To infinity and beyond — NMA Demo Day 8

Photo: *Tom Medici / I*thefishandtheknife.com

If you turn the number “8” slightly to the side you will read it like this “∞”, which is the symbol for infinity. That is exactly what the startup founders from our eighth cohort did: they declared themselves the eternal batch and left us no choice but to agree with this self-made title.

This time, we broke some records. We took up on the challenge to run in full capacity and take 10 teams at once. Not only that: it is also the most international batch so far, with companies from seven European countries. On top of that, 60% of the teams were run by female founders — and that matters.

What is Demo Day, anyway?

As we tell the startups, Demo Day is the time to showcase “wow” moments — the achievements made by each team throughout the intense months of the accelerator program. And for that, we gather our international community of entrepreneurs, investors, media executives, mentors, friends and family and live up to the party spirit.

Here are some of the highlights from our Demo Day #8:

AdBooker (Norway)

The startup helps every small and medium-sized company to navigate into the advertising jungle and learn how to reach out to customers beyond social media. They now have over 30 companies onboard and 5 paying customers. Will you be the next one?

Watch it (02:43)

Attention Insight (Lithuania)

Co-founder Kamile Jokubaitė taught us all that our attention span is now lower than one from a goldfish (say what?). But companies can now grab their customers attention on their online platforms thanks to the AI-based eye tracking solution — which is being tested by some of the largest media companies and agencies in Germany and has been accepted in two programs that will get them even further. Awesome!

Watch it (08:00)

Ceretai (Sweden)

With Ceretai’s machine learning software media companies are now able to have a diversity monitor and make sure that their content is compatible with the equality and diversity standards that young audiences demand. Beyond pilot projects with German broadcasters, the startup also went viral in the media with one campaign. #equalityiscoming

Watch it (13:35)

Coverstories (The Netherlands)

We all have been judging books by the cover — and don’t we do the same with an advertisement we see online? The Dutch startup is giving publishers the chance to be part of the revolution that will bring native stories to the forefront wrapping them up in beautifully designed covers. The startups worked with a German newspaper and showed impressive results after implementation of Coverstories — next steps: to build a coalition of quality media publishers!

Watch it (20:13)

IndieFrame (Denmark)

A platform that empowers everyone to collaborate and work together with media companies in producing and sharing content. But all of that paying much attention and care to the high journalistic standards of trust and accuracy. IndieFrame is now working with regional publishers in Germany and has also be awarded a Google DNI Grant to take their platform even further. Keep it on!

Watch it (27:59)

Lama (Austria)

Imagine if video interviews were only easier to produce, cost less time and budget? That is the dream LAMA is making true thanks to their Interview as a Service platform, which is now being implemented by 20 media companies and has been used to publish more than 1200 interviews, helping the team towards their mission to interview the world — and then, the universe.

Watch it (40:45)

Lytt (Norway)

To all publishers and media houses thriving for higher engagement with their audiences: all you have to do is “listen”. Lytt allows publishers to have their own distribution platform for produced podcasts so that they can monetize and have higher engagement rates with listeners. Not only did the team have a successful pilot with Norway’s biggest publisher, but is now also closing its first three deals in the German market!

Watch it (47:55)

Sigmund Talks (Germany)

The nightmare of everyone that needs to write quality content in a short time is to stare at a blank sheet of paper. To end this struggle, Sigmund Talks helps users to define the best strategies to develop content and co-create high-quality pieces. More than 500 test users and 7 German publishers are now talking with Sigmund to write their stories — and that's just the beginning.

Watch it (54:21)

The Lunicorn (Norway)

Video. Mobile. Information. Entertainment. Buzzwords, or the perfect description of what drives online content consumption nowadays? The Lunicorn is producing mobile-first video series portraying the startup and tech scene across the globe. And for that, they are partnering up with festivals, governmental organizations and most recently (drum-roll) a tech giant.

Watch it (1:01:39)

Travel Kollekt (Denmark)

Travelling is great — so why shouldn’t travel planning also be? The Danish startup, named “the best invention since Lonely Planet” by a German magazine, is allowing travelers to curate and produce personalized travel guides. For publishers, this means an opportunity to have their content published in multiple platforms — and the first pilots in Germany and Denmark will be soon up and running!

Watch it (01:07:05).

Every end of a batch brings us mixed feelings: on the one hand, we are thrilled to see the accomplishments and successful results from the hard work from the teams. On the other hand, we already miss the company of the amazing founders who brought outstanding energy to our days.

A big special thanks to Knust: the iconic venue in Hamburg known for legendary rock concerts, it’s now it also becoming recognized for the best place to host demo days. And another special thanks to Kitch Guerilla for the delicious meal — which we are still craving for. #bestpartycrew

https://medium.com/media/e37f391fae74953aad7b89008f619532/href

It’s summertime and this means we all need to recharge batteries, soak up some sun and be ready for more! Stay tuned.

From Hamburg, with love

The NMA team.

To infinity and beyond — NMA Demo Day 8 was originally published in next media accelerator on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tatjana Büchler