£15,000 of prizes to find best UK education and learning technology innovation at this year’s BETT Show
Calling education innovators – EdMix invites start-ups
to stand up and be recognised
EdMix.com – the largest collective of education technology companies in Europe (stand C3, area N2, BETT 2013) is running the ‘Startup Pavilion’ and calling for entries for a large technology pitching competition: ‘PitchFest’ – giving edtech start-ups the opportunity to get in front of the industry and get noticed and win fantastic prizes worth more than £15,000. The EdMix pitching competition will be held at the BETT Show, Excel, London, at 4pm on Friday 1st February 2013. The deadline for entries is the 28th January 2013.
15 shortlisted companies of all shapes and sizes from across the education sector will be invited to pitch their business to a panel of judges, including Rod Bristow, President, Pearson UK; Genevieve Shores, CIO, Pearson; Betsy Corcoran, Editor, EdSurge.com; and Hugh O’Driscoll, Leaf Investments.
The deserving winner will receive six months free central London desk space for four people at Pearson HQ, with free broadband, breakout spaces, meeting rooms and an enviable network of industry professionals. In addition, both Pearson and Leaf Investments, a boutique investment fund for the edtech sector, will provide their expertise to support the winner with quarterly mentoring for business plan reviews, regular real-world support and advice on engaging education investors.
Tom Hall, Head of Partnerships at Pearson said, “We are very pleased to be partnering with EdMix in this exciting competition. We are committed to collaborating and supporting innovative start-ups and we hope this opportunity will open doors for the very best talent in the industry. Often getting your foot through the door as a start-up and getting in front of the decision makers in the industry is the hardest part. We hope this competition will break down some of these barriers.”
Edward Baker, CEO of EdMix said, “We’re proud to be supporting the BETT Show and giving hundreds of edtech entrepreneurs and innovative educators the opportunity to exhibit at Europe’s largest education event. So often good ideas and great companies find it hard to stand out in a busy marketplace such as BETT, however EdMix can give innovative companies a platform and opportunity to reach new markets.”
This year, The BETT Show is expected to attract 35,000 people - and is a respected global meeting place for innovative companies passionate about the transformative power of educational technology. Established UK software companies have naturally always had a great presence at the BETT Show – standing tall next to international competitors – but this year, the BETT Show is taking disruptive education tech startups a little more seriously, with the introduction of an edtech 'Startup Pavilion'.
Concluding, Hugh O’Driscoll from Leaf Investments said, “We are delighted to be partnering with EdMix.com in supporting the ‘Startup Pavilion’ and the exciting Pitchfest event that is taking place this year at the BETT Show. As a specialist investor in disruptive technology businesses across the learning and education spectrum, our presence at BETT provides us with the ideal forum to network and share experiences with the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.”
Further information about the competition can be found at EdMix.com.
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