Collider is evolving

Collider exists to drive the future of marketing and sales technology for startups, corporates and investors.

This will not change: we’ll continue to find the very best startups to invest in and scale, bring the right startup solutions at the right time to corporates, and ultimately deliver investor returns.

We’re still about winning customers, it’ll always be about building revenue, and it’ll never be about just finding the next round of funding, which explains why we’re working with more corporates now than ever before (and in Amsterdam too!)

We’re also still focused: focused on marketing and sales tech, and focused on scaling, and the impact of that is phenomenal. We’ve invested in over 40 startups now, which means we’ve built the expertise to make even better investment decisions and add incredible value to our portfolio.

So with over five years of in depth, first-hand experience, one exit and over £13m going into the next generation of marketing and sales startups, we’ve seen a lot.

That’s why now is the perfect time to change and invest more.

https://vimeo.com/232318078

1. Keep the applications rolling

You’ll now be able to apply to Collider UK ANY time of year.

One cohort a year was proving nowhere near enough, especially given the incredible startups we kept having to turn down.

We then dabbled with the classic accelerator model of two a year, but even that didn’t cut it, particularly when taking into consideration the needs of our corporate partners – the key way we give meaning to our accelerator name.

So we settled on four cohorts a year – a minimum of three investments per cohort and a maximum of six. That’s more application opportunities, more cohorts and most importantly, more startups as part of the Collider family, shaping the future of marketing and sales tech.

2. Put meaning back into ‘early stage’

You can now apply even if you’ve raised cash before.

We’ve always been clear on our entry requirements – you must have built an MVP, have a team, be focused in B2B marketing and/or sales tech and have your full SEIS available. But now, could you just rub out point four? That’s Collider Take Two.

Once again, we kept noticing just how many startups would come to us, perfect in every way, other than just how early stage they were – and that in itself is one big, fat contradiction.

So rather than missing opportunities time and time again, we’ll be investing in startups with both SEIS and EIS available. That’s early stage, and early stage. Or in other words, startups with proof of value.

3. Flex the investment model

There’s now options, not just one offer.

If we’re going to recruit startups at different stages, we needed to shake up our investment model too.

Each startup will now have two possible investment options: £50,000 of investment (£15,000 as programme fees) or £100,000 of investment (£30,000 programme fees), rather than one standard offer.

That’ll give us a wider range of companies and different stages in their journey, which is absolutely perfect for our community – the community of potential customers.

Remember – Collider exists to shape the future of marketing and sales technology for startups, corporates and investors. If that’s you, we will officially launch on the 4^th September, and we want to hear from you.

Are you a startup?

We’re looking for ground breaking, world changing, mind blowing B2B marketing and advertising technology startups. If you want to supercharge your growth and collide with the most incredible corporate innovators, apply here.

Are you an investor?

Our investor community is a little bit different, but no one wants the same old, do they? Made up of marketing and advertising experts, our angels also hold superpowers in finance, fundraising and tech – all an incredible benefit to our startups. If you want to help accelerate our startups alongside our other investors, get in touch.

The Mad World of MadTech: May Roundup

There's never a dull day in startup land, with May going down as a month of PROGRESS. We've seen impressive positions in rankings, our recent 2017 grads growing and achieving great challenges, thrown our own event for some of the UK's leading brands and of course, enjoyed a surprise or two...

 1. Good-Loop’s ethical ads displaying on The Londonist

Nothing can stop these guys who seem to be on quite the roll, and of course, we couldn't be prouder! Our recent grad, who was also winner of the Collider 2017 Demo Day, have secured several exciting achievements recently.

This time, Good-Loop's ethical ads are now live on The Londonist! You should really go check it out, especially given you'll be giving a donation to charity.

 2. Rate8 are stomping!

But that’s not all from our recent grads this month, as Avi, founder of Rate8 from this year's cohort, was selected as a Founder of the Future by Founders Forum.

Huge congrats to you Avi!

 3. Seenit to double team by 2018

The Seenit family keeps growing and growing… to the extent that next year, they'll be twice the size they are now!

As we're sure you've seen yourself, this team are really nailing it, and much comes down to Founder and CEO Emily's attitude, who understands the importance of having an inspired, motivated and engaged team, which is, needless to say, a key factor for success.

You can read more here.

4. Seenit and Pixoneye stopped Startups 100 list

Collider alumni in Startups 100

Seenit and Pixoneye have both been awarded deserved positions in the longest-running index of the best new businesses.

Huge congrats to both teams!

5. Brand Event was a not-to-be-missed one

https://twitter.com/ColliderGB/status/867083402029256704

It was a pleasure to be surrounded of some incredible brands in our Big Brand Event last week – we kept this intimate, with the ultimate goal of discovering the similarities between totally different brands (and their methods) when it comes down to innovation.

A huge thanks to dunnhumby, Diageo and BT for joining us in the panel, along with Iain from CampaignAmp, another of our 2014 alumni, who gave a brilliant startup view.

6. Beem shows off new logo!

Collider alumni Beem

Alumni Beem have a new logo and we love it! This fancy prism works as a perfect metaphor for the team as it represents their business idea and what their day-to-day looks like.

Such a nice symbol and even better story from Co-Founder Lee, riiiiight here.

Best Things We've Heard All Week: MadTech News

We've had rain, we've had sun, and when the temperature dropped in the middle of the week, we may as well have had snow.

Typically British – talking about the weather first – but yes, it's been another hectic week (for MadTech too, not just the skies). So here's our roundup of the best things we've heard all week.

1. We compared the age of a scaleup to the behaviour of a child.

Collider Mentor Network Sarah Wood Seenit

Well actually, it was Lee from Beem. Honestly: "We're a five-year-old company, and like many five-year-olds, were full of unique potential and not without challenges."

Lee served up this slice of gold dust at our Scaleup Mentor Network on Friday, where we had some of the biggest names in MadTech including Sarah Wood, Anu Shah, Zaid Al-Zaidy, Rod Banner, Marion Barnard, Richard Fearn and Frank Kelcz.

We were also joined by the team at Microsoft Bizspark, who once again supported us in providing the best community and support as possible to our startups, with Ella Cockerell joining us too.

2. Celebrate and embrace your vulnerability, because if you don't feel any, you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough.

That's a quote from Co-Founder Andy's favourite article of the week, and something we couldn't agree with more.

If you're a new manager and not sure what to focus on, definitely give it a read.

3. A huge win for the tech scene.

improbable founder

Did you see this update? UK virtual reality firm Improbable announced their $500m raise last week, which meant the latest UK unicorn was born.

4. Our animal knowledge is not what we thought.

We got told – good and proper. Turns out, Karmarama's short legged llama is apparently an alpaca. Oops.

https://twitter.com/shaunmnemonic/status/861540202682122245

5. Startup pop up trial landed on our doorstep.

We were pretty excited to see the incredible City Mapper bus outside Collider HQ last week. Did anyone hop on their free bus?

https://twitter.com/andyt8/status/861936710246117377

Best Things We've Heard All Week: MadTech News

The working week never feels long enough, but if someone suggested lengthening it, we'd laugh, cry and result in a resounding no. (Come on, even you entrepreneurial types).

But with so much going on in MadTech, from adtech and martech news, industry events, recent raises and inspiring people, here's our summary of the best things we've heard all week.

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1. "As the world gets more serious, social media becomes more trivial".

As a die hard lover of the Nokia 3210 ("I mean... it has snake"), Bob Geldof is never going to be the biggest fan of social, but his views gave us some serious food for thought.

Our marketing lady Tazz headed to a breakfast meet up with the man himself, who blames social media for many people's misjudgement, raising the point that speaking out on social isn't 'doing something' or 'doing good', it's just a self fulfilling prophecy which blocks us from making things count.

https://twitter.com/TazzGault/status/857596591338917888

2. We coined FONK.

Thanks Gabbi.👌

https://twitter.com/GabbiCahane/status/857980672929124354

3. Business is to "work with people who believe what you believe".

You know the quote? It's pretty powerful, no matter how many times you hear it. And that's why Co-Founder Rose thought this article – 27 things one person learnt from Simon Sinek – is well worth a read.

Point one: It took Simon over 11 years to become an overnight success...

4. Will the UK manage to fill the gap between seed funding and Series B?

It's a common debate in the office, and this week in particular, it became a bit of a theme.

We read this article from the Financial Times, and enjoyed a heated debate at FastPay's meet up, discussing the crucial matter of how to scale a digital media business. We'd love to hear your thoughts?

https://twitter.com/ColliderGB/status/857871545997430785

5. The llama at Kamarama's legs are too short.

Well, according to Co-Founder Andy anyway, who spent Friday afternoon with the Unilever Foundry judging a panel.

https://twitter.com/andyt8/status/860482978815803392

WTF is GDPR? We have the answers

You might have heard that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was passed by the EU Commission last year. It’s pretty big news; taking effect from 2018, it effectively replaces the law we’ve had since 1998 - the Data Protection Act. Because it’s a regulation, it comes into force as it was passed by the EU Commission, and it has been made clear that it will not be impacted by Brexit.

But what on earth does it mean for businesses, and more specifically, MadTech startups? Our legal partners Lewis Silkin were on hand to clarify that for us and our alumni.

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Enough about me, back to me

The whole law is built around protecting the individual ‘data subject’ – that is, the person whose data you are collecting. Businesses are being put in the data subject’s shoes, and need to think of data collection and usage from their point of view.

Who am I?

You need to understand if you are a Data Controller or Data Processor. A Data Controller determines the purposes for which, and the manner in which any personal data is processed or is to be processed, and is directly responsible for compliance with the law.

A Data Processor processes that data on behalf of the Data Controller, and the Data Controller must have a written contract in place for this. A big change however, is that the Data Processor will now have direct obligations and liability under the law.

It is important to understand which you are as this will determine your obligations and what standard you will be held to. Just to muddy the waters a bit, you can actually be both; any suppliers you engage will be Processors, but if you sell to a client, you may well become the Processor. Clarify this and your liability at the outset, and record in written, signed form.

Get consent!

In line with the individual focus being push through the new law, the definitions of Personal Data and Sensitive Personal Data are expanding.

Sensitive Personal Data

The new rule of thumb is thus – if you are gathering and using sensitive personal data – GET CONSENT! Even more importantly, do not bundle this up in your Ts and Cs. This needs to be obvious, clear, visible, shouting from the rooftops.

Personal Data

This must be processed for a ‘fair and lawful’, i.e. particular, use. If it isn’t on the list of what’s fair and lawful you can’t do it! Generally the conditions here are – with consent, necessary for the purposes of the contract with the data subject, or in the Controller’s legitimate interest. Transparency is key – you need to provide a privacy notice (again, as obvious and as clear and debunked from anything else as possible) and don’t do anything with the data that might surprise your subject!

One thing to point out here is that you don’t always have to have consent as your ground for processing data – but if you do, your Data Subject has to demonstrate their consent, and be free to withhold or withdraw it.

What’s your profile?

Another big area of impact is ‘profiling’. The regulations have introduced a new definition of profiling, with some pretty big requirements for any profiling that constitutes having a ‘legal effect’ – that is, an irreversible impact on the Data Subject. At the moment it doesn’t seem as though behavioural profiling, targeted advertising and the like will be scooped up by this, but it’s subject to more clarification and guidance.

It may be helpful to think of profiling in two ways –

1. Does your profiling have a ‘legal effect’ – if it does, you MUST have explicit consent
2. Does your profiling not have a ‘legal effect’ – you must inform the Data Subject of it and allow them to object to it (if it’s already happened, you need to be able to reverse it)

Don’t you forget about me, except, please do

Rights being extended under the GDPR are the Data Subject access request and the right to be forgotten. The new one, however, is the right to data portability – Data Subjects will be able to request all of their data and are free to move it to other accounts, including that of any competitors. It’s worth bearing this is mind as you will need to be able to provide them with all of the information you hold about them.

So what can I do?

This may all seem pretty daunting, and with one of the biggest changes being enforced by the legislation being the serious increase in fines for breaches, feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle. There are however, steps you can take to start getting yourself compliant.

• If you’re early stage, the words ‘privacy by design’ are your new best friend. Build the requisite data security measures into your systems early, and get your privacy notices, consent buttons and the like clear and ready from the outset.

• If you’re later stage, you will need to build an audit trail – think when you gathered data, how it was used, all date stamped and demonstrably proven. You’ll also need to reach out to all of your Data Subjects and tell them what information you are holding, with an option for them to ask you to remove it.

• All businesses will need to review their reporting procedures should they find themselves on the wrong end of a breach, and make sure that their processes are adequately set up to manage that breach in accordance with the regulations.

• A good place to start will be to ask yourself – what data am I holding; how did I get it; and where did I get it from? Work back from there and start to unpick the audit trail and how it needs to be collected in the future.

New guidance is due to be issued this Spring, and for anybody who is still a bit stuck, some good starting points are the Information Commissioner's website and the European Commission's website. Our legal partners Lewis Silkin are also on hand to support our network with queries they may have.