Disruptive Technology Challenge 2016 – Winners announced
Bird & Bird is delighted to announce the winners of our Disruptive Technology Challenge 2016 held in Munich in November.
Jointly organised by Bird & Bird teams in Munich and London, the Challenge was held in association with Baillie Gifford, CDTM (Center for Digital Technology & Management), Ntegra Greenside, SAP, Sicherheitsnetzwerk München (Security Network Munich),Trend Micro, Thyssen Krupp and VOICE (the German CIO organisation), who also provided support during the judging stages.
The Challenge saw 10 disruptive technology companies selected from applicants, who have developed products related to Smart Data, Cyber Security, Internet of Things and Mobility Solutions.
The Challenge involved two full days of presentations allowing the finalist companies to discuss their business strategy and objectives while gathering feedback and guidance from a distinguished judging panel of Bird & Bird partners and senior members of management from the Ballie Gifford, SAP, Thyssen Krupp and others.
The jurors, including the participating CIOs, have voted for these three finalists as the winners of the Disruptive Technology Challenge 2016:
| COMPANY |
Alyne GmbH (Cyber Security) |
| COMPANY SUMMARY | Alyne is a Munich based B2B RegTech offering organisations Cyber Security, Risk Management and Compliance capabilities through a Software as a Service. The unique proposition is built on a combination of providing a curated content library crafted by industry experts and highly usable functionality at an extremely competitive price. |
| JURY COMMENTS |
“An excellent offering at a price point that is dramatically different to the well-known industry offerings. I loved the UI on this product and the approaches taken to simplify the information delivered.” Colin Lennox, Baillie Gifford “I believe the founders know their target market very well. They have established many contacts/potential customer leads.” Christian Roth, Account Executive and Industry 4.0 Lead, Intel Deutschland GmbH. |
| COMPANY |
Toposens GmbH (Internet of Things) |
| COMPANY SUMMARY | Toposens develops 3D sensors based on ultrasound that can detect 3D positions of objects and people in real time. The startup is based in Munich and was founded in 2015. Toposens did not improve existing technology – they developed a novel technology from scratch that is superior to the existing ones in many important aspects. Even though ultrasound has been used for a long time, their algorithms allow them to be the first one to receive 3D position information from a single ultrasound sensor system in real time. |
| JURY COMMENTS |
“One of my favourites. Great idea with a high range of applications.” Dirk Bartels, Head of Innovation Management, thyssenkrupp AG “A very good and innovative solution with unique software solutions as an integral part of the solution. Their customer base, those who they have piloted with, is impressive.” Gerald Janes, South Bay Connections |
| COMPANY |
Userlane GmbH (Smart Data) |
| COMPANY SUMMARY |
Userlane provides a technology that makes it possible for anyone to operate any software immediately without the need of learning it first. Users are being guided through any process with easy to follow step by step guides directly within the live software. Those step by step guides can be built within minutes and without any programming knowledge and do not require any changes in the underlying software. As the result users can operate any software as if they were professionally trained users although they are using the software for the first time. |
| JURY COMMENTS |
“Great product- would deliver real value in some of our clients who have large contact centres and high turnover-in these environments “time to competence” is a key business measure for new stuff.” Andy Langley, COO/CTO, Ntegra Greenside “Great solution for a real problem. It looks to be a realistic option for large scale training prospects.” Kevin Borley, CIO Bristol Airport |
The winners will be invited to the CeBIT 2017 through our partner organisation VOICE and to our Annual Tech Day in October 2017 in London to present their companies as a remarkable company and "Hidden Champion" with a high "Disruptive Potential". The winners will also receive mentoring on the way to internationalisation over the next 12 months through one-to-one sessions with Bird & Bird legal experts.
The judges were impressed by the overall quality of the presenting companies and the genuinely innovative and cutting edge products being developed. We would like to extend our thanks to the other finalists involved in the challenge and for the excellent level of their presentations, which included:
| Company | Disruptive Technology |
|---|---|
| Blik | Smart Data |
| eluminocity GmbH | Smart Data |
| JobNinja GmbH | Smart Data |
| Necara GmbH | Smart Data |
| Payment24 | FinTech |
| sonixc GmbH | Internet of Things |
| SPOTNiQ GmbH | Internet of Things |
For details of how to become involved in our Disruptive Technology Challenge 2017 please contact:
 |
 |
| Alexander Duisberg Partner, Germany |
Stefan Münch Partner, Germany |