skignz: Overall WINNERS of 'pitch@ignite 2015'

skignz are delighted to announce that we were confirmed Overall WINNERS of 'pitch@ignite 2015', celebrating the latest UK most disruptive Tech start-ups.

skignz was one of a shortlisted five companies who were given the opportunity to pitch their 'disruptive tech' in front of a very salubrious audience and esteemed Judges from KTN, Rugby World Cup 2015 and UK Capital.

The event was 'live streamed' on to twitter through Meercat, with plenty of audience & judges questions, prior to the final deliberations and skignz being announced as the eventual WINNERS!.

If you are a brand or individual and want to engage skignz, please download the FREE skignz APP on either IOS or Android or visit www.skignz.com/discover

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.