digitalmission

The Digital Mission series is back for 2016. Our first adventure will be the Digital Mission NYC to attend Social Media Week NYC, 22-26 Feb 2016.

This week-long trip, organised with UK Trade & Investment USA, features a programme specially designed for both tech startups and agencies covering media, marketing, content, mobile and social media including AdTech, MarketingTech, MediaTech, analytics and, of course, social media.

It’s almost the holiday season! Christmas is coming and we’re hard at work creating some new and exciting Digital Missions and events for 2016.

We like to keep it simple, so we’ve put it all into one easy calendar (sorry, it doesn’t contain any chocolate :-()

We’d really like to know if you’d like to join a Digital Mission, Pitch NYC or have any suggestions / other destinations you’re considering for international expansion.

We're delighted to announce the Digital Mission to Maker Faire Shenzhen is open for applications. Designed specifically to support the UK's maker movement, the trip features a UK pavilion designed by car-makers MINI as part of their Modern British Roadshow and a specially designed programme for makers.

Designed for the UK's leading Makers - creative technologists and entrepreneurs - the mission combines a high-profile presence at the Maker Faire with visits to local hardware accelerators, manufacturers and local experts. It's a unique chance for insight into the Chinese market covering manufacturing, distribution, market entry and more.

When Dave Birch from Consult Hyperion was first asked to sit on a panel about the impact of fintech disruption he sent a tongue in cheek tweet to his followers to ask if they’d seen any yet.

The event, Unbundling the Bank, was held at Cass Business School on 9 April and highlighted the challenges to true disruption in the banking industry.

Dave Birch's point was around the use of the word disruption and whether the existing fintech industry, for which London is mostly acknowledged as the leading global hub, has disrupted the existing rails on which banking infrastructure sits.

Taking place 9-14 Feb the mission includes a week-long programme of briefings, company visits, networking receptions and pitch sessions coinciding with the Mayor's visit to Boston and New York in February.

Organised by the Mayor's Export Programme, UK Trade & Investment and TechCityUK with support from Chinwag, this is a unique opportunity for the UK's top FinTech and EnterpriseTech firms. The catch? The deadline for applications is: 14 January.

London's Mayor, Boris Johnson added his support to this week's Great Tech Expedition to the US, organised by the Mayor's office, UK Trade & Investment with support from Chinwag's trade mission experts, who programme the Digital Mission series.

He said, “We are a city packed with entrepreneurs who are experts in their field and my commitment to them is to provide whatever assistance I can to set them on the path towards international success. The opportunities that this whirlwind tour presents will convert into dollars for the companies and regeneration, jobs and growth back home in London."

We’re excited to announce the next Digital Mission trip, the Great Enterprise Tech Expedition, a collaboration with UK Trade & Investment, the Mayor of London and TechCityUK, supporting 20 of the UK’s fastest growing cloud software firms on a whistlestop 3-city US mission covering Chicago, Boston and NYC from 5-10th Oct 2014.

The biggest spenders on mobile content? According to recent reports, Japan leads the world in paying for mobile content. Spend in Japan and Korea has grown 40% since 2012.

Monument Valley from London-based ustwo has been a huge hit, reaching number 10 in Japan's April 2014 download charts. There's clearly an appetite for British content amongst Japanese mobile consumers.

UPDATE: The recording of the webinar is now live [free registration required].

If you're a startup looking at the US market, there's plenty of hurdles. High on the list is immigration and which visa will be the best fit...if you can get it.

Today's morning session of the Robotics Mission, organised by Chinwag for the Technology Strategy Board and UKTI, visited Squire Patton Boggs who put together a very handy slide from immigration expert Beth Seal that summarises the options.

Thinking of tackling the US market? Have existing clients and need to open an office in the Big Apple? Need to boost your profile in the States?

Good news, Digital Mission is back, taking a group of fast-growing digital SMEs to Social Media Week New York (SMWNYC).

The trip, designed specifically for UK-based digital firms to understand the opportunities and challenges of developing business and investment in the US includes a dedicated programme of activities and an Insider Pass for SMWNYC.

And in even better news, our friends at UKTI London have secured grants for London-based SMEs.

The Develop in Brighton conference have launched a live pitch competition for game developers to grab £10,000 each to develop a high-impact pitch for their game to help secure a distribution platform and funding.

Launched in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, developers are invited to apply for a spot at the live pitch at the event on Wednesday 10 July 2013. Development funds can be used to develop a game prototype, demo or mood reel.

Eulogised, mythologised and other -oligised, South by South West Interactive (SXSW) is hard to ignore, even if you're not a fan. Tens of thousands of delegates flock to Austin, Texas for five days of conference, networking and not to be forgotten the parties.

For the several thousand international delegates, the UK being the largest group, it can be a little daunting. The official schedule alone will take several hours to navigate. So, we've pulled together thirteen - it's lucky, right? - handy resources to help those intrepid travellers to Texas navigate SXSW.

UKTI are working with Huawei to offer small and medium enterprises SMEs the opportunity to join them on a Mission to China running on the 18-22 March 2013.

A British Government will be your guide round Huawei’s facilities to discuss their procurement processes and supply chain opportunities in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing & Shanghai.

There are discounts and grants available to participants. Deadline for applications 15 February 2013.

As you may know, Social Media Week London will be returning to your streets in September 2013, however if you can’t quite wait that long then why not be a part of Social Media Week NYC in February where Chinwag will be joined by some great companies for a Digital Mission trip to New York.

SMW NYC looks set to be a great week with its global theme of Open & Connected: Principles for a Collaborative World being explored by speakers including Ben Kaufman, founder & CEO of Quirky, Cindy Gallop and the MakeLoveNotPorn.tv team, and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit.

Back in December we announced the first set of companies that will be joining us for the Digital Mission to New York in February this year. 

We are very excited to not only let you know the next lucky group of companies coming along on the trip, but also to let you take a sneaky peak at the mission agenda. 

With an investor roundtable, masterclass in doing business in the USA, a traditional British pub quiz as well as all the keynotes, showcases and presentations that are being held as part of Social Media Week NYC the mission companies are not going to be short on events to go to and people to meet. You can take a look at the full agenda for the week here.