Europas Awards 2014 winners
In five years since the first event in a bar in Bermondsey in 2009 the Europas has grown into a big awards ceremony in London for Europe’s hottest tech startups, as judged by peers from the startup and investor community.
While it concentrates on the newest companies on the scene, it also brings together the mid and late stage technology startups, as well as leading investors and media in the EMEA region.
The Awards celebrates the most forward thinking, progressive and innovative tech companies across over some 20+ categories. Startups can apply for an award or be nominated by someone else, a shortlist is selected by a panel of judges, followed by public peer voting and then a final ruling by the judges.
Here’s the short list of the winners of The Europas awards 2014.
The Europas Grand Prix Award
Winner: Swiftkey /UK/
SwiftKey was founded by friends Jon Reynolds and Dr Ben Medlock who are Math geniuses and realised they could build an engine which could predict words and phrases as people typed them. After millions of downloads, a launch on IOS and raising $22 million, Swiftkey is the latest company that proves you can build a global startup form Europe.
Best Entertainment or Media Startup
Winner is: Soundcloud /Germany/
With over 200 million regular listeners today, and acquirers circling, Soundcloud continues to be a fantastic European success story and an ambassador for Berlin’s tech scene.
The other nominees were: Deezer, MUBI, Songkick, Spotify and YPlan
Best E-Commerce Startup
Winner: FoodPanda/Hellofood /Germany/
Online food ordering is hot in Europe and beyond, and Rocket Internet-backed Foodpanda is one of the fastest-growing companies in this space without a doubt. Still, Delivery Hero seems to be the bigger one in Germany and also in full growth mode (with $260 million in funding to boot), and Russia’s Ozon is definitely on a roll with a recent $150 million financing round.
The other nominees were: Delivery Hero, Ozon, Thread, Tictail and YemekSepeti
Best Education Startup
Winner: Babbel /Germany/
Language learning startup has become one of the worldwide leaders in this highly competitive space. Babbel was founded in August 2007 and now has approximately 250 employees and freelancers serving millions of users on 190 countries – its app have already been downloaded more than 25 million times to date.
The other nominees were: Busuu, Fluentify, Gojimo, Memrise and ShowMyHomework
Best Startup Accelerator or Incubator
Winner: Startupbootcamp /Denmark/
Now working across Istanbul, London, Berlin, Israel, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Eindhoven and operating across numerous verticals, Startupbootcamp has, over the last year, extended its model across Europe and has created a force to be reckoned with internationally. Since its founding in 2010, Startupbootcamp has accelerated about 140 startups, of which close to 3/4 received follow-on funding. Those are the kinds of stats that get you awards.
The other nominees were: Axel Springer Plug & Play, Entrepreneur First, Le Camping, Seedcamp, Techstars London and The Family
Best Gaming or Social Games Startup
Winner: Supercell /Finland/
It’s impossible to argue with Supercell’s super success in the last year, with a Billion Dollar investment and smash hits like Clash Of Clans.
The other nominees were: Brainbow, MAG interactive, Peak Games, Wooga and Zeptolab
Best Hardware Startup
Winner: Petcube /Ukraine/
Ukraine-born Petcube is “on a mission to provide smart gadgets that connect pet owners and keep their pets healthy and entertained” – which makes for a ridiculously enormous global market if things work out the way the startup hopes it will. Petcube’s founders have, against all odds, designed built and raised money for a radical new interactive device for pets, all from the midst of incredible upheaval in their home country.
The other nominees were: Blaze, CubeSensors, IntelClinic (NeuroOn), Jolla, Kano and ROLI
Best Internet of Things Startup
Winner: Evrythng /UK/
With founders from London and Zurich, Evrythng plans to connect every product on the planet to the Internet and make it smart. The company recently secured $7 million in funding from Cisco, Atomico and others.
The other nominees were: Kontakt.io, Little Printer (BERG Cloud), Relayr.io and Withings
Follow this link to see the full list of winners on The Europas.