The Mad World of MadTech: May Roundup

There's never a dull day in startup land, with May going down as a month of PROGRESS. We've seen impressive positions in rankings, our recent 2017 grads growing and achieving great challenges, thrown our own event for some of the UK's leading brands and of course, enjoyed a surprise or two...

 1. Good-Loop’s ethical ads displaying on The Londonist

Nothing can stop these guys who seem to be on quite the roll, and of course, we couldn't be prouder! Our recent grad, who was also winner of the Collider 2017 Demo Day, have secured several exciting achievements recently.

This time, Good-Loop's ethical ads are now live on The Londonist! You should really go check it out, especially given you'll be giving a donation to charity.

 2. Rate8 are stomping!

But that’s not all from our recent grads this month, as Avi, founder of Rate8 from this year's cohort, was selected as a Founder of the Future by Founders Forum.

Huge congrats to you Avi!

 3. Seenit to double team by 2018

The Seenit family keeps growing and growing… to the extent that next year, they'll be twice the size they are now!

As we're sure you've seen yourself, this team are really nailing it, and much comes down to Founder and CEO Emily's attitude, who understands the importance of having an inspired, motivated and engaged team, which is, needless to say, a key factor for success.

You can read more here.

4. Seenit and Pixoneye stopped Startups 100 list

Collider alumni in Startups 100

Seenit and Pixoneye have both been awarded deserved positions in the longest-running index of the best new businesses.

Huge congrats to both teams!

5. Brand Event was a not-to-be-missed one

https://twitter.com/ColliderGB/status/867083402029256704

It was a pleasure to be surrounded of some incredible brands in our Big Brand Event last week – we kept this intimate, with the ultimate goal of discovering the similarities between totally different brands (and their methods) when it comes down to innovation.

A huge thanks to dunnhumby, Diageo and BT for joining us in the panel, along with Iain from CampaignAmp, another of our 2014 alumni, who gave a brilliant startup view.

6. Beem shows off new logo!

Collider alumni Beem

Alumni Beem have a new logo and we love it! This fancy prism works as a perfect metaphor for the team as it represents their business idea and what their day-to-day looks like.

Such a nice symbol and even better story from Co-Founder Lee, riiiiight here.

Best Things We've Heard All Week | MadTech Roundu

Last week was a week of random facts, and our top MadTech news will provide just that. Here are the best things we heard all week.

1. Self-driving cars could flip the auto insurance industry on its head

We caught up with our good friends from LV who produced this little nugget of information.

It's thought there will be a huge shift of responsibility from driver to car manufacturer, as well as a general price decrease.

And that got us thinking – where will insurers now focus to grow their market, and, more importantly, how will they advertise better to build a share of sectors like health which are seen as a big opportunity?

2. The Next Web was awesome

And the incredible LivingLens got through to the final of their scaleup pitch event. Congrats!

We actually joined our partners, Startup Amsterdam, at their stall this time and were really impressed with the quality of startups we met. Don't forget, we're still accepting applications for our first Amsterdam cohort!

https://twitter.com/Livinglenstv/status/865278436381773826

3. The Europa's nominees featured some of our key community

That's right, Richard Fearn and Gabbi Cahane – we're looking at you!

If you want to vote, you can do so here.

4. A slice of proof that we've got to do more

Yep, we weren't best pleased with this update, but with this bad news can come positivity if we all try. What were your thoughts?

Not just another startup/scaleup mentor network

As a startup, being part of Collider doesn't just stop at the programme. It's what we like to call a life long relationship, where we don't just reappear in your inbox every once in a while informing you of 10% off [insert startup offer here].

But really, this is important. There's all too much investment and no guidance, or an abundance of sickly, textbook sales training that leaves startups stuck on a cycle of "they loved me!" moving onto "but why hasn't it converted?" out there. That's not good enough for us, and certainly not good enough for our incredible startups.

Making the relationship count between accelerator and startup

It has to count – to make a difference and to really nurture the relationship, and sometimes, that means seeking advice elsewhere.

So what better people to go to than some of the brightest names in MadTech, including Sarah Wood, Anu Shah, Zaid Al-Zaidy, Rod Banner, Marion Barnard, Richard Fearn and Frank Kelcz – the exact list that joined us as part of our Scaleup Mentor Network last Friday.

https://twitter.com/RodBanner/status/862976298393772033

Not just another mentoring scheme

We believe the UK has a huge opportunity to build the next generation of companies in marketing and advertising that can make a global impact. Yes, that does mean the next unicorn.

And that's why we created the Scaleup Mentor Network, and also why it's different from everything else.

We invite only the very best names from the MadTech entrepreneurial world, VCs and agencies and the very best, most successful, rapidly growing Collider startups.

This time, we were joined by alumni Beem, LivingLens, Seenit, CampaignAmp and Pixoneye, and is also where we jotted down this incredible quote, comparing startup life to that of a child.

Collider Mentor Network Sarah Wood Seenit

Extended support

We also had the folks from Microsoft Bizspark join us, who brought along Ella Cockerell – expert in enterprise and with years of incredible sales experience. As we continue to develop our relationship with the Microsoft folk, our startups were left super pleased with having a new face in the room, and the added support Ella brought.

Collider Scaleup Mentor Network

Best Things We've Heard All Week: MadTech News

We've had rain, we've had sun, and when the temperature dropped in the middle of the week, we may as well have had snow.

Typically British – talking about the weather first – but yes, it's been another hectic week (for MadTech too, not just the skies). So here's our roundup of the best things we've heard all week.

1. We compared the age of a scaleup to the behaviour of a child.

Collider Mentor Network Sarah Wood Seenit

Well actually, it was Lee from Beem. Honestly: "We're a five-year-old company, and like many five-year-olds, were full of unique potential and not without challenges."

Lee served up this slice of gold dust at our Scaleup Mentor Network on Friday, where we had some of the biggest names in MadTech including Sarah Wood, Anu Shah, Zaid Al-Zaidy, Rod Banner, Marion Barnard, Richard Fearn and Frank Kelcz.

We were also joined by the team at Microsoft Bizspark, who once again supported us in providing the best community and support as possible to our startups, with Ella Cockerell joining us too.

2. Celebrate and embrace your vulnerability, because if you don't feel any, you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough.

That's a quote from Co-Founder Andy's favourite article of the week, and something we couldn't agree with more.

If you're a new manager and not sure what to focus on, definitely give it a read.

3. A huge win for the tech scene.

improbable founder

Did you see this update? UK virtual reality firm Improbable announced their $500m raise last week, which meant the latest UK unicorn was born.

4. Our animal knowledge is not what we thought.

We got told – good and proper. Turns out, Karmarama's short legged llama is apparently an alpaca. Oops.

https://twitter.com/shaunmnemonic/status/861540202682122245

5. Startup pop up trial landed on our doorstep.

We were pretty excited to see the incredible City Mapper bus outside Collider HQ last week. Did anyone hop on their free bus?

https://twitter.com/andyt8/status/861936710246117377

Best Things We've Heard All Week: MadTech News

The working week never feels long enough, but if someone suggested lengthening it, we'd laugh, cry and result in a resounding no. (Come on, even you entrepreneurial types).

But with so much going on in MadTech, from adtech and martech news, industry events, recent raises and inspiring people, here's our summary of the best things we've heard all week.

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1. "As the world gets more serious, social media becomes more trivial".

As a die hard lover of the Nokia 3210 ("I mean... it has snake"), Bob Geldof is never going to be the biggest fan of social, but his views gave us some serious food for thought.

Our marketing lady Tazz headed to a breakfast meet up with the man himself, who blames social media for many people's misjudgement, raising the point that speaking out on social isn't 'doing something' or 'doing good', it's just a self fulfilling prophecy which blocks us from making things count.

https://twitter.com/TazzGault/status/857596591338917888

2. We coined FONK.

Thanks Gabbi.👌

https://twitter.com/GabbiCahane/status/857980672929124354

3. Business is to "work with people who believe what you believe".

You know the quote? It's pretty powerful, no matter how many times you hear it. And that's why Co-Founder Rose thought this article – 27 things one person learnt from Simon Sinek – is well worth a read.

Point one: It took Simon over 11 years to become an overnight success...

4. Will the UK manage to fill the gap between seed funding and Series B?

It's a common debate in the office, and this week in particular, it became a bit of a theme.

We read this article from the Financial Times, and enjoyed a heated debate at FastPay's meet up, discussing the crucial matter of how to scale a digital media business. We'd love to hear your thoughts?

https://twitter.com/ColliderGB/status/857871545997430785

5. The llama at Kamarama's legs are too short.

Well, according to Co-Founder Andy anyway, who spent Friday afternoon with the Unilever Foundry judging a panel.

https://twitter.com/andyt8/status/860482978815803392