Unilever Joins Collider12

Unilever Ventures Joins Collider12 Programme, Launches Investment Competition

Collider12 today annouced that Unilever Ventures (UV) has joined Collider12 as a participating investor. Collider12 is the “B2Brand” accelerator founded by Ingenious Media and Pembridge backed with £500k of loan finance from Creative England through the government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF). UV have also confirmed that they have set aside a further £100K which they hope to invest in one of the Collider12 participant companies at the end of the initial 13- week programme, which would value the investee company at a minimum of £1M (post money). The Competition, referred to as “The Unilever Challenge” will be administered by Collider12 and UV. It is open to any startup company which creates “B2Brand” services or products.

To enter, startups need to submit their Business Plans into the Collider12 entry process on www.collider12.com and be accepted onto the Collider12 Programme. Entries close on December 31st 2012.

Entries for The Unilever Challenge will be judged by UV at the end of the first phase of the Collider12 Programme in May 2013. The key criteria for UV will be to find a start-up that has the potential to be a game-changer for key Unilever brands in the way that these brands communicate and interact with their customers via digital channels.

John Coombs, Managing Director of Unilever Ventures, said: “There is a revolution in how people are relating to brands and what brands are for their customers, but the biggest revolution is in the types of services that customers can engage with using mobile and social techniques. The UK has always been at the forefront of media and marketing communications and we are seeing a lot of innovative startups at the moment. We are looking to work closely with a number of these companies to help them develop their capabilities to provide services to big brands like those of Unilever, not just in the UK but around the world.”

Bauer Media Joins Collider12

Bauer Media Joins Collider12 “B2Brand” Programme As Investor and Brand

Collider12 today announced that Europe’s largest privately-owned publishing group, Bauer Media, is investing in Startups and will act as both an Investor and Mentor on the Collider12 Programme.

Collider12 is the “B2Brand” accelerator founded by Ingenious Media and Pembridge backed with £500k of loan finance from Creative England from the government’s Regional Growth Fund.

David Prais from Collider12 said: “Collider12 was set up to bring Startups into a productive working relationship with Brands and we are delighted that Bauer is taking on this dual role on the programme”.

Paul Keenan, CEO of Bauer Consumer Media, said “We are a multi-platform international media group consisting of many household name brands across the magazine and radio sectors. Working closely with Collider12 will enable us to work with creative and technology startups throughout England which will provide us with an important means to continue our innovative approach to reaching and engaging with audiences and advertisers.”

Application Deadline Extended @Collider12

This week a major new partnership will be announced. In light of this the application deadline to Collider12 has been extended until Monday 31st December at 23:59. More to follow.

Deadline Monday, 31 December 2012 at 23:59 GMT

Collider12's @RoseLewis Writes in @TheDrum

Above: "There was no customer service!" Too busy looking cool to remember the customer? Collider12 co-founder Rose Lewis blogs in The Drum about her trip to the Burberry store on Regent Street where the technology is great but brands must leverage this tech to drive revenue. If you think you have some smart tech that helps big brands ultimately sell more product then apply to Collider12 because we would like to hear from you. Read the full article here.

By @mstafford

First Wave of B2Brand Mentors Signed Up

Collider12 today announces the first wave of Brand Mentors for its accelerator programme. They include Chris Whiteley from BBC Worldwide, Robin Chhabra from William Hill and Dan Cresta from CBS Outdoor. Collider12 is a Creative England initiative backed with investment from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund*.

JIM FARMERY, Director of Business Development at Creative England said: “The first three mentors for Collider12 are a good start and we welcome the announcement of more over the coming weeks.”

DAN CRESTA, Head of Client Strategy at CBS Outdoor UK said “CBS is constantly looking to pioneer the use of new technologies to engage consumers in out of home spaces. Our product and asset innovation programme will benefit from the insights, perspective and radical approaches which startups can bring.”

ROBIN CHHABRA, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at William Hill plc said “Innovation is critical to the continued success of companies like William Hill. This is a great opportunity to bring innovation and experience together, by combining the energy and new thinking of the start-ups with the insights and practical application of well-established and high-profile brands.”

CHRIS WHITELEY, VP Digital Strategy & New Business Development at BBC Worldwide Ltd said: “BBC Worldwide understands that new technologies and changes in consumer behaviour will continue to drive significant developments to the media landscape. We are therefore increasing our engagement with the start-up community in order to better understand their innovation and share our global knowledge of the market. We’re delighted to share our experience with the start-ups on the Collider12 Programme”.

DAVID PRAIS from Collider12 said: “Brands are increasingly clear that their corporate innovation programmes benefit from direct engagement with startups. As England’s “B2Brand” accelerator, this is our speciality. We’ve seen incredible financial success in the US come from combining brands with startups and we’re expecting much more of this here in England”.

*The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a £2.4bn fund operating across England from 2011 to 2015. It supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment. Please see www.bis.gov.uk/rgf for more information