-- NAB Show Attendees to Vote for Five Most Promising Solutions From Startups in Inaugural Best of SPROCKIT Awards --
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- NAB Show organizers today announced the final 10 mobile, video, analytics and social media startups chosen to participate in SPROCKIT 2015. Thirty startups will participate in this year’s SPROCKIT program, which kicks-off at NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 11-16, 2015.
A committee of industry experts reviewed a strong pool of applicants and selected this year’s participants based on their potential to influence the media, entertainment and technology markets. The final 10 startups joining the 20 companies previously announced for SPROCKIT 2015 include:
- AntengoClassifieds is a mobile-first marketplace to buy and sell anything with trust, ease and PayPal escrow and guarantee.
- Beachfront Media is a video technology company enabling distribution and monetization of video across all screens.
- buzzmark syncs television advertisements, programs and jingles with viewers' mobile devices to deliver coupons and offers from local and national brands, enabling broadcasters to leverage their offline reach to capture incremental mobile revenues.
- Critical Media’s media monitoring and video editing platforms streamline the creation, distribution, analysis and monetization of video through live broadcast ingest, mobile apps and data feeds.
- Didja-Clippit App and Cloud Service helps television fans create short clips of TV programs, comment about them and share via social media. Clippit also maximizes benefits to networks and content owners.
- ExtendTV is a programmatic media buying platform built on high-speed trading principles and designed to optimize delivery and performance for local advertising campaigns.
- Tagboard enables an aggregation of public social media within seconds of being posted to the major social media networks. Tagboard’s tools offer the power to select specific posts to feature on websites, in broadcast TV, and on large displays.
- Wahwah Networks provides a new media ecosystem consisting of a music-driven targeting tool for brands and advertisers, which also stands as a monetization solution for publishers.
- Vu Digital’s content solutions - Video-to-Data (V2D) - instantly identify video and audio using automated speech recognition (ASR), text extraction from images, and facial and image recognition.
- YuVue enables publishers and brands to discover and acquire consumer photos and videos shared on social media. YuVue empowers content creators by protecting their copyright and connecting them with companies who can license their work.
“From reinventing content on emerging mobile devices to improving social engagement with traditional media platforms, each of these companies has a unique solution for some of the industry’s biggest challenges,” said Harry Glazer, founder and CEO of SPROCKIT. “The 30 SPROCKIT companies are innovating to further this industry as a whole, and I look forward to the progress and impact they will make in April.”
SPROCKIT will showcase industry-vetted emerging companies at NAB Show and convene throughout the year at SPROCKIT Sync, a series of private meetings where executives and entrepreneurs meet to collectively discuss and introduce new technologies that will advance the industry. Since its launch in 2013, dozens of emerging companies have participated in SPROCKIT and have experienced significant growth, including successful funding rounds, partnerships and acquisitions.
“PearlTV members operate nearly 200 local TV stations throughout the country, and our involvement with the startups working with SPROCKIT helps us anticipate viewing trends and develop new services for our advertising partners. Broadcasters are deeply involved with new technology, as we deploy new services to engage viewers,” said Anne Schelle, managing director of PearlTV, a corporate SPROCKIT member.
This year, NAB Show attendees can also vote for the most promising solutions presented by the SPROCKIT companies. NAB Show attendees will be able to cast their votes in the SPROCKIT Hub (booth N2530), and the top five startups with the most votes will be honored at an awards ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, April 14 in the SPROCKIT Hub.
SPROCKIT is created in partnership with World Series of Startups, LLC and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). In addition to the new companies mentioned above, SPROCKIT corporate members include: AARP, Comcast, Cox Media, Disney/ABC Television Group, E.W. Scripps Company, Gannett Broadcasting, Google, Graham Media Group, Hearst Television, Media General, Pearl TV, Raycom Media, Scripps and Univision Communications Inc. SPROCKIT supporters include: Angel Capital Association, Boston Consulting Group, Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at USC, Ernst & Young, Interactive Television Alliance, Irving Group, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, National Venture Capital Association, New Amsterdam Media, New Vantage Group, SmithGeiger and Springboard Enterprises.
For more information on SPROCKIT, please visit sprockitglory.com.