From Pitch…to Panel

As many of you will know, skignz CEO Si Brown presented to HRH Prince Andrew over 2 years ago as part of the skignz involvement in Pitch@Palace 3.0.

 We have stayed in touch with the office of the Duke of York throughout that time and were delighted to be invited to speak about that experience as part of a panel recently in Sunderland.

The event was part of the Pitch@Palace 7.0 Series, in which several North East Start Ups were involved in pitching their ideas and businesses to the Duke of York himself!

The day was expertly hosted by Billy Webber, COO of Sunderlands own Software City, and gave a warm welcome to newcomers and guests alike.

skignz Head of Operations, Jamie Clarke, attended on behalf of the company and took part in a panel discussion which involved previous winners and participants.  Giving the attendees a flavour of what the series can do for start ups, including greater exposure, links into contacts and increasing the reach of a company network, was a great honour for skignz, something which we are excited about continuing.

Jamie had great things to say about the event, stating  “The whole feel of the day was one of solidarity, of opportunity and of expectancy.  The organisation of the event was second to none, and we were really excited to hear the pitches of some of the new start ups who were only just embarking on their own journey.”

The real value in the day was the huge opportunities to network with likeminded people and people from huge corporations who and trying to remain at the forefront of Technology developments.  

The guys thoroughly enjoyed the day, making some new friends and reacquainting themselves with old ones. Something which is a thread running through the Pitch@Palace events.

As Jamie said, “Part of what we are trying to achieve at skignz is to have a network of people who want to work in partnership, and can create a Win/Win situation for both them and us.  

The Pitch@Palace events are a great place for that to happen and we are really looking forward to our next visit/event in March, which we are so pleased to have been invited to.  

This is a place to gain support, for your business, and that shows in the interactions, the comms and the whole set up”

The guys lasting impression however, was of being summoned back from coffee breaks and lunch by a royal trumpet, something which gave everyone in attendee the sense of Royal Occasion!

For more information about th enext Pitch@Palace and how to enter then please take a look at their website: http://pitchatpalace.com

If you want to find out more about skignz, then please visit our new recently launched website (www.skignz.com) as well as the usual social media channels

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.