This week’s Female Founder Friday introduces Sandra Falque, the inspiring founder of Jules Stories, a business on a mission to transform how children learn, play and explore their imaginations without relying on screens. With a successful career spanning management consulting, digital transformation and AI strategy, Sandra has channelled her expertise into creating a meaningful alternative to traditional screen time. As a mother of three young children, she understands first-hand the challenges parents face when trying to balance technology with healthy childhood development.
From raising money for a brand-new product category to closing £712,000 in pre-seed investment, with a further £150,000 already committed to an open bridge round, Sandra’s entrepreneurial journey is one of determination, innovation and resilience. Even more impressively, she achieved this with FounderCatalyst's support for a fixed fee of just £1,450, with no percentage of funds raised and no additional fees.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Sandra about her professional background, the challenges of being a female founder, her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and the exciting developments ahead for Jules Stories.
FC: Could you provide a brief summary of your professional background and an overview of your business?
Sandra: I started my career in Paris as a management consultant, specialising in digital transformation over the years. I then joined a fast-growing company in London that expanded rapidly across multiple markets, and I stayed with them for ten years.
Towards the end of my journey there, I was the AI Strategy and Transformation Lead for the business. My role was essentially to help people understand what AI is, why businesses should adopt it and, most importantly, how to adopt it safely.
At that stage in my life, I also had three young children under the age of six, and I started thinking about how I could create a meaningful alternative to screen time.
Children in the UK can spend anywhere between three and six hours a day in front of screens, and around 85% of parents, including myself, are concerned about the amount of screen time their children are getting.
I wanted to use technology in a meaningful, purpose-driven way. Something that would stimulate children's imaginations and creativity while also making learning more playful and accessible outside of school.
That's how Jules Stories came about. We've created Jules, a voice-interactive storyteller aligned with the primary school curriculum. The idea is to encourage children to learn, imagine and explore through storytelling without needing to sit in front of a screen.
FC: What challenges have you faced, and how have you navigated them?
Sandra: One of the biggest challenges we've faced is that many investors aren't even open to hearing about our business because they have very specific investment criteria.
A huge proportion of investors focus on B2B SaaS software companies. So, when you approach them with a direct-to-consumer hardware product, they're often not interested in having a conversation.
Then, even among investors who are interested in direct-to-consumer hardware, many don't necessarily want technology incorporated into the product.
That puts us in quite a niche position.
On top of that, we've created something that doesn't really exist in the market yet. We're effectively building a new product category, which makes the fundraising process even more challenging.
When you're introducing something completely new, you have to convince investors not only that the business is viable but also that there's a market for the product itself.
FC: Have you experienced any specific barriers as a female founder?
Sandra: It's difficult to say definitively. A lot of my investors are men, but in some ways, I actually think being a female founder has opened doors for me.
I've had access to communities, pitching events and awards specifically designed to support female entrepreneurs. These are opportunities that other founders might not necessarily have access to, and they've been really valuable.
That said, I've definitely had a few meetings that didn't go particularly well.
I've had men make comments suggesting that a mother's role should be to stay at home with her children, which obviously isn't particularly encouraging when you're trying to build a business.
I've even had female investors question whether I could realistically deliver such a complicated and ambitious project.
People have biases. I think we all have them to some extent, but these experiences certainly make you aware of how differently founders can be perceived.
At the same time, I've tried to look at being a female founder as an opportunity to stand out. Sometimes being different means that people remember you.
There are also some fantastic initiatives for female founders across the UK. I've had opportunities connected with organisations such as the London Stock Exchange, and experiences like that can bring credibility to your business.
The female founder community is also incredibly supportive, particularly in London. I've met so many people willing to share advice, offer introductions and help wherever they can.
What's particularly interesting for me is that many of these women are also potential customers.
As mothers themselves, they understand the problem we're trying to solve, and they've provided some really valuable feedback on our product.
That combination of community, support and customer insight has been incredibly helpful throughout the journey.
FC: Since joining FounderCatalyst, have you achieved any significant milestones, or are there any you're currently working towards?
Sandra: Yes! We've successfully closed our pre-seed fundraising round, and we actually exceeded our original target.
Initially, we'd planned to raise around £500,000 to £550,000, but we ended up closing the round at £712,000.
We're really pleased with that result!
We actually made the decision to stop fundraising at that point, even though there was the possibility of raising more.
Our thinking was that once we'd launched the product, we could potentially increase the company's valuation and open another funding round under better conditions.
The fundraising journey itself took quite a long time.
A lot of people advised me to keep the process very short and create a sense of urgency or fear of missing out among investors.
But we took a different approach.
We decided to take our time, and ultimately, the process lasted almost a year and a half.
Looking back, I don't know whether we could have done things differently or achieved an even better result, but I'm happy with where we've ended up.
We've secured the funding, we're still here, and we're preparing to launch. That's what matters!
FC: What advice would you give to fellow female founders?
Sandra: One thing I'd really encourage female founders to think about is how investors perceive risk.
There's research suggesting that female founders are often asked different types of questions from male founders during fundraising.
I recently participated in research involving the University of Warwick, and one of the things we discussed was how investors tend to focus more heavily on risk when speaking with female entrepreneurs.
Male founders are often expected to be bold, ambitious and confident when presenting their vision.
Female founders, on the other hand, can find themselves having to demonstrate that their business isn't too risky.
So I think it's particularly important to prepare thoroughly and demonstrate that you've considered every aspect of your business.
For us, that meant developing a really strong financial model.
Not just ambitious top-line projections, but a detailed, bottom-up model that clearly explains how the business will grow and where the numbers are coming from.
We also focused heavily on demonstrating traction.
For example, we generated pre-orders to show that there was genuine interest in the product.
We spent a lot of time developing prototypes, gathering customer feedback and testing different versions of Jules.
All of those things help demonstrate product-market fit and provide evidence that customers actually want what you're building.
My advice would be to think carefully about anything an investor might identify as a potential risk and make sure you have evidence to address it.
Whether that's your financial projections, customer demand, your product or your route to market, the more you can demonstrate, the stronger your position becomes.
It's unfortunate that female founders can face additional pressure to prove themselves, but being incredibly well-prepared can make a real difference.
FC: Are there any exciting projects or developments coming up for Jules Stories?
Sandra: Yes! We're at a really exciting stage.
We're preparing to open our website for the official product launch, hopefully within the next month.
We've completed around 80% of the compliance process, so we're currently waiting for the final green light before we can open the online store.
Our aim is to begin shipping products in time for Christmas, although, of course, that depends on everything progressing as planned.
We're also having some really promising conversations with major retailers.
It's still very early, and some of these discussions have only developed recently, but the feedback we've received has been incredibly positive.
Having well-known retailers express genuine enthusiasm for Jules is a huge milestone for us.
Beyond the product launch, I'm also preparing to open our seed funding round.
We're considering using an Advanced Subscription Agreement (ASA) for early investors, which would allow us to begin bringing in investment ahead of the next formal round.
There's a lot happening at once, but it's an incredibly exciting period for the business.
After spending so much time developing the product, testing it and raising investment, we're finally getting closer to putting Jules into customers' hands.
FC: How do you take care of yourself and manage those more challenging moments? Do you have any self-care tips?
Sandra: That question makes me smile because you often see videos of founders waking up at five in the morning, putting their heads into bowls of ice water and heading straight to the gym!
I'm definitely not doing that!
I have three young children, so my routine looks a little different.
But actually, I think my children really help me maintain a sense of balance.
When they come home from school, I switch off from work for a few hours and focus on spending time with them.
That time together is really important to me, and I think it's a great form of mindfulness.
It's the same in the mornings. I'm preparing breakfast, getting everyone ready for school and spending time with my family.
I'm not starting work at five in the morning, and I don't feel that I need to.
I also have a co-founder, Tim Stickney who joined me last year, and he's a family man too. He has four children and a dog, so he understands what it's like to balance family responsibilities with running a business.
Having someone like that alongside me makes a huge difference.
For example, earlier today I was feeling really anxious about something happening in the business. I spoke to him about it, and afterwards I felt much better.
Sometimes it's as simple as having someone you can talk to.
I'm also very much myself, whether I'm at home, working with Tim or speaking to the wider team.
We're all really honest with each other, and I think that openness is incredibly important.
You need people around you who understand the challenges you're facing and who you feel comfortable talking to when things become stressful.
For me, it's not about having some elaborate self-care routine. It's about spending time with my children, maintaining those relationships and surrounding myself with people I can trust.
A huge thank you to Sandra Falque for joining us for this week's Female Founder Friday and sharing such an insightful account of her entrepreneurial journey.
From navigating a fundraising landscape that doesn't always accommodate innovative hardware businesses to securing £712,000 in investment, Sandra's story highlights the importance of resilience, preparation and believing in your vision.
What makes Jules Stories particularly exciting is its mission to use technology responsibly, encouraging children to develop their creativity and curiosity while giving parents a meaningful alternative to screen time.
Jules is now available to order at JulesStories.com
We're delighted to have Sandra as part of the FounderCatalyst community and look forward to seeing Jules Stories continue to grow in the UK and abroad.
To learn more about Sandra and follow the exciting developments at Jules Stories, visit the links below.
Website: Jules Stories
Personal LinkedIn: Sandra Falque
Company LinkedIn: Jules Stories
Author: Jen Jeffries, Marketing Executive at FounderCatalyst
