Bright Little Labs’ founder Sophie Deen’s awards include the Barclays Start-Up Founder of the Year 2017, British Interactive Media Association Innovator 2017 and Computer Weekly’s “Most Influential Women in UK IT” 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Sophie was recently named Creative Industries Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 for London & East of England (in partnership with Starling Bank). Sophie worked at Code Club, alongside Google and the Department for Education, to help introduce the new coding curriculum in primary schools. She then worked on their international strategy in over 80 countries. Sophie believes wholeheartedly in the power of creativity, toilet humour and stories to inspire the next generation. Deen, a former lawyer who used to head up Code Club World and Code Club Pro, and worked alongside several organisations with the Department of Education to develop the computing curriculum introduced in 2014, wants to use materials produced by Bright Little Labs to encourage young people from all walks of life to consider a future in STEM. In 2014, the UK introduced a new computing curriculum, making it mandatory for children of certain ages to learn concepts such as coding and computational thinking skills.

Because of misconceptions about the STEM sector, is can be particularly difficult to encourage young women to consider STEM careers, with many wishing they had more encouragement from women already in the tech sector. All-Party Parliamentary Group on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM suggests recommendations for increasing equity in education after stating coronavirus makes diversity increasingly important.Agent Asha herself is an 11-year-old from Wembley, London, who has just been asked to join the largest spy agency in the world! She’s been shortlisted for the Royal Society’s Young People's Book Prize, the Little Rebels Award and is operating in over 80 countries. We would tell you more about her adventures, but we’ve been sworn to secrecy. We’re passionate about using the power of inclusive stories and inclusive role models to inspire ALL kids into STEM, and everything we sell is sustainable, plastic-free, carbon neutral and made locally by people who are paid fairly. In 2020, he illustrated ‘Agent Asha: Shark Bytes’ by Sophie Dean, which was nominated for a Little Rebels Children’s Book Award and shortlisted for the Royal Society Young People's Book Prize in 2021. Sophie previously worked at Code Club, alongside Google and the Department For Education, to help introduce the new coding curriculum in primary schools. Sophie believes wholeheartedly in the power of creativity, toilet humour and stories to inspire the next generation.

Previous clients include: F.S.G/Macmillan, Little Bee Books, Stripes Publishing, Capstone Publishing, Holiday House, Oxford University Press and Scholastic. Agent Asha helps kids with STEM, coding and creativity through award-winning spy stories and games. We teach kids 21st-century skills using hi-tech spy stories, because not every kid wants to be a coder, but almost everyone wants to be a spy! Previously, Bright Little Labs produced Detective Dot, a story featuring a nine-year-old detective who uses technology to help in her missions, also aimed at using a diverse range of characters to make technology more accessible to girls and minority groups. This is a great book for kids usually more interested in screens than books such as my son who was bouncing with enthusiasm with the idea that there is an app which links into a book. You can use the app as a bribe to get them to read, but the fact that the app features the book is a brilliant incentive anyway. We really enjoyed it and we’re looking forward to more Agent Asha adventures.The WHAT-A BOTTLE: It turns even the muddiest puddle water into clean drinking water and is also a state-of-the-art multi-tool that includes: a Screwdriver, Laser torch, Emergency dog whistle, and a diamond cutter Most of those leaving education at age 18 or 21 this year do not have the technical and practical skills they need to find work at this time of pandemic recession. A former lawyer, techie and school counsellor, Sophie is an award-winning author and Founder of Bright Little Labs - a media company using stories to teach kids aged 3-11 about technology and coding. Their products have been voted as the Independent’s Top Coding Toy three years in a row.