Was yesterday ever impressive! We started off with our speed dating event in the afternoon in conjunction with Unilever – over 20 startups and 60+ Unilever professionals all sat down to discuss how big brands can work with start-ups in the future. We even had a presentation from Marc Mathieu, Global SVP of Marketing for Unilever.
After our speed dating session, we co-hosted The Next Big Thing- a showcase for the future stars of the marketing and advertising ecosystem. Eight start-ups from across London’s top accelerator programs pitched their hearts to a panel of four senior industry professionals from top UK brands Unilever, Diageo, Shop Direct and Havas Media. 3 minute pitches, 2 minute Q&A and audience participation via twitter made for some great feedback!
Collider’s own Seenit was the last company to pitch. Co-founder and CEO Emily Forbes captured the attention of every person in the room and left the panel speechless. The demonstration of how brands can engage with their audiences through crowd-sourced video footage had all eyed glued to the projectors. What an exemplary pitch she brought to the stage! Uproarious applause lifted the energy of the room and everyone was busy chatting and tweeting about Seenit post presentation.
After a quick deliberation, the panel returned to announce Seenit as the winner of The Next Big Thing!
“Ad:tech has been unbelievable for us, we’ve made some really great contacts,” Emily mentioned. Her team is also already preparing for the post-conference work. “It’s just the case of starting to build and continue to build the relationships of the people we have met today.”
Congrats again Emily on your team win and to all of the other start-ups who participated in the speed dating!