Unbound50, which took place in London this July, showcased the top 50 startups in Europe and included South West-based tech companies Landmrk and Social Wise.

The celebration of innovation saw 5000 entrepreneurs, founders, investors and thought leaders come together to praise and interact with these, and other, exciting startups.

“It was really inspiring to talk to all the different companies that Unbound had to show”

 

Landmrk, which was presented under startups focusing on ‘Media, AdTech and Marketing’, creates bespoke campaigns that place digital content into physical locations anywhere in the world. Also to make the Unbound50 list was Socialwise – described as the intelligent nightlife assistant – an app which shows live content for things like happy hours, events and offers.

We spoke to Heather Elkington from Landmrk and Daniel Ghadimi from Social Wise about the event and how being involved has helped their companies.

TechSPARK: How did you find Unbound50? 

Heather Elkington: The event itself was brilliant. It was really inspiring to talk to all the different companies that Unbound has to show. The day that I attended began with a talk from the EMEA Vice President of Twitter, Bruce Daisley, about the culture of work which was super insightful.

Daniel Ghadimi: The event was great, we met a lot of really interesting startups, investors and relevant brand executives (in our case Diageo, who we have since had 2 meetings with and might have an interesting announcement coming up). They had influential tech leaders and Venture Capitalists (VCs) give talks and there was a vibrant atmosphere throughout both of the days.

There was also a TechCrunch pitch-off in the evening until around midnight after the first day where we met a lot of high profile people including the Editor of TechCrunch Mike Butcher. We exhibited in the Unbound50 area throughout both days, there were a few other areas for startups who wanted to pay to attend and larger businesses who wanted a presence.

TS: Why did you get involved with Unbound?

HE: I went to Unbound due to the calibre of companies and speakers that were attending. Although I was only there for a short amount of time, I left feeling fully enlightened.

DG: We got involved because we were recognised as a top 50 startup in Europe, it sounded like a great opportunity so I applied and next thing I know we were exhibiting free of charge at the UK’s biggest tech event. There was a phone interview which I think was part of the selection process where they wanted to know more about the companies but it was definitely something I would recommend to other SW based start-ups.

TS: How has the event helped you?

HE: In terms of networking it was brilliant. I left Unbound with a wider list of contacts that I wouldn’t have met otherwise.

DG: Meeting James Ashall, a director at Diageo was the best thing we got out of the event, obviously we met a lot of other serious investors but Diageo is the most exciting opportunity for us.

For more information see the Unbound50 event website. If you want more more information on the companies in this article, visit here for Landmrk and here for Social Wise. 

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