Horsology, an online platform for the horse industry that was one of the startups showcased in the Silicon Gorge 1.1 event last year, took its pitch to the Richard Branson Pitch to Rich event in the Cardiff Millennium Centre yesterday.
And to make the maximum impact they travelled the last part of the journey with a pony, capturing it on their Pony cam:
We caught up with Christina Jones, the founder of Horsology, to find out more:
TechSPARK: What is Richard Bransons’s Pitch to Rich competition?
Christina: It’s a chance to pitch to Richard Branson and the top startup company selected wins a prize package worth over £150,000 with a million pounds in total up for grabs. The first round is decided by public votes – you can vote for Horsology here and help a fellow South West company! Entries close at 5pm on 5 May so there’s only a few days left to go.
TS: Why have you entered?
CJ: To win £150k of marketing plus mentorship from the Virgin team. We’re boot strapping at the moment and an extra £150k to spend on marketing would be immense and really help us spread the word about the site
TS: What happened at the pitch?
CJ: We went to the regional roadshow in Cardiff on Tuesday and realised we needed something to stand out from the other companies attending. So in a Branson style PR stunt we brought along a real life #pitchpony to the centre of Cardiff, covered her in posters and QR codes, and strapped a go-pro cam on too.
It certainly caused quite a stir in the city centre and gave us a chance to collar lots of commuters and got us a lot of attention from the Virgin team!
TS: What’s the latest for Horsology?
CJ: We’re continuing to work on growing our first product, which is an advertising platform that allows people to buy and sell horses and their associated products and services. In development is an app aimed at local level service providers such as horse dentists and horse accommodation businesses. We’re also looking to raise our first round of investment.
You can see more on Horsology’s pitch (and vote for them!) at the Horsology Pitch To Rich Startup page.
Also, if you want to see more from impressive startups from the South West don’t miss Venturefest Bristol & Bath on 9 June.
