Tag: #sponsorship #rightsholder #brands #innovation #differentiation #USP #competition #business


AND THE EXTREME TECH CHALLENGE 2018 WINNER IS… 25th October, 2018

Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) announces 2018 winner of its fourth annual competition

Every year, the Extreme Tech Challenge launches its contestants into unprecedented levels of notoriety while exposing them to some of the most influential people in the tech industry. In addition to taking place across four stages where contestants were given the opportunity to publicly pitch their ventures at The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world’s largest technology trade show in Las Vegas, the top three finalists were sent to Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands for the XTC Finals on October 19th.

XTC had the pleasure of being Necker’s first guests since the hurricanes and there, a panel of judges, spearheaded by Branson himself, selected a winner. XTC is thrilled to announce that the winner of the fourth annual competition is Power Ledger, the software company from Perth, Australia, using blockchain technology to enhance the adoption and accessibility of clean energy worldwide.

“We are honoured and delighted to receive this award and excited for the additional opportunities available to us from this endorsement.” – Dr Jemma Green, Co-Founder, Power Ledger

From hundreds of world-changing innovations and ideas, only three finalists could be selected at CES to move onto the championship round on Necker Island. While many of the contestants showed promise as the competition was extremely fierce, these three finalists can say with pride that they made it to XTC’s top three—a prestigious accomplishment in its own right:

  • Owlet Baby Care: Founded in 2013 by a team of passionate parents who believed there had to be better resources for infant healthcare in the home. The team’s goal is to bring themselves and other parents around the globe peace of mind and assurance by developing a device that tracks the baby’s oxygen and heart rate while asleep. Using clinically proven technology called pulse oximetry, the Owlet Smart Sock is designed to notify parents if something appears to be wrong.
  • Power Ledger: Power Ledger is a blockchain software company developing solutions for the energy industry. The Power Ledger Platform is an ecosystem of blockchain applications that enables peer-to-peer trading between households that own energy assets to trade electricity with their neighbors as well as set their own prices.
  • Revl: Revl provides AI video editing as a service for experience providers like zip-lines, racetracks, skydive drop zones and soon cruise ships and theme parks. Our system uses Revl Arc cameras to capture the experience and Artificial Intelligence to edit a full social media package including 2 cinematic videos in less than 90 seconds.

 

The winner was selected by a panel of elite judges across the fields of entrepreneurship and tech which included the aforementioned Sir Richard Branson alongside Bitfury co-founder Valery Vavilov, United Arab Emirates’ Prince Zayed Suroor, Ignite Founder & Singularity University Co-Ambassador, Lisa Andrews and Head of Marketing at Zoom Communications, Janine Pelosi.

As the XTC team comes down from yet another superb competition, they are already looking toward 2019 as they have already set a new date for the next XTC Finals which will be held on April 3, 2019 and they will soon announce the top 25 candidates who will compete.

 

Original: http://www.extremetechchallenge.com/2018/10/24/and-the-extreme-tech-challenge-2018-winner-is/


XTC 2018 – MEET THE TOP 25 NECKER ISLAND HOPEFULS! 16th October, 2017

Slingshot Sponsorship client Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), the world’s largest startup competition, is back again for its fourth annual year, unveiling The Top 25 contenders moving on to the next phase of the challenge, slated to take place this January at CES 2018. The Top 25 was formally announced at CTA Innovate! and Celebrate at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco, and presented by emcee and renowned tech writer Brent Rose.

XTC’s selected Top 25 will be narrowed down to the Top 10 Semi-Finalists who will then pitch on stage at CES to compete for the ultimate prize of global visibility and invaluable resources, with three finalists to pitch their ventures to Branson on Necker Island alongside a phenomenal panel of judges.

Making discernible waves overseas during last year’s challenge, XTC is poised to welcome its largest pool of international contenders to date. The 2018 Top 25 companies reach far beyond American borders, representing countries such as France, Norway, Australia, Germany, Rwanda, and Singapore. The industries these companies represent are as diverse as their home base, with emphasis placed on verticals such as Blockchain, Sustainability, FinTech, Transportation and IoT.

Among international frontrunners to the finals in February 2018 are Norway’s climate action tool chooose.today, touch-free gesture control interface creators BlueMint Labs’ Bixi hailing from France, Powerledger – an Australian company creating a blockchain-based peer-to-peer energy trading platform, and Germany’s sustainability stewards AIRY – a plant pot designed to ventilate root systems.

Stateside, the bank of competitors is stacked with brilliant minds from Silicon Valley to the east coast covering a wide range of cutting-edge trends that span the spectrum of tech industries from BioTech and Gaming to Healthcare. Companies such as Mountain View, CA’s NextBiotics – a biotechnology platform engineering viruses, infant healthcare platform Owlet Baby Care Inc., and Florida’s Immersed Games – an online game world for real STEM learning experiences, are all prospects who may have never crossed paths, yet now find themselves on a leveled playing field competing for the ultimate prize.

Other noteworthy aspirants include Bluefield Technologies, who is utilizing microsatellite sensors to analyze high-value methane emission data and Neurotrack, a company transforming the diagnosis and prevention of memory loss.

Past iterations of XTC have showcased the latest breakthroughs in sectors such as Virtual Reality, Healthcare, Genetics and Transportation, and this year proves to be even stronger. In an inspiring showcase of the evolving landscape of startup-driven discoveries, XTC serves as the platform where science and ingenuity collide to create a new paradigm of advancement in consumer, enterprise and medical tech.

XTC 2018 is proud to present the pioneering Judges’ panels for the Semi-Finals and the Final Round:

  • Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group, Investor & Philanthropist Returning XTC Finals Judge
  • Gary Shapiro, CEO Consumer Technology Association, Returning XTC Semi-Finals Judge
  • Koichi Narasaki, Chief Digital Officer, Sompo
  • Valery Vavilov, CEO, BitFury
  • Tom Siebel, Veteran software entrepreneur and founder of C3 loT, Returning XTC Finals Judge

XTC 2018 TIMELINE

  • Stage I – October 11, 2017 – Top 25 Announcement
  • Stage II – November 9, 2017 – Top 10 Announcement at CES Unveiled NYC: Two months ahead of CES 2018 10 Semi-Finalists will be selected from the Top 25 XTC challengers. In addition to unveiling the Semi-Finalists, the annual event showcases the future of tech before the new year.
  • Stage III – January 11, 2018 – XTC Semi-Finals at CES: Extreme Tech Challenge returns to CES Las Vegas for the semi-finals in 2018. This stage of the contest will see the chosen Top 10 pitch their tech live on-stage in hope of being one of three companies selected to move onto Necker Island.
  • Stage IV – February 28, 2018 – XTC Finals on Necker Island: Top 3 Finalists present to a panel of all-star judges, spearheaded by Branson.

XTC would like to extend special gratitude to the current sponsors on board for 2018 – Sompo, OWC, Zoom, Jungle Creations, Cisco, Qualcomm, and Meltwater. Thanks to their generous partnerships, XTC 2018 will be the most comprehensive iteration to date!

STAY CONNECTED
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Website

About Extreme Tech Challenge
Extreme Tech Challenge is a competition that empowers entrepreneurs and their companies by providing visibility, resources, and it gives competitors the ability to grow exponentially in scale and knowledge at a low to no incremental cost. XTC strives to inspire and provide growth to up and coming entrepreneurs and businesses by surrounding them with mentors to help guide them as they build on product success with business success.

XTC pulls this all together into an experience that money cannot buy with showcase events at the world’s largest technology trade show, CES, and also at Sir Richard Branson’s own Necker Island.

Hurricane Irma Relief
XTC alongside Richard Branson and The Virgin Group continue to do everything possible to support and assist the local BVI community that they call home. Please explore the various donation options & spread awareness to Richard Branson’s efforts with Virgin and their support of the BVI relief fund . By covering all of Virgin Unite’s Hurricane relief overheads, Richard Branson and the Virgin Group have made it possible for 100% of the donations received directly to the local BVI communities.

EXTREME TECH CHALLENGE 2018 TOP 25

ABRA – AirSwap – AIRY GREENTECH – Bansen Labs – BioCellection Inc. – Bixi Bluemint Labs – Bluefield Technologies – Chooose.today – EVmatch – Immersed Games – Lavabit – LYNQ – Neurotrack – Nextbiotics – Owlet Baby Care Inc. – Piaggio Fast Forward – Powerledger – Rayton Solar 2018 – REVL – SafeMotos – Square Lovin – TenX Wallet – CoLoadX – Tissue Analytics – WooHoo by SmartBeings


Why it’s important (not necessary) to be brutally honest in sponsorship  31st March, 2017

I love the sponsorship industry and all the people that work in it.  However, I have always found that unlike the marketing or television industries, everyone in sponsorship seems to walk on eggshells with confrontation or disagreements.  In my limited experience (Slingshot is only 7 years old), very few in the sponsorship industry speak what’s on their mind.  Conversely they tend to say what most people want to hear.  Whilst being diplomatic has never been my strong suit, I also feel that frantically nodding in agreement actually erodes an existing problem within the sponsorship industry for a number of reasons:

 
1.    Growth: everyone seems to continually pat each other on the back with the quality of work produced.  Ironically, the same people will also tell you that a lot of the work produced in sponsorship is actually not that inspirational.  Certainly much of the industry does not seem interested in raising the bar for itself, and therefore gripes when other industries start taking a piece of “their pie”.  However, if PR, digital, social, VR and other agencies are better equipped to articulate and cultivate partnerships because they understand the potential of the medium, and traditional sponsorship agencies stick with what they know with broadcast consumption, then the industry continues to create a rod for its own back.

 
2.    Stand for something: I was recently commented in the Financial Times regarding the decline in sponsors with this year’s popular Chelsea Flower Show (read article here).  Having both consulted for clients who secured sponsorship for their own garden as well as shopping sponsorship opportunities against Chelsea Flower Show sponsors, I am pretty familiar with the opportunity (full disclosure, I have never worked with the Chelsea Flower Show directly). From a business point of view, it is not wise to disparage what might in the future be a great client; however, I do fundamentally believe that the value proposition is not in line with the assets they currently deliver.  This is not to say that the Chelsea Flower Show is not a good sponsorship opportunity, but I believe the current way it is pitched it is overpriced, and unsubstantiated.  While saying this in a newspaper may mean Slingshot Sponsorship will never work with the Chelsea Flower Show, it’s important to have a true reflection on why it’s happening rather than assuming an economic blip.  Assuming an economic blip means that every other rights holder who has struggled this year will attest their lack of funds through the general economy, rather than reflect on a changing marketplace and whether they are driving real value to brands.  If you drive value, can articulate and measure it – securing sponsors is no harder today than it was yesterday.

 
3.    False hope: sponsorship is driven by passion projects.  It is very hard to tell someone who is passionate and truly believes in a project that their idea isn’t going to work, or at the very least, isn’t going to work the way they expect it to.  Especially when saying it will work comes with a pay cheque.  No one wants to crush anyone’s dreams, however without being truthful, you are actually providing a disservice to the passionate person who then continues to chase their tail and ends up nowhere.  My route has always been to pull the bandage off quickly.  It’s terrible, but at least they can start investing time and resource into a project that they can be both passionate about and make money from.

 
So speak up, be heard, and try to implement change into an industry that could be so much greater than the sum of its parts.  And isn’t that what sponsorship is all about anyways?


Be The ‘Right’ Holder 21st March, 2017

In today’s age, we are witnessing industries becoming ever more cluttered with brands and consumers are spoilt for choice. With the level of competition skyrocketing; brands need to find new and innovative ways of differentiating.

 

As the market becomes increasingly saturated, trying to identify something distinct about a brand is blurred; yet deriving something unique for a brand is crucial and is the underlying principle designed to drive their success. Distinguishing that certain something about an organisation represents the biggest sales tool in their arsenal – the USP.

 

Brands are now utilising the latest innovations in sponsorship, as opposed to standard forms of marketing, to create emotional connections with their target audience, creating sustainable and long-lasting relationships.

 

Rights holders need to be aware of this and use their platforms as a gateway to helping brands accomplish their goals, providing opportunities for brands to leverage themselves from their competitors. To do this rights holders must invest time into identifying the key ways they can help a brand differentiate and reach their business objectives, which means prospecting should be more targeted than ever.

 

It is therefore paramount that rights holders promote themselves as the property that will help differentiate the brand from their competitors and become the solution, not an option, in providing brands with the perfect opportunity to stand out from the crowd, leading to their further success.