Steven Bartlett: Firm founded by Dragons' Den star to sell for £7.7m

Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett founded Social Chain in 2014 but stepped down as its CEO in 2020

Social Chain, the social media agency founded by Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett, is set to be sold in a deal worth at least £7.7m.

Brave Bison, the social and digital media group, announced that it had a struck a deal to buy the company.

Mr Bartlett, 30, founded Social Chain in Manchester in 2014.

He stepped down as CEO of Social Chain in 2020 and it is not known whether he retained a stake in the company and would benefit from any future sale.

Mr Bartlett, who became a Dragon on the TV show in 2021, also hosts the successful podcast Diary Of A CEO.

Social Chain works with names like Amazon, TikTok and Apple Beats to create social media advertising campaigns and perform influencer marketing services.

The business has 122 staff with offices in Manchester, London and New York.

'Huge potential for growth'

Social Chain had been a subsidiary of listed German ecommerce operation The Social Chain AG.

Brave Bison stated it would pay an initial £7.7m, but this could increase if Social Chain met certain earning targets. The new buyer believes the acquisition of Social Chain will increase revenues from social media advertising to £15m for the year.

Oliver Green, chairman of Brave Bison, said: "We've long admired Social Chain, which we believe is among the world's best regarded social media and influencer marketing brands, and we're excited by the highly relevant clients it brings into our business.

"Social Chain has huge potential for growth within Brave Bison, taking the momentum Pete Metcalfe and the team have built up using Steven Bartlett's platform."