Introduction
Dapple is an all-in-one workflow platform built for creative submissions, applications and contests. Whether you're running a literary magazine, managing open calls, running awards, or curating creative projects, it makes submission management effortless. Built by a team with experience in both software and the creative industry, it gives creative teams a clean, purpose-built space to collect, review, manage and report on all submissions in one place. No spreadsheets. No chaos. Just a simple, effective and affordable way to manage submissions.Website: dapplehq.com
Location: London, UK
Founders
- Alasdair Mackenzie – CTO, Software background
LinkedIn - Oz Osbaldeston – CEO, Creative Industry and customer success
LinkedIn
Founder Backgrounds
Founded by Ally and Oz, who previously worked together growing DesignMyNight's successful reservation management system used by thousands of venues worldwide, Dapple brings deep expertise in both the creative industries and enterprise software development. While Oz led customer success for top-tier clients, Ally spearheaded the engineering team, giving them unique insights into building intuitive, scalable solutions for managing high-volume submissions.
Why Now?
Creative work is exploding. AI and new technology have made it easier than ever to write, design, and create — and with that, submissions have multiplied faster than anyone expected. Yet the tools built to manage this flood haven't kept up. Most submission and application systems were designed years ago, long before this creative boom, and they feel it — clunky, slow, and outdated. Dapple changes that.
Key Features
- Fully customisable submission forms and listing pages.
- Run multiple opportunities or "projects" all from one centralised hub.
- Use filters and tags to organise submissions and then export data in one click.
- Inbuilt integration with Stripe for payments and accepting submissions or entry fees.
- Kanban-style workflow: Visual pipeline to manage each stage of the review process.
- Projects hub: Show all opportunities and analytics in one page.
- Customisable stages: Configure multiple, fully customisable stages like "In Review", "Shortlist", "first round" "pencilled" etc.
- Reviews: Create panels of reviewers/judges and assign submissions to these panels. Reviewers can score, vote and comment all from their own dedicated dashboard.
- Team collaboration: Multiple users can comment, tag, and assign submissions.
- Numerous user, team and reviewer based permissions.
- Bulk actions: Bulk assign, move and tag multiple submissions in one go.
- Creator dashboard: Submitters can see real-time status of their work.
- Messaging: Built-in messaging platform for communication between orgs and creators.
- Bulk messaging: Send messages to multiple creators in one go.
- Simple pricing: Tiered plans, with a free option for small teams.
Why It Matters
- Replaces outdated, messy systems (email, spreadsheets, generic forms)
- Supports small-to-medium editorial teams often overlooked by existing tools
- Gives creators clarity and transparency in the submission process
- Offers a modern, lightweight alternative to expensive legacy platforms
What Makes Us Different
- Purpose-built for literary mags and creative teams
- Lightweight and fast to set up
- Transparent for creators
- Affordable and flexible pricing
- Founder-led with deep user empathy
Audience / Who It’s For
- Literary magazines
- Creative collectives
- Publishing houses
- Academic journals
- Arts funding bodies and open call organisers
Business Model
- SaaS subscription model
- Free plan for teams under a certain submission volume
- Paid plans scale with features and team size
Roadmap & Future Features
- AI-assisted triage and tagging
- Submission analytics & dashboards
- Public-facing calls and submissions page
- Integrations with publishing tools & CRMs
Contact
Interested in covering us, collaborating, or getting early access?