Engage, explore, and be inspired by “The Future; Now” as we introduce the incredible achievements of UK trailblazers who are shaping the destiny of the global creative economy.
Rosamund O’Neill North America Sector Director
Creative, Media and Sports Economy - Trade and Investment, Department for Business and Trade
I am thrilled to introduce this remarkable cohort of UK creative technology companies that have been carefully selected by our team at the Department for Business and Trade to showcase their innovative
ideas and capabilities at SXSW in Austin, Texas. These companies represent the very best of new UK creativity and innovation, each contributing to the fast-evolving landscape of the global digital creative economy.
Each of these companies brings a unique perspective to the table, covering a spectrum of creative fields such as music technology, enhanced reality, metaverse development, new live experiences, and the most engaging creative storytelling. We believe all have what it takes to meet the needs of global businesses who are ambitious to journey at pace into this exciting future economy.
At the heart of this extraordinary showcase is UK House at SXSW, where the future of the world’s digital creative economy is being built today.
Over the last seventeen years, the UK Government’s expert teams have been bringing the brightest in the UK Creative and Media Industries to collaborate at SXSW. This is your exclusive opportunity to engage with the innovators and visionaries who are shaping the future of technology and creativity. UK House serves as a microcosm of the UK’s dynamic and ever-changing creative landscape, bringing together these pioneering companies under one roof.
The overarching theme for UK House at SXSW is encapsulated in three powerful words: “The Future; Now.” This succinctly captures the essence of the showcased technologies and creative businesses.
It’s a testament to the forward-thinking mindset that defines these UK companies, demonstrating that the future of the creative economy is not a distant concept—it is happening right now. Whether you’re interested in the cutting-edge developments in fan engagement, exploring the limitless possibilities of virtual production, immersing yourself in unforgettable live experiences, or thinking through how your brand can contribute positively to your customers lives, UK House at SXSW is the place to be. And do meet with the companies in this brochure – they are here at SXSW to demonstrate that the future is not just a concept but a reality that you can experience today.
Thank you, and enjoy this journey into the future!
The UK’s Department for Business and Trade leads on economic growth and supports businesses to invest, grow and export.
For UK companies looking to export to the US, the Department for Business and Trade can provide tailored support and advice including arranging missions of UK companies to the US to meet with possible export partners; making critical business introductions to US companies; advising companies on export regulations and best practice; and supporting trade policy.
For US companies looking to grow their business overseas, the Department for Business and Trade also provides complimentary, tailored investment support including helping build key contacts in the UK and providing custom
information on R&D support, relevant regulations, financial incentives, and immigration issues.
His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for North America leads the team across the US and Canada with staff located at the British Embassy in Washington, DC and at British consulates in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco.
Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask how our Creative, Media and Sports Economy Team can support your company’s international growth.
Tendai Chetse
Head of Creative Industries
The Department for Business and Trade, London
+44 (0)7561 807372
Tendai.Chetse@businessandtrade.gov.uk
Rosamund O’Neill
North America Sector Director for Creative, Media and Sports Economy
The Department for Business and Trade British Consulate - Los Angeles
+1 310 279 6858
Rosamund.Oneill@businessandtrade.gov.uk
Lara Purser
Senior Trade & Investment Officer
The Department for Business and Trade British Consulate - Houston
+1 713 553 7887
Lara.Purser@businessandtrade.gov.uk
David Moody
Sector Specialist – Advertising and Creative Technology
The Department for Business and Trade, London
+44 (0)7557 865474
David.Moody@businessandtrade.gov.uk
sean@weareanagram.co.uk
weareanagram.co.uk
linkedin.com/company/anagram-immersive/
instagram.com/weareanagram/
Company Bio:
Anagram is an award-winning creative studio specializing in interactive storytelling and immersive experience design that challenges the status quo.
Specialities:
Anagram is a creative studio making immersive experiences that use physical and interactive storytelling across a number of contexts to challenge, inspire
and influence the cultural discourse around present social and political issues. We use our platform to amplify radically important voices who may be working in the relevant areas in other capacities, as frontline workers, activists, or lobbyists. Our mission is to tell individual narratives in a way that brings profound new perspectives.
There is a global mental health crisis.
The surge in demand for mental health services that accompanied the pandemic has continued, while the go-to services for the patients experiencing distress are under extreme pressure with burnout and staff walk-outs at record highs.
Guided by an Advisory Panel of experts, and in partnership with the NHS and the University of the West of England, Anagram has developed a unique, immersive empathetic training program called INSIDE MENTAL HEALTH to enable better training for a series of mental health issues.
INSIDE MENTAL HEALTH combines Anagram’s award winning, Emmy nominated, Playing with Reality XR series with personalized learning sessions designed and led by healthcare professionals. This has created a unique experience that enables healthcare professionals and medical students the time and space to explore their understanding of patients with mental health issues.
“Anagram really understands how to use VR meaningfully in learning. Working with them brought value, significance and impact to our teaching.”
Lucy Watkins, Senior Lecturer for Mental Health Nursing, University of West England www.insidementalhealth.io
jon.meggitt@arcade-xr.com
arcade-xr.com
linkedin.com/company/arcade-xr/
Company Bio:
ARCADE is at the forefront of the UK creative XR landscape, partnering with global commercial leaders, icons of sport and entertainment and legendary cultural institutions to create entirely new ways of engaging audiences.
Specialities:
ARCADE is The Creative Reality Company - an internationally acclaimed digital
experience practice on a mission to connect people to place through play.
We specialize in using AI and XR technologies to reimagine audience engagement for brands, retail, sports, entertainment and the arts, creating digitally immersive experiences for a world that’s becoming ever more spatial. Technically inventive, thoughtfully creative and seriously playful - we are architects of the extraordinary.
brigid@audiomob.com
audiomob.com
linkedin.com/in/brigid-judge/
Company Bio:
Audiomob’s patented technology allows game developers to seamlessly insert audio adverts into their games.
Specialities:
Focusing on audio-only adverts, developers can monetize their games without disrupting the player’s gaming experience.
This creates a better ad ecosystem for developers, advertisers, and players. One that gives players more control over when and how they experience in-game ads, encouraging them to Play OnTM uninterrupted for longer.
giles.vincent@beep.digital
beep.digital
linkedin.com/in/gilesvincent/
Company Bio:
Beep is a multi-disciplinary, technology influenced design studio.
Specialities:
Together we create world-class brands, powerful videos, creative campaigns, digital experiences and beautiful graphics.
We’re strategically positioned in the UK and US to work collaboratively with
businesses, partners, entrepreneurs that want to achieve authentic branding and rapid growth.
Whatever your company size, our full service design solution is designed to supercharge your creative and marketing objectives.
joanna.alpe@bildstudios.com
bildstudios.com & marsvolume.com
linkedin.com/in/joannaalpe/
Company Bio:
Bild Studios: powering the future of performance.
Specialities:
We specialize in the design and engineering of worldwide video projects for live events, architectural media installations, AR for live broadcast & mobile apps, and virtual production services - delivering to the world’s
largest live shows such as Dubai Expo, MSG Sphere, Eurovision, Cirque du Soleil, Beyonce and some of the biggest brands in the world such as Disney, Netflix, MACYS among others. Our unique approach brings European precision engineering and London creative vision to North America.
Bild specializes in t he design and engineer ing of wor ldwide video projects f or live events, arc hit ectural media inst allations, AR f or live broadcast & mobile apps, and vir tual production ser vices.
david.ball@brandfuel.co.uk
brandfuel.co.uk
linkedin.com/company/brandfuel-ltd/
instagram.com/brandfuel/
Company Bio:
An award-winning creative agency specializing in the design, planning and delivery of live and online conferences, exhibitions, events, brand identity and digital services.
Specialities:
We fuel the brands that shape our world - global brands like Android, Arm, Bloomberg, Google, QuantumBlack,
Snapchat, Stripe and Zoom. We deliver their brand experiences at seminal moments in their calendars and at key tent-pole events around the world.
Over 19 years, we have established an international reputation for producing global events with exceptional creativity and attention to detail, and with purposeful integration of interactive technologies.
tm@celestial.show
celestial.show
linkedin.com/company/celestialdrones
instagram.com/celestial_drones
Company Bio:
Celestial is a world leading drone art creator that designs and produces immersive shows.
Specialities:
Celestial is redefining the entertainment industry with premium drone light shows for major brands such as Samsung, Eurovision, Amazon Prime, London New Year’s Eve and Greenpeace. A creative collective of animators, filmmakers, producers and tech experts, Celestial
excels in innovative storytelling, fusing creativity with the latest drone light technology. This is strengthened by collaborations with top global talent.
Celestial champions drone art as a positive force, providing visually stunning, immersive entertainment. Drone shows offer a new, low carbon alternative to fireworks as well as a unique and innovative vision for audiences of experiential content.
dan@creaturelondon.com
creaturelondon.com
linkedin.com/in/dancullenshute
twitter.com/creature_dan
instagram.com/creaturelondon
Company Bio:
Founded in 2011, Creature London makes work that real people can’t help but care about.
Specialities:
We strive to understand people in all their glorious unpredictability to make work that they can’t forget.
Work that gets talked about in living rooms up and down the country, jingles that get whistled on the bus, slogans that get embedded in culture and campaigns that hit the headlines.
Most importantly, we create campaigns that deliver real results. All fuelled by intelligent misbehavior.
simon@dimensionstudio.co
dimensionstudio.co
linkedin.com/in/simonjwindsor/
twitter.com/siwindsor
Company Bio:
Dimension is a global leader in immersive, volumetric and virtual production.
Specialities:
We are transforming filmmaking, entertainment and XR content creation via our revolutionary production studios, real-time engines, and pioneering technologies.
With core capabilities and exceptional know-how in the creation of Virtual Realities and Virtual Humans, we create blockbuster content and iconic experiences for household names across film, TV, games, sport, music and fashion.
andy@drawandcode.com
drawandcode.com
linkedin.com/in/andy-cooper-10833055/
Company Bio:
Draw & Code are mixing up reality to create spellbinding products and experiences.
Specialities:
Draw & Code boasts over a decade working with immersive technologies including VR, AR, MR games and installations. With over 170 projects delivered to an impressive client roster,
including Mercedes, Sony, Google, we are one of the most prolific studios in the world at producing magical immersive experiences.
Our work has been experienced by millions globally. As well as work-for-hire, we are now working on exciting new products to bring immersive experiences to more audiences worldwide.
Specialities: Experience12 is a specialist culture marketing agency, connecting brands and audiences through unique campaigns.
george@forpeople.com
forpeople.com
linkedin.com/in/watsongeorge/
instagram.com/weareforpeople/
Company Bio: We shape the future human experience.
Specialities:
forpeople is a global creative studio partnering with visionary companies to shape the future human experience. By joining the dots of strategy, brand, and experience, we’re redefining how people eat, move, live, work, and grow together.
Based in London and Amsterdam, we’re a diverse team of 130+ creatives putting people at the heart of everything we do. As an independent, certified B Corp™, we strive to create a fairer and more inclusive world.
charles@geeiq.com
geeiq.com
linkedin.com/in/charles-hambro/
twitter.com/CharlesHambro
Company Bio:
GEEIQ is an insights platform that empowers brands to navigate and engage the virtual world’s economy.
Specialities:
GEEIQ is the decision-making point for brands seeking to reach, engage, retain and monetize untapped virtual communities in the new brand communications vertical of virtual
environments and user-generated content platforms. GEEIQ offers competitor benchmarking, virtual experience reporting, partner identification and more. For our Premium and Enterprise subscribers, GEEIQ provides professional services to help curate long-term, dataled virtual strategies that are focused on tangible KPI’s over favorable PR and headlines.
craig.beddis@hadean.com
hadean.com
linkedin.com/in/craigbeddis/
Company Bio:
Hadean bridges physical and virtual worlds.
Specialities:
At Hadean, we believe the next version of the internet will be 3D, immersive and spatial. It will transform every industry and every sector. Hadean delivers AI-powered spatial computing applications that
enable rich, immersive experiences at scale and bring communities together.
To date, Hadean’s technology has been embraced by Epic Games, Yuga Labs, Minecraft, Sony and more. Hadean is also a trusted partner for defence and aerospace leaders including the British Army and ST Engineering. Follow our journey at www.hadean.com.
shaan@kouo.io
kouo.io
linkedin.com/in/shaan-bassi/
Company Bio:
Kouo gives consumer apps real-time insight into user emotions as they interact with products, driving engagement and retention through enhanced experiences.
Specialities:
Kouo’s AI Emotion Analytics platform taps into data from popular wearables, translating it into the emotions users
experience in real time as they engage with digital products.
This data empowers product teams with direct and quantifiable insights about the user experience, enabling them to create more engaging and user-centric products.
Kouo analyzes real user emotions during product interactions providing critical insights and pinpointing the experiences that drive engagement.
20% Decreased feature development time
20% Improved conversion
15% Improved retention
rahmon@loudparade.com
loudparade.com
linkedin.com/in/rahmon-agbaje-144420188/
Company Bio:
Loud Parade is an award- winning music technology company recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 with over 8 billion views on their campaigns.
Loud Parade creates custom music for brands and uses AI to test the emotional resonance of sounds used in advertising campaigns and uses data to measure the ROI impact of music for brands.
Specialities:
Loud Parade is the award- winning music technology company helping brands to create and select the right music for their advertising campaigns by testing the emotional resonance of sounds. By creating custom and personalised music we optimize adverts from consumer brands by making them more engaging and authentic through sounds, particularly Gen Z audiences.
tom.grogan@mdrx.tech
mdrx.tech
linkedin.com/in/tomgroganmdr/
Company Bio:
MDRx is a technology consultancy that delivers impactful strategies and valuable tech builds for the world’s most innovative organisations. Our diverse team of software engineers, strategists and data scientists also draw on over 1,000 lawyers from across The MDR Group to deliver “compliance by design”.
Specialities:
We deliver value using emerging technologies, in particular data and artificial intelligence engagements. Our case studies include building AI systems for the UK Government since 2021, leading tech strategy for leading UK retailer Selfridges, and delivering data transformation for the National Theatre.
Software engineering
Data
We
Spatial
Software
vishal@thisisround.com
thisisround.com
linkedin.com/company/thisisround
instagram.com/round.gram/
Company Bio:
Round is a technology-driven international creative digital agency crafting viral moments for global artists and entertainment brands.
Specialities:
Round is a specialist digital agency immersed in the creator landscape, fueling authentic fan engagement for music artists & major brands. Round
initiates and scales digital conversations through data-driven insights and trending content through bespoke creator, viral and paid campaigns. Backed by proprietary technology, Round helps its clients establish and nurture genuine connections with their target audiences, enhancing brand presence and influence. Recent work include Calvin Harris, Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, Lionsgate+, Alicia Keys and more.
Simon@trickshot.dev
trickshot.dev
linkedin.com/in/simontrickshot/
Company Bio:
Trickshot is bringing live sports to new worlds, using 3D data to create unforgettable next-generation content for fans.
Specialities:
We relocate sports action to fantastical worlds with cinematic effects and bespoke avatars via an enterprise SaaS platform that makes 3D content creation simple, efficient, and effective.
Creators can create incredible, engaging experiences for the places fans already are - from Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, to VR headsets, Roblox, and other gaming platforms, all while efficiently tracking distribution and monitization.
beth@team-umbrella.co.uk
team-umbrella.co.uk
linkedin.com/in/beth-johnson-0295627/
Company Bio:
Brands partner with Umbrella’s specialist team to drive engagement, grow sales, build loyalty and collate first-party data. As a multi-award winning promotional marketing agency we have supported international brands for over 20 years, including Unilever, Mondelez, Sony, Pladis, Diageo and ABInBev.
Specialities:
Umbrella are experts in creating and managing stand out on and off-pack
promotions that meet our client’s objectives, from securing in-store feature space to driving trial or collating opt-ins enabling further marketing communication.
Our team merges data strategy, digital innovation and response forecasting to ensure budgets go further and sales are uplifted. We specialize in covering promotional risk so our clients can bring their marketing claims to life within defined budgets.
christoph@virtexstadium.com
virtexstadium.com
linkedin.com/in/sportlepp/
Company Bio:
Virtex is creating the most exciting live sports experiences using immersive technologies.
Specialities:
Virtex is a software developer specialized in creating immersive and interactive live entertainment experiences for sports.
Our mission is to create the most exciting experience that fans can imagine, be it at home or in-venue (e.g. using AR).
Get in touch if you want to engage your fans in new ways and explore new revenue streams.
In addition to the trade mission companies profiled in this Lookbook, we are pleased to support the following UK@SXSW Trade Mission Alumni that will also be attending SXSW 2024:
Guy Gadney
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
guy@charisma.ai
www.charisma.ai
(+44) 749 438 9028
Charisma.ai is an interactive AI-powered storytelling platform that is used to shape the future of storytelling.
Solomon Rodgers
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
sol.rogers@magnopus.com
www.magnopus.com
(+44) 079 414 55007
Where physical meets digital to create extraordinary experiences.
Madeleine Kelleyan Head of Experiential
madeleine.kelleyan@novalia.co.uk
www.novalia.co.uk
(+44) 785 227 0322
Novalia create immersive experiences with interactive print.
Andy Sexton Executive Creative Director
andrew.sexton@2LK.com
www.2LK.com
(+44) 077 666 05299
We give courageous technology brands The Experience Advantage®.
We are the UK’s department for economic growth. We support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country.
We are responsible for:
• Redrawing our rules to ensure businesses thrive, markets are competitive and consumers are protected.
• Securing investment from UK and international businesses.
• Advising, supporting, and promoting British businesses to grow and export.
• Opening up new markets for businesses by removing barriers and striking trade deals.
• Promoting free trade, economic security and resilient supply chains.
Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this document is accurate, the Department for Business and Trade and the Contributors do not accept liability for any errors, omissions or misleading statements, and no warranty is given or responsibility accepted as to the standing of any individual, firm, company or other organisation mentioned.
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/ doc/ open-government-licence/version/3
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
Published by
Department for Business and Trade
February 2024