Brits do best in Pepsico contest for emerging technology companies
Ten start-up companies, eight of them British, have been chosen by Pepsico to take part in a programme designed to discover and support emerging technology companies in Europe.
More than 130 iinnovative technologies were considered for the "Pepsico10." The 10 winners will now work with some the company's leading brands in the U.K., including Walkers and Pepsi, in pilot marketing programmes.
The 10 technologies include:
•TvTak, a mobile app which lets users access more stuff about a TV show or commercial they’re watching, by pointing their smartphone or tablet at the TV for a second. French-based TvTak operates in Brazil, France, the U.K. and the U.S.A.
• Slingshot, developed by two UK university students , allows consumers to instantly place products in their existing online shopping baskets from any website with just the tap of a mouse;
• ParcelPoke (ParcelGenie) the world’s first instant gift text messaging service, also from the UK, makes sending real products to friends and family "as simple as sending a text message".
Mitch Vidler, a 22 year old founder of SDMV, which owns Slingshot, said:
"We only graduated from university last year. It's hard to imagine the technology we created in our university will now be used by a global company like PepsiCo. "
Global Director of Digital and Social Media for Pepsico, Bonin Bough, said: "The standard of entry was phenomenal."
Ian Ellington, General Manager for Walkers Crisps, said,
“I’m really pleased and excited about the variety of different technologies our brands will get to pilot. ”
The other PepsiCo10 European start-ups are:
Shahmoon Ltd (UK): uses 46” HD video posters to bring big-screen advertising to small stores, enabling businesses to interact with passers-by, feed live information or ‘tweet’ direct to the street
SoDash Ltd (UK): Social media monitoring tool which uses Artificial Intelligence to help companies manage their brand reputations,
Sports Team Space (Bluefields) (UK) A social network helping hundreds of amateur football clubs manage their leagues and teams online
ChartsNow.mobi Limited (UK): Mobile music service that offers instant access to the current, hit chart music 24/7 on mobile phones
Screenreach Interactive limited (Screach) (UK): Allows consumers to use a smart phone to create two way interactive experiences. EXample: using mobile phones as a controller to play a game.
Roamler BV (Netherlands): Uses a network of consumers as a mobile “workforce,” enabling them to earn rewards by performing small tasks on behalf of corporations, organisations and individuals
Waxwired Ltd (Flypost) (UK): A location based smart phone game that lets users discover and interact with live events in their cit.y