2017 Extreme Tech Challenge Top 3! 6th February, 2017

Having edged past twenty five progressive and worthy competitors from across the globe, the 2017 Extreme Tech Challenge Finalists represent an expansive breadth of industries: hemostatic solution innovators Cresilon (New York, NY), filament recycling startup ReDeTec (Toronto, CAN) and hi-tech aerial camera specialists Vantage Robotics (San Francisco, CA).

The Semi-Final round proved to be a photo-finish race for the finalists, who pitched their fledgling ventures live onstage alongside their Top 10 contemporaries under the glittering Las Vegas skyline. Impossibly close to call, the Top 3 were ultimately chosen by a collective of tech’s most brilliant trailblazers. President and CEO of Consumer Technology Association Gary Shapiro presided at the helm of the judges’ table, accompanied by Founder and Managing Partner of SoftTech VC Jeff Clavier, Director of Intel Capital Christine Herron, Founding Partner of Pacific Investments and Innova Capital Fund Veronica Serra, Founder and Managing Partner of Binary Capital Jonathan Teo and Founder and CEO of Dianrong, Soul Htite.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2017 EXTREME TECH CHALLENGE TOP 3!

Redefining the way military, first responders, and doctors handle medical emergencies, finalist Cresilon is a plant-based hemostatic gel that accelerates the natural blood-clotting process. Founders Joe Landolina and Isaac Miller are connected by one shared mission: to improve wound care and advance the standard of medical treatment.

Producer of a desktop filament extruder and recycling unit for 3D printers, finalist ReDeTec creates novel plastic processing technology with significantly reduced energy and space requirements, freeing plastic recycling from the factory floor and making it a much more accessible technology for everyone. ReDeTec is the brainchild of Dennon Oosterman and Alex Kay, who deliver a free, safe way to recycle virtually anything plastic.

Third finalist Vantage Robotics has created the best flying camera in the world, making it easy for anyone to capture stunning aerial video and stills. Their team includes DARPA Grand Challenge winners, IDEO alumni, and experienced entrepreneurs spearheaded by founders Joe van Niekerk and Tobin Fisher. Vantage’s first product, Snap, is a fully portable, safe, and incredibly easy-to-use 4K flying camera.

The Finalists will now face the most stringent and final round on Necker Island, pitching their venture to Sir Richard Branson alongside 2017 Finals judges including venture capitalist, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital, Jim Breyer, Veteran software entrepreneur and founder of C3 loT, Tom Siebel, Managing Partner of Aspect Ventures, Theresia Gouw, CTO for the Hillary for America campaign, Steph Hannon and COO of the iTutor Group Jerry Huang.

Looking ahead to what awaits Necker Island, Finals Judge Steph Hannon remarks:“The discipline, focus and passion of extreme athletes is mirrored in exceptional entrepreneurs. I can’t wait to see limits pushed and peak performance achieved when groups of both gather for XTC finals on Necker Island.”

My Sponsorship Predictions 2017. 23rd January, 2017

I predict a big year for sponsorship. It’s been steadily gaining a bigger seat at the big boy table, but this year I anticipate it will accelerate at great speed. We have seen big brands slowly start to pull away from badging and into more integrated experiential campaigns – lead by partnerships, whether in a traditional rights holder/sponsor sense or through multi-agency collaboration. The value of Big Data is finally being understood by the ‘every brand’ and implementation of data is finally getting into Star Wars territory (A.I. and more). As a bit of a geek myself, I am truly excited for 2017.

But at the heart of sponsorship and at the heart of sales for any business is the audience – which is why I predict 2017 to be big for our industry like never before.

Here are the trends I think we’ll see:
1. Young blood, new ideas: Sponsorship as an industry has grown and more university students are realising that if they can’t be the next David Beckham, then they could perhaps work in football through sponsorship. We’ve seen a significant increase in university students applying for internships and placements in the last year. Once these kids are out and start working, I think we’ll see a shift in process with some of the more traditional sponsorship agencies – and the creative that comes out of them.

2. Consolidation makes way for the little guy: A number of long-established sponsorship agencies got bought, sold and acquired last year (Brand Rapport, Brand Meets Brand, Generate Sponsorship) and I predict we’ll see a number of new start-ups in the sponsorship space launching in the next 6 months.

3. Consolidation lends to campaigns rather than ad hoc projects: With a number of long-established sponsorship agencies merging/selling into larger agencies with additional disciplines, the aim will be to create a more integrated approach for their clients. This type of business is more beneficial to clients through a long-term approach so I predict the desire of these agencies to focus on campaigns and retainers. This may create opportunities for other agencies to scoop up the ad hoc projects throughout the year.

4. Big brands taking on transformational sponsorship: Transformational sponsorship is sponsorship that shifts an entire business practice. Rather than being stuck moving the needle in the marketing department, Boards are starting to realise that integrating sponsorship can impact the entire organisation. We have had more requests from brands last year to help them integrate transformational sponsorship (or sponsorship without logos) than we have had in our 6-year history. This trend is sure to continue.

5. The ‘British Brand’ of sponsorship agency makes bigger waves overseas: Slingshot now has more than 35% of our retained clients headquartered overseas, with 60% of our clients international and the remaining national in the UK. This is a radical change from a couple of years ago when we only worked with local clients on local programmes with maybe a handful of smaller international projects. As technology makes the world smaller, there is greater opportunity to expand and grow market share elsewhere. I believe this trend will continue with both an influx of international agencies working in the UK and UK agencies getting brought in for more international pitches.

However you look at it, I think 2017 will be a very exciting year – best of luck!

*I was 4/5 on last year’s predictions, to see last year’s predictions click here.