Cisco unveils BIG 20

Shortlist for the networking giant's new innovation awards is revealed

Cisco has unveiled the 20 firms that have made the shortlist for its inaugural BIG Awards.

The Awards, which are running in collaboration with JP Morgan Chase, Bird & Bird, DNX and Octopus Communications, are set to run every year for the next five years, throughout the networking giant's British Innovation Gateway (BIG) initiative.

Under the initiative Cisco aims to develop the UK's innovation ecosystem and create an ideal environment for start-up digital businesses to flourish.

More than 300 entries were received and of the 20 shortlisted, six finalists will be chosen to present their business plans in front of a judging panel.

The overall winner will take home a package worth $200,000, consisting of $100,000 cash, 12 months of mentoring from Cisco and a 12-month support package covering PR, marketing and legal services.

Runners-up and semi-finalists will also receive cash and technology prizes.

Phil Smith, chief executive of Cisco UK and Ireland, said: “We are very proud to announce the Cisco BIG Awards semi-finalists. Each is a testament to the fact that the UK is full of thriving and innovative entrepreneurs and SMEs with diverse and leading-edge businesses. The quality of the entries has been outstanding and it is great to see that the UK tech scene can rise to individual challenges and also flourish in the wider context of a truly testing marketplace. We are delighted to extend our congratulations to them all.”

The full shortlist is below:

BIG Data

• Mikko Jarvenpaa – Vuact – Insight from Reaction Analytics

• Umbee Limited – Flexible Pay-As-You-Go Cloud Hosting

• Shopitize Ltd – Transform Receipts into Personalised Mobile Shopping Assistant & Rewards

• Playback Holdings Ltd – Playback Rewards (PBR) – Targeted Television Advertising with Full Privacy Protection

• Metric Science Ltd – Metric Science – Empowering Advertising Professionals with the Knowledge Necessary to Better Evaluate their Media

Collaboration

• Six3 Limited – Six3 Video Messenger

• Portal Entertainment Limited – Immersion GO – A storytelling Platform for the Digital Age

• Rabbitsoft Ltd (clinked.com) – Clinked – Collaborating for More Efficient Business

• Brightspark Education Ltd – TES Brightspark Online Tuition – Global Collaboration

Future Cities

• KlickEx UK Limited – The World's Most Accessible Economic System

• Nervecentre Software Ltd – Improving Patient Safety and Hospital Productivity through Collaboration

Internet of Things

• The Clinic Finder Limited – Helping Clinics Meet New Patients and Patients Find Clinics

• Poikos Limited – MeasureCAM_

• Sion Buckler – Location Based Social WiFi Access and AdPlatform Innovation

• Digital Shadows Ltd – Digital Shadows

• WhipCar Limited – WhipCar – Rent the Car Next Door

Mobility

• Snap Fashion Ltd – Snap Fashion – A Visual Search Engine for Fashion

• ParkatmyHouse Ltd – Community Parking

• HipSnip Limited –- HipSnip – Shopping Questions, Answered

• Mentorwell Ltd– Mentorwell.com – Boosting Talent with Social Mentoring