👋🏾 We are Bright Little Labs, a kids media company.
Our immersive world of books, cartoons, apps and games teach kids aged 3-11 about coding, critical thinking and how to stay safe online. In an increasingly digital world, it’s important that children can create - not just consume - technology. Our stories encourage kids to understand technology around them.... and then question how to use it…. and then question the system…. and ultimately we’re on a mission to get all homework banned, OK.
We began our journey on Kickstarter, we then were incubated by the wonderful Bethnal Green Ventures, and in 2018 we were very lucky to secure investment from Warner Media, who share our passion for diverse stories and immersive experiences. Ever since then we’ve been building big worlds for even bigger minds.
Diversity And How We Make Our Stories
One of the drivers behind Bright Little Labs was (and still is, unfortunately) the lack of diversity in kids media: only 4% of protagonists are BAME, 92% of females are underweight and 0% of princesses are coders 😱.
It’s not just about the characters we see on screen. Diverse teams create better stories, and we’re committed to building a team of authentic storytellers behind the screen too.
Our amazing Character Council - a group of Nani Ji’s, Dadi-Ji’s, little rani’s, and more uncles and aunties than we can count - help us create our characters.
What We Care About 💛
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🐙 Stories
Stories tell us who we are, and what we can become. With that in mind, we use the power of stories to promote computer science, critical thinking, creativity and acting with empathy. Our role models are diverse, our adventures are mapped against the Computing Curriculum, and our farts are potent. Our motto: Think for Yourself, Question Everything.
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💡 Diversity
Kids need inspirational role models who look like them, and stories that are authentic to who they are. This is really important - you can't be what you can't see. A report by Hopster in 2019 showed only 6/50 shows had BAME characters as the ‘stars’ of the shows. In 2018 a UK study showed that only 1% of children's books have BAME main characters. Representation is just as important behind the screen - the best stories are told by a diverse team with lived experience of the stories they are telling. We take this seriously, and create inclusive worlds with characters from a range of ethnicities, backgrounds and life experiences.
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👾 Digital Skills
There is a global digital skills crisis, and we want to normalise what it means to be a techie. By 2050, half of the jobs we know today will be replaced by robots and machines. We’ll need a superstar generation of tech whizz kids to build, maintain and automate these new systems. These will be the jobs of the future - and the best paid too, so it's really important that everyone is empowered in a digital world.
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🌍 Sustainability
We love the planet. Our products are sustainably made in the UK by people who are paid fairly. We always use recycled materials, vegetable inks and fart power.
Created by Sophie Deen
A former lawyer turned tech enthusiast, before writing the Agent Asha trilogy, Sophie worked with the Department for Education, Code Club and Google to introduce computing in English primary schools. She is passionate about the intersection of technology and education, and she makes a great jam sandwich.
Yalla Come And Work With Us
If you love fart jokes, computer science and kids, then please get in touch. If you’re not sure if you’ve got the right experience, take a chance on us. We value merit, initiative and values over qualifications. We love mums, dads, carers and other people who want flexible working arrangements. We like using sentences that begin with ‘we’ and ‘if’. Check out our opportunities here.