Simon Sansome, the creator of Snowball, a mobile app often described as the “TripAdvisor for the disabled community,” secured backing from all five investors on the hit BBC show Dragons’ Den during last night’s episode.
The Leicestershire-based entrepreneur, who has been a wheelchair user since a life-changing injury in 2014, impressed the full panel of multimillionaire business moguls with his innovative app. Snowball allows people with a wide range of disabilities—including hidden disabilities—to discover accessible services and locations across the UK, from parking and petrol stations to healthcare and hospitality venues.
Picture credit: BBC
Simon originally launched a Facebook page in 2016, called Ability Access (now the Snowball Community), to raise awareness of accessible spots. The page quickly grew to reach over 30 million people a month, inspiring him to develop the award-winning Snowball app for iOS and Android. The platform features user-generated reviews and ratings, empowering the disabled community with practical, real-world insights.
On the show, Peter Jones proposed an £80,000 investment split equally among the five Dragons, with each offering £16,000 for a 5% stake. The offer was met with unanimous enthusiasm from the panel.
Simon described the moment as “surreal”:
“When I received a clean sweep of all five Dragons, I was in shock. After eight years of hard work, it was a very emotional moment. The atmosphere in the studio was electric, and to have all five eager to be part of Snowball was every entrepreneur’s dream.”
Third-party investment has been crucial to bringing Snowball to market, and the appearance on Dragons’ Den offered Simon the chance to secure both financial support and strategic guidance from some of the UK’s most high-profile business figures.
Simon’s work extends beyond the app. He is co-chair of the Disability and Journalism Forum UK and the subject of the Amazon documentary Access All Areas, which chronicles his and his wife’s journey navigating life after disability.
The episode is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
