venture capitalism

Avocarrot crowned as The Next Big Thing!

This week saw our competition at ad:tech come to a dramatic end where the final 8 startups pitched to a panel of impressive brands. It was a great two days where the startups also had stands which allowed them to chat to the thousands of visitors,  and show off their tech creations. We're also pleased to announce that the judges selected Avocarrot, a Collider12 startup, as the winner! Yep, Avocarrot has now been officially named The Next Big Thing by  Chris Sponiar (Principal at Unilever Ventures), Max Benitz (Principle at Ingenious Ventures), Conrad Poulson (Head of Startup Business at Orange France Telecom) and Anu Shah (Director of Ventures at BBH Global).

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Judges Feedback
All 8 startups were commended for their creative visions of a tech future. Locomizer and MarcaMe both promised interesting things in the mobile space, but questions rose about their ability to get customers to opt-in, while Miappi, LBM and Tamoco all bought visions of the future, questions were raised by the judges how soon they'll be able to succeed in their goals. This left Evrything, PlayCaptcha, and Avocarrot as the final 3.
Evrything is a great idea, especially as the digital-physical space is really hot right now and will most likely be in the future.  However, perhaps more focus is needed which could be controlled by working through some use-cases. Play Captcha have a good concept with real potential to grow past the initial stage offering with a concept that delivers a win for brand and consumer, as well as having an impressive team.  However, they need to keep a close eye on their major US competitor and stay close to developments in the hackerspace who may be able to crack the security on offer.

And finally Avocarot, who were ultimately chosen due to their excellent concept which holds a lot of promise in being able to customise ads towards the app-user. The team are impressive and well-placed to achieve what they have set out to do: revolutionise mobile advertising.  In being crowned ad:tech's Next Big Thing, they have won the opportunity to pilot their technology with Unilever and pitch for investment from Ingenious Ventures and leading creative advertising agency BBH.

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