
The social media consultancy Social Chain, established by Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett, is being sold for at least £7.7 million.
Brave Bison, a social and digital media company, announced the acquisition of Social Chain on Friday.
Steven started the firm in 2014, while serving as a Dragon on the BBC programme and hosting the famous Diary Of A CEO podcast, which has featured guests such as Matt Hancock and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
He founded the agency in his Manchester bedroom when he was 22 years old, and it went public when he was 27 in May 2021.
While he is still the founder, Steven stepped down as CEO of Social Chain in December 2020 to seek other opportunities.
Social Chain creates social media advertising campaigns and provides influencer marketing services for clients such as Amazon, TikTok, KFC, and Apple Beats.
The company employs 122 people and has offices in Manchester, New York, and London.
It is unknown if Steven kept an interest in the firm after stepping down and hence benefited financially from the sale.
Social Chain was a subsidiary of The Social Chain AG, a publicly traded German ecommerce company.
According to the new buyer, the company would assist Brave Bison more than sevenfold its earnings from social media advertising to £15 million this year.
Brave Bison said that it will pay an initial consideration of £7.7 million for Social Chain, but that this might grow if certain earnings objectives are met.
‘We’ve long respected Social Chain, which we feel is among the world’s best recognised social media and influencer marketing firms, and we’re delighted by the very relevant customers it brings into our business,’ said Oliver Green, chairman of Brave Bison.
‘Social Chain offers enormous development potential inside Brave Bison, building on the momentum Pete Metcalfe and the team have established utilising Steven Bartlett’s technology.
‘We are thrilled to be taking this significant step forward in our efforts to establish a media, marketing, and technology firm fit for the future.’
Dragons’ Den is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.