Lions Innovation announced Start-up Academy finalists

Cristina Blanaru Creativity, Festivals & Awards

Lions Innovation announced the successful applicants for the inaugural Start-Up Academy which will be part of the new Festival. Following an exhaustive global search that netted over 100 submissions, 10 start-ups have been selected by a panel including representatives of Lions Innovation and R/GA (who the Academy was created in partnership with). They are:

1. LISNR – Cincinnati, OH, USA – A new communication platform that uses high frequency audio tones to interact with devices.

2. eBrandValue – Mountain View, CA, USA / Istanbul, Turkey – Integrates sales and marketing data with social signal management, enabling marketers to interrogate social data to increase the value of a brand and sales in real time.

3. MOSH. – New York, USA / Sydney, Australia – New digital platform for brands, artists, and causes that strengthens engagement with fans and customers.

4. Ingenious Smart Home – Istanbul, Turkey – Plug-and-play system designed to control home energy consumption through learned behaviour.

5. Laurel & Wolf – Los Angeles, CA, USA – Online interior design marketplace that makes professional interior design affordable and accessible.

6. Narratively – Brooklyn, NY, USA – Multimedia publication and content studio devoted to untold human stories.

7. Chargifi – London, UK – Wireless power transmitters providing a platform for interaction in public spaces.

8. In Loco Media – Recife, Brazil – Indoor location technology combined with a targeted adtech platform.

9. White Ops – New York, NY, USA – Pioneer in online advertising fraud detection.

10. SnowShoe Stamp – Madison, WI, USA – Creates small pieces of plastic that serve as physical keys to engaging digital content on mobile devices.

As R/GA expands globally, we’ve looked at hundreds of international start-ups. We’re excited to work with the select companies, who represent the best in marketing and communication innovations around the world (…) These companies reflect not only the diversity and the vibrancy of the marketing landscape, but also the global start-up community.

Stephen Plumlee,

Global Chief Operating Officer, R/GA

Managing Partner, R/GA Ventures

Start-up Academy attendees have received passes to the Festival and will take part in a program of mentorship sessions with the likes of R/GA Founder Bob Greenberg; CEO of Interpublic Group, Michael Roth; CCO of Facebook, Mark D’Arcy; Senior Director, Global Brand Development at McDonald’s, Matt Biespiel and Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer of GroupM. The Academy is led by Paul Woolmington, co-founder of Naked Communications Americas, angel investor, advisor and advocate for the role of technology in branded communications.

They will also get an exclusive introduction to the leading creatives, senior marketers and high-level decision-makers that Lions Innovation has attracted and the opportunity to pitch inside the Palais at 17:00, Wednesday 24 June.

Speaking about the Start-up Academy, Lions Festivals CEO, Philip Thomas, said that the initiative fulfills a central goal of Lions Innovation to connect start-ups with brands and storytellers:

Lions Innovation is a crucible that brings elements of the industry together for learning, inspiration, networking and celebration. The combination produces a chain reaction from which something special emerges – great ideas aren’t just awarded here, they’re also born here and fuelled by the undercurrent of energy that flows through the Festival.

Lions Innovation takes place between 25 and 26 June. Lions Innovation explores data and technology as catalysts for creativity in communications and celebrates the work leading the way. Held during Cannes Lions, this intense, inspiring “festival within The Festival” will ignite ideas and initiate the partnerships that bring them. It includes two days of talks, demonstrations and networking events and culminates in the awarding of Innovation Lions and the inaugural Creative Data Lions.