She didn’t slay the Dragons, but neither did Doreen Dotto convince them to give her any money.
Dotto, the Beacher who developed and has been actively marketing the child’s reading game uKloo, appeared on a segment of the popular CBC program The Dragons’ Den on March 14. She was asking for $50,000 and a partner to help her market the award-winning game to a larger audience.
Dragon Bruce Croxon, although sympathetic to Dotto’s frustrations in teaching her child to read, was not convinced he wanted to invest. But he did invite her to coffee to discuss child literacy. The other dragons said she didn’t really need their help – that she could do it herself if she put her mind to it. In a last ditch pitch Kevin O’Leary, who once developed reading software for children in a former business venture, offered money, but only reluctantly, and with conditions. In the end the other dragons convinced Dotto she didn’t need it.
“I’ve made some calls since,” reported Dotto. “I received three licensing deals, and took the Canadian offer from Everest Toys in Ancaster. Ukloo is in production now for distribution in the United States and Australia.
“It was an opportunity to get advice from established pros,” Dotto said of her Dragons’ Den experience. “It gave me the confidence to go out and slay my own dragons.”
For information on the game visit uKloo.com.
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