- Jun 5, 2018
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
May 24-26
Smartzer joined tech leaders and other startups for Viva Technology Paris. This was our second year attending the globally recognised event, as last July we attended as finalists for the LVMH Innovation Award. This year we were excited to focus on networking with corporates and other startups as well as attending some ground-breaking presentations.
Viva Technology (also known as VivaTech) is a global rendezvous for startups and leaders to meet and celebrate innovation. Key tech and corporates met May 24-26 to discuss today’s technology and tomorrow’s possibilities. Key insight was given into how future tech will transform business and society. How does the event accomplish this? VivaTech breaks down barriers between grassroots innovators and leaders by putting startups and established companies in the same room to brainstorm on open innovation in an effort to problem solve.
VivaTech 2018 marked the event’s third year and received media coverage around the globe as the place to be for anyone in tech. The event attracted over 100,000 attendees and over 9,000 startups. Hundreds of enterprises joined, including 22 companies from the LVMH group. Attendees came from 125 different countries to witness the innovations and inventions, as well as attend the much-anticipated inspirational discussions from tech leaders.
Over the three-day event Smartzer attended a variety of interesting presentations given by global players in innovation. There were over 300 speeches that focused on the impact of innovation on the economy and society. Facebook founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was greeted like a rockstar at the event and was interviewed by Publicis Groupe chairman Maurice Levy. The enlightening interview touched on some of the hot-button issues currently swirling around Zuckerberg including the Cambridge Analytica scandal, his recent appearance at the European Parliament and the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Other interesting presentations included Google CEO Eric Schmidt who discussed AI and how he believes Tesla Founder, “Elon Musk is exactly wrong” when it comes to his views on AI and believes that “AI is fundamentally good for humanity.” Another positive note, French President Emmanuel Macron discussed “Tech for Good”, or how technology can be a positive force for society.
One section of VivaTech 2018 not to miss was the LVMH Luxury Lab, which Smartzer participated in last year. It was excellent to see the technologies that LVMH shortlisted for this year’s Innovation Award as well as see some of the innovative tech being displayed there. Most interestingly, Veuve Clicquot offered a virtual tour of the historic headquarters in Riems and Sephora unveiled its new app which is partnered with Google Home smart speakers. The app allows customers to book an appointment at Sephora stores, listen to podcasts on beauty news and test their knowledge by taking a beauty quiz. It is a perfect example of how tech can make people’s lives easier in the retail space and pair instore and digital experiences.
Smartzer was able to meet, network and brainstorm with leaders from luxury sector and we are looking forward to next year’s VivaTech.
You can read more about VivaTech 2018 at the links below:
- May 31, 2018
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
We were very happy to join the Mayor’s International Business Programme's Trade Mission to Madrid last week. The two-day trip centered on pitching, networking and learning about how to enter the Spanish market and was both interesting and instrumental to our entry and growth in the country.
Smartzer was one of 13 scaleups that joined the mission, sponsored by Go to Grow London and London and Partners. The scaleups for this particular mission were focused on Consumer Tech and we were able to meet other game-changers from London such as HERO and Inkpact.
Day one kicked-off with an informative presentation at KPMG by key consultants who discussed best practices for companies trying to enter the Spanish market. The most important aspect for pitching your tech in Spain is not the tech itself, but how it will help the customer experience because the customer is the center of every aspect of Spanish business. Smartzer and the other startups then had time to pitch to KPMG and Barrabes where Smartzer introduced both teams to our shoppable video and interactive tech. Both KPMG and Barrabes were very impressed with the interactive video concept and expressed that it is the perfect tech solution for the time. We made some excellent contacts after the pitch and look forward to working with them soon.
After KPMG pitch we headed to one of the WeWork Madrid offices for a networking reception. It was an excellent way to learn more about the other scaleups and discuss how our interactive video technology could pair well with some of their technologies. We were also able to network with some other key Madrid companies.
Day two started by heading back to the KPMG tower to pitch our technologies to Mastercard’s Spanish Country Manager, Head of Business Development and Head of Digital Innovation. The discussion we had also gave a lot of insight into how Mastercard sees innovation in terms of how it fits with payment systems now, including wearables and no-payment concepts like Uber. They also introduced Startpath and their Accelerator program which they use to help the company stay ahead of innovation.
The most eye-opening information is the power of mixing loyalty and payment – the Starbucks app generates more payments than Apple pay in the US. The innovation team emphasized that convenience and invisible payments were the future.
After Mastercard we were happy to visit Barrabes, a marketing and media consulting agency which hosts innovation startups they have invested in on the first floor of their four-floor building. The tour of their company was very interesting and we were able to meet some of their startups and clients. We were even able to demo Tessera Studios' VR PlayStation game “Intruders” that is close to hitting the market.
The last meeting of the trip with Karen Verloop, Managing Director of ThoughtWorks.com Spain. Thoughtworks.com was created by AGILE co-creator Martin Fowler. The company has been around 20 years and has a presence in more than 10 countries. They build technology solutions for their clients.
Verloop presented on how to introduce your company in a range of countries, with a lot time given to business development best-practices in general. Key takeaways – know who you are talking to and make sure that they are able to understand your tech. Also, when meeting with people, realize who else needs to get involved to push your concept through and be very clear that you need to know their budget.
It was an amazing two days and a big thank you from us to Go to Grow and London & Partners.
- May 31, 2018
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
Executives from luxury fashion industry, financiers and innovators including Smartzer founder Karoline Gross, met in Venice for the FT's Business of Luxury Summit. Hosted by FT Live, the Luxury Summit is aimed at examining the next trends in the luxury industries. The theme of this year's summit was Luxury Disruption: The Industry Innovators Changing The Narrative.
The three-day affair centered on what’s next for the industry in terms of advancement, the next big disruptive technologies, and how renowned-traditional houses can innovate in order to keep ahead and remain competitive.
The summit kicked-off with a riveting opening speech by sustainable fashion designer, Katherine Hammnet. Karoline later attended panel discussions from Humans of Fashion (Hoff) founder and fashion model Kristina Romanova, and actress Toni Garrn of the Toni Garrn Foundation who discussed how the positive changes of new anti-harrassment policies and corporate code reform as well as how artificial intelligence is changing the industry.
Alexandre Arnault of discussed brand brand
Designer-duo Dolce & Gabbana are renowned for challenging industry norms, from putting bloggers front row, to their Alta Moda grand couture shows, the designers were unfiltered as they discussed their brands disruptive style with Financial Times Fashion Editor, Jo Ellison.
Innovation was of course the main topic, and but ample time was also given to the all-important topic of sustainability and the changes the fashion industry should adopt to become sustainable as well as how to stay sustainable as a brand. This was most-aptly displayed with Fashion designer Erdem's discussion on the importance of being independent.
Much insight was given to what the millennial luxury consumer wants and how the way they are shopping is changing the face of retail – a perfect case for Smartzer’s interactive video technology. Another topic explored was how Gen Z is impacting the market and media landscape and how the fashion industry can learn from them.
It was a very interesting three-days and Smartzer was very happy to take part.