Archive for the 'Startups' Category

Smaato Mobile Advertising Award: VC Partners and Nominees shortlist 2010 announced

Published on July 29, 2010 in Announcements, Awards, Conferences, Developers, Events, Innovation, Mobile Advertising, Mobile World Congress and Startups. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Smaato Inc., announced the VC partners and a first set of nominees for the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2010. The award will honor mobile publishers or developers with an outstanding mobile ad-enabled solution in several categories: Apple iOS, Google Android, Samsung Bada, Symbian, Windows Phone, RIM Blackberry, websites, branded games and mobile campaigns.

The VC Partners include Frank Boehnke (Wellington), Tim Chang (Norvest Ventures), Niall Davis (aeris CAPITAL), Tim Draper (Draper Fisher Jurvetson), Jörg Sievert (SAP Ventures) and Frédéric Veyssière (Innovacom).

Besides meeting with the above named venture capital partners, Smaato will invite the overall winner to participate at Mobile World Congress, the world’s premier mobile event, taking place in Barcelona, Spain in February 2011. At Mobile World Congress, the winning company will be given the chance to show its services in front of the world’s mobile community.

Here is a preview at some of the nominated mobile apps and websites registered so far for this years’ competition.

4Square Labs, AccuRadio, AccuWeather.com, aka-aki, Aloqa, AroundMe, audioBoo, Barcode Scanner, Brightkite, Bubble, Bump, Buzzd, bWeather, Cellfire Grocery Coupons, City Sense, Compass, cooliris, delivr.com, Doodle Jump, eBay Mobile, eBuddy Messenger, Evernote, Facebook, Fandango Movies, FishLabs, Flirtomatic, Foursquare, Fring, Google Sky Map, Gypsii, Handmark Pocket Express, iCarly: Sam’s Remote Lite, ICQ, iheartradio, imeem Mobile, itsmy, Jumbuck, Kyte, Last.fm, Layar Reality Browser, Liquid Air Labs, Lufthansa, MapQuest 4 Mobile, Meebo IM, Mobiluck, moblr, Moco Space, moTweets, My Tracks, NearbyNow, Nimbuzz, NYTimes, Orbster, pageonce, PandaHome, Pandora Radio, Qeep, Qik Video Camera, RadioTime, RjDj, Rummble, Seesmic for Twitter, Shake, Shazam, Sherpa, Shozu, Skyfire Mobile, SMS2.0, Smule, SPB Mobile Software, Spotify, Squace, Tonchidot, TuneWiki, TV.com, virtual, Twidroid for Twitter, Twikini, unlike networks, USA TODAY, Venista m-Joy, Waze, The Weather Channel, Worldmate, Yelp, YomoMedia.

If you haven’t applied for the award yet, you can still register at www.smaato.com/award.

Deadline for submissions is August 20th, 2010.

I’m again looking forward to review the entries together with the following jury members:

Andy Favell (mobiThinking), Bena Roberts (GoMoNews), Carlo Longino (WIP Mobile Jam), David Murphy (Mobile Marketing), Derek Kerton (Kerton Group), Frederic Lardinois (ReadWriteWeb), Giselle Tsirulnik (Mobile Marketer), Heike Scholz (Mobile Zeitgeist), James Cameron (Camerjam), Jim Cook (MobiAdNews), Kei Shimada (Infinita, JP), Lubna Dajani (Mobile Monday, NYC), Mark Wächter (Mobile Monday Germany & MMA), Matthäus Krzykowski (VentureBeat), Matthew Snyder (ADObjects), Michelle Sklar (bnetTV), Peggy Anne Salz (MSearchGroove), Ragnar Kruse (Smaato) and Tim Green (Mobile Entertainment).

The winner will be announced during CTIA San Francisco, October 6-8, 2010.

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Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 Competition Announced

Published on July 27, 2010 in Announcements, Awards, Developers, Innovation, Mobile Events, Mobile Monday, MobileMonday, Startups, Vodafona Mobile Clicks and mobile 2.0. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Vodafone today announced the launch of Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010, a competition to identify and develop the best, most innovative mobile internet start-ups. Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 will run across three European markets – Netherlands, Portugal and UK.

UPDATE August 11:
Due to a lot of interest from Spanish mobile startups in the last 2 weeks Vodafone announced that Spanish participants are now allowed to register for this year’s contest as well. In sum, only startups from ES, NL, PT & UK are allowed to submit. Deadline will remain August 22nd, 2010 for all startups. Register at http://bit.ly/vmc2010.

The contest is open to any start-up with a great idea for a mobile site, service or application and entrants can compete for the €150,000 prize fund (€100,000 for 1st place and €50,000 to the runner-up) by submitting entries to www.vodafonemobileclicks.com.  The competition is open now, and the closing date for entries is midnight, August 22nd, 2010.

Each entry will be judged on five criteria: originality, creativity and innovation; technical and operational feasibility; economic and financial viability; value to end-users; and finally, on the quality of the management team.

The judging will take place over three rounds. Each competing market will draw up a shortlist of their five best local submissions, a winner will be selected from each shortlist and finally all local winners will be invited to represent their country in a live final at the PICNIC Festival in Holland on September 24th, 2010, where the overall winner will be chosen by a panel of mobile industry experts, including Om Malik, founder of the GigaOM Network, Russell Buckley, VP Global Alliances at Admob (recently acquired by Google), Peter Vesterbacka – Co-Founder Mobile Monday and myself.

This is the third time I will be part of the jury and I have to admit that this is one of the most exciting competitions for mobile startups. I am always impressed by the high standards of the jury selection process that Vodafone is setting, only the best startups come out of this competition. This year, I’m particulary happy to have some great pals and mobile industry experts in the jury. Can’t beat this one!

Launched in 2008, Vodafone Mobile Clicks is a Vodafone initiative designed to accelerate innovation in the mobile internet sector across Europe.

Previous Vodafone Mobile Clicks winners include Layar, an Amsterdam-based company who developed an augmented reality service that allows mobile customers to see information on nearby points of interest by simply looking through a phone’s camera lens. Layar has recently announced a strategic partnership with phone manufacturers LG and Samsung.

For further information about the Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 competition, or to enter your company, go to: http://www.vodafonemobileclicks.com

Here below are the Entry Criteria:

- Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 is open to any individual aged 18 or over resident in the Netherlands, Portugal or the United Kingdom and to Dutch, Portuguese and UK-based start-up companies, businesses, institutions and all other organisations.

- Participants must be or must have the intention to become a start-up enterprise/business in the field of mobile internet products or services. Start-up in this context means that the enterprise/business must be less than 3 years old.

- Each participant may submit only one entry.

- Entries from Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2008 and 2009 may resubmit to Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010.

Good luck to all participants and I hope to see you at the finals at PICNIC!

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Join the Mobile 2.0 Europe Developer Conference

Published on May 21, 2010 in Android, Announcements, App Economy, AppCircus, Application Stores, Applications, Augmented Reality, Barcelona, Conference, Developers, Disruption, Entrepreneurship, Events, Fun, Innovation, Mobile 2.0 Europe, Mobile 2.0 Europe Developer Conference, Mobile 2.0 Event, Mobile Monday, MobileMonday, Moble 2.0 Europe, Nokia, Spanish Startups, Startups, Trends, app stores, apps, development, dotopen and mobile 2.0. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I am pleased to announce the Mobile 2.0 Europe 2010 Developer Conference on June 17 in Barcelona, and there’s going to be, once again, a lot of mobile developer activity in my beloved Mediterranean city.

On June 15-16 and co-located with  Mobile 2.0 Europe, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is holding an Industry Workshop on Augmented Reality and the Web (co-chaired by Mobile 2.0 founder and organizing-committee member Daniel Appelquist). The workshop is free to participants but in order to participate you must submit a position paper. Check their website for more information and instructions on how to submit a paper.

On June 18, 22@Barcelona and Barcelona Activa in collaboration with MediaKIS and the media clusters of Rome, Paris, Amsterdam and Malta, partners of the ImMediaTe project consortium, are organizing the first Mobile Apps Investment Forum. Developers applying for the AppCircus will get a chance to pitch their app at the forum the following day, read below for further information.

And here, the details on the Mobile 2.0 Europe Developer Conference, the one-day event in Barcelona on June 17, 2010 exploring the future of mobile development and innovation, presented by dotopen and the Mobile 2.0 Organizing Committee. This year, with the support of Barcelona City Council, 22@ Barcelona, Nokia, PayPal X, BlackBerry, bluenove, Telefonica Developer Communities, Orange, Vodafone, Microsoft and Skyhook Wireless.

The conference is tailored to mobile developers who want to discover the latest tools and trends in mobile technology (DevTrack) and business (BizTrack).

We’ll kick-off the day with a couple of panels that will set the tone:  “Web vs. Native Apps” and “How to Make Money as a Developer”.

This year’s Developer Track will have 16 different workshop sessions and take place in four fully equipped rooms. Participants will get hands on insights into the latest in mobile development directly from the platform leaders and experts: Nokia, Vodafone, Blackberry, Mozilla, Opera, Paypal and more. Some DevTrack sessions will be:

- HTML5 and the new generation of Tablets [with Julian Moreno Beltran]
- Mobile Mountains [with Tom Hume]
- OneSocialWeb Tutorial [with Laurent Eschenauer]
- Using Geolocation and Maps in Android [with Israel Ferrer]
- HTML5 Apps, The mobile web taking over? [with Wolfram Kriesing]
- Opera Mobile emulator [with Andreas Bovens]
- CouchDB [with Martin Higham]
- Mobile Web Evolution: HTML5, Video, Widgets and APIs [with François Daoust]

The Business Track will be all about the app economy with panels and talks from thought leaders such as Volker Hirsch who will talk about  ”How Social helps to Deliver Effective Freemium Mobile Games & Apps”,  Christine Perey focusing on ”Generating Revenues with Mobile Augmented Reality” and  Vincent Hoogsteder from Distimo will talk about the “Mobile Application Stores State of Play”. Check the speakers’ page for more information and bio’s. More talks will be added the coming days.

To celebrate the great community of mobile developers Mobile 2.0 Europe will close the day with a spectacular AppCircus showcasing 10 of the the most innovative apps live on stage! Apply here if you would like to present your app in front of your peers and industry experts!

The event will be held at the brand new Communication Campus of Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.

Mobile 2.0 Europe Developer Conference is the most open & complete mobile developer conference supported by the major industry players and providing an intense hands-on and engaging experience.

You can get a ticket to Mobile 2.0 Europe Developer Conference for only 99€ for dotopen members. You can register for FREE here! Otherwise, standard ticket price for the event is 299€. Buy here.

Mobile Apps Investment Forum Barcelona, June 18th 2010 Barcelona

22@Barcelona and Barcelona Activa in collaboration with MediaKIS and the media clusters of Rome, Paris, Amsterdam and Malta, partners of the ImMediaTe project consortium, are organizing the first Mobile Apps Investment Forum in the city of Barcelona on 18th June. The developers applying for the AppCircus will get a chance to pitch their app at this forum the following day. Click here fore more information.

I hope to see you in Barcelona next month!

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How To Make Money With Apps @ MobileMonday Madrid

Published on May 18, 2010 in Android, Announcements, App Economy, AppCircus, Application Stores, Applications, Events, Madrid, Mobile Apps, Mobile Branded Apps, Mobile Events, Mobile Monday, MobileMonday, Presentations, Startups, Trends, app stores, apps, dotopen and mobile 2.0. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The next MobileMonday Madrid on May 24 in Ericsson’s ComCenter in Madrid will be all about the economics of the mobile app ecosystem. If you’re building and/or distributing mobile apps, or if you’re looking for app distribution in Spain, this is probably the best place to see some talented app developers’ showcases and, who knows, meet your next business partner.

The program includes speakers from Ericsson, Telefonica, Opera Software and Esteban Díaz who will share his experience as independent developer.

App Developers get also a unique chance to present their app at the event!

MobileMonday Madrid is proud to host the AppCircus – a unique global traveling showcase of innovative apps, supported by Ericsson.

If you’re an app developer, this is your chance to get a 3 minute slot and present your app in front of peer developers and industry experts during this event.

Participation is FREE and open to start ups, big brands and individual developers, so apply here now to the AppCircus @ MobileMonday Madrid and walk the high-wire!

Deadline for submission is Tuesday, May 18 at midnight.

As always: attendance to the event is free; all you need to do is register and/or confirm your presence for this event at www.mobilemondaymadrid.com/subscribe/ and reserve one of the 120 seats available.

Check the MobileMonday Madrid website for further details.

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Mobile World Congress Networking Events

Published on February 5, 2010 in 3GSM, Announcements, Barcelona, Carnival Of The Mobilists, Conference, Conferences, Developers, Events, Gathering Of The Mobilists, Global Peer Awards, Innovation, Mobile Events, Mobile Monday, Mobile Peer Awards, Mobile Premier Awards, Mobile Sunday Barcelona, Mobile World Congress, MobileMonday, MobileSunday, Startups, Trends, dotopen, m2020 and mobile 2.0. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

A week before the mobile craze will hit Barcelona again, here’s my list of *places to be*: the events and networking cocktails – next to the classic big industry players mega parties – where the early adopters and bloggers on mobile hang out… The places to discover more about the early-stage innovations happening in the mobile industry; where the entrepreneurs and startups mix with angel investors and VC’s, operators, device manufactures and applications and services providers. I hope to meet you at one of those events! If you’d like to catch up, best way is to contact me directly on Twitter as @mtrends.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Mobile Sunday

The fifth annual Mobile Sunday at the VINTAGE starting at 7pm CET. It’s THE place to be where you can meet some of the most influent people in the mobile industry. It’s also a unique chance for you to meet the most influent bloggers writing about mobile, to meet many of the contributors of Mobile Trends 2020, and to meet the MobileMonday global chapter founders in one spot during the conference.

  • Time: 7pm onward
  • Location: Vintage- c/ Fusina. 7, 08003, Barcelona
  • RSVP: For a free ticket, click to register for dotopen.com and click on attend this event in your toolbox. Non-dotopen members can purchase a ticket for 25 Euros here.
  • Cost: “free to all registered users of dotopen.com who will also get their company’s logo and pitch shown on the many screens visible at the event.

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Monday, February 15, 2010

Mobile Premier Awards

The Mobile Premier Awards are the largest open and global startup competition in the mobile industry and the point of reference in startup premiers during the Mobile World Congress and are organized in collaboration with some of the main networks in the industry including MobileMonday, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), MEX, MobileActive.org, Women 2.0 and the Women in Mobile Data Association.

The final program is available here.

  • Time: 3-8pm including networking cocktail
  • Location: Petit Palau of Palau de la Musica
  • RSVP: To attend the Mobile Premier Awards in Barcelona on February 15, you can buy full price tickets here on Amiando.
  • If you are a member of dotopen, you (and up to four of your colleagues) can buy a special ticket price of 39€ instead of 99€ for non-members, and you get  additional benefits. Check here for all details on registration.

Mobile Premier Awards dinner

The now ‘classic´Mobile Premier Awards dinner including participating startups, organizers, jury members, MobileMonday chapter organizers, investors, partners, sponsors, bloggers, …

This year at a unique spot called the “Bel-Luna Jazz Club & Restaurant” including live music.

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

GoMo News Blender

Organised by the wonderful Bena Roberts from GoMoNews, this is the perfect cocktail to meet the interesting folks working in the mobile marketing, mobile advertising, mobile search, mobile barcode and mobile application space.

  • Time: 7-11pm
  • Location: Incognito Bar Barcelona, Calle Fusina 6, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
  • RSVP: Required here
  • Cost: Free Sponsored by Smaato

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Wednesday, 17 February, 2010:

TechCrunch Mobile 2010

Mike Butcher and TechCrunch Europe are returning to Barcelona for yet another interactive and live-streamed session featuring some of the most innovative and interesting mobile 2.0 startups and investors in Europe.

  • Time: 2-6:30pm
  • Location: TBA
  • RSVP: Required. Register here.
  • Cost: Standard ticket: 65 Euros

Swedish Beers

Classic Mobile World Congress side-event gathering organised by the always charming host Helen Keegan. Like the previous events, this is a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations, no business cards thrust in your face as soon as you arrive. Just come with an open mind, be prepared to talk nonsense to strangers, enjoy a drink or five and have yourself a good time. Oh, and leave the ties at the door please.

  • Time: 6:30pm-1:30am
  • Location: Dostrece, Calle Carme 40, Barcelona
  • RSVP: RSVP on Facebook here.
  • Cost: Free

Fring & FON’s Late Night Party

Late night party sponsored by Fring and Fon.

  • Time: 10pm
  • Location: Mondo Club, Moll Espanya S/N, 08039, Barcelona, Spain
  • RSVP: By invitation only. 
  • Cost: N/A

Let me know if you’re organizing or know about an event I should definately not miss or you would like me to add to this list. Don’t forget to add why I should be attending :)

Check also the more complete Mobile World Congress side events lists compiled by Lisa Whelan and by Aviv Revach.

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