A Collider Family Reunion for 2015

It’s that time of year – from one Christmas party to a lunch followed by a festive dinner. And we had to partake in this tradition with our 2015 Launch Party on Wednesday evening. In the beautiful Unilever Skyline Restaurant, the champagne was flowing, canapés passing and conversations attention-grabbing.

This was a chance for our Alumni, investors, brand partners and the Class of 2015 to come together and mingle. Brands chatted with investors, startups chatted with Alumni and everyone learned something new about the Collider Family. Larger groups broke off into one-on-one chats. Introductions were seamless and plentiful, friendships established and business chats initiated. Our investors learned more about the Class of 2015 and had the opportunity to catch up with our alumni. Our Brand partners also learned more about what was to come next year and had the opportunity to learn from our recurring brands. Jeremy Bassett of Unilever and the Unilever Foundry highlighted the journey they have taken as one of the founding brand partners of Collider. He looks forward to 2015 as a year for brands to fully embrace innovation and encouraged the brand partners to let the startups challenge them as much as they may challenge the startups. Next up, Carl Wong of LivingLens spoke to the Class of 2015, letting them know what to expect from Collider during the programme – as he called it SPANC. Speed, Proof of concept, Accelerate, Network and Change. We couldn’t have said it better Carl! And that’s a wrap for 2014! We cannot wait to get started with 2015. Even if you couldn't make it on Wednesday, we have so many more events to come. It's going to be an exciting year for the Madtech world!

Seenit takes The Next Big Thing by Storm

Was yesterday ever impressive! We started off with our speed dating event in the afternoon in conjunction with Unilever – over 20 startups and 60+ Unilever professionals all sat down to discuss how big brands can work with start-ups in the future. We even had a presentation from Marc Mathieu, Global SVP of Marketing for Unilever. After our speed dating session, we co-hosted The Next Big Thing- a showcase for the future stars of the marketing and advertising ecosystem. Eight start-ups from across London’s top accelerator programs pitched their hearts to a panel of four senior industry professionals from top UK brands Unilever, Diageo, Shop Direct and Havas Media. 3 minute pitches, 2 minute Q&A and audience participation via twitter made for some great feedback!

Collider’s own Seenit was the last company to pitch. Co-founder and CEO Emily Forbes captured the attention of every person in the room and left the panel speechless. The demonstration of how brands can engage with their audiences through crowd-sourced video footage had all eyed glued to the projectors. What an exemplary pitch she brought to the stage! Uproarious applause lifted the energy of the room and everyone was busy chatting and tweeting about Seenit post presentation.

After a quick deliberation, the panel returned to announce Seenit as the winner of The Next Big Thing!

“Ad:tech has been unbelievable for us, we’ve made some really great contacts,” Emily mentioned. Her team is also already preparing for the post-conference work. “It’s just the case of starting to build and continue to build the relationships of the people we have met today.”

Congrats again Emily on your team win and to all of the other start-ups who participated in the speed dating!

Collider puts £150k up for grabs to MadTech startups. It's kind of a big deal.

Are you a marketing or advertising tech (MadTech) startup? Then listen up. Now entering the second half of our third year, Collider is at it again. Applications are now open for the Class of 2016 programme, and we're putting £150k of equity investment up for grabs to the hottest MadTech startups out there. But it’s not just the money that’s worth getting excited about, we also deliver an awesome programme to help you make that money go further. What makes the programme a winner for MadTech startups? Brands & Agencies. Some of the biggest and the best. Collider partners with the likes of Unilever, Havas Media, Ogilvy & Mather Group UK, The National Lottery, BBC Worldwide and many more. All of these brands and agencies commit their time to meeting and mentoring Collider’s startups.

We all know how important customer development is, right? Well, our startups get invaluable, early and in-depth access to leading brands and agencies across a range of industries. Startups spend time with Brand Managers, SVPs of Digital and everyone in between to really get to the bottom of customer problems. By better understanding their customers, Collider startups refine their proposition and tech with the confidence that they’re building something brands actually want.

It’s not just the brands that make this the best place for MadTech startups, it’s the investors too. Collider investors are the smartest money out there – be it industry stalwarts who have risen to the top of global brands like Pepsico and Unilever or entrepreneurs who have set up and sold agencies; these investors offer golden advice and a contact book to die for.

And what does it all add up to? Deals and plenty of them. After 7 months of the Class of 2014 cohort, nine Collider startups had signed £560k worth of deals with 28 brands. This is how the team here judge ourselves – we believe the way to fuel your business is revenue not investment. But if you do want the stats on that, 70% of our first cohort of startups went on to raise follow-on money.

So, what’s the deal I hear you say?

• Collider is offering up to 10 startups £50k cash for 11% equity. We charge £10k for the Collision phase programme – four months of brand interactions, intensive one-on-one coaching, workshops and support from the likes of Taylor Wessing and Deloitte.

• After four months Collider will then invest a further £100k cash for 11% equity in up to five of the startups, as decided by our investors. No need to spend six months fundraising; the investment is decided on immediately and paid into accounts within one week. Collider will charge £10k for a further 8 months’ support getting the founders ready for their Series A, including monthly board meetings, fundraising work etc.

What is Collider looking for?

• Startups which provide tools to help brands identify, understand, engage with or sell to consumers

• Collider is particularly excited about the possibilities of tools for video, online to offline, dynamic and native advertising, automated marketing, marketing analytics, e-commerce and m-commerce and offline digital retail. And much, much more.

• Startups with a minimum of two founders

• Startups which are at or near MVP stage

• Startups which are willing to travel to London on a weekly basis, but can be based anywhere

Finally, what do the alumni have to say about it? Here’s Carl Wong, co-founder of Collider startup LivingLens:

“I can say that the value we have received has been incredible - the brilliance of the advisor pool, the top quality & seniority of the brand side people, and the real opportunities to work with these brands, has made the experience so great that in retrospect, I would have GIVEN our shares away for free to be part of this. It has been without question, the best decision and most rewarding experience of my career, and I would wholeheartedly recommend Collider to any start-up.”

One Month Until Demo Day!

After 3 months of mentorship, we’re ready to showcase our latest cohort of game-changing startups to the world. It's going to be a potent mix of startups, investors, brands, agencies and friends of Collider. And booze. Plenty of booze.

The Collider Demo Day is at LBi's searingly cool event space on Thursday May 15th from 2.30pm until 5pm. Don't worry; there will be more than enough time for a drink or two after the pitches with the great and the good of London's advertising and marketing scenes.

Those invited will see our game-changing startups, hear from industry mavericks, and network with leading investors and world class brands. 

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Agenda

• 2.30-3: Welcome and registration
• 3-3.15: Opening Collider by Rose Lewis, Co-Founder of Collider
• 3.15-3.30: Guest Speaker: Sarah Wood, COO & Co-Founder of Unruly
• 3.30-4.30:  Startup Pitches, compèred by Jeremy Basset, Global Marketing Strategy Director of Unilever
• 4.30-4.45: Guest Speaker: Nadya Powell, Managing Director of MRY UK
• 4.45-5: Winner announced and closing remarks
• 5pm-late: Drinks and Networking

This event is invite only, so check your inbox to see if you're one of the lucky ones! If you think we missed you off our list, email us and let us know.

DevLab LIVE: 3 Day Event to Unite Brands & Startups with Collider

DevLab LIVE is a new 3-day event (9-11th May) bringing innovators from the startup, digital anddeveloper communities together with big brands to build amazing solutions to real business challenges!

Held at Level 39, Europe’s largest FinTech accelerator in Canary Wharf, the event will kick off with a day of inspiring talks and workshops, including a special panel from Collider.

On Friday 9th May from 10-11am we will be running a discussion called 'Working with startups. Working with brands.' The panelists will have representatives from both startups and brands, while Collider co-founder Rose Lewis will be hosting and keeping the fight clean.

Topics to be discussed include the minefield of 3-month payment terms, bureaucratic procurement processes, and pushy startups. Learn from both sides of the fence as we ask brands and startups about how to work with each other, as both can benefit hugely if they do so.

Take up this exciting opportunity to get creative with like-minded and passionate people by signing up at the Eventbrite page. Early-bird tickets are available until Friday 25th April - don't miss out, buy your ticket now!