ME top50 2013

Page 1

2013 Celebrating British mobile content

Platinum Partner

Silver Partner

Silver Partner



Top 50 Mobile Innovators Wednesday, September 18th 2013 30 Finsbury Square, London, EC2P 2YU

The judges ME would like to thank its esteemed judges, who admirably endured the white-hot temperature of a London pub this summer while debating the nominees for the ME Top 50 Innovators list. They are: Alex Haffner, senior associate, Dentons Alex specialises in mobile content services for global law firm Dentons. Graeme Ferguson, board adviser and investor Having worked at Vodafone as director of global content for five years, Graeme knows development. Helene Panzarino, growth manager, GrowthAccelerator Helene works with companies of varying sizes and helps secure access to that all-important funding. Ross Wellby, director, IMR Executive Ross guides big brands and startups alike on the best way to recruit star employees. Russell Buckley, investor and government advisor Russell left Admob, which Google bought for $750m in 2011, and has become an angel investor. Shashi Fernando, investor and founder of Boppl and Juper. Director of Prism Digital Since selling Saffron to HTC for $48.5m, Shashi has applied his business savvy to investments in apps, photography, recruitment and more. Steven Leith, Grant Thornton UK LLP Steve leads the early stage media and tech team for business and financial adviser Grant Thornton. Richard Hancock, chairman of MobiForce and partner at Argent Mayfair Private Equity Richard has spent more than 30 years in marketing and business development. He held senior positions at Zed and PlayPhone and now works in investments. Katy Phillips, publisher, Mobile Entertainment Tells the ME team what to do. Tim Green, associate editor, Mobile Entertainment Used his handsome beard to secure order. Zen Terrelonge, deputy editor, Mobile Entertainment Blame me if personal/company profiles are wrong.

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2013

Welcome to the Mobile Entertainment Top 50 Mobile Innovators reception... Now in its third year, ME's Top 50 Mobile Innovators project has become a key component of the industry. The UK market is surging – just look at Tech City – and we wanted to gather aspiring British entrepreneurs in one room to celebrate their genius with an exclusive social gathering. It's amazing to be in a position that can help young businesses receive recognition for their achievements, and hugely rewarding when we see how appreciative they are to secure a slot on the list. A number of startups have sealed a place in the Top 50 for a second and third year, demonstrating the high level of innovation that continues to take place in established businesses – which is key to survival – while there has also been a bundle of new companies making the 2013 line-up. We've had a great response to this year's assembly, who have taken creativity to new heights, with some of the new players in areas, such as: social, photos, payments, games and devices. Angel investor Russell Buckley gave an inspirational speech in 2012 and talked about KFC’s Colonel Sanders – you had to be there. Video games veteran Peter Molyneux, who has experienced wild success with new mobile studio 22 Cans, will offer his expertise to guests at this year's champagne reception, which is supported by partners Grant Thornton, Dentons and IMR Executive. Congratulations to you all! Zen Terrelonge Deputy Editor, Mobile Entertainment

Silver Partner

Silver Partner

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2013

Law is a building tool Legal representation is paramount when developing innovative technology and Alex Haffner, a senior associate at global law firm Dentons, explains how the firm’s technology, media and telecoms division has been helping startups prepare for the future.

W

ith such a widespread focus globally, how important is the UK to Dentons? We describe ourselves as polycentric, so the idea is that we don't have a specific headquarters in the UK, US or anywhere else, with the realisation that many of our clients operate on an international basis. Obviously, UK mobile companies have aspirations to roll things out globally, while the UK is also a key market for foreign companies. Who are you working with? We've worked with Nokia for many years, while Essence Digital is a successful digital advertising company that we've seen grow hugely. At the other end of the scale, Veoo is an aggregator in the mobile premium rate/payments space that has grown at a rapid pace since it started out two years ago. We work hard to make partnerships as effective for smaller companies as we do for larger companies. How exactly do you assist clients? Our ideal is to start with companies at their inception and help them along their journey from when they're a startup to, hopefully, exit. We believe that's why we're different. Frankly, innovation comes from the 04

Alex Haffner, senior associate at Dentons

entrepreneurs and that's where the most interesting developments tend to take place. Do you think that the legal system is at the front of an entrepreneur's mind? Employing lawyers probably isn't the first thing that companies think about, but getting the legal side of things straight at the start can help when it comes to getting outside investment, especially if prospective problems are nailed from the beginning. Can you offer an example? A startup needs to make sure their intellectual property is protected and that they have key

contracts in place. Investors are obviously looking at a company's ideas when they come in, but they also want to know the business is robust and has key things in place to secure itself. What's usually the first plan of action? Putting the right building blocks in place to help them later on. We encourage clients to think longterm and plan their path to exit.

Dentons has 2,500 lawyers in 52 countries and houses a tech, media and telecoms division. It is a silver partner of the ME Top 50 Mobile Innovators project. Follow us on Twitter at @MobileEntBiz


Top companies need top advisers. Disruptive technologies, massive shifts in consumer trends, and a significant flow of risk capital in an effort to not only be seen, but be seen first, are presenting opportunities and challenges for companies in the sector. Many fast growing media and technology businesses may be early stage, but they are very quickly tackling complex challenges fuelled by rapid expansion. Founders have to deal with the pressure of transitioning from founder to CEO in record time – they often do so with minimal support networks from outside the business – in both a personal and business context. Transition is difficult when the business around you is changing, expanding, pivoting, hiring, and developing in multiple directions. The way in which a business articulates vision, positions it’s product and communicates it’s strategy is key in realising it’s potential. Providing that support, making those connections and unlocking that potential for growth is something we see as core to the way we help our clients. Now, more than ever, media and technology businesses need assistance from advisers, dedicated to the sector, to help them achieve their objectives. At Grant Thornton, our TMT team combines technical expertise with the intuition, insight and confidence gained from over 20 years of advising the sector and a deep understanding of our clients. For further information please contact: Steven Leith Head of early-stage TMT T 020 7728 2868 E steven.leith@uk.gt.com

Liz Brion Tax Partner - TMT T 020 7728 2326 E liz.a.brion@uk.gt.com

grant-thornton.co.uk © 2013 Grant Thornton UK LLP. All rights reserved. Grant Thornton UK LLP is a member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd (GTIL). GTIL and the member firms are not a worldwide partnership. Services are delivered by the member firms. GTIL and its member firms are not agents of, and do not obligate, one another and are not liable for one another’s acts or omissions. Please see grant-thornton.co.uk for further details.


All your industry marketing in one hit Website Apps Email Alerts ME Awards Networking Events Roundtables Conferences Mobile Entertainment is the world’s premier media channel for the mobile content industry. Every day we report the latest news, views and analysis from this dynamic sector. Quite simply, we’ve got the attention of every mobile content exec on the planet. ME brings this diverse audience together through its market-leading website, email service, mobile apps, mobile internet site, awards evening, conferences and networking events. Why not make this unparalleled reach and readership work for you too?

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2013

Helping unlock growth in tech Steven Leith, who heads up the early stage media and technology team for business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP, explains the importance of instilling creativity and agility as key attributes for early stage businesses.

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o you feel that technology and media are distinctly different or are they one industry? Every business has different needs and requirements, even within the same sector, but there are some parallels and crossovers between the two. We're dealing with traditional media companies that are publishing print titles and they're grappling with technology to deal with the threat and opportunity of digital, so tech is paramount to them. Why do you think the mobile business has exploded so dramatically in recent years? It boils down to access and technology really. It's an excellent tool with which businesses can reach an enormous consumer base, while the latter increasingly want to be able to access content and information at any time. What type of companies do you work with in terms of their business model and size? Size isn't necessarily a criteria for us when we consider our relationships with businesses. What matters most for us are the people behind the business, the idea they've created and the model they've adopted to bring it

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Steven Leith, head of early stage media and technology at Grant Thornton UK LLP

to life - ambitious, dynamic companies that have the potential and appetite for growth. We've helped companies go from pre-revenue to an IPO. What innovations of theirs have stood out for you? At a very high level, the innovative ways in which companies can pivot and change their business model to accommodate the direction of a particular vertical is impressive. That said, it's easy for companies to get distracted by short-term

fluctuations and lose sight of their longer-term ambitions; it's important to have an adaptable and flexible business model that's capable of capitalising on current trends, but supported by an overarching vision and strategy. Educational innovations are pretty amazing, particularly when you see things that could potentially change the way children can learn and develop. Grant Thornton UK LLP is the platinum partner of ME’s Top 50 Mobile Innovators project.

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2013

Take a leap of faith Ross Wellby, director of digital employment agency IMR Executive, reveals how brands are keen to adopt the technology and what key innovations it's witnessed, while explaining why mobile recruitment can be tricky.

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hereabouts is your business coming from? We're born and bred in the UK, but just 25 per cent of the business takes place here and the rest takes place globally. In terms of global breakdown, 60 per cent of revenue comes from Europe and 20 per cent from North and South America and 20 per cent from Asia and Africa. How has your business model changed over your nine years of operation? Mobile content as a category has changed beyond all recognition since we started the company. It's much broader now and a necessary part of the digital landscape as a whole, so we've made the move to specialise in digital across the board. Mobile is just one channel that businesses use to reach consumers, so the need for sole mobile specialists is reduced and we tend to find that people want a digital specialist with a heavy level of mobile in there, so we fit the bill perfectly. And has that affected the types of hires you make? Back in the day, people only wanted to appoint mobile specialists, but they're now looking to thicken up their blood a little bit. For instance, a mobile marketing agency may want someone with a wider digital 08

Ross Wellby, director of IMR Executive

background rather than a sole mobile specialist. Are there any sectors in the industry that stand out in terms of mobile and digital hires? Brands are dominating much more than they used to. In fact, they tend to be the ones driving innovation by bringing mobile into the brand and doing creative things through it. There is an enthusiasm to keep more and more in house. What are common struggles that companies have in terms of mobile? Brands and retailers tend to find recruiting in mobile hard

because it's such a dynamic market that moves really quickly, while they're used to taking their time over recruitment. I also think it's more difficult when you recruit someone for the first time, so selecting their first mobile employee means taking a leap of faith because they don't know what a good one and a bad one looks like. We try and help with that process to reduce risk.

IMR Executive is a digital recrutiment specialist that supports Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. It is a silver partner of ME’s Top 50 Mobile Innovators project.

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Meet Dentons. The new global law firm created by Salans, FMC and SNR Denton. As the mobile sector continues to grow, and new business models evolve to tap into market opportunities, clients need lawyers who understand the marketplace and can offer help and advice along the way. Clients use Dentons to provide legal support at all stages of the business life cycle, including

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Acdl i]Z lVn$ © 2013 Dentons. Dentons is an international legal practice providing client services worldwide through its member firms and affiliates. Attorney Advertising. Please see dentons.com for Legal Notices.


2013

22Cans

51 Degrees.mobi

Admoda

Sector: Games http://www.22cans.com/

Sector: Mobile web http://51degrees.mobi/

Sector: Advertising http://www.admoda.com/

Gaming veteran Peter Molyneux's 20-person strong 22 Cans was launched in March 2012. The company experienced wild success with the November 2012launched 'Curiosity – What’s Inside the Cube' social games project, which required players to collectively hack away at the shape from their phones and access the centre for a prize. The winner entered the core in March and will receive revenue from 22's crowd-funded Godus title.

51Degrees.mobi’s goal is to ‘make the mobile web work’ through device detection, which matches over 5m devices per second, optimisation and analytics tools. The firm is doubling its reach every six months and serves one per cent of the world's websites globally – that’s equivalent to more than 750,000.

Admoda is still funded by profit rather than outside interference and believes text and banner ads are important to mobile. That said, the company embraced rich media this year to support expandables, videos, galleries, live chat, mapping and social media to build on the billions of ads it serves each month. Clients were also treated to a new campaign management and statistics interface in the summer.

Antix Labs

Blippar

Boppl

Sector: Games http://antixlabs.com/

Sector: Augmented reality http://blippar.com/

Sector: Commerce/services http://boppl.me/

Antix unifies gaming with a crossplatform design that lets users play on smartphones and tablets, but also PCs, TVs and set-top boxes. The design means gamers can continue playing on screens that suit them and developers get maximum exposure of their titles. Indonesian OEM SpeedUp preloaded the Antix Game Player store on its tablets this year, while other Antix deals include PopCap’s Plants vs Zombies, Veros Digital, Lotus TV, and Toshiba.

Blippar seems to be the go-tosolution when brands want to smother their marketing in augmented reality. Over the year, the company has worked with huge names including Anne Summers, WKD, Westfield, and London Underground. Having recently celebrated its second birthday, Blippar revealed its solutions have been used by 750 brand partners and three million users to generate 18.5m interactions.

Nobody likes queuing, least of all when hungry or thirsty, so Boppl is designed to solve the issue. The company has partnered with various eateries and drinks establishments to allow users of its app to peruse the menu, then order and pay from their phones without having to leave the comfort of their seats. Beyond that, the app is designed to encourage loyalty, with users receiving freebies in exchange for answering surveys.

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2013

Brainbow

CityMapper

Corethree

Sector: Educational apps www.brainbowgames.com/

Sector: Transport http://citymapper.com/

Sector: Payments/ticketing http://www.corethree.net

The Brainbow team comprises staffers from Google, Amazon, Playfish, and EA, meaning they're well placed to know the value of mobile games. The developer's ideals look to blend gaming with health and education, and it secured funding in April this year. More recently Brainbow caught the attention of Facebook and became one of the pioneers of its mobile games publishing venture.

London can be a hellish city to navigate, regardless of whether you're a local or tourist, with Underground signal failures, slowmoving pedestrians and wild cabbies just some of the many obstacles to face on a daily basis. Given that, Citymapper is designed to simplify the journey with live transport updates for buses, tubes, trains, and Boris bikes, all of which comes complete with mapping guides for ultimate transparency.

Corethree provides mobile payments and ticketing solutions to the transport industry for over 150m annual journeys provided by various UK bus operators. Over the year, the company has produced apps for Plymouth Citybus, Brighton and Hove and Metrobus, each of which comes with a wallet solution that allows users to store details and pay with any debit/credit card or major processor, such as WorldPay and PayPal.

Didlr

Droplet

Eventstagram

Sector: Social http://didlr.com

Sector: Payments https://dropletpay.com/

Sector: Social/photos http://eventstagr.am/

Wapple has conquered the web world and seemingly felt inclined to diversify with the launch of Didlr, which it describes as 'Twitter with pictures.' Draw Something may have risen and fell dramatically, but Didlr's drawing concept for Android, iOS and Windows Phone – and the web – encourages users to 'didl' anything they like and share with friends across social networks, email, text and, of course, Didlr itself.

Droplet is the mobile wallet app that lets users stash cash on their phones and send funds to friends or businesses without charge. Meanwhile, developers can lace the technology into their own apps, and Droplet offers businesses bespoke solutions for a fee and also profits from consultancy. It's currently in beta, and transactions can be made with partners in its native Birmingham or London.

Instagram has more than 130m users and Eventstagram sensed an opportunity to make the most of such a strong user base, delivering a solution that aggregates photos taken at events by fans onto screens. It recently secured a deal with O2 for the operator's 4G launch, and pushed gig-goers’ filter-based snaps to monitors across London.

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2013

Fetch

Fireproof Games

Golden Gekko

Sector: Marketing/advertising http://www.wearefetch.com/

Sector: Games http://fireproofgames.com/

Sector: Marketing http://www.goldengekko.com/

Fetch's staff numbers have increased by 380 per cent since January 2012 and it boasts a 100 per cent turnover year-on-year. The company expanded overseas and opened a San Francisco HQ to complement its London base, and alleviate some of the work generated running over 20 accounts in 40 countries for clients like eBay and Krispy Kreme.

Fireproof Games is a subsidiary of Fireproof Studios that launched with a sole focus on iPad production. Debut title The Room, which was released in September 2012, reached number one on the Paid App chart in the UK, US and 64 other countries – impressive by anyone's standards. This prompted The Room Pocket to launch for iPhone and Android, while the original The Room has passed sales of two million.

In addition to its London headquarters, Golden Gekko also has homes in New York, Barcelona, Stockholm, Berlin and Cambodia. The company produces apps and HTML5 mobile sites for clients including Heathrow Airport and Warburtons, and has worked with more than 150 brands in total since launching in 2005.

Grapple

Hailo

Hardlight Studio

Sector: Marketing http://grapplemobile.com/

Sector: Transport https://hailocab.com/london

Sector: Games http://www.hardlightstudio.com/

Grapple has supported B&Q, NatWest, RBS and Premier Inn over the past year. It helped the latter double in-app transactions following a revamp, and the pair are hoping to build on the 100,000 mobile bookings experienced in 2012. The firm has launched a Brand Insights Engine to provide clients with data trends, so they can move with the market, and insists mobile CRM is key for monetisation.

The mobile taxi market is as crowded as Central London during rush hour, but Hailo seems to have distinguished itself from rivals – the yellow cabs will have helped. The company started the year with a spring in its step and secured a $30.6 million funding round – taking the total past $50m – which was used to push into New York, Spain and Tokyo to bolster its $100 million plus sales.

Hardlight Studio started its journey by helping Sega Europe push into the digital market in 2011, reinventing the company's branded titles for the mobile world. PlayStation Vita was originally on the menu, but the focus has been all about iOS, Android and Windows Phone since then. Sonic Jump and Sonic Dash have been released over the past year and hit nine million and 16m downloads respectively.

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2013

Judo Pay

LoopMe

Made In Mind

Sector: Payments/commerce https://www.judopay.com/

Sector: Advertising http://loopme.biz/

Sector: Devices http://www.madeinmind.co.uk/

Judo delivers customised payment solutions to mobile websites and Android and iOS apps. This allows merchants to offer their customers one-click payments and make the most of their traffic through a single API. In summer the company ran a ÂŁ1 million competition, which rewarded app developers with free credit and debit card processing for their commercebased creations.

Advertising can be irksome, so LoopMe’s solution makes mobile ads less intrusive and more likely to drive engagement. Promos appear via an inbox that can be integrated into apps, offering consumers the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they want to interact. Ads are rated by users to make the concept social, so its in the best interest for brands to generate interesting content. LoopMe raised $500,000 in January.

2009-launched Made In Mind was a runner-up in the Smart UK Project at Mobile World Congress this year, achieving a spot for its redesign of the traditional UK plug and charger. The Mu, as it's known, has a foldable design and is being rolled out internationally following three funding rounds and an audience with the Queen. The slimness was inspired to match that of smartphones, and it can charge any device that connects via USB.

MagicSolver

Marmalade

Masabi

Sector: Apps http://www.magicsolver.com/

Sector: Games www.madewithmarmalade.com/

Sector: Ticketing http://www.masabi.com/

MagicSolver is an app discovery company that has evolved since winning the Cambridge University Entrepreneurs contest in 2009. The team tests thousands of apps from developers globally, with the best of the best selected for a daily round-up on the FreeAppMagic app for iOS and Android, as well as for special events like Christmas. MagicSolver celebrated its fourth birthday in July and has reached 30m users in 120 countries.

Cross-platform tools provider Marmalade has had a busy year, offering its developers support for Windows Phone 8, Roku, Tizen, Intel-based Android devices and BlackBerry 10. The company has also launched a Rapid App Development SDK to 'turbocharge' games creation, while it's partnered Immersion for Haptic tools integration and Fortumo for in-app purchasing and operator billing.

Masabi specialises in delivering ticketing solutions for the transport industry, assisting UK train operators such as Greater Anglia and Virgin. The company launched its first Stateside service in November 2012 through a partnership with Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and has already processed $10m worth of tickets. It sealed a $2.8m funding round in March, which will be used to continue expanding in the US.

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2013

Mindshapes

Miura

mPowa

Sector: Children’s apps http://www.mindshapes.com/

Sector: Devices/payments http://www.miurasystems.com/

Sector: Payments http://uk.mpowa.com/index.html

'Disneyland for the iPad' is how Mindshapes' CCO describes its flagship MagicTown storytelling platform, which offers one free story a day or unlimited access for £2.49 a month. The company has worked with the BBC and schools to hone its products and generate feedback, and truly believes its materials can be beneficial to children's learning. More than 400,000 families use its educational apps each month.

MPOS systems are rising in popularity, with company after company introducing their own unique solutions. Well, not quite unique. The sets need to come from somewhere and Miura Systems is the manufacturer creating Chip and PIN units for Intuit, Payleven, PayPal and so on. Claiming around 95 per cent of the mobile Chip and PIN space, the company expects to ship half a million units this year.

mPowa is one of the many MPOS systems doing the rounds at the moment, launching in summer 2012 to kick-start the payments method in the UK and replicate the success of US-based Square. The business looked beyond simply processing card payments for clients this year, and has set about branding the products for telcos to allow them to maintain their identities with business users. Parent company Powa secured $76m funding in August.

Mubaloo

NaturalMotion

Neon Play

Sector: Enterprise apps http://mubaloo.com/

Sector: Games http://www.naturalmotion.com

Sector: Games http://www.neonplay.com

Mubaloo has developed over 170 apps for clients in retail, gaming, finance and more over the past four years, and it struck gold in April when EE partnered it to produce apps for its business customers. The enterprise specialist recently launched sister business, The Responsive Website Design Company, which launches with four clients and 2013 turnover projections of over £160,000.

NaturalMotion's CSR Racing game turned one in June, having generated $12 million revenue after its first month of launch on the App Store. It expanded and looked to build on the iOS success in April with an Android launch. NaturalMotion has built on its Oxford footprint with offices in London and San Francisco, while it acquired Brighton-based developer Boss Alien in summer last year.

Last year Neon Play's CEO claimed mobile games would replace consoles within the next five years, with the graphics on smartphones and tablets rivalling the wired box alternatives. The studio turned three in June and revealed it had smashed past 50 million downloads in 155 countries. It will forever be a part of mobile games history, having had its Paper Glider game become the ten billionth app download on the App Store.

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2013

On Device Research

OpenSignal

Oxygen8

Sector: Market data http://ondeviceresearch.com/

Sector: Utilities http://opensignal.com/

Sector: Marketing/payments http://www.oxygen8.com/uk/

On Device Research specialises in, well, research on devices. That means pushing surveys to mobile users on behalf of companies and harnessing the ability to target respondents based on their location, device, time and beyond. More than nine million people in over 54 countries have taken a survey so far.

Crowd-sourced information service OpenSignal cuts through the clutter and tracks mobile operator data from users based on their real-time reports. The apps display maps and explain what networks are performing well or badly and where, while the app also displays free wi-fi networks. OpenSignal debuted on Android originally but launched for iOS in April and the company was declared Smart UK Project champion at MWC 2013.

Oxygen8 provides marketing and payments support through SMS to companies including Aer Lingus, Halfords, Travelodge and Unilever. For example, airlines can push flight details and check-in barcodes, while a retailer can drive people into stores with textbased promotions that need to be redeemed at specified locations. The company boasts offices in ten countries and operates in 20.

Paddle

ParcelGenie

PixelPin

Sector: Payment/commerce http://www.usepaddle.com/

Sector: Gifting http://www.parcelgenie.com

Sector: Security http://pixelpin.co.uk/

Paddle has developed a wallet solution that stores the card details of the user safely in the cloud, so that consumers needn't enter their information each time they want to make a payment online. The service supports iOS, Android and desktops and completes transactions within ten-seconds via barcode scan. The company is currently working with M&S.

ParcelGenie is the gifting service designed solely for mobile, allowing users to buy and send real gifts to loved ones via SMS. The presents are posted once the recipient accepts the text, and the app runs across the App Store, Google Play, and Windows Phone. All treats are posted First Class by Royal Mail and there are more than 50 goodies to choose from.

We're continually told to change passwords regularly, and with the abundance of digital accounts the average person has, it's easy to forget what they were. PixelPin has changed the security game with a solution that replaces passwords with pictures, clicking on it in specific places only they would know in order to sign in. It's cross-platform too, so supports smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops.

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2013

Proxama

Psonar

Qriously

Sector: NFC/marketing http://www.proxama.com

Sector: Music http://www.psonar.com/

Sector: Advertising http://www.qriously.com/

Proxama is the NFC specialist that has worked with huge brands such as KFC, EE, Costa, 20th Century Fox and beyond. The company teamed with Guinness in August for a marketing campaign that encourages drinkers of the black stuff to tap their devices against the beverage maker’s harp logo to discover whether they've won a free pint.

Music has changed drastically over the past few years, with physical sales damaged by the power of digital downloads and streaming. Psonar's concept, however, has a pay-per-play strategy to offer consumers song play for as little as 1p per listen. The idea is to cater to those that feel subscriptions are too much hassle and downloads are too pricey.

Qriously is designed to make mobile advertising an interactive experience through questionbased apps, which provide developers and brands with realtime data and analytics, and the option to ask questions suited to their personal interests. The company reaches more than 300m users and has worked with Lexus, eBay, Samsung and more.

Shazam

Six3

Somo

Sector: Music/marketing http://www.shazam.com/

Sector: Video http://six3.tv/

Sector: Marketing/advertising http://www.somoglobal.com/

No longer just a music detection app, Shazam has been furthering its push into TV-based media discovery over the past year. It's teamed with brands like Volvo to encourage Shazam users to tag the ads and access additional content and has even made plans to take the scheme to cinemas. The apps continue to be updated with new features, such as autotagging, while the company secured a $40m investment from America Movil in July.

Video is huge in the mobile space right now, as demonstrated by the likes of Vine and Instagram. Six3, however, had the jump on the two US companies with a debut last year. While it's still in beta, the video messaging company has been bolstering its iOS engineering team to enhance its clip-based communications service. Six3 furthered its reach over the year with Facebook integration.

The agency has exploded massively in its four years of service, now employing more than 130 people across EMEA, the US and APAC, with a HQ in six cities. It secured funding earlier in the year from a pot that was being managed by the Mayor of London, which was used to advance engineering. Somo helped Audi develop an AR price and specification guide in spring and has been tinkering with Google Glass recently.

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2013

Songkick

Space Ape Games

SwiftKey

Sector: Music/events https://www.songkick.com/

Sector: Games http://www.spaceapegames.com

Sector: Utilities http://www.swiftkey.net/en/

Songkick provides personalised updates about live music events. Users can track favourite performers manually or via iTunes or Facebook Likes, and Songkick pushes alerts when they're playing nearby. The company secured a $10m fundraiser last year to make hires and produce new products, and more than six million people use the service a month. The iOS app, which was developed by a third-party, was recently moved in-house.

Space Ape Games was recently drafted into Facebook's mobile games publishing project, which will see the social network provide the studio with exposure and expertise. The startup has a focus on the mobile and social games arena, and has produced real-time sports betting app Call It: Football, which lets users compete against friends and other players globally.

SwiftKey was forged by then 22year-old Jon Reynolds – now CEO – who realised many friends were failing to type successfully on smartphones. He enlisted Cambridge University friend Ben Medlock and SwiftKey was born. The tech allows users to type by dragging their finger from letter to letter. Consumers can download the app to their devices, while some OEMs embed the solution into their devices as standard.

txtNation

UK Music Apps

YPlan

Sector: Payments http://www.txtnation.com

Sector: Music http://www.sessionbandapp.com

Sector: Events/payments http://yplanapp.com/

txtNation has pledged operator billing in Belgium and Switzerland, while the firm has added more than a dozen new EMEA markets to its payments platform and powerered in-app payments and operator billing for over 400 brands including EA, Easyjet, Samsung and Nokia. txtNation recently attacked the app market with the acquisition of 24GMedia and secured access to Pizza Hut and more.

If you happen to love creating music but find a recording studio is out of your price range, UK Music Apps-owned SessionBand has got you covered. The company developed the iOS music app to provide users the tools they need to create high quality music in minutes. It boasts jazz, piano and acoustic guitar editions to support different tastes and offers one-touch recording and more.

Do you like living on the edge? You look like you do. YPlan is 100 per cent mobile and all about spontaneity. The team of entertainment experts creates an app-based list of the hottest events and speeds up the booking process with users able to pay in just two taps, while the need to print is eliminated. The company has supported Kanye West and The Comedy Store among others. $12m funding has been used for an NYC launch.

www.mobile-ent.biz

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2013

Yuza Sector: Apps http://yuza.com/home/ Yuza is always behind unique projects. Self-help app Digipill has passed 1m downloads since launching earlier this year, while affiliate gambling platform BetFuze boasts partners Ladbrokes and William Hill. Snapcam is also an interesting service, one that was debuted at a recent Nokia launch, with the mobile app enabling digital-toreal world photo printing in partnership with Xerox.

Zeebox Sector: Social/TV zeebox.com/uk/welcome Zeebox was one of the first to recognise the second-screen space. The app aggregates content related to the TV shows viewers are watching into one stream. Versions for Android tablets and BB10 launched this year, while broadcaster Telemundo recently became the first US-based Hispanic Zeebox partner. The firm has also introduced personalised 'TV Rooms' to enhance interactions between brands and consumers.

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Top 50 Mobile Innovators Company A-Z 22 Cans 51 Degrees.mobi Admoda Antix Labs Blippar Boppl Brainbow CityMapper CoreThree Didlr Droplet Eventstagram Fetch Fireproof Games Golden Gekko Grapple Hailo Hardlight Studio Judo Pay LoopMe Made In Mind MagicSolver Marmalade Masabi Mindshapes Miura mPowa Mubaloo NaturalMotion Neon Play On Device Research OpenSignal Oxygen8 Paddle ParcelGenie PixelPin Proxama Psonar Qriously Shazam Six3 Somo Songkick Space Ape Games SwiftKey txtNation UK Music Apps YPlan Yuza Zeebox

www.22cans.com http://51degrees.mobi www.admoda.com http://antixlabs.com http://blippar.com http://boppl.me www.brainbowgames.com http://citymapper.com www.corethree.net http://didlr.com https://dropletpay.com http://eventstagr.am www.wearefetch.com http://fireproofgames.com www.goldengekko.com http://grapplemobile.com https://hailocab.com/london www.hardlightstudio.com www.judopay.com http://loopme.biz www.madeinmind.co.uk www.magicsolver.com www.madewithmarmalade.com www.masabi.com www.mindshapes.com www.miurasystems.com http://uk.mpowa.com/index.html http://mubaloo.com www.naturalmotion.com www.neonplay.com http://ondeviceresearch.com http://opensignal.com www.oxygen8.com/uk www.usepaddle.com www.parcelgenie.com http://pixelpin.co.uk www.proxama.com www.psonar.com www.qriously.com www.shazam.com http://six3.tv www.somoglobal.com www.songkick.com www.spaceapegames.com www.swiftkey.net/en www.txtnation.com www.sessionbandapp.com http://yplanapp.com http://yuza.com/home zeebox.com/uk/welcome www.mobile-ent.biz


Clear your diaries for the ME Awards 2013! The Mobile Content Industry’s Premier Awards Event THIS YEAR’S AWARDS Best Gambling Company Best Adult Company Best Games Publisher Best Developer of a Consumer App Best Developer of an Enterprise App Best Mobile Game Best Video Service Provider Best Music Service Provider Best Augmented Reality Campaign Best Social Games Service Provider Best Games Monetisation Service Best Cross-Platform Tools Provider Best Payments Service Provider Best Web Publishing Platform Best Advertising Network Best Mobile Advertising Campaign Best Rich Media Ad Platform Best Marketing Agency Best Market Research Company Best PR Agency Best Recruitment Agency Best Device Manufacturer Best Operator SPECIAL AWARD Outstanding Contribution to Mobile Content Event Partners

To buy tickets go to www.me-awards.com/buy-tickets Alternatively contact Katy.Phillips@intentmedia.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1992 535647 For all sponsorship enquiries please contact Katy.Phillips@intentmedia.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1992 535647 @MobileEntBiz • @MobileEntAwards • www.me-awards.com


2013 Platinum Partner

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