On Monday, 10th September we teamed up with The Marketing Society to host our first major brands speed networking event with some of our best startups! We did a shorter smaller version with Albion a few months before and found it extremely highly rated. Albion connected us with The Marketing Society and off we went, the 3 of us working together.
The Marketing Society is dedicated to encouraging their members to become bolder marketing leaders. To enable this The Marketing Society helps their members develop new approaches to the business challenges they face. It is a very compelling organization with a deep understanding of the needs of Marketers and a trusted relationship with many of UK’s top brands. We are privileged to work together with their team.
Startups have disruptive technology with fresh solutions to longstanding industry problems and ground-breaking ideas for Brands/Corporates to excite their customers and either get ahead of their competition or be absolutely blind-sided by this disruption.
So how do these 2 great forces come together for mutual benefit? We provided the missing ingredient to make this event happen; Seedcamp has a portfolio of Europe’s best up-and-coming technology startups, a great and growing relationship with The Marketing Society, and a tried and true platform for making long-term connections happen.
Ten of our most promising startups presented their propositions to some of the biggest brands and brand agencies including; ASOS, Blast Radius, Barclaycard, Digital UK, Freeview, Herd Consulting, HSBC, LBi, MBA, Outside Line, Razorfish, RBS and Vodafone. This was a truly unique opportunity, as partnering with larger corporates is crucial to the startups’ growth and staying on top of disruptive forces is a big part of a Marketer’s role. Essentially a recipe for a perfect match-up.
Speed networking followed lightning fast intros from the brands and startup presentations. Here is a quote from one of the brands present.
“Set amidst the celebration of sporting achievement during the London Olympics, it was a privilege to partake in a celebration of sorts of some of the most promising minds the digital space has to offer in the UK. Amidst the crowd of industry leaders, it was stimulating to see the innovation brought forward by this promising new wave of tech entrepreneurs, and a great opportunity to assess and consider how such products and their application can offer value to our product offerings going forward, fundamentally supporting our aim to provide the best experience we can to our customers and partners alike. We can certainly see us actively following the platform going forward”. Saj Arshad, Group Marketing Director at Vodafone.
This is what Gemma Greaves, Marketing Director, The Marketing Society said about the event;
“We were completely energised by the appetite of both our members and Seedcamp entrepreneurs to meet, learn and share ideas. We pride ourselves on leading the agenda across all things marketing and partnering with the great guys at Seedcamp allowed us to showcase the latest technology and smartest entrepreneurs that our members need to know about in a very inspiring setting. This will definitely be a key part of our programme in the future. Very exciting”.
The startups also had hugely positive feedback:
“An excellent brand and partnership event from Seedcamp! It’s always difficult to get in front of the major players in digital marketing and to have such a strong audience of major decision makers in brands was extraordinarily valuable. Thank you!” Rob Stevenson, Sales Director Hooplo Media
As the event proved of great value and some good fun to all participants, we have decided to make this a fixed biannual event in our calendar. We’re sure the afternoon will result in great partnerships between the brands and the startups with many business cards swapped and conversations still on going.
Taking a look back at our yearly investment cycle, which just ended, we are confident in claiming that it has been a fantastic year. The number of startups applying to Seedcamp events increased, the geographical diversity of our events and investments is high, amazing teams like Traity, Checkthis and Sayduck amongst others joined the family, as well as new funds, investors and mentors.
With the biggest Seedcamp Week ever organised just around the corner, we are excited that next month we will start our new investment cycle with a fresh bang at Seedcamp Budapest. Not only it is the first Seedcamp to take place after our annual flagship event, but it is also the first time we are holding this day-long mentorship programme in Hungary.
First time in Hungary Having explored the startup ecosystem in Central and Eastern Europe over the past four years in different locations, this time we are excited to be surveying one of the most entrepreneurial cities of the region. Impressed by Antavo‘s thirst for success as well as the strong technical expertise of startups like Prezi, the applications received so far don’t prove us wrong with regard to the quality and ambition of the teams.
On 25 October, we have a great mix of local and international mentors joining us, who are looking forward to meeting the top 20 teams. To give you a small teaser as to which angel investor, marketing guru or biz dev expert could be mentoring you, here are some of our mentors:
Sponsor and Event Partner We have a very strong team supporting us and we are fortunate and extremely grateful to have the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as our event sponsor for Seedcamp Budapest. EBRD Venture Capital Investment Programme is a dedicated €100 million capital pool investing in early and growth stage innovation and technology startups originating from Central Europe to Central Asia. It is a great fit for the teams we will be meeting in Budapest.
As well as EBRD, we’ve have been offered tremendous support from our local partner, the European Entrepreneurship Foundation (EEF). It has been fantastic working with Peter Záboji, an old friend, who will ensure that it will be an epic inaugural event.
Apply Now If you have a kick-ass startup and you want to be a part of this event, then don’t wait, the clock is ticking! Make sure you don’t miss it: articulate your company’s vision, show your progress and most importantly have a great product: apply to become the winner of Seedcamp Budapest. Applications close on 16 September at midnight GMT. For more information about the process, see here.
This is a Guest post by John Ndege who has joined us as our first EIR (Expert In Residence) for the past few months. We have started experimenting with bringing in some of our mentors and friends on a part time basis to work extensively with our companies, and spread knowledge within the network. John has built a great relationship to many of our startups, and we are keen to further work on this program within Seedcamp.
For the last 7 weeks I’ve been working at Seedcamp as an Expert in Residence. I came with the expectation that I would “learn a lot, meet great people and have fun”. The same hopes everyone has when they start working in a new team. I was also expecting to contribute my knowledge and experience back into the startup ecosystem that had given me so much. With just over a month at Seedcamp and another four weeks to go, I have to redefine what it means to “learn a lot, meet great people and have fun” since my experience at Seedcamp has been beyond fantastic.
Simply put it is a person who sits in Seedcamp HQ advising portfolio companies in an area in which they are an expert. For me that is marketing, product development and growth based on my four years working at Facebook. Everyday I critique and suggest new ideas that will help Seedcamp companies achieve their goals. I introduce startups to my contacts and help them navigate large companies in the hope that they can strike a partnership. I meet founders everywhere, either in person at the Seedcamp offices or online on Vox.io. I am a sounding board for entreprenuers as they build their businesses. What starts off as informal advice can also lead to a formal position on an advisory board with equity in the company. The role is flexible, giving you the opportunity to work as you see fit. The only steadfast requirement is doing your best to make the people around you successful.
What I found out working at Seedcamp is that the more you teach and advise the more you learn yourself. Just by sitting in the Seedcamp offices you become familiar with deal terms and the investor climate. You will discover what makes someone likely to invest and what turns people off. I personally spent hours in pitch training to discover what it takes to get it just right. As someone looking to pursue my own venture in the near future this experience has been invaluable. Through Seedcamp’s events I’ve also had a chance to meet many of Europe’s most well regarded venture capitalists and entrepreneurs giving me a chance to improve my own network and learn from their experiences.
So what’s next? Seedcamp opens a lot of doors. An Expert in Residence could go on to start a company, work in venture capital, do angel investing or join an established technology company. Whatever you choose you will find the amazing Seedcamp team ready to help. The ecosystem is truly your oyster.
If you are already a Seedcamp mentor, please get in touch with us about the opportunities of working with us as an EIR.
These are the startups you’ll see at Seedcamp Week this year. Follow them on AngelList to keep in touch.
Seedcamp’s Profile on Angellist:
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