Hammad Motiwala | Staff Writer
Featured image: Chau’s Summary Scanner landed as a success on Dragons’ Den. | Courtesy of YFile
Kevin Chau made York history when his innovative app fired up Dragons’ Den, resulting in all six Dragons investing in his venture. Dragons’ Den is a television show in which six business capitalists—the Dragons—invest in an entrepreneur’s business proposition, allowing for their ideas—and hence, their dreams—to become reality.
York Financial and Business Economics student Chau approached the Dragons with the goal of securing a $20,000 investment in exchange for a 10 per cent equity share in his new mobile app, Summary Scanner.
The pitch concluded with all six Dragons investing a total of $60,000 for 30 per cent equity share in his business.
“I am delighted for Kevin. His choice of the Financial & Business Economics program was prophetic and it seems that he has put the theoretical and practical skills he has learned to very good use. I proudly look forward to hearing about his future achievements,†said the Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Ananya Mukherjee-Reed.
Summary Scanner, set at an estimated value of $200,000, is an app that summarizes key points of displayed text in a picture and reduces reading time by 80 per cent. By the time Chau appeared on the show, the app had already been downloaded 70,000 times on the Google Play Store.
The app’s iOS version launched one hour before the Dragons’ Den episode aired on October 19, and has been downloaded a total of 115,000 between the two platforms.
When asked about the quality of the app by one of the Dragons, Chau responded that “the app works best with factual-based documents, such as textbooks or newspapers.†He also mentioned that “to ensure that the quality is high, the rating of the app is a 4.2 out of a possible five.â€
The most responsive customers for the app are between the ages of 18 and 24, which means the app is being used predominantly by post-secondary students who are trying to reduce the amount of reading they have to do, particularly those with heavier courseloads.
Chau believed in his concept from its earliest beginnings. “My advice: always take other people’s opinions or comments with a grain of salt,†he added.
“I remember when I was just starting the business and I hadn’t launched the product yet, I would tell people, including my family and friends, and they all thought there was no market for this, and that it wasn’t a great idea.
“Even though I had some negative feedback, I persisted because I knew there was a problem. I am a student myself and I continued anyways.
“It is crucial to listen to your instincts rather than what others might be saying.â€
