Apps4EU awards prize for the best open data startup 2015

At this year’s FutureEverything festival, held on 26-27 February in Manchester, United Kingdom, 13 finalists for the annual Apps for Europe (Apps4EU) best open data startup award gathered together to make their final pitches at the second international business lounge. The finalists were drawn from the local business lounges which took place across Europe in 2014, and the annual Apps4EU online open data app competition. 

The shortlisted projects provided an international mix of applications using open data in transport, finance, environment protection, (open) data management, tourism and cultural heritage. One finalist was Europeana Beacon, the winner of the Hack4Pisa event in October 2014. The app combines Europeana collections with the cutting edge technology of iBeacons, and helps tourists on their travels by letting them know when they pass an interesting landmark. It also offers comprehensive guides using pictures and videos. You can find out more about each of finalists on the Apps4EU site.

The international business lounge kicked off with a crowdfunding workshop organised by Nesta, one of the Apps4EU project partners. The workshop explored how different crowdfunding models work, and how to successfully crowdfund a project or business. It shared insights from Nesta research and practical work on crowdfunding, from tips on selecting the right model and platform, to advice on how to set up a campaign and reach potential backers. 

The workshop also looked at Bike City Guide, the winner of the Apps4EU Competition at FutureEverything 2014, as a case study. Bike City Guide crowdfunded an impressive €136,550 from 160 investors. After this success story, the workshop participants then split into groups to plan how they might crowdfund their business or app idea. 

The business lounge programme continued with networking and presentation sessions on both days, during which each finalist could show festival-goers their app, website or presentation using the FutureEverything presentation stand.

Exploring Apps4EU finalist apps. Image by FutureEverything @FuturEverything and published with permission.

On the second day, each of the finalists pitched their projects to an audience of international investors and experts, including Frank Kresin, Research Director at the Waag Society; Sarah Thirtle, Head of Business Lending Programmes at Creative United; Julia Kloiber, Project Manager at the Open Knowledge Foundation; Lee Tarrant, Chief Development Officer at Digital Catapult, and Daniel Kofler, founder of last year’s Apps4EU winner, Bike City Guide.

Things drew to a close with an evening awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the Europeana Creative Design Challenge awards, at the Royal Northern College of Music. This marked the end of the business lounge, and was a chance to celebrate the hard work and achievements of both project partners and finalists. 

GoOV, an iOS app which enables people with mental disabilities or dementia to travel safely by public transport, was announced as the IBL winner 2015 and awarded a prize of 5,000 euros for further app development.

Congratulations to the GoOV team, and good luck with all future developments!