industries. I guess that’s why we’ve grown so rapidly – creative professionals have finally found an effective way to promote themselves, network, collaborate and connect with opportunities; generating value for all concerned.”
Dominic Perks Co-founder of Hambro Perks, commented,
“A brilliant idea. A gifted team. A booming market – with creativity becoming a key competitive advantage in all industries. We love it!”
Pip Jamieson, further commented,
“With the explosive growth of the creative sector, there is a major UK skills shortage which is significantly threatening the future prosperity of the industry. The Dots provides a solution to this by providing companies with a cost effective means of acquiring talent through recommendations, while nurturing and helping develop the talent of the future.’’
Sarah Turner, Founder of Angel Academe, commented,
“Pip is an accomplished serial entrepreneur and really impressed us with her ambition and, crucially, with what she’s already achieved in a very short period of time. We’re very excited about the potential for The Dots to disrupt professional networking and recruitment in the creative industries – a large, but globally fragmented industry.”
To download the full press release and high resolution images, please see gallery below. For more information on The Dots, or to create your own professional profile visit: the-dots.co.uk