Member Article

Thinking Digital team on the hunt for stellar startups

A national hunt for the most promising UK startup ideas has been launched by the organisers behind the North East-hosted Thinking Digital Conference.

The competition aims to shine a light on innovative startup ideas, particularly those that have the potential to excite and inspire audiences at this year’s upcoming three-day conference.

Teams who are successful with their initial application will be handed a three minute pitch in front of audience of industry judges, innovative thinkers, creative entrepreneurs, financiers, potential partners and journalists, at a pre-conference event.

A shortlist of ten startups will then go on to deliver their pitches to the 500-strong audience at the Thinking Digital Conference on May 21, at Sage Gateshead.

Editor of Betarocket John Hill, one of the collaborating organisers of the competition along with accelerator programme Ignite, said: “The competition is about showcasing great ideas, and how those ideas can really get an audience to sit-up and take notice.

“This is a great opportunity for nascent startups and entrepreneurs to articulate their idea to an audience filled with potential collaborators, investors and contacts.”

J.Paul Neeley of 2012 startup competition winner Yossarian Lives said: “Winning the 2012 Startup Competition was brilliant for us. We got a lot of amazing coverage and online chatter from people coming to our site to see what we were doing. It was the perfect place for us to get recognition and credit for what we were doing.

“There’s a unique audience at Thinking Digital – forward thinkers and thought leaders who come together to talk about the future and cutting-edge tech.”

To enter, startups must not have received their first received payment for goods or services before April 1 2013, and must be available to take part in the preliminary pitching round on May 20 before pitching again, in front of the Thinking Digital Audience on May 21.

Those wishing to apply should visit the application form here.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .