Locomizer, a Collider Startup, Featured in the Startups 100 List

Startups.co.uk has today revealed the UK’s 100 most exciting and innovative new businesses that make up the 2013 Startups 100. Launched in 2008, Startups 100 was the first index of its kind – a celebration of the best in new British businesses. Now in its fourth year, the list is Startups.co.uk’s biggest and most popular annual feature, counting down the top 100 start-ups to have launched in the last three years. Entrants are judged by the Startups team against a host of criteria, but primarily for innovation, impressive financials and growth potential.

Included in this list is Locomizer, a Collider12 startup.  Alex Polykov, a co-founder of Locomizer, said that "We are very excited to be part of this year's 100 startup list. There was a rigorous selection process and the fact that we have made the list serves as a perfect validation for locomizer's product vision. There is still some room for improvement and we are determined to move up the ranks next year."

After more than 10 years of scientific research on cell behaviour in nature and humans, Polyakov and Poliakov came up with an idea to invent a new method of audience discovery. Locomizer and the nature-based algorithm behind it is the final product of that idea. Using its specialised algorithm, the company enables businesses to better understand their customer profiles by providing them with accurate user interest profiles generated by the places and surroundings where they spend their time. The concept behind it being that our real-life interests and preferences are a ‘product of our local footprint’. Launched only recently with £150,000 of seed capital from business angels, the company has already signed five major clients to its service and has a series of growth plans in place. Over the next year it’s looking to expand its engineering team which in turn will help develop the scale-up of its commercial infrastructure. It also has strategies in place to execute full-scale launches of its personal location data service with select commercial partners.

Learn more about Locomizer here and read more about Startups 100 here.

Pizza, Beer, & Startup Advice

A highly experienced panel will be at TechHub Manchester on the 31st October to answer your questions about raising money for your startup. We have all grounds covered with representation from crowdfunding, venture capital, an accelerator and a startup, all of whom have the relevant experience and knowledge to offer advice to startups seeking to fund the growth of their businesses.

The format of the event is a 1hr Q&A on the subject of gaining investment with a panel of 4 people, followed by beer, pizza and the chance to network. You can tweet us in advance with any questions on the subject which you would like the panel to answer, at @Collider12.

Format:

• Venue: TechHub Manchester
• Time: 31 Oct 2013, 6:30pm - 9:00pm
• Register: On Eventbrite
• Price: Free

Panelists:

• Rose Lewis, Founding Partner of Collider;
• Darren Westlake, CEO of CrowdCube;
• (TBC) from EV and
• Andrew Ko, CEO of local heroes and TechHub Manchester members, Moment.Us, a Collider12 startup.

Here's your chance to probe the experienced minds for when it comes to choosing the right funding for your startup. Sign up for your spot by clicking here!

Investor Breakfast at Warner Yard

We recently held an Investor Breakfast at Warner Yard, where startups and investor chatted informally while sipping coffee and snacking on bacon sarnies. We were pleased to be able to introduce Beem and Miappi to Russell Buckley from Ball Park Ventures/ UKTI, Federico Pirzio-Biroli from Playfaircapital and Pamir Gelenbe from Hummingbird Ventures. The investors got to try out the technology for themselves, ask the founders any questions, and offer hard-earned advice. One particular theme which came up a few times was the question regarding whether your startup is a vitamin or a painkiller. There has been quite a few articles written around this subject (you can find one here) but it's also good to question your own startup. Are you solving a real problem to a large pain (a painkiller), or are you simply providing a short-term solution (a vitamin)?

We love holding events where we can introduce our tech startups to our wide network of investors. If you want to become a Collider startup and join our accelerator, apply here.

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.

Collider12 Startups Pitching to Become TheNextBigThing

Three of our Collider startups will be presenting  tomorrow at ad:tech London for the chance to be crowned The Next Big Thing. Avocarrot, Locomizer, and Miappi will be up against some great startups and will be pitching to a panel full of large brands. The winner will be announced on Thursday, so stay tuned to find out who will be victorious.