- 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.
- May 21, 2018
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
Last week 800 of the world’s brightest young minds met in Tel Aviv for Forbes Under 30 Global Summit and Smartzer founder Karoline Gross, was one of them. Karoline was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 for Media & Marketing in 2018.
Previously Forbes organized regional events, but this was the first year they brought all participants together. The global summit invited all entrepreneurs from all Forbes’ 30 Under-30 lists from 38 countries to the four-day event held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israel was an obvious choice for Forbes because of its incredible entrepreneurial culture.
Participants were treated to four days of star-studded panels, pitching, sightseeing and fun. Waze co-founder Uri Levine, advised startups on the journey of success through failures. A keynote speech was given by sex therapist and media personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer, who even offered co-founders therapy to two startups. Did we mention this was all in one morning?
Other days Karoline pitched Smartzer’s shoppable and interactive video concept to VC partners and had the opportunity to ring the bell at the Tel Aviv stock exchange. Even supermodel and Carolina Lemke sunglasses partner Bar Rafaeli was there to advise on brand partnerships.
Karoline’s most important take away from the four-day was the inspiring advice given from the star-studded panel discussion, but close second was dancing the night away at a Tel Aviv rooftop bar or hiking up to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise over Masada.
Read more about Forbes 30 Under 30 Media & Marketing 2018 and Forbes Under 30 Global Summit:
"'Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Summit Draws Hundreds To Israel" - The Jerusalem Post