Metop50 2014 final web

Celebrating British mobile content

Event Partners

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Top 50 Mobile Innovators Wednesday, October 1st 2014 Grant Thornton, Finsbury Square, London

Welcome to Mobile Entertainment’s Top 50 Mobile Innovators reception!

The judges

ME would like to thank its esteemed judges, who refrained from pulling hair and gouging eyeballs while debating the winners for the ME Top 50 Innovators list 2014. They are:

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nother year and another threemonth game of hide and seek later, Mobile Entertainment’s Top 50 Mobile Innovators of 2014 have been selected to successfully mark the project’s

n Alex Haffner, senior associate, Dentons Alex specialises in mobile content services for global law firm Dentons n Alex Kozloff, head of mobile, IAB Likes sushi and wants to possess supersonic speed n Ross Wellby, founder, IMR Executive Finds star employees for startups and big brands alike n Steven Leith, Grant Thornton Heads the business adviser’s early stage media and technology team n 30 Under 30 winners This year we welcomed a selection of champions from this year’s debut ME 30 Under 30 campaign, which you can view at m-ent.biz/1l7W1Po n James Robinson, Opensignal n Liam Houghton, Yuza n Lily Greenwell-Farrell, Wonder n May Mwanje, The Mobile House n Rytis Vitkauskas, YPlan n Sam Amrani, Tamoco n William Rowley, Nokia n The Mobile Entertainment team n Katy Bensley, account manager, Mobile Entertainment n Michael French, acting publisher, Mobile Entertainment Male replacement of Katy Phillips n Phil Tottman, staff writer, Mobile Entertainment Apple fanboy and Michael Fassbender lookalike n Zen Terrelonge, editor, Mobile Entertainment I wrote this gibberish

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fourth year.

Narrowing down the British companies operating in the business of mobile apps and games to decide on the final 50 winners really was incredibly tough, as this year’s campaign revealed lots of fresh talent.

However, it wouldn’t have been possible without our 30 Under 30 winners (page 2) who supported judging to make this the most diverse and exciting list so far.

New players to have entered the fold include Globr, the IM service that allows you to chat worldwide with people in your mother tongue, even if they don’t speak your language, by translating the text accordingly.

Meanwhile, mobile money got interesting – no, seriously – as Payfriendz created something of a PayPal and WhatsApp hybrid.

Last year, 22Cans founder Peter Molyneux opened up the champagne reception with a speech that included the words “that bastard Steve Jobs,” so the pressure is on for profanity from this year’s speakers: Sarah Weller, MD, Mubaloo London; Martin MacMillan, CEO, Pollen; Peter Briffett, COO, YPlan.

Congratulations to all of our winners, and best of luck for 2015!

Zen Terrelonge Editor, Mobile Entertainment

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Five ways businesses can increase growth potential Steven Leith, who heads up business adviser Grant Thornton’s early stage media and technology team, explains how his division can help 1. Supporting your strategic ambitions We bring the best of Grant Thornton’s business and commercial experience, not only to address the ‘here and now’ issues you face but also to explore and prepare for ‘what’s next?’ In addition, our GrowthAccelerator service is aimed at providing the business with support in preparing to raise finance, in developing strategic marketing plans, and in developing the talent in your business.

2. Financing your growth We will take the time to understand your exact funding requirements, connect potential funders to the opportunity and assess the most beneficial and competitive options open to the business. We can support you through an entire fundraising process from preparation to negotiation and execution, or in executing an exit strategy.

3. Expanding overseas We are ideally placed to help clients as they grow internationally – whether entering new markets, executing cross border M&A or understanding tax liabilities across multiple jurisdictions. A large part of what we do involves thinking through founder and corporate

Steven Leith, head of Grant Thornton’s early stage media and technology team

tax implications of expanding overseas.

4. Maximising tax reliefs available We are experts in dealing with R&D claims, Patent Box planning, EIS and SEIS approvals as well as managing founder tax positions to ensure maximum value is achieved at the point of exit.

5. Rewarding employees We help many clients to reward 4

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key employees and management teams in a tax-efficient way.

This ranges from EMI Schemes to more complex cross border equity and non-equity performance packages.

Clients can call us and not worry about getting an invoice because of it – we want to support a business in whatever way they need throughout their growth Follow us on Twitter at @MobileEntBiz

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Five legal considerations for mobile innovators Alex Haffner, senior associate at global law firm Dentons, which specialises in technology, media and telecoms, offers tips on law and order 1. Protecting your intellectual property Many businesses in this sector are built on innovative technology developments or ideas which will need protection to prevent unlawful usage and to generate full value from their exploitation.

In part, this is a question of understanding what is and what is not protectable. Many startup businesses ultimately fail to progress because they have not done enough to protect the unique aspects of their technology.

2. Regulatory and compliance issues The mobile industry is carefully regulated to ensure that consumers are adequately protected. Companies can best ensure compliance with these rules by having well-drafted terms and conditions which take into account their regulatory obligations. It is also sensible, where possible, to ensure full engagement with those regulators with responsibility over your business.

3. Ensuring data protection compliance If you collect and process personal information about www.mobile-ent.biz

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target country or region ahead of time will also ensure that you are better able to decide how to operate in a particular jurisdiction i.e. whether to do so yourself or to act through a local representative.

Alex Haffner, senior associate, Dentons

individuals in the UK, you may likely be caught by data protection rules. To avoid any regulatory action or negative PR that may arise from noncompliance, data protection should be considered at the outset (and throughout) each new business operation.

4. International expansion Having a good understanding of the legal regime in your

5. Structuring successful exit strategies Many technology company owners know when and how they would like to make their exit.

From a legal perspective, to plan your exit strategy as efficiently as possible, it will be sensible to have in mind certain key building blocks. As well as the items mentioned above, these are likely to include robust contracts with key suppliers and customers and well-drafted documentation pertaining to existing nvestors and/or shareholders. Any would-be purchaser or secondround investor is unlikely to pursue their interest if these elements are not already in place.

For more information on how we can help, please contact: Alex Haffner Dentons UKMEA LLP D +44 20 7320 3802 alex.haffner@dentons.com

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Five PR tips for your fast growth mobile business Secrets to successful marketing from Neil Robertson, senior associate at FieldHouse Associates 1. It’s not all about the press release A simple personalised email to a few key journalists can often be the most effective way of getting your news out there.

2. Keep your objectives in sight To have the greatest impact, PR should align with business objectives. Think about the next three/six/12 months and execute accordingly. Who are you trying to reach? What do they read (aside from Mobile Entertainment of course)?

3. Keep it simple This industry moves incredibly quickly and journalists don’t have time to have in depth knowledge around all they cover. The old rule is you should always talk about things as if describing it to your parents.

4. Be helpful If you can be an objective voice, passing on knowledge to help educate, people will recognise you as a good source of comment and you can build lasting relationships with the media.

5. Get out there You can go to an industry event almost every night of the week.

Obviously that would be a little excessive, but it’s important to go out, meet people and build your network; be that with industry peers, journalists or analysts at events or potential investors.

Paid user acquisition without breaking Macmillan, the CEO of Fintech company Pollen, reveals the bank Martin how developers can keep their apps relevant

I

n the fast-moving world of apps, early access to capital is crucial to success and growth.

Without access to funds to acquire more users through mobile advertising, smartphone apps often disappear from visible app store rankings and fail to gain traction after their initial launch.

When I was launching music remixing apps with my previous company Soniqplay, I discovered that there was often a long delay between getting downloads and making sales in the App Store, and gaining access to that revenue – it could take anything from 30 to 67 days for

the payment to come through.

Thanks to my previous career as a bond trader for UBS, I realised that there must be a way to fix the problem, thus the concept of Pollen’s Velocity Capital was born.

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The idea behind this is simple: Pollen’s velocity capital gives app developers access to their earned app store revenue every seven days, unlocking the value in their App Store sales. These funds can immediately be channelled back into user acquisition, enabling the game or app to fund its own user acquisition rather than using precious angel or venture capital funding, which should be reserved for product development and growing the team.

Pollen aims to help our partners to help themselves, giving mobile innovations a path to success.

Follow us on Twitter at @MobileEntBiz

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23snaps

Acision

Another Place

Sector: Social

Sector: Messaging/OTT apps

www.23snaps.com

www.acision.com

Sector: Games

A social network with a difference, 23snaps is mobile-first and built for families. Instead of bombarding everyone on Facebook, 23snaps is private and designed for family and close friends. Revenue is generated by allowing loved ones to order prints and albums of their favourite photos across iOS, Android, Windows 8 and the web. Since launching in 2012, the service has secured 500,000 users in 179 countries.

SMS has been at Acision’s core since launching, but the company has recognised the shift from simple texts. And that’s why it launched OTT app fuseMe this year, which unites chat, voice, video calls, split-screen, file sharing and browsing in one place. Consumers can download the app as it is, while a B2B model allows developers and operators to integrate and customise the technology into their own services with the Acision SDK.

Another Place is a London-based freemium mobile game studio, whose team spent over a decade developing Fable for Microsoft’s Xbox. The team saw opportunity with the emergence of mobile, and set about developing high quality titles for phones and tablets. Kung fu fighter Dragon Finga achieved millions of installs and hundreds of thousands of daily active users after launching, which allowed the company to secure funding.

Apadmi

Beamly

Bizzby

Sector: App development

www.apadmi.com

Sector: Social TV

uk.beamly.com

Sector: Utilities

Apadmi works with X Factor, Skyscanner and Range Rover, and is responsible for the Guardian’s Witness app and BBC’s iPlayer Radio app, which has over 3m downloads. It has also opened two sister firms: RealityMine, a research venture that has secured £600,000 of investment, while Panaram concentrates on mobile enterprise projects, one of which includes an app designed to support over 11,000 healthcare employees.

Beamly rebranded from Zeebox earlier this year to make itself sound more attractive to the mass market and not just its majority male audience.

Described as the social network for TV, the service has grown beyond acting as a programme guide to now offer interactions with TV personalities, news updates and more. Monthly active users reached four million in July, which is up 350 per cent on the April rebrand.

Shoreditch-based Bizzby is the mobile-only startup looking to simplify the lives of consumers as well as cleaners, tradesmen, beauticians and more, claiming “it’s time to kill Yell.” More than £1 million worth of odd jobs have been placed on the app since its January soft launch and the company raised $10 million from a Stateside fund to push into three new cities, building on London.

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www.anotherplaceproductions.co.uk

www.bizzby.com

Follow us on Twitter at @MobileEntBiz

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Blippar

Bolser

Sector: Augmented reality

Sector: Digital agency

Brainient Sector: Interactive video ads

blippar.com/en/

bolser.co.uk

brainient.com/en/

AR platform Blippar brings physical objects to life on mobile.

Since launching in 2011, it has reached 150 employees and 50 million users having recently acquired Layar. More than 1,000 brands including Pepsi, Universal, and Conde Nast use the platform, which has driven blipps to be found on over 1.5bn products.

Blippar also supports content that can be consumed when the trigger is gone, location-based experiences and more.

Bolser is a digital agency delivering mobile experiences for some of the world’s biggest brands including Sony, Microsoft, EE, Adidas and Big Brother for Channel 5 and Asda, with the latter teaming the agency for over ten years. Key headlines include being over six times more efficient than competitors in handling mobile advertising spend and over five million app downloads worldwide across iOS, Android, Windows and BlackBerry.

Brainient delivers interactive video content across mobile phones, tablets and the web.

It has created over 600 ad campaigns for clients including ITV, Channels 4 and 5, Fox, Disney, Asos, Coca Cola, BMW and Lego, redirecting consumers from videos to games, special offers etc. Campaign engagement rates have hit up to 50 per cent over the past year, while revenue has surged 400 per cent over the same period.

Cahootsy

Chillingo

Citymapper

Sector: Social/Commerce

Sector: Games

Sector: Travel/Mapping

www.cahootsy.com

www.chillingo.com

citymapper.com

Cahootsy is social marketplace for shoppers and high street retailers to collaborate. By building a influential shopping identity, consumers are able to attract retailers and earn discounts on products. The company was founded by a working couple of parents who recognised the trend of “mummy and daddy bloggers,” and closed £100,000 seed funding in December 2013.

The app launched in private beta in January.

Chillingo is an indie mobile games publisher that boasts a full-service team of experts, which is enhanced with support from EA. Over the year, Chillingo has collaborated with Mi Makers and Innovators on App Store no.1 The Impossible Line. Additionally, its cross-promotional mobile tool Pop The Offer has generated 2.8 billion impressions and 116 million App Store visits for developers over the year.

Whether you’re West London born and raised or forever blowing bubbles in the East End, London is baffling. Citymapper realises that and simplifies the journey with live transport updates for buses, tubes, trains, and bikes, complete with maps for transparency. And if you’re feeling guilty after a large lunch, the app will tell you how many calories are burned if you walk.

Back in April, the company secured a $10m funding round.

www.mobile-ent.biz

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Creditcall

deltaDNA

Fliplet

Sector: Payments www.creditcall.com

Sector: Gaming data insights

www.deltadna.com

Sector: Enterprise apps

Creditcall’s “CardEase Mobile” processes card payments on Apple, Android and BlackBerry devices by pairing to a PIN entry unit via Bluetooth. The technology works independently or through retailers’ own apps with the mPOS SDK. Visa Europe was involved with developing the industry standard with CardEase, thus these practices are used across all mPOS industries.

deltaDNA collects billions of real-time gaming trends to offer studios improved player understanding and targeting. A quarter of a millisecond is all it takes for data to be converted into AI that makes games responsive to the user’s playing style and ability across multiple platforms and genres. Freemium developer and publisher clients include Ubisoft and Nickelodeon, with tools increasing revenues by up to 50 per cent.

Fliplet’s visual DIY interface lets users drag and drop content onto templates that advise on best practices in app design, which means training takes just 15 minutes. Apps can then be launched for Apple or Android devices and updated in real-time once on app stores. Sky, Marriott and Deloitte are among Fliplet customers, while security-heavy firms including BlackBerry and Symantec are also partners.

Fonix Mobile

Globr

Grabyo

Sector: Messaging and billing

fonix.io

Sector: Instant messaging

globrbeta.launchrock.com

Sector: Real-time video sharing

Fonix is directly connected into all UK mobile operators for voice, SMS and direct billing.

This year, it launched low cost Voice Shortcodes to businesses, providing five-digit numbers to support customers calling from mobiles. Conference call company Powwownow encourages mobile users to call 87373 rather than its main 08 line, which has saved consumers tens of thousands of pounds of call charges to lower bill shock.

Globr Instant Messenger enables users to chat with anyone worldwide in any language.

For example, a person who understands and speaks only English can send a message typed in English to another person who only understands and speaks Spanish (and vice versa) but both parties will receive messages in their respective languages seamlessly without changing their typing habits.

Grabyo allows broadcasters to share video from live TV across Twitter, Facebook, the web and mobile in real-time.

The technology is designed to drive cross-platform customer engagement with fans who are able to access the best moments from events including Wimbledon and Big Brother at all times, while the rights holders can generate additional revenue through advertising and sponsorship.

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fliplet.com

about.grabyo.com

Follow us on Twitter at @MobileEntBiz

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Guerilla Tea Games

Hi Mum! Said Dad

Sector: Games

Sector: Creative agency

IMImobile Sector: Mobile solutions

www.guerillatea.com

www.himumsaiddad.com

www.imimobile.com

The Dundee-based games and app development studio was founded in 2011 by four graduates. Balancing workfor-hire and original games, Guerilla Tea has designed for DC Thomson, adding mini-games to digital Dandy comics. Cancer Research UK is also a client and its February-released Play to Cure: Genes in Space game for iOS and Android analyses scientific data via the gameplay, and was featured on The One Show.

The uniquely named Hi Mum! Said Dad counts Cadbury, Maynards, Comic Relief, Mecca Bingo and MailOnline as clients. It produces native apps, responsive web designs and mobile sites alike, believing no channel is as immediate as mobile. The three-year-old, Shoreditch-based studio has already grown from two to 20 people and recent app developments include Sport Relief’s Make Every Mile Count.

IMI delivers mobile solutions for operators. This year it allowed O2 subscribers to harness ‘social selfcare’ by using Twitter hashtags for information, such as balance and minutes. The business also develops apps, doing so for the likes of Universal Music to connect mobile users in Africa with streaming, while an AR experience was developed for Up at the O2 for details about the surrounding view while atop the London attraction.

Incentivated

Just Yoyo

JustPark

Sector: Coupons

Sector: Payments/Loyalty

Sector: Utilities

www.incentivated.com

justyoyo.com

www.justpark.com

Originally set on being a traditional mobile marketing agency, Incentivated invested in R&D to develop technology platform ‘iris’. The company now concentrates on the digital components of consumer brand strategies, including retail loyalty programmes, customer service and m-commerce. Client Marks & Spencer has rolled out mobile coupons across its 17,000 store tills.

Yoyo is a mobile payment and loyalty app for consumers, which provides retailers with marketing insights and tools that allow targeting and relevancy. It has secured $5 million in investments and is live across Imperial College London’s South Kensington campus to serve over 20,000 students, as well as securing deals with Fernandez & Wells and Hummus Bros. Further launches are planned across other London universities.

Digital parking service JustPark allows property owners to profit by providing drivers with secure places to leave their cars.

This summer, the company introduced a new in-car app for Mini, which will allow owners of the vehicle line to book spaces through their dashboard. It’s probably not too surprising, given Mini owner BMW is one of JustPark’s investors, thus BMW is also due to receive the same treatment across its range.

www.mobile-ent.biz

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Kabbee

Kuato Studios

LoopMe

Sector: Transport www.kabbee.com

Sector: Educational games

www.kuatostudios.com

Sector: Advertising

This London-based minicab comparison and booking app has generated more than 7.5 million quotes and saved its users over £9 million to date. It gathers the cheapest and fastest licensed minicab companies nearest to the traveller, saving them time, money and effort. The app was recently introduced onto Windows Phone to build on iOS and Android, meaning it reaches the majority of smartphone users in the city.

Kuato is a games developer specialising in the educational sector – or ‘learnification’. The studio noted the ICT curriculum changed in UK schools in September, which is why the team travelled nationwide to meet students and teachers.

Robots and programming collide on iOS and Android with Hakitzu, and a teacher said: “I had a Hakitzu game session with my year eight students and they absolutely loved it.”

LoopMe’s speciality is highquality, full-screen rich media and video ads. A recent campaign with MediaCom for Selfridges delivered click-through rates above the industry average via endorsed full-screen ads that aligned to the overall marketing campaign. The shareable design meant the ads were promoted by real fans to make the campaign viral, which helped generate a 17 per cent click-through increase on tablets alone.

Mapp Media

Marmalade

Masabi

Sector: Advertising

www.mappmedia.com

Sector: Game development tools

www.madewithmarmalade.com

Sector: Ticketing

Mapp Media is a multi-screen ad sales house with a keen eye on mobile. The company teams brands and agencies to produce relevant ads, doing so for the likes of Google-owned Waze, MapMyFitness, Unilever, Adidas and Lucozade. Its work with Mazda used location-based advertising, which targeted consumers nationwide based on their lifestyles and whereabouts in order to promote the vehicle firm’s newest models.

Marmalade’s SDK lets game developers write code once before deploying across all major operating systems. A free licence was introduced in June, which resulted in the community doubling in size, with the ability to launch across iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, BlackBerry, Tizen and more without charge.

Meanwhile, Marmalade Juice was launched, swallowing iOS apps and reproducing them as an Android conversion.

Masabi was founded by two Cambridge graduates to end queuing for tickets at stations.

The ‘Ticket Machine in Your Pocket’ service allows passengers to pay for and display tickets in-app. US expansion came with MBTA in Boston and a follow up with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, which was deployed in a matter of months.

The latest partnership came this year with the London-based river bus service Thames Clippers.

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loopme.biz

www.masabi.com

Follow us on Twitter at @MobileEntBiz

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MatchPint

Mixlr.com

Sector: Sports/Mapping

Sector: Social audio

Mubaloo Sector: Enterprise apps

www.matchpint.co.uk

mixlr.com

mubaloo.com

Sports pub finder MatchPint runs on iOS and Android, providing users with boozers in the local area based on the game they want to watch. Back in March, the company partnered with Guinness to offer free pints of the black beverage in exchange for making a check-in with its app at more than 300 pubs. MatchPint now has around 1,700 pubs and bars listed on its service, covering sports including football, rugby, tennis and even ping-pong.

London-based startup Mixlr is on a mission to make broadcasting live audio easy and social.

Seemingly it must be doing something right, because President Obama used the service last year, which generated 140,000 listener sessions. The app is available for iPhone and furthered its reach over the summer by launching on Android in beta.

Over the year, Mubaloo launched sister businesses: The Responsive Web company and MiBeacons, which launched out of an R&D project that used beacons in enterprise. As for Mubaloo, the company won a deal with Haymarket Media Group to create over 12 apps, including Car News Feed, Car Name Game and MyCarCost. Additionally, it has improved the speed at which London’s Air Ambulance can respond to emergencies.

Olocode

Orderella

Payfriendz

Sector: Contact management

Sector: Commerce/Ordering

Sector: P2P payments

www.olocode.com

www.orderella.co.uk

www.payfriendz.com

Olocode claims to enable “the most versatile contact-sharing possible.” It lets users create a digital contact card with a unique six-character code, which they can use to share contact details privately. How the code is circulated is up to the user, whether via traditional business card, email, QR code, over the phone or scribbled down. All data on the digital card is in the cloud, which means the information is updated instantly.

If you were a princess, then think of Orderella as a fairy godmother who wants to help you go to the ball – and get hammered. The queue-busting app is used in 100 pubs and bars nationwide to let users order remotely, with cities supported including Brighton, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and London to name a few. The iOS and Android portals support PayPal, which means payment can be made in-app in just a couple of taps.

Imagine if PayPal had a baby with WhatsApp, well, that’s what Payfriendz claims to be due to its combination of payments and messaging. The idea is to end the awkward moments when your friend subs you because you don’t have cash to hand. Users just need to register with their smartphone, select a friend they want to transfer cash to and the transaction is complete without having to swap bank details with each other and so on.

www.mobile-ent.biz

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Pollen

PowaTag

Preoday

Sector: Funding pollen.vc

Sector: Commerce

www.powatag.com

Sector: App development tools

‘Velocity capital’ service Pollen supports app developers by advancing payment on pending revenues from in-app purchases and paid downloads. Developers wait up to 60 days before app stores pay out, by which time they can miss out on acquiring and retaining users with marketing methods due to lack of cash flow. Through algorithms, Pollen is aware of what figures are due to roll in, taking a five per cent fee for the service.

Powa Technologies’ PowaTag project was launched in spring to enable spur of the moment mobile purchases from billboards, newspapers, TVs, radio and shop windows through a combination of barcode scans, sound clips, beacons and more. 240 retailers signed up to the project at launch, and there are now around 700 agreements globally.

Preoday is gunning for Just Eat, with its My Order app. it aims to put restaurateurs in control of customer management without intermediaries, as 73 per cent desire their own order apps.

My Order allows businesses to create their own pre-ordering app independently. There are no set-up or commission fees, with Preoday generating revenue through extras such as customer data analysis and loyalty schemes.

Qriously

Ringcaptcha.com

Skrill

Sector: Advertising

www.qriously.com

Sector: Security

ringcaptcha.com/en/

Sector: Digital payments

Qriously provides “the world’s first Question Network for brands.” The technology is known as Opinion Targeting and lets brands serve questions in order to better target their ads across apps based on the consumer interest they receive. B&Q is a client and a recent campaign reached mobile web users within a 20-mile radius of the retailer’s stores to determine whether they planned to work on homes or gardens in the spring.

Deciphering verification codes to prove you’re a human can be incredibly irksome, however, Ringcaptcha wants to change that. The company, which was founded by Argentinian entrepreneurs, launched in England as part of the UK Trade & Investment scheme earlier this year and is making it easier for app developers and mobile website owners to verify users.

Skrill might sound like a dubstep DJ, but the company has been in digital money since 2001 and has 560 staff. It introduced a mobile app last year, allowing customers to operate a digital wallet to send and receive payments instantly.

While it simplifies transactions for users, merchants secure customer insights and are able to send targeted promotions. Retailers also have access to Skrill 1-Tap to process mobile payments in a single touch.

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www.preoday.com

www.skrill.com/en

Follow us on Twitter at @MobileEntBiz

22/09/2014 17:27

Snupps

Somo

Sector: Social/Utilities

Sector: Marketing agency

Swipestation Sector: In-venue marketing

www.snupps.com

www.somoglobal.com

www.swipestation.co.uk

17-person startup Snupps is a social and visual organiser whose employees describe the business as a “no bullshit company.”

It provides users with virtual shelves to organise and socialise around the things they cherish, with the option to make them private or public. Alternatively, it can be used as a utilities tool, generating a visual aid for people to document their receipts, bills and so on.

Somo rebranded this year to position itself as a provider of ‘solutions for the connected world,’ which means support for wearables including Google Glass and smartwatches. Since 2009, Somo has grown to 180 employees across offices in London, New York, Singapore and San Francisco. Additionally, the company received $5.5m follow-on funding from the MMC London Fund, which is overseen

by Mayor Boris Johnson.

Swipestation provides digital terminals for brands to adopt in-venue marketing services.

Audiences can be measured immediately, meaning identifying consumers’ age and gender.

Terminals are able to scan codes from smartphones and tablets, as well as producing tailored promotional codes that can be redeemed in real-time or at a later date. 8,000 interactions were reached at Butlins’ flagship Bogner Rogis resort in week one.

Tamoco

txtNation

Wonder PL

Sector: Proximity technology

Sector: Billing and messaging

Sector: Social/Video

www.tamo.co

www.txtnation.com

wonderpl.com

Tamoco has NFC, beacons, QR codes and wi-fi in its armoury, and its cloud platform provides consumers personalised offers at the right time and place. Clients include Santander, Carlsberg and Uber, while a festive campaign was launched by Giraffe to promote in-restaurant use of QR and NFC in exchange for prizes.

First Eastern Investment Group recently provided funding, which will allow the company to expand across Asia.

txtNation concentrates on the UX around payment solutions, while making SMS marketing more cost-effective than email and print. And with the customer experience in mind, the company continues optimising payment solutions internationally to cut down on the number of clicks required for purchase. The last year has included work with Xbox and social network Twoo, while app agency and Vodafone partner 24G Media was acquired.

Wonder has been featured as one of the top ten apps in countries globally and has support from Qualcomm and Universal Music.

Content spans food, wellness, entertainment, home and family, and connects video, articles, shopping and blogs, meaning everything can be found in-app.

Videos offer the opportunity for content providers to generate revenue, with click for more, buy now and other options integrated into the material.

www.mobile-ent.biz

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Yes Workforce Sector: Workforce management www.yesworkforce.co.uk

To reduce paperwork and improve efficiency, mobile staff management platform Yes Workforce allows businesses to manage jobs via app. The Bolton-based business provides a real-time dashboard, which allows users to schedule tasks for multiple employees, while other software captures signatures, generates time sheets and distributes photos – all of which happens in-app.

YPlan Sector: Events yplanapp.com/

If you need something to do, whether you want to eat, drink, see a show or watch people box and then play chess, YPlan has it covered. The mobile-only events service launched in London in November 2012 and has gone on to expand into New York, San Francisco, and Las Vegas over the past year, before bringing it back home this summer by entering Edinburgh. The app now has more than 1m downloads.

Top 50 Mobile Innovators Company A-Z

Acision www.acision.com Another Place www.anotherplaceproductions.co.uk Apadmi www.apadmi.com Beamly uk.beamly.com Bizzby www.bizzby.com Blippar blippar.com/en/ Bolser bolser.co.uk Brainient brainient.com/en/ Cahootsy www.cahootsy.com Chillingo www.chillingo.com Citymapper citymapper.com Creditcall www.creditcall.com deltaDNA www.deltadna.com Fliplet fliplet.com Fonix Mobile fonix.io Globr globrbeta.launchrock.com Grabyo about.grabyo.com Guerilla Tea Games www.guerillatea.com Hi Mum! Said Dad www.himumsaiddad.com IMImobile www.imimobile.com Incentivated www.incentivated.com Just Yoyo justyoyo.com JustPark www.justpark.com Kabbee www.kabbee.com Kuato Studios www.kuatostudios.com LoopMe loopme.biz Mapp Media www.mappmedia.com Marmalade Technologies www.madewithmarmalade.com Masabi www.masabi.com MatchPint www.matchpint.co.uk Mixlr.com mixlr.com Mubaloo mubaloo.com Olocode www.olocode.com Orderella www.orderella.co.uk Payfriendz www.payfriendz.com Pollen pollen.vc PowaTag www.powatag.com Preoday www.preoday.com Qriously www.qriously.com Ringcaptcha.com ringcaptcha.com/en/ Skrill www.skrill.com/en/ Snupps www.snupps.com Somo www.somoglobal.com Swipestation www.swipestation.co.uk Tamoco www.tamo.co txtNation www.txtnation.com Wonder PL wonderpl.com Yes Workforce www.yesworkforce.co.uk YPlan yplanapp.com

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Celebrating British mobile content Event Partners

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