The MBJ Launchpad £200K competition video is now live, check it out, with me in mentor and judge role. (More notes to follow..)
Plus check out the live blog from the night on 22 October at Google Campus!
http://twitter.com/AvennuTeam/status/657244318802034688/photo/1
And the winners are MoonROK!
Its now between MoonROK and SocialBelly!
Runner Ups: (no particular order)
i2i
beepbeep
Avennu
1 Winner and 4 in Second Place.
Took them a bit longer due to a tough choice.
15 mins break before final announcements.
Topics touched by questions: next steps, dating apps, conversion rates, sustainability of business model, favourite foods.
Smashingly handled to be honest.
Yet another strong pitch. Now onto questions before the panel go off and make a decision on who wins the £100k development plan from MBJ.
Food is just the beginning, aiming to actually disrupt how people socialise.
A 2am meeting that’s already generating revenue by bringing people together over meals with strangers.
Final pitch by: Social Belly
BRINGING YOU A SENSE OF BELONGINGNESS
Help to make moving to a new city easier.
Questions posed on: venue incentives, vetting, competition and automation.
All answered easily and with confidence.
Well presented, with a strong understanding of their market. Currently NY-only but with big plans. Now onto some questions from the panel.
Already funded current version through Kickstarter.
9/10 creative spaces in NY do NOT offer online bookings. 60% of the time, event spaces are vacant.
$127m is lost potential revenue in NY alone!
Up next: Avennu
Some gruelling questions from the panel about marketing, automated cars, and competition.
A well structured and well thought through pitch. Now onto Q&As.
Aim to create efficient cities and connect people through technology.
Combination of: parking logistics, connecting drivers in big cities and a mobile parking app.
70% of world population with live in a city by 2050.
Up now: BeepBeep
Quick 15 min break before the next 3 pitches.
Interesting to hear how the K-pop fans buy CD’s as collectibles as oppose to utilities.
Very strong pitch with steady and impressive numbers, as well as a big plan for what’s next.
K-Pop generated $5.3bn export revenue in 2014, via 21 million fans worldwide.
Lots of head’s bouncing to K-Pop samples!
i2i network fielding the judges/mentors questions well.
Questions about regulation, community and alternative revenue channels.
UK Crowdfunding in last 6 months: More than £80,000,000 invested through more than 100k transactions
First up to pitch: i2i network
They are:
Michael Smith – Head of Marketing at IBM
Stuart Hall – Former head of SEO @ eBay – MBJ Advisory board
Sargar Sarkar – Former head of corporate communications @ Morgan Stanley – MBJ Señor Advisor / Private Marekting consultant
Cathy Han – Corporate lawyer @ DAC Beachcroft – head of DAC startup lab team
Heather Darnell – Director of Ask-The-Boss financial advice
Short and sweet keynote done. Now the mentors/judges are just introducing themselves.
How Meta!
As I said, teams are ready!
Mentors/judges are here now too and the audience is starting to fill up.
Teams are ready. People are starting to arrive. So much energy already!
A lot of excitement as the teams get ready to pitch tonight. There will be a short break in the begging of the Live Blog, as I’m proudly delivering giving the keynote. But I’ll be right here updating you all each and every pitch, right until a winner is announced this evening.
