Tech events have always been environments I enjoy. They bring together people building new things, such as founders, engineers, investors, and curious observers, all exchanging ideas about what technology might look like next. In Autumn 2017, I joined the Advisory Board for the 2018 SXSW Accelerator. This program is a startup pitch competition held annually during the SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas.
The Role
My role involved reviewing startup applications and helping support founders who wanted to present their companies at the event. I was also asked to help identify and encourage startups from Greece and Cyprus to apply and take advantage of the opportunity to present their work to an international audience. Serving on the advisory board offered a window into a wide range of early-stage companies working on emerging technologies. Each year startups from around the world apply across multiple categories, from enterprise software and fintech to emerging consumer technologies.
During the review process I focused primarily on startups applying in the following categories
- Health & Wearables Technologies
- Payment & FinTech Technologies
- Sports & Performance Technologies
The Ecosystem
The event brings founders in front of a panel of investors, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders. Over the years the program has featured judges and mentors from across the technology industry, including venture capitalists, founders, and well-known figures from the startup world. Serving on the advisory board also meant reviewing applications from founders with very different backgrounds. Many teams were small, typically two to five people, and it was particularly interesting to see founders who had previously worked at companies such as Google or Facebook leaving those roles to build their own startups. The accelerator has also helped highlight companies that later became widely recognized. Early participants have included startups such as Siri, Klout, Hipmunk, Wildfire, Foodspotting, and Tango, many of which later grew exponentially, raised funding or were acquired.
For me, participating in the process was an opportunity to see how founders from different parts of the world approach building products and solving problems. It was also a reminder that innovation rarely happens in isolation — it emerges from communities where people exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and build on each other’s work. And of course, all of this happens in Austin during SXSW, when the city briefly becomes one of the most vibrant meeting points of the global technology community.
Original announcement (2017)
SXSW here we go
Posted: 1 November 2017
Tens of meticulously delivered work after a start in 2011; my skills and craftmanship receive a big thumbs up by the global tech community. As for 2018, I’m honored to be a SXSW accelerator Advisory Board Member. Who’s joining a trip to Austin?
Tech events.. my favorite, you know! You hang around listening to new ideas and implementations, you touch hardware staff and meet people from around the world. You get design inspiration and.. ok STOP. Long story short, last summer I was honored to become an advisory board member at SXSW Accelerator. I will be spending most of my time to review applications and support any Greek or Cypriot startup who wants to take advantage of the opportunity to showcase an emerging tech product or service in front of industry leaders.
SXSW Accelerator returns for its tenth year to showcase some of the global startup ecosystem most exciting, innovative and cutting-edge technology! The event provides an outlet for companies to present the latest ideas in one of the following technologies.
Categories
- Enterprise and Smart Data Technologies
- Entertainment and Content Technologies
- Health and Wearables Technologies
- Hyper-Connected Communities Technologies
- Payment and FinTech Technologies
- Security & Privacy Technologies
- Augmented & Virtual Reality Technologies
- Social & Culture Technologies
- Sports and Performance Technologies
- Transportation Technologies
The presentation will be done to a panel of industry experts, early adopters, and representatives from the Venture Capitalist / Angel community. We invite you to attend this incredible pitch event as we highlight startup technologies most impressive new innovations.
Past judges have included Tim Draper of DFJ, John Sculley of Apple/Pepsi, Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media, Paul Graham of Y Combinator, Naval Ravikant of AngelList, Guy Kawasaki of Alltop, Werner Vogels of Amazon, Shervin Pishevar of Sherpa Capital, Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures, Albert Wenger of Union Square Venture, Bob Metcalfe of 3Com/Ethernet Co-Founder, and Laurie Segall of CNN to name a few.
Eligibility
- The company’s product or service must have launched no earlier than March 10, 2016
- The company’s product or service must not launch after June 10, 2018
- Each company may only enter one product or service
- A company that enters more than one product or service will not be eligible to participate
- Founders of the company applying must retain some portion of ownership in the company
- Each applicant is only eligible to present in one of the SXSW family of startup events
- The Company must not have raised over ten (10) Million Dollars in funding
- The product or service must fall into one of the SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event categories
The application deadline is Friday, November 10th at 11:59pm CST, and the event itself will be March 10 & 11th, 2018 in Austin, TX.