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Tag: start-up

  • Web & Mobility Summit: European Startups in the Time of Crisis

    The second Web & Mobility Summit, the event that aims to bring together Europe’s most innovative web & mobility start-ups, venture capitalists and industry professionals, took place last week in Montreux, Switzerland.

    The committee consisting of business angels, venture capitalists and industry specialists has named Europe’s most promising web & mobility start-ups – the CEOs and VPs of 25 companies selected from a pool of over 400(!) had an opportunity to present to an international delegation of more than 100 influential investors, technology industry leaders, service providers and academics.

    The selected companies come from some of the strongholds of the European scene, such as mobile social networks, mobile publishing, adserving and gaming, as well as ecommerce, e-business, payment and billing.

    Although it was hard to find any big innovation listening to the presentations of the selected start-ups (they presented rather proven and well-tested ideas), it was noticeable that all of the companies are doing well, moneywise, even during the crisis, and it seems that this was a primary criteria for the selection.

    “In the time of crisis, I’m looking forward to seeing well trained, well disciplined companies who have not gotten any funding for a while that are going to be more fine tuned and well developed, ” Robert Lang, President of the Summit, said Biz-News.com in the earlier interview, and it seems to be the confirmation of our observations.

    Biz-News.com liked the idea of Madvertise – an internet-based mobile advertising network and online market place. The easy-to-use online auction system allows advertisers and agencies to quickly set-up cost effective mobile ad campaigns with a broad reach.

    Aloqa, other interesting, Munich-based start-up, has developed an application that proactively notifies mobile users of social opportunities, such as Facebook friends close by, and recommends interesting places, services and events in their vicinity.

    Path Intelligence’s FootPath product is “Google Analytics for the real world”, as this Portsmouth-based company calls it. FootPath detects anonymous data is broadcast by shopper’s phones and uses that data to provide aggregated and automated market research to mall owners.

    Another interesting start-up, Apprupt aims to become an internationally wide reaching cross platform mobile application affiliate network and to brong relevance and addicional monetization opportunities to a non-transparent market environment.

    Whereas Stockholm-based Videoplaza aims at becoming the number one platform globally for monetizing IP delivered video. The company develops and commercializes advanced web video advertising platform providing media owners a way to monetize IP delivered videos.

    “Many of today’s big businesses come from the insane ideas that ware born in the heads of young entrepreneurs. And the most insane, but at the same time brave and successful ideas are born in the time of crisis,” said Martin Varsavsky, CEO of FON, trying to mobilize but also appreciate the start-ups during the gala dinner that took place in the Olympic Museum in Geneva.

    “It’s important to note that the combo of doing great business and dealings mixed with the fine dining and mingling at a great venue is a surre fire way to keep the interest,” Lang noticed.

    Sven Lingjaerde, Founder and President of European Tech Tour, said, “Getting access to venture financing in the current market situation is still tough for young companies, but the number of investment are increasing again.”

    He thinks that great companies have often been built in times like these, when resources are scarce.

    “Currently, there are many healthy, active companies out in the market with experienced management that could propel their development to the next level, with the appropriate amount of support from sophisticated investors. Since valuations are improving and cash itself is still a scarce resource, the second half of 2009 is going to be very interesting and will lay the foundation for the further development of a whole industry sector,” Lingjaerde added.

  • Interview with Robert Lang of TechTour Web & Mobility Summit

    The European Tech Tour Association launched the first vertical Summit in 2006 (Semiconductor Summit) in a series of vertical events that will gather the best emerging European companies in a given industry sector.

    This initiative sprouted from the need to identify and showcase European technology start-ups in a vertical industry segment to professionals investing or working within this industry. The concept is to structure a best of best startup track along side an innovative industry specific initiative.

    Based on the words from the website, it appears that the growth of the TechTour has been both expected, but the rate at which it’s grown has been surprising. The concept of being able to highlight some of the most innovating, ground breaking ideas in the industry on various topics has worked well for the last four years and has no signs of going weak.

    The Event Itself

    TechTour is nonprofit organization that puts on many events and they either have a country focus or they are industry focus, but both welcome investors, startups, and innovators to come together. Each of them repeat themselves every 3 or 4 years providing a cycle between each event and summit.

    Robert Lang

    More specifically, the Web & Mobility Summit, which takes place on November 18-19, 2009. It is during these events that we pull together a committee from the industry, venture capitalists, and business angels.

    As companies are encouraged to apply, they are responsible for reviewing all the companies in order to determine which will ultimately present. Not all companies will apply. Some companies have enough money to grow their business, so don’t feel the need to present before venture capitalists.

    After selection is completed, the committee will have approximately 200 companies in the database and from there will break down to 25-30 companies that will ultimately be invited to present at the summit. In attendance will be approximately 100 to 150 delegates mainly from the investor side and private equity industry. Some are just looking for innovation and what’s happening in a specific sector.

    “All the CEO’s will have 20 minutes to present their company and in turn the delegates will walkway with a USB stick of the presentations. The pre-selection process involves one screener and one reviewer, so in the end each company has been looked at twice by a qualified group of people,” says Robert Lang, President of the TechTour Web & Mobility Summit.

    This tight screening ensures the highest quality and most thorough review of all companies presenting. Each CEO has roughly 30 min. time to present and a summarized version is provided in a nice binder. It’s also available on a USB stick that screeners will be able to carry wherever they go. Naturally you still get to meet everyone and carry great conversation.

    Selection of Topics

    Summits have a “topic” or industry focus – the geographic Tech Tours are based on a range of industries from the region.

    “As you go from country to country you get different topics, different verticals, and there’s a lot of interest in all sorts of topics,” says Robert.

    In some cases, without a specific focus on a sector, the event becomes too broad and risks not being appealing for someone in the US for example. But if a vertical is selected for example, Clean Technology, then chances are you’ll draw many more people from all over to hear what’s happening in that specific industry.

    When asked how long it had been since a Web & Mobility Summit, Robert says, “The last mobility summit was in 2007, but now we’re doing it again.”

    The Takeaway

    When it comes to participation, Robert comments that man ask the question, “why should I apply?” If you were a company that had a chance to present before 100 VC’s, it acts as a strong introduction for the company, especially if you’ve been pre-screened and preselected. The companies that apply would be looking for expansion capital, startup capital, or go beyond seed money.

    There are other companies that do not make it past the selection committee. Still, these companies will get exposure just from the selection committee alone. So while some companies may not have been a good candidate for the event, the screeners will remember particular companies and keep an eye on them or they themselves might provide capital if they feel the company is strong enough.

    With regards to the kinds of deals this companies can make, Robert Lang says, “Lots can happen behind the scenes from those that didn’t make it but still seem a viable opportunity.”

    In the end, Robert says that every company involved should hopefully takeaway the opportunity for an investor to be interested enough to help the company break through.

    Partner Assistance

    Because it’s a nonprofit, each event lives off delegate fees and their sponsors. Since it’s moving around to many countries, VC’s are regular supporters who will do at least one tech tour a year. There are many other sponsors who become partners by offering meeting rooms and other amenities that help make it a success. Mostly it’s companies looking for innovation that help sponsor these events.

    “There’s quite a mixture of partners, but the identification of being with the TechTour is becoming substantial on it’s own and there are benefits to be had by participating,” Robert says confidently when asked about the direct benefits to the partners.

    The VP and President of the events are selected differently every year as the tour moves providing experience and an opportunity to be a part of this event. It also attracts new faces based on those individuals personal networks and the reach of the conference can grow exponentially.

    Robert Lang is happy to have sponsors and states, “If we didn’t have sponsors we could not run the event.”

    2009 Expectations

    Robert notes that in this time of crisis, he’s looking forward to seeing well trained, well disciplined companies who have not gotten any funding for a while that are going to be more fine tuned and well developed. Many are looking forward to the dinner in the Olympic museum over looking Lake Geneva. It’s important to note that the combo of doing great business and dealings mixed with fine dining and mingling at a great venue is a sure fire way to keep the interest.

    “If events are not interesting people leave and aren’t inspired to be there, but this event is sure to keep people motivated and engaged,” Robert Lang comments.

    To get more information on how you can be a part of this event, either as an investor or as a presenter, or even if you’re just looking forward to attending, be sure to visit the site for more information.

  • Web & Mobility Summit – Debate the Hot Issues and Network with VCs, Business Angels and Europe’s Top 25 Start-ups

    ADVERTORIAL

    The top three hot issues being debated on the web and mobility scene today are:

    • The European venture capital funding model under revision – how will that effect web and mobility start ups?
    • Constantly evolving media channels.
    • Advertising revenues and payment for content.

    The second Web and Mobility Summit, (Montreux, 18-19 November) will attack those issues with a series of panels and keynotes, while the 25 top European web and mobility start-ups will be there to present to VCs and business angels. A hand-picked delegation of industry leaders, service providers and academics will also attend.

    Register now!

    The 25 selected Start-ups, to be announced at the Summit itself, will come from some of the strongholds of the European scene, such as mobile social networks, mobile publishing, adserving and gaming, as well as Ecommerce, E-business, payment and billing.

    The Start-Up Selection Process

    Companies based or incubated in Europe, Israel and Russia are eligible to participate in the Summit. They submit a full company profile and their latest business plan as well as a draft presentation. Each submission is then reviewed by two members of the selection committee, comprised of 20 senior-level business leaders from various backgrounds including venture capital, technology, research and economic promotion.

    Summit President

    The Web & Mobility Summit President (also CEO of Result), Robert Lang commented, “Europe has been a powerhouse of ideas and concepts for a very long time, but many ideas have been slowed down by small home markets or lack of entrepreneurial spirit. In the field of mobility particularly, there are still many hidden gems in Europe who work in one market and are just waiting to be released worldwide.”

    Summit Organisers

    European Tech Tour     (ETT), is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which recognises that continued prosperity in Europe lies in its ability to transform today’s innovative projects into tomorrow’s global technology leaders. Its goal is to promote European entrepreneurship and provide a platform for entrepreneurs and investors to meet, ideally leading to funding or facilitation of high technology companies looking to expand internationally.

    The Association organizes four country specific tours per year to identify the best emerging companies in a geographical region, as well as two vertical industry events to capture the most innovative European companies in a specific industry segment, such as Semiconductor, Cleantech, Medtech and Web & Mobility.

  • LaCie Merges With Swiss Online-Storage Start-up Wuala


    LaCie has announced that it is to merge with Caleido, the Swiss creator of online storage service Wuala.

    The move signals the French external storage device manufacturer’s entry into the cloud storage service market.

    A statement from the newly merged enterprise said it plans to revolutionize the storage industry by building a unique and sustainable cloud storage service.

    With just 11 staff, Wuala has built up a sizeable user base, mostly in Europe, since its launch in August 2008.

    Its service include innovative online storage that allows its users to store, back up, access, and share files with one another from anywhere in the world.

    Users start with 1GB of storage but can get as much as they want, either by trading idle disk space or by buying additional storage.

    Dominik Grolimund, co-founder and CEO of Caleido AG, said the merger was a major leap forward for Wuala and would take it to the next level.
    He described LaCie as the perfect match for the start-up.

    "Together we will realize the vision we embarked on more than four years ago while researching the basics of Wuala at the ETH Zurich: to build a reliable and secure cloud storage by integrating millions of devices around the world," he said.

    Philippe Spruch, founder and CEO of LaCie, said it had a strong vision for where the future of storage is headed.

    He said the merger had allowed it to acquire a very innovative online storage solution that will transform the business from a leading hardware manufacturer to a comprehensive digital storage provider.

    "LaCie believes storage versatility will influence the industry, and we look forward to providing our customers with new, cutting-edge ways to store their valuable data through our upcoming product offerings," he said.