Collider looks to media & advertising industry for ad tech fundraising campaign
Advertising and technology start-up accelerator, Collider, backed by companies such as Diageo, Unilever and William Hill, has opened a crowd funding campaign to allow members of the advertising and media community to invest in 10 UK tech start ups.
The three-week campaign to raise £1m has been created specifically for the industry in a bid to back new companies and aid Collider's mission to help develop the UK media and advertising tech sector rival dominant countries such as the US.
£330,000 will be raised through crowdsourcing platform Seedrs, while the remaining £670,00 is hoped to come from high-net-worth industry experts.
Startups will receive up to £150k in cash through Collider in order to fuel growth. They will also gain expert business coaching entrepreneurs and be given access to receive in-depth collaboration with brands such as Unilever, Diageo and The National Lottery to extend their business knowledge.
Lending their backing to the scheme are two of The Drum Digerati's top 10 industry figures Havas Media CEO Paul Frampton, Nicole Yershon, director of innovative Solutions at Ogilvy as well as Rod Banner, founder of Banner Corp, 3LA and tech investor.
Investment of sum between £100 to £100,000 is to be sought across the 10 companies which are participating in its Class of 2015 programme which has previously helped develop companies such as LivingLens, Ad Venture, CampaignAmp and Beem.
Rose Lewis, co-founder of a collider, said that the UK possessed a leading marketing and advertising industry that needed to strengthen its own technology sectors to shape the industry's future.
"We’re lagging far behind the US and even Israel," continued Lewis. "We want to change this and we have the ingredients to make it happen. The UK has all the industry expertise and relationships you could wish for and we have great tech skills as well. By offering members of the industry the opportunity to invest in Collider’s Class of 2015 'madtech' startups, we are giving the opportunity for individuals to make a financial return and for the industry in the UK to reap the benefits of having early access to this tech."
Frampton claimed that he believed that "the foundations of marketing" we're being changed as technology became fundamental within the business: “We need to ensure that this country doesn’t fall behind on technology but builds it into our industry’s DNA, keeping us as global leaders. That’s why I’m committed to supporting these startups by investing through Collider - we need UK innovation that serves our businesses and our clients’ needs.”
Yershon, a supporter of the concept, added: “Brands and agencies are crying out for innovative technologies to help them better connect with their customers: we mustn’t rely on the US to lead this charge. This is a great opportunity for the industry to play a part in providing support for the startups developing these technologies.”
In two years, Collider startups have raised £3.7m in funding and signed over £1m worth of deals with brands.
Brands to have partnered with Collider have included Bauer Media, BBC Wordwide, Betfred, Diageo, Haymarket Publishing, Late Rooms, The National Lottery, Reevoo, Unruly Media, Unilever and William Hill.
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