Are You The Next Big Thing?
We have exciting news! Collider12 and The Bakery are partnering with ad:tech London to find 'The Next Big Thing'. This startup competition has been organised in partnership with ad:tech London, the interactive advertising and technology conference taking place on 11 & 12 September 2013.
The Next Big Thing is a nationwide competition to identify the startups that are creating the best technology to disrupt the world’s mass communications market. Known in their industry as “B2Brand” startups, the companies scrutinised in this competition will be developing products and services that help brands better engage with their consumers by meeting the challenges of consumer engagement, analytics, big data and data management or search.
B2Brand technology is a fast-growing industry segment in the UK. According to CB Insights, business-to-business companies account for 80% of the tech startups most likely to go public in the future.
To enter, startups must have been trading for less than two years and will need to submit applications to F6S before Friday 6th September 2013. For more details, click here.
Shortlisted startups will be invited to present their businesses at ad:tech London in September in front of an experienced panel of digital marketing investors and cutting-edge brands.
The competition champion will win the opportunity to pitch their technology to a Unilever brand and hopefully pilot their technology with Unilever. They will also be fast-tracked to the final round of the selection process for The Bakery and Collider12’s next incubation programmes. In addition, the winner and two runners-up will be invited to a number of networking events and meetings with Collider12 and The Bakery investment and brand partners, enabling them to extend significantly their professional networks and gain access to potentially influential business contacts.
The judging panel at ad:tech London will include:
- Max Benitz, Principal, Ingenious Ventures
- Conrad Poulson, Head of Startup Business, Orange France Telecom
- Matt Pritchard, European Digital Planning Director, Kellogg’s
- Anu Shah, Director of Ventures, BBH Global
- Chris Sponiar, Principal, Unilever Ventures
About Collider12
Collider12 brings together forward-thinking investors, cutting-edge brands and ambitious entrepreneurs working on new technologies that disrupt mass communications markets. In doing so, we develop a strong ecosystem in which ‘B2Brand’ startup companies can flourish and accelerate their growth.
What the startups have in common is that they target their products at businesses. For example, the startups might be focused on improving a brand’s external communications; increasing consumer-engagement; or delivering customer analytics.
About The Bakery
The Bakery is the place where the brand world and tech world meet. We exist to get the most disruptive technology to market quicker. We run a bi-annual accelerator program where we match the knottiest brand problems with the most disruptive technologies and get them to market in 8 weeks.
About ad:tech London
ad:tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition – a marketplace for buying and selling, a community for networking, a forum for exchanging ideas and an opportunity for contributing to industry trends and initiatives.
Ten annual events around the world focus on top-notch education through keynote speakers, topic-driven panels and workshops as well as showcase the latest products and services to help implement new knowledge and ideas. Attendees leave ad:tech with the tools and techniques they need to compete in an ever-changing world.
About Ingenious
Ingenious is a market-leading financial services group providing investment and advisory expertise operating through four divisions. Ingenious is one of the leading investors in the UK’s creative industries and was founded by its Chief Executive, Patrick McKenna in 1998.
Ingenious Ventures is the private equity division of Ingenious. Ingenious Investments offers a range of alternative investments spanning media and entertainment, sport and leisure and clean energy. Ingenious Asset Management Limited provides discretionary investment management and innovative solutions to the private investor. Ingenious Corporate Finance provides comprehensive advice on strategy across a wide range of transactions focusing particularly on the media, entertainment and communications sectors.
Simply Be Agree Ongoing Commitment with WhichSocial After Successful Trial
Manchester-based WhichSocial have established a new cooperation with Simply Be, which is part of J D Williams & Company Limited. Simpy Be specialise in offering the latest fashion trends in women apparel exclusively in sizes 14-32, and have a very active following online. WhichSocial will provide their services to Simply Be in order to optimise their social media marketing on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. The social media ROI software offered by WhichSocial will help Simply Be determine how successful their Pinterest pins, Facebook posts and Tweets are in driving sales and traffic to their website. The software will also identify influencers, discover trending best sellers and the most effective social channel. Having such measurements available, Simply Be will be able to revise, and hence optimise, their social media marketing strategy.
WhichSocial is dedicated to helping Simply Be improve their social media marketing efforts by allowing Simply Be to immediately react to WhichSocial real-time alerts based on trending on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Avin Wong, WhichSocial’s Managing Director, commented, “We appreciate the opportunity to provide our services to Simply Be and continue working closely with FTSE 250 N Brown Group Plc, which Simply Be is a part of. We are hoping Simply Be will set an example for the rest of the 32 brands under FTSE 250 N Brown Group Plc, demonstrating the success of using our software.”
Simply Be have been extremely satisfied with WhichSocial’s software trial and committed to using WhichSocial on a daily basis. Simply Be's Social Media Manager mentioned, "We were impressed to see the updates that the Which Social team had made to the platform on our behalf and to hear of new developments in the pipeline as well".
Manchester-based WhichSocial is a real-time social media ROI tracking software with actionable alerts for ROI-driven digital marketers. The technology helps retailers measure, quantify and improve ROI from Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. WhichSocial has received investment from various business pioneers and institutional investors, such as Creative England, Unilever, Ingenious and Bauer Media. The company is currently working with fashion retailers from FTSE 250 group and Sunday Times’ Fast Track 100 list, as well as one of the 1000 most visited UK website. Visit http://www.whichsocial.com for more details.
GrowthBusiness Feature Collider12
GrowthBusiness is an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs and leaders of fast-growth enterprises, so we are proud to see Collider12 feature on their front page. The article includes video interviews with one of our co-founders, Rose Lewis, and two of our startups, Avocarrot and Locomizer. They share their experience with the Collider12 accelerator, and offer other startups advice on how to raise finance. View the article here to read the whole piece.
Collider12: Six Months On
After a great six months here at Collider12, we couldn't help but reflect back and see what we, and our startups, have achieved.
