Now, I’m sure you’re just as excited about next week as I am.
Because, if you’ve been keeping your ear to the ground, you’ll know it’s time to meet some teams. It’s all about strategy, planning, teamwork and being able to roll with the hits.
Yes, it’s AMERICAN FOOTBALL SEASON AGAIN…
Oh, wait, you were talking about accelerators, weren’t you? Yeah, well they’re kinda neat too. You don’t see as many diving tackles in those though (unless someone’s trying to steal the last pulled pork sandwich).
Well, I’d best get on with talking tech then. But be careful of my personal Twitter feed on Sundays, unless you fancy a blow-by-blow narration of a technical and jargon-filled game that lasts three hours.
Hell, what am I talking about? It’ll be AWESOME. Enjoy.
NEW TEAMS. NEW HOME
On Monday, it’s all go.
At the start of next week, ten sets of teams will settle in Newcastle to test their mettle against the Ignite100 accelerator. The North East accelerator returns for a third spin, with teams hailing from Europe, Canada and just down the road. They’ll be working intensely to develop their idea over a period of 14 weeks, with the assistance of experienced mentors from the UK, US and beyond. At the end, they’ll pitch to investors from Newcastle, London and New York for the chance to top up their backing to £100,000.
This year, Ignite100′s gone through some changes. It’s got some new blood, and it’s set up over at Generator Studios for this round (although it’s still running “The Loft” as a base for startups and freelancers). We’ll be sharing more details of the teams early next week, and chatting to the folk behind Ignite100 about their plans for this year. Stay tuned…
THE SEARCH CONCLUDES
While the new batch of Ignite100 teams are unpacking their laptops and desk ornaments, the teams over on Teesside will be singing for their supper in the first of Searchcamp‘s demo days.
Six teams will be pitching at Teesside University’s Centuria Building on Tuesday (September 3), with the action kicking off at 5.30pm. We’ll be hearing from EventSneaker, Lean Sales Panel, Liid, My Paleo Box, ShowMeCats and Tangle (who you’ll remember from last week’s Nuggets). Betarocket will be over in Middlesbrough on the night to find out more about what they’re offering, and what they’ve learned during the accelerator.
Register here to secure your spot.
NINJA SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING
A few hours ago a cat popped up with a message.
Apparently, Gateshead indie game studio Eutechnyx is on the verge of releasing its iOS game Ninja Cats vs Samurai Dogs worldwide after testing the water in Australia and Canada last month. When? Ah, well. The ninja cat is enigmatic about this…
Worldwide Release coming soon! Time to hone your Ninja skills & battle with @TeamSamuraiDog http://t.co/fQXQDoSf9J pic.twitter.com/dF0kC5feg1
— Team Ninja Cat (@TeamNinjaCat) August 29, 2013
It’ll be interesting to see how this gets on. Not because of the ninja thing, of course. Hell, even the cookery apps on iPhone have the word “ninja” in them these days. It’s just that we’re slightly more used to seeing Eutechnyx attacking large driving platforms. Still, Toronto Thumbs seem to like it, so it’s a good start…
OUR MAN IN THE NORTH
A second Nuggets appearance in a row for Sage One’s Paul Lancaster, who’s taking part in a debate on social media late next month as part of Social Media Week. Paul’s one of a panel of pundits who will discuss how social media can benefit your business, and he’ll be joined by folk including Ravensbourne’s Lizzie Jackson, Claremont’s Simon Booth and Oxygen accelerator founder Mark Hayles.
The hook is that they’ll be spread out across the UK and linked online using technology developed by Cisco. Paul will be speaking from Sunderland Software City, and the event itself kicks off from 6pm on September 26.
DATAMONDAYS
A bit of a change of pace here, as we head across town to Newcastle University’s vividly-named Research Beehive for another meeting of SuperMondays. Once again, the IT usergroup was shunted out of its natural weekly spot by the beachy goodness of the Bank Holiday, but it turned up on Tuesday with a discussion about databases.
This month’s event featured talks from Matt Wells and Marc Qualie of Performance Horizon Group, GitHub’s Sam Lambert and SuperMondays co-founder Ross Cooney. The group puts videos of all its talks on its site, so wander over and have a look. But here’s Matt’s talk as a taster…
FANTOO’S QUEST FOR £400,000
A quick report from the recent past here. Picture email startup Fantoo has been quiet since leaving the Ignite100 accelerator in January, but they’ve popped up on equity crowdfunding platform CrowdCube. Fantoo is offering 28.5% in equity and is looking to raise £400,000 to develop its concept, which involves giving users a more visual way to sift and sort their inboxes. It’s currently over £200,000.
If you need a refresher on Fantoo’s idea, here’s an audio interview with co-founder Jordan Fantaay from late last year.
ON BETAROCKET
Social giving startup Givey discusses its platform for businesses, which allows firms to track and support the charitable acts of its employees (Giving: Good For Business?)
SOME EXTRA READING
How do you get things done? Start small (How To Stop Procrastinating By Using the Two-Minute Rule)
“That’s a pretty icon. But do your users know what the hell it actually does?” (The Cardinal UX Mistake We Made. You Might Be Making It Too)
…or alternatively, you could test features by creating a button that does pretty much nothing? (The Button To Nowhere)
Jenna Wortham of the New York Times talks about what she looks for in a “newsworthy” startup (Divining a Startup’s Potential)
Givey’s Di Gates discusses the benefits that giving can have to company culture and bottom line (Why Being Good Is Good For Business, And How Small Companies Can Get Involved)
The Washington Post argues why more countries should follow New Zealand’s lead in getting rid of software patents (New Zealand Just Abolished Software Patents. Here’s Why We Should Too)
HEY YOU…
Check out the latest technology events in the North East by dashing off to Tech Diary. NOW.
Remember, you can share your own news or list your event by emailing john@betarocket.co.uk.