October 2009

Our October meeting was hosted by
The British Library Business & IP Centre at St Pancras, London.

The Business & IP Centre has all the business and IP (intellectual property) information you need as an innovator and entrepreneur.

The Centre offers free access to the UK's most comprehensive collection of business and intellectual property databases and publications, including general startup advice, information on funding sources, market research, company data, business news and information on patents, trade marks, registered designs and copyright.


Guest Speaker
Pete Smith, Songkick
Pete co-founded Songkick.com in 2007, a live music web startup which has raised investment from a series of angel and venture investors in the UK, US and Europe. The site is dedicated to creating a home for live music fans online: the first site on the web that really captures the thrill and magic of going to a concert, and allows fans to capture the excitement at every step of a concert experience: from finding out about a gig, to being there, to reliving the gig after it happens with others.
Pete gave an overview of the company's history, and what he has learned from 2 years in his role as the 'operational' co-founder running the inner workings of a fast-growing startup. Pete also talked about the differences and challenges of raising capital in the UK and the US.


Business Pitches
Ian Duncan, whatsmybrand.com whatsmybrand.com is to become the first A-Z directory of every food & drink product sold in the UK and will revolutionise how people shop for food & drink by allowing consumers to search for products that meet their dietary, health, ethical & environmental preferences. The company was launched to the trade in February this year. Key big names have already joined with 29 Big Brands including Dominos, McVities & Tropicana already signed up. We are already generating our first income from Brand Memberships, with potential income streams from Retailer Memberships, Live Data Feeds and Data Maintenance. While whatsmybrand is still a work in progress we have established a bridgehead very quickly. Additionally the allergen search will be completed for the consumer launch in November, making the service even more attractive to consumers and suppliers.
We are looking for a small injection of capital, which would allow whatsmybrand to become self funding from August 2010 and provide for increased Marketing, Sales Support and a 12-month Operating Contingency. Our 2013/14 business model forecasts an annual gross income of over 2m.
Our vision for whatsmybrand.com is to become the multinational Internet resource that consumers will refer to first for brand certified information on food and drink.

Andy Wright, ElevensoftElevensoft is a software design company that develops Rich Internet Applications with a focus on usability, simplicity, and clarity in design. Our first product is Orchestrate, a powerful web based scheduling application. It helps customers manage all aspects of their client contracts including tasks, locations and people. Orchestrate lets clients schedule location based tasks & people from any internet connected computer. It is easy to use, and particularly suitable for Service and Maintenance professionals. Orchestrates customers will be able to:
- Create and schedule new projects and tasks for clients
- Track work in progress for clients
- Provide clients with automatic updates
- Manage their staffs time more efficiently
- Meet their legal requirement to keep records for five years
- Not worry about data as the database resides in a secure location
- Avoid the expense of new hardware, and reduce the requirement for in-house IT staff.
Elevensofts goal is to provide small businesses and charities with sophisticated tools that increase their productivity, and strengthen their clients relationships.

Alan Ferdman - Pluggables Have you ever been frustrated by all the cable clutter under your desk or around your TV & Hifi? There is a solution available - Pluggables. It is a neat way of extending the 'standard' four way mains extension lead or block without incurring extra mains leads. Basically it's a system like Lego for mains sockets that might be used to connect a PC or Video/Hifi up, but can be used where ever mains sockets are required in large numbers around the home, office or workshop. The main benefit is that it reduces the number of leads and the traditional 'wasted socket' as you concatenate extensions together. A second benefit is that it enables a simple structure for adding power saving devices such as a master/slave arrangement, with for example the 'Once Click Power' Intelliplug product.
The novel aspect is the way the 'blocks' connect using a very neat mechanical and electrical mechanism. A UK patent has been applied for. Additionally a Derwent patent search has been successfully carried out working with the British Library Business and IP centre. Initial marketing has unveiled a manufacturer and major retailer with keen interest. The challenge is to get prototypes produced and contracts agreed.