Review of 2015

2015 proved to be an award winning and interesting time for skignz, as well as externally, in the world of AR.

The landscape of AR changed quite significantly throughout 2015, as either acquisitions, or investments were made, reducing the number of companies in the market. Blippar invested heavily (increasing their worth to circa £1.4b) whilst also acquiring their biggest rival, Layar.

Other companies such as Apple acquired Metaio and Google invested even further ($542m) into MagicLeap.  

Other companies apps were not renewed and many digital/ad/creative agencies had to look for other ways to offer their client AR experiences, with Junaio being acquired and stopping its SDK for others to use. In addition, INTEL acquired RECON.

Also across the wider market, Apple introduced the ability to be able to open one app from another, something that was not previously available on the iTunes App store.

We know that skignz are focussed on AR, however VR's emergence over the past few months made some waves, with more progress from Occults Rift and even Facebook. Founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg, quoting our own Co-founder & CMO Si Brown, stated that "Why look at your phone, when you can look through it!". 

Other VR progress was made in line with the huge interest in the technology. The first Oculus Rift Headsets were due to be shipped in the final quarter of 2015.

Moving on to skignz, the biggest difference you will have seen is the aesthetics of the skignz website and the skignz app. Considerable time was spent in developing 'version 2.0' for IOS with Android being currently finalised. 

In addition to the new look and feel, skignz were present at many outdoor events such as PRIDE LDN, Glastonbury, EDC & Leeds Festival. 

The feedback on the tech and also the performance exceeded even our high expectations.

Another key milestone was the development and introduction of the 'ARtAbove' channel, allowing ANY Artist, ANYWHERE in the World to place their own Art ANYWHERE they want, essentially making the whole world a gallery. 

This was developed in conjunction with artist Martin McCloon and was even showcased at Disgraceland (Banksy's Installation in Weston Super-mare), actually subverting the subversive.

2015 was an award winning year for skignz as they were voted as 'The UK's Most Disruptive Tech Startup' by Ignite, 'TechAwards NE', 'Thinking Digital' and the 'Marketing Award' at the BNBA'15. 2016 has already started with a bang, with skignz being shortlisted again in the BNBA'16 and last week coming Runner up in KPMG's 'Best British Mobile Startup'.

skignz increased their team with key additions of Jamie Clarke (Head of DV Partnerships) and David Murphy (Head of Sports Partnerships) both settling in quickly and hitting the ground running across the many conferences and events in the final quarter of the year.

In the final weeks of the year skignz launched their #skignzsanta experience, which allowed parents to follow the 12 days lead up to Christmas eve whilst learning each day how to set up their own personalised #skignzsanta. 

Parents placed two skignz outside their homes so when Santa was close (following on the NORAD or Google Santa websites) parents could show 'Santa' flying past through their magic santa camera Smartphone or tablet.

Initially they saw what looked like Santa in his sleigh being led away by his reindeers, then parents 'panned across the sky' to reveal a special 'personalised note' to their child(ren), telling them he can only deliver when they are fast asleep. 

The hundreds of people who did this across the globe said their children were simply ‘blown away’ by the experience, and getting them to sleep was a lot easier than normal! 

We will be looking into doing a similar thing for Christmas 2016 but we have a lot of other interesting and exciting 'skignz' projects to deliver before then...

And as always for further information on skignz then please visit us on the usual Social Media channels or drop us a line info@skignz.com

skignz: Pitch@Palace 3.0

skignz won through to this years final of pitch@palace where we were given the opportunity to present to a very esteemed audience of 500+ dignitaries 

This marvellous opportunity came about when the fantastic Ken Valliday at Tech2brand and AdTech_London nominated skignz for Pitch@Palace 3.0 (P@P)

skignz was shortlisted from the original 150 applicants to attend a bootcamp of 42 tech companies presenting for the opportunity to Pitch@Palace.

BOOT CAMP:

                    

     

The bootcamp was held at WAYRA, Telefonica's Accelerator based in Fitzrovia London on Thursday 12th March 2015.

The environment that WAYRA is providing to help start up companies is an awesome eclectic space where people can come together, work privately but also have a central London address that showcases them in the best light.

Boot Camp Video: - https://youtu.be/8rRhPbybCuI

Each of the 45 teams were given 3 mins to pitch with only 1 slide on the screen behind them to support their presentation. With mentors on hand and various presentations from previous winners such as Squirrel and Industry leaders like Jess Butcher, CMO & Co-Founder of Blippar through to engaging exercises with Nottingham University's Business School.

skignz 1 min Video: - https://youtu.be/RckBPpK1it0

The day and we suppose the whole opportunity of P@P is not complete without HRH The Duke of York, who spoke very candidly on why he created P@P? 

What he wanted it to achieve and that the key was not in winning (which we all now is the aim of all competitions); but the key was getting the opportunity to present your brand and what you do to a very high level audience at St James Palace on Monday 23rd March 2015.

With the pitching companies split up into groups for Arts & Design, AdTech (skignz's category), EdTech, EntTech and Retail Tech. Each group was assigned a range of mentors who they could talk to prior to the actual pitching after lunch.

All of the participants, mentors and other guests were given the opportunity to vote and feedback on each of the pitches.

All this prior to the judges lead by HRH deliberating on who they felt was the top 14/15 companies to proceed to the final of P@P.

When the results were read out (in no particular order) skignz was No.13 of the 14 names read out that had been successful.

skignz was through to the Palace!

THE FINAL:

This was held at the very beautiful and regal St James Palace, London on Monday 23rd March 2015.

        

The format was the same with the 14 companies only allowed 3 mins and one slide for their pitch. There was a number of wonderful prizes on offer for the overall winner and two runners up.

In addition a 'Peoples Choice' award ran right up till 5pm on the day of the final and all 45 boot camp companies were included in this, with votes being requested through social media.

As you can imagine the surroundings were very impressive, the whole ceremonial and regal feel was everywhere, bit 


We are sure a lot of people who pitched and attended felt the value of the whole event came from the People 'in the room'. 

HRH has clearly has one of the most amazing 'roleadex of contacts' in the business world.

With these type of connections, even making a couple of introductions is incredible for any business but to put on an event, showcasing a range of companies is beyond comprehension to 'probably' all of the companies who entered.

With an audience that included, Princes's & Sheiks from Saudi Arabia & The Emirates, to some of the most senior people in Facebook and Vodafone; right through to a range of VC's and Tech Investors. 

The opportunities to network were second to none and provided all who attended the platform to be able to speak to people who you could spend a lifetime trying to get in front of and they are coming up to to you and asking more about what you do. 

A very humbling and rewarding experience certainly for us.

skignz was delighted to meet a lot of people and especially some of the other companies who were pitching alongside us. 

It was especially awesome to meet Jessica & Lara (Immerse Learning - www.immerselearning.com), Sean & Leona (PlotBox - www.plotbox.io) and Georgina (truRating - www.trurating.com).

As well as all the wonderful people we met, skignz also had our Deb McGargle (Particular - www.particularlegal.com) who leads our awesome legal team. 

Deb in her 'particular' style worked the room and provided skignz with a range of additional people we can speak to through her networking prowess! 
Thanks again Deb xx

The worthy winners of Pitch@Palace 3.0 were

 - Jukebox - Overall Winner
 - Grabble - Runner Up
 - OpenDesk - Runner Up
 - Team Turquoise - Peoples Choice Award

So although skignz did not win, the benefits of the exposure of skignz not to the audience in the room, the other contestants but also over social media and beyond is immeasurable.

skignz are delighted to say that we have already engaged with a range of the the companies who pitched alongside us to see if we can work with them as well as a range of VC's, Investors and Global Brands. 

We will update you on our progress as and when it happens...

Finally we would just like to the thank HRH The Duke of York and his wonderful team for everything they have done surrounding this event, at the event and boot camp. 

Also HRH, for missing his daughter Princess Eugene's birthday although the audience did surprise her with a cool video link up over Face Time.

We really hope going forward we can provide them with success stories born out of this event. if not then we can at least acknowledge the part they have played in skignz progress and we do hope will continue to stay engaged with us as we seek global domination with skignz.


If you would like to know more about Pitch@Palace then please visit their website: www.picthatpalace.com

As always if you wish to find out more about skignz, then please either visit our website www.skignz.com or check us out on our various social media channels.

Best New Business Awards 2014 - skignz is the Winner!

It’s the day after the Best New Business Awards Tees Valley 2014. Last night was a great night, not only as we got to meet a load of great start-up companies but that skignz was the WINNER of the Marketing Award. 

This was a fantastic achievement for the skignz team and we are still very proud today for having been selected to win this award by Cool Brand Blue Communications. 

We would also like to say well done to all runners up in the Marketing category and best luck for the future!

The whole awards event was great from start to finish.

Starting the night off we got to network with a wide variety of companies on arrival. This was a chance for everyone to meet one another and require a small insight as to what each business entails. 

Once seated that was another chance to meet and network with the company/companies on your table. Luckily for skignz we had two great companies seated with us, who we thoroughly enjoyed the whole night with and got to learn a lot about them. 

One of the companies was 12^th Man Solutions Ltd, who were also up for the Marketing award alongside skignz. They were a great bunch of people and their business was a great idea. 

We all had a good time in everyone’s company last night involving a lot of business talk and laughter.

The other company placed at the table with skignz was Earls of Ashwood Ltd. They are a cheesemonger and delicatessen company based in Stockton. 

We have got to say this was one of our favourite companies there last night. We all love cheese and by the sounds of what Earls of Ashwood provide, we are defiantly heading to their shop this weekend to taste some of their great delicacies.

Moving on in the night we had a lovely 3 course meal provided by BNBA Tees Valley. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed each part of the meal and have got to say were very full by the end of it, not to mention the free wine flowing sponsored by Big Bite Communications – a big thank you, you kept us all very hydrated throughout the night!

Then it was time for the awards. Each category had three nominees. All of the business ideas were truly great and everyone deserved their place last night.

Coming to the Marketing award there were some great other companies up for the award so we thought we had a low chance of winning it. However it is fair to say we were truly surprised when skignz got announced as the winner for the Marketing category. 

This was a proud moment for us! We only wish someone could have got a photo of us in that moment in time to see the shocked look on our faces! 

We would like to say well done to all the other winners of the night also and to the overall winner C&A Pumps and Engineering Ltd.

We would also like to say a big well done to Prince’s Trust for providing opportunities for young people to help support them and change their life for the better. 

The story we heard from their young promotional speaker was truly inspiring and it showed not just us but everyone just how exceptionally inspiring the company is. They raised an amazing £930 last night and we hope it hit the £1K as the night ended.  

Ending on a high, we had a great night and hope to be entering again next year in a different category! Well done to everyone again and a big thanks to Colin Brown for organising the whole event and proving all companies with great opportunities available last night!

If you would like to know more about The Best New Business Awards 2015 then please visit http://www.bestnewbusinessawards.com/

If you would like to know more about The Prince's Trust then please visit http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/

If you would like to know more about skignz then please visit our website at http://www.skignz.com and don't forget to check us out on a range of the popular Social Media Channels.