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: April Roundup

MadTech has many verticals, with April proving just that, going down as a month of awesome coverage, impressive awards and enviable partnerships. Check out our top four updates from the Collider alumni.

---

1. Good-Loop's Amy named by BBC as an ‘entrepreneur women using tech for good’

Not only did Amy impress our audience on Demo Day, she's now stunned the BBC thanks to her inspiring storing on why she decided to fund her startup.

Shocked by the huge existent inequality between countries and with a background in advertising, Amy decided to try and make the world a better place using adtech. Good-Loop aims to make a real positive impact by rewarding viewers of video ads with donations to their chosen charities.

Such a great example to follow! Read more here.

2. Emily from Seenit wins Entrepreneur Award from ‘10 Digital Ladies’

Our very own class of ’14 alum are making us proud again!

This time Seenit Founder and CEO, Emily Forbes, was a main guest at the event run at google HQ celebrating women who have successfully launched their own digital business. And not only that, but she ended up being crowned the Entrepreneur Award winner of the year.

From a background in film production and with almost no digital experience, Emily has built into a £1.1m business in just three years.

Big congrats to you Emily! Read more here.

3. LivingLens partner with world leader in experience management

The new product LivingLens and Qualtrics are releasing together will allow organisations to form a better customer understanding, giving them the ability to tell their stories and share feedback, all thanks to LivingLens' rich video content ability.

Read more here.

4. Sonovate name Pixoneye as ones to watch

The Pixoneye team have been spotted on the '50 Fastest Growing Companies in the UK' list by Sonovate. Congrats!

Collider hits milestone with launch of fifth cohort

It's our birthday (kinda). An anniversary, of sorts. Well, a milestone has definitely been reached.

That's right... WE'VE JUST KICKED OFF COHORT NUMBER FIVE! And to celebrate, our network from across all years joined at The Courthouse Hotel in Soho to welcome in the fresh faces of our new startups.

Community is key and at the heart of everything we do at Collider; you sell to people, not to businesses, and so what better way to integrate into the MadTech world than getting to know our network full of brands, agencies, investors, startups and VCs.

A huge thank you to Microsoft Bizspark too, for sponsoring the event and for all of your help to our startups – you're awesome.

A Year of Collider: 2016 in a Nutshell

What a year. We’ve crashed, bumped, smacked, bashed incredible people with incredible businesses – it really has been quite the collision – or whatever cheesy pun you’d like to go for. But all jokes aside, 2016 has turned up some seriously exciting moments. Here’s our top 2016:

1. Collider’s very own first exit – Avocarrot

Mobile ad exchanger and Collider alumni, Avocarrot, sold to Glipsa Global Group back in September for $20 million dollars.

Avocarrot joined our first ever accelerator programme back in 2013 and didn’t take them long before they headed off to San Francisco to continue their journey, exiting in less than four years.

2. Seenit took the win at TechDistrupt London!

From 14 startups down to one, our very own Seenit was crowned Startup Battlefield champion 2016, winning £40,000 and the coveted Disrupt Cup.

After presenting in front of multiple groups of VCs and tech leaders and with hours of deliberation, TechCrunch editors worked through the judges’ notes to narrow the list down to five, resulting in only one winner.

3. Collider to launch in Amsterdam

SERIOUS excitement in the Collider office when we finally announced our launch in Amsterdam!

With a booming startup scene and a huge wealth of incredible brands, Amsterdam was the obvious pick for us – we can’t wait to see what it’ll bring in the New Year.

4. Our 5^th cohort joined the Collider community

We handpicked the very best, new MadTech startups from around the globe, who have now joined the Collider family as our 5^th cohort!

We had a record number of applications this year from startups all around the world, and were incredibly impressed with the quality that came through the door.

Our final eight have now been picked, which we’ll be announcing in the New Year.

5. The launch of our Mentor Network

https://vimeo.com/collidergb/collider-mentor-network

Sarah Wood, Guy Weiynk, Zaid Al-Zaidy – just a few names you’ll find in our Mentor Network.

An exclusive offer to our scale ups, this isn’t ‘another accelerator’ with another ‘mentoring platform’ – instead, we hand picked some of the very best names in the industry and paired them up with some of our very best startups for an unbelievable mentorship experience.

And yes, back to that pun, but it really was a magical collision.

6. More startups reaching the one million pound revenue mark!

More and more of our alumni are reaching this milestone every month, with the first achieved midway through this year.

It’s been a blast, 2016. We’ll see you in the New Year with the official announcement of our new cohort.

Applications Have Closed: Now What?

It’s happened. Yes, the time has come – our applications have now closed. And honestly, we’ve been seriously impressed.

The quality this year has been second to none, and whilst that’s made things harder for us, it’s a pretty awesome problem to have.

It’s been a record year for us with well over 300 applications, even surpassing Ed’s ambition target by TWO – and so now we’re in the process of whittling it down to our top applications, with only 2% getting through.

We recently did a little digging into the numbers, countries and themes of applications this year and it seems the snippet that created the biggest buzz was that Brexit has made no impact on quality, numbers or location whatsoever.

But for those wondering what happens next, here's a quick rundown:

1. Startups will hear back from us with a yes or a no.

2. For those who get through will move onto screening.

These sessions are with Collider cofounders, Rose and Andy.

3. If they make it through that (WAHOO!) then it's time for Pitch Camp.

That's where we help startups clean up their deck before meeting investors.

4. In the meantime, our investors will receive some reading material on our top 20 startups.

5. Then it's Selection Day!

– or more commonly known in the Collider office as 'The Big one'. Each investor will have a vote and will be asked to nominate their top choices.

Want more information on the selection process? We’ve got that for you right here.