Midemlab contest 2015: A call to Russian startups

In partnership with East-West Digital News, Midem, the leading international b2b event dedicated to the new music and entertainment ecosystems, cordially invites Russian startups to the Midemlab competition. This event will take place in Cannes, France, from June 5 to June 8. The deadline for submissions is March 10, 2015.

If you have a built the next solution that will help music executives, artists, and brands to engage or monetize audiences, you might well become the first Russian startup to win this contest!

Presented by Pepsi & Vivendi, Midemlab has proved to be an effective launch pad throughout its past editions for many ground-breaking companies in the entertainment field, including SoundCloud, The Echo Nest, BandPage, Songkick, and Next Big Sound (named first in Fast Company World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 In Music).

Now in its 8th year, the competition will feature not only music startups, but also larger tech companies offering relevant solutions that can be used by the creative industries.

Pre-seed and seed stage fund Seedcamp, and leading investment firm Index Ventures, have joined Midemlab alongside the competition’s longstanding selection partners, music consulting company Music Ally and open innovation consulting company bluenove. Together, the selectors will choose 30 finalists.

Short-listed companies will pitch in Cannes before a prestigious jury composed of respected figures from the startup ecosystem, leading investment firms and high level senior executives from the entertainment industry.

The call for entries is now open until March 10, 2015. Entries can compete in one of three categories:

• Music discovery, recommendation and creation
• Marketing, social engagement and monetisation solutions
• Hardware/internet of things, which is a new category introduced this year

The finalists will pitch their business model to the jury during Midem, with one winner being chosen in each category.

Startups participating in the Midemlab will benefit from international visibility thanks to Midem’s global reach, meet with potential business partners and investors, and will receive valuable feedback from powerful decision-makers.

Midemlab 2014 alumni have raised more than $7 million since the competition, and 2014 finalist Blitzr is now the biggest music base in the world with 40 million songs available for free, covering 4 million artists and 5 million albums. “The Midem experience generated more business leads and opened more doors for partnerships than any single action we’ve taken since our company’s inception” said David Blutenthal, Founder & CEO of image-driven music streaming site Moodsnap, who also featured in the 2014 competition.

Vivendi and Pepsi return as sponsors for the Midemlab 2015 competition. “Pepsi is committed to supporting technology that continues to shape how we create, consume and share music and entertainment in all its forms,” said Ellen Healy, Senior Director, Global Consumer Engagement, PepsiCo Global Beverage Group. “Through our partnership with Midemlab, we’ve gained tremendous insight into the various ways that cutting edge technology intersects with and amplifies entertainment and pop culture. We look forward to leveraging our scale and utilizing those principals to bring even more amazing entertainment content and experiences to the world.”

“Once again this year, Vivendi is pleased to support Midemlab which welcomes the most promising startups in music and media. This partnership with Midemlab is perfectly aligned with Vivendi’s strategy of finding and supporting young creative talent in the digital era,” said Simon Gillham, SVP Communications & New Business, Vivendi and Chairman Vivendi Village.

“Since the first evolutions of the music industry, Midem has acted as a networking and business hub for different actors of the ecosystem. It feels natural to have Midemlab at the core of our tradeshow. This year again, we very much look forward to welcoming an elite jury along with promising international startups to boost their business,” adds Bruno Crolot, Director of Music Markets at Reed MIDEM.

The Midemlab 2015 jury comprises:

• Corinne Bach, VP, Innovation Projects, Vivendi (France)
• Jason Ball, Senior Director, Qualcomm Ventures (UK)
• Jon Bradford, Managing Director, Techstars London (UK)
• Paul Brindley, CEO, Music Ally (UK)
• Ciara Byrne, Freelance Technology Journalist, Fast Company/Forbes/VentureBeat(Netherlands)
• Frederic Court, General Partner, Advent Venture Partners (UK)
• Stéphane Distinguin, Founder & CEO, FABERNOVEL and President / Chairman, Cap Digital (France)
• Martin Duval, President & COO, bluenove Group (France)
• Marie Ekeland, Co-President, France Digitale (France)
• Brady Forrest, VP, Highway 1 (USA)
• Dave Haynes, Business Development, Seedcamp (UK)
• Ellen Healy Pietropaoli, Senior Director, Global Consumer Engagement, PepsiCo Global Beverage Group (USA)
• Jason Mendelson, Managing Director, Foundry Group (USA)
• Chris O’Brien, European Correspondent, VentureBeat (France/USA)
• Pär-Jörgen Pärson, General Partner, Northzone (Sweden)
• Jean-Paul Roland, Managing Director, Eurockéennes Festival (France)
• Brian Solis, Principal Analyst, Altimeter Group (USA)
• Roxanne Varza, Startup Lover / Emerging Business lead, Microsoft (France)

BITKOM, Chinaccelerator, East West Digital News, Music 4.5, Rude Baguette, Start-Up Nation Central and Ukraine Digital News are partners of Midemlab.