18 start-ups from Germany and the EU have made the long list for the “Content Start-Up of the Year”. The next step will be to participate in the 2016 CONTENTshift accelerator organised by the Börsenverein Group. “We are delighted to have received so many creative submissions for this ambitious programme, which we launched as a means to fuel innovation in the industry”, noted Alexander Skipis, Managing Director of the Börsenverein and Spokesperson of the Börsenverein Group. “The tremendous feedback we’ve received proves that the time was ripe for it.”
The nominees:
• Beemgee: Software for structuring and visualising narrative con-tent
• Booktype – Omnibook: Online platform that enables authors to write books together
• Brainyoo: Learning software & mobile app
• Contiago: B2B trade platform for specialist, marketing and distri-bution information
• Der Kontext: Interactive online magazine with 3D mind-map for complex information
• Entreescritores.com: Spanish marketing platform for small-scale publishers and self-publishers
• LChoice: Mobile distribution channel for the stationary book trade
• L-Pub: Enhanced eBooks with context-specific additional infor-mation and learning tools
• mBook – Institute for Digital Learning: Browser-based multi-media school book
• narando: Software for the mobile audio playback of articles read aloud from online and print media
• Papego: Continue to read printed books on smartphone or tablet
• PaperHive: Platform for the collaborative reading of specialist lit-erature
• Polynaut : Search results in web shops as clusters and mind-maps
• SatoshiPay: Online payment system for digital content
• sharemagazines: Digital reading groups for hospitals, hotels, res-taurants and doctor’s offices
• Thadeus Roth: Narrative strategy and software for interactive sto-ries
• Videobooks: Interactive non-fiction books with audio-visual con-tent
• wisdofy.com: Mobile e-learning platform for private and profes-sional use
As jury spokesman and StoryDOCKS Managing Director Michael Adam noted, “The sheer variety of the subject matter represented by these start-ups shows how exciting the content industry is. Young and creative companies are searching in the most varied places for solutions de-signed to bring publishing forward into the future. For the book and content industry, these are important partners in the innovation process”.
The jury chose the companies from a group of 45 applications. In the coming three months, the 18 semi-finalists will participate in a number of coaching sessions and also gain access to an international network of investors, founders and industry experts. The group of selected start-ups represents the broad spectrum of today’s media and content industry, with business models drawn from the areas of e-commerce, storytelling, collaborative writing and e-learning.
Two further applicants, Inkitt and MyPoolitzer, did not fulfil all of the requirements for participation; however, the jury was won over by the promise of their business models and will offer them one coaching session each with a jury member.
At the end of August, five finalists will be chosen to participate in the core part of the competition, which comprises a joint workshop weekend involving both the jury and the start-ups in September. The final pitches will take place at the 2016 Frankfurt Book Fair. The “Content Start-Up of the Year” will be named at an award ceremony at the fair, where the winner will also receive €10,000 in funding.