Founded by Gerlinde Gniewosz and Emanuele Cipolloni, KO-SU’s mobile learning service seeks to offer individuals, schools and businesses’ in over 100 countries the opportunity to access a wealth of multimedia content via their mobiles in order to enhance both individual and group learning. This latest partnership offers the BBC’s Motion Gallery Education a new opportunity to share a quota of their exhaustive video archive that spans 70 years with new audiences across the world. The modules will be a mix of ready-made and tailored videos that can be offered in localised languages and available later this summer.

Gerlinde Gniewosz, CEO of KO-SU added: “Providing access to the considerable archives of the BBC Motion Gallery Education’s educational ...]]> Interactive mobile learning platform KO-SU has become the latest start-up taking part in the first BBC Worldwide’s Labs initiative to secure a deal with a division of the organisation. Partnering with BBC Motion Gallery Education, the deal offers KO-SU’s global network of users access to over 200 clips from an impressive archive of content, covering topics such as geography, chemistry, physics and business.

Founded by Gerlinde Gniewosz and Emanuele Cipolloni, KO-SU’s mobile learning service seeks to offer individuals, schools and businesses’ in over 100 countries the opportunity to access a wealth of multimedia content via their mobiles in order to enhance both individual and group learning. This latest partnership offers the BBC’s Motion Gallery Education a new opportunity to share a quota of their exhaustive video archive that spans 70 years with new audiences across the world. The modules will be a mix of ready-made and tailored videos that can be offered in localised languages and available later this summer.

Gerlinde Gniewosz, CEO of KO-SU added: “Providing access to the considerable archives of the BBC Motion Gallery Education’s educational and factual video clips to the users of the KO-SU platform, is truly a remarkable blending of the ‘old’ and ‘new’ digital worlds.”

Paul Maidment, Director of BBC Motion Gallery said: “BBC Motion Gallery Education is delighted to be supporting KO-SU in this exciting enterprise at a time when the use of video content in the Education sector continues to develop. We believe that the quality of BBC material is unrivalled and that the KO-SU offering is a fantastic way to access and use this content.”

Jenny Fielding, Head of BBC Worldwide Labs and Digital Ventures added: “Over the past six months we have been delighted with the support from across the business for the first BBC Worldwide Labs initiative and we’re proud to see three strategic partnerships come out of the scheme. Each one of the deals is proof of our commitment to support early stage digital media companies and in the case of KO-SU, to see our content reach new audiences through their cutting edge ed-tech platform.”

Working alongside the BBC News online team and US-based BBC journalist Franz Strasser,who filmed the footage wireWAX have created a three minute documentary to mark the third year anniversary of the US Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. The video includes eight clickable tags that offer users further details on the event including additional footage, accounts from those affected and graphics. This new way of sharing content builds on the BBC News online editorial team’s ambition of telling stories in more innovative and engaging ways through the use of video.

Jenny Fielding, Head of BBC Worldwide Labs and Digital Ventures added: “When we launched BBC Worldwide Labs we hoped that it would offer new ways of working for both the start-ups and divisions across the BBC. It is a pleasure to ...]]> We are excited to announce that wireWAX, have become the second BBC Worldwide Labs participant to secure a partnership following the first six month programme. The company that specialises in developing video tagging has been working closely with the BBC News online team to deliver its first pilot using this technology.

Working alongside the BBC News online team and US-based BBC journalist Franz Strasser,who filmed the footage wireWAX have created a three minute documentary to mark the third year anniversary of the US Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. The video includes eight clickable tags that offer users further details on the event including additional footage, accounts from those affected and graphics. This new way of sharing content builds on the BBC News online editorial team’s ambition of telling stories in more innovative and engaging ways through the use of video.

Jenny Fielding, Head of BBC Worldwide Labs and Digital Ventures added: “When we launched BBC Worldwide Labs we hoped that it would offer new ways of working for both the start-ups and divisions across the BBC. It is a pleasure to announce that from the first programme we have now secured two partnerships for two of our six start-ups and we look forward to seeing the results from the pilot wireWAX and BBC News online have developed.’

Steve Callanan, wireWAX: ‘Video is the last digital element of the web to be fully connected and exploited. Making videos interactive is the most exciting development for the future of the medium and this elegant execution for BBC News online is demonstration of the BBC’s continuing commitment to progress and innovation.’

James Montgomery, Director of BBC Global News, said: ‘Innovation in video-based storytelling, creating immersive experiences for our audiences and increasing the impact of our journalism are priorities for BBC News online.’
The Deepwater Horizon video is available for both UK and international users of the BBC website and accessible here: http://bbc.in/175M6Pm

The event kicked off with an introduction to the scheme by Labs Programme Director Astrid Sandoval and was then followed by a discussion about the value of incubators, accelerators and  start-up weekend sessions. Overall the discussion was in favour of such programmes although the panel, moderated by Claude London, Digital Director for BBC Worldwide, all agreed that it was important to find the right programme for your company.

Panellist Ashley Stockwell – Academy Director, WayraUK, argued that as a start-up you need to look at what is being offered and work out what is good for your company. Simon Davies from Labs start-up Yakatak encouraged companies to seek the best they can, saying that if you know you are good, go to a good and credible incubator or accelerator.

The panellists were ...]]> On March 5, 2013, we celebrated the launch of Labs London 2013 with an event held at Wayra UK.  The  launch was an opportunity to meet the team behind Labs and gain some valuable insight into what the Labs programme has to offer digital media start-ups.

The event kicked off with an introduction to the scheme by Labs Programme Director Astrid Sandoval and was then followed by a discussion about the value of incubators, accelerators and  start-up weekend sessions. Overall the discussion was in favour of such programmes although the panel, moderated by Claude London, Digital Director for BBC Worldwide, all agreed that it was important to find the right programme for your company.

Panellist Ashley Stockwell – Academy Director, WayraUK, argued that as a start-up you need to look at what is being offered and work out what is good for your company. Simon Davies from Labs start-up Yakatak encouraged companies to seek the best they can, saying that if you know you are good, go to a good and credible incubator or accelerator.

The panellists were put through their paces with some challenging questions being fired by the audience. When asked what should a company do if they do not make it onto the scheme, Simon Davies advised start-ups to really look into their business plan. He argued that a great plan would attract great people, and from there they should look to join a credible programme. Panellist Eze Vidra, Head of Google Campus and Board Member of Labs continued to say that the best thing you can do is to show market traction with an MVP – minimum viable product. Keep things simple and show generated interest.

With mentorship seen as a great strength of the Labs programme (there are 65 in total to date) Melissa Clarke-Reynolds, Co-Founder of MiniMonos talked about her experiences as a Mentor for JFDI Asia and Wayra, her tip was to use the mentors and work those relationships. She emphasised that people become mentors because they love doing it.

When asked how Labs had benefited them, Simon Davies, Hamish Brocklebank and Melissa Clarke-Reynolds all felt that the programme had given them fantastic opportunities. From challenging their company and team to learning from the other start-ups, Labs has really helped them to get more commercial experience. Hamish Brocklebank, Co-Founder of Flooved said that people tended to take you more seriously when you had the backing of BBC Worldwide Labs and that the access to relevant networks was amazing. Simon Davies argued that with Labs behind you, your company was seen as more credible.

The discussion naturally flowed towards questions directed at how to join Labs. Claude London said that Labs was perfect for companies dealing in digital media, adding that this was a broad category. Preference is for companies who have a product but may still be pre-revenue. Pre-product companies are not completely ruled out as Claude London added that there could in some rare cases be an exception. Although a signing a commercial deal with BBC Worldwide is not guaranteed, consideration for the right companies will be given.

The night was a huge success, and we hope everyone enjoyed the event.

Applications for Labs 2013 are now open. Applications close midnight,  April 4 2013. To apply, click here.

See our #LabsLondon Storify Twitter Summary of the event

With the help of our contributors – Ingenious Britain, Seedcamp and General Assembly London the discussion was off to a fantastic start.

Here are the highlights and key takeaways from the tweet chat.

1.When should a start-up look to join (at what phase/stage)?

The general consensus here was that there was no one size fits all model although most tended to view the programmes as being most beneficial for those in the early stages. There was however an emphasis placed on there being a multitude of programmes catering for different types of companies at different stages.

@twhicher  added that his company found it valuable at the pre-growth stage. He clarified pre-growth to mean before a product-market fit has been found and ideas are still being tried – there is a product but not serious traction. He found the programme ...]]> On Wednesday the 27^th of February Labs held our first ever tweet chat on ‘Finding the right incubator or accelerator for your start-up’. We asked a total of seven questions during the hour long chat.

With the help of our contributors – Ingenious Britain, Seedcamp and General Assembly London the discussion was off to a fantastic start.

Here are the highlights and key takeaways from the tweet chat.

1.When should a start-up look to join (at what phase/stage)?

The general consensus here was that there was no one size fits all model although most tended to view the programmes as being most beneficial for those in the early stages. There was however an emphasis placed on there being a multitude of programmes catering for different types of companies at different stages.

@twhicher  added that his company found it valuable at the pre-growth stage. He clarified pre-growth to mean before a product-market fit has been found and ideas are still being tried – there is a product but not serious traction. He found the programme provided  time to build their network and test ideas.

 2.Why do (or should) start-ups join incubators or accelerators ?

Overall the general attitude was that incubators and accelerators could potentially boost or jumpstart a start-up. From helping start-ups with different means of support to ensuring a good level of structure that allowed companies to achieve business goals quicker.

Ingenious Britain found an interesting statistic based on a US study – 87% of incubator graduates stayed in business compared to 44% of all businesses in general showcasing the positive effects of the programme on your companies livelihood.

Whilst most believed that these programmes would reap positive results, some also argued that it can highlight a companies limited life span – whilst some may succeed quicker others may fail faster, something of which was touched upon by Wayra UK later on in the chat.

Question two also revealed that follow-on funding was at the forefront of most applicants post programme ‘wish lists’.

3. What do (or should) start-ups look for in an incubator/accelerator?

The consensus here was that start-ups should carry out some research to find out what each programme specialised in. General Assembly highlighted that different programs like @techstars and @seedcamp offer different perks like funding, mentorship, legal help, travel assistance and more.  Wayra UK and Ingenious Britain recommended speaking to alumni and researching the strengths and weaknesses of each programme.

Past programme successes combined with a decent network of mentors and advisors were seen as core areas to look into.

4. How important is mentorship?

Everyone involved in the discussion saw mentorship as a fundamental part of the programme with many arguing that having the right mentor was key.

Seedcamp argued that mentorship gives you unique access to top tier people. The tweet chat also highlighted that a start-up’s relationship with a mentor was not confined to the length of the programme, which was why many placed an emphasis on shared values. @twhicher used his experience with @bg_ventures to further validate the value of the mentor and mentee relationship. His company had a great experience because their values aligned.

A strong network of seasoned mentors was favoured as many felt they would help prevent start-ups from falling into common pitfalls, help connect a company to the right networks and generally help  refine and define a company’s ‘product’.  Mentors were seen as able to provide a company with invaluable feedback, but most agreed that a start-up should stay true to their core beliefs.

5. How important is money?

Wayra UK argued that money was important but that start-ups needed to quickly work out how to generate revenue – ‘Revenue accelerates investment’. ‘The money may seem the most important consideration on the way into an accelerator but is seldom as important on the way out’ @WayraUK.

It was generally agreed that money was impactful but mentorship, networks, and support were valued more highly. BG Ventures argued that money allowed people to quit other jobs and focus solely on their start-up, but the money shouldn’t be too much as start-ups in general work better under a ‘lean’ model.

6. Is being taken on by a successful or well-known accelerator or incubator a guarantor of success?

Everyone agreed that being taken on by a successful or well-known accelerator/incubator was not a guarantor of success.

Wayra said, ‘definitely not. We’re here to help our teams become the best business they can in the time they’re here. Not guarantee success’ General Assembly London drew attention to the problem of measuring and defining success.

Seedcamp believed that whilst they can’t guarantee success, they can enhance your chance of success and get you there faster. Accelerators and incubators give companies tools for success but the actual success is in the start-up’s hands.

Whilst programmes can open new and exciting doors to their companies, helping them gain publicity, start-ups still have to work hard for success.

 7. How do you measure the success of incubators/accelerators? (Networking, pitch opportunities, exits, funding, repeat funding)

All agreed that the term ‘success’ was subjective and at times hard to measure. Some saw success as gaining further traction in a certain market whilst others saw commercial deals, funding and growth as key measures.

Ingenious Britain argued that success is dependent on the start-up and their intensions of what they wanted to get out of the programme.  Labs start-up Yakatak said that follow-on funding was important.

Conclusion

Overall the tweet chat revealed that start-ups look to join incubators and accelerators to gain opportunities that would be difficult to set up on their own. This can be through connections, mentoring and being a part of a strong entrepreneurial community. @Freerange_Inc argued that beyond networking, community is very important, especially the shared culture and normalising of the ‘start-up’ process.

As the number of incubators and accelerators continue to rise, #LabsChat highlighted the importance of applying for a programme that is right for your start-up. Research advisors, mentors and contact their alumni. The competition may be tough, but the rewards are worth it. From providing everyday structure to your company’s output to networking with influential players in your industry, the right programme may not be able to guarantee success, but it can maximise your companies potential

View Storify highlights from #LabsChat

In advance of our Labs London 2013 launch, we are hosting a tweet chat focusing around the topic of ‘Finding the right incubator or accelerator for your start-up,’ #LabsChat is set to take place Wednesday 27th February at 5pm GMT (12pm EST).

With Seedcamp, General Assembly and Ingenious Britain all joining in, #LabsChat is set to be fun, informative and full of great tips and advice for those involved in the start-up scene.

About our contributors

Seedcamp is Europe’s leading micro-seed investment fund and mentoring program and are the most connected international seed investor in the world. Since launching in 2007, their family now includes more than 80 of Europe’s most promising startups with several acquisitions.

General Assembly transforms thinkers into creators through education and opportunities in technology, business, and design.

Ingenious Britain is a campaign designed around, focused on, and created for small businesses and their needs.

When: Wednesday 27th February

Time: 5pm GMT (12pm EST)

Where: #LabsChat

Topic:  Finding the right incubator or ...]]> BBC Worldwide Labs is excited to announce that we are hosting our very first tweet chat!

In advance of our Labs London 2013 launch, we are hosting a tweet chat focusing around the topic of ‘Finding the right incubator or accelerator for your start-up,’ #LabsChat is set to take place Wednesday 27^th February at 5pm GMT (12pm EST).

With Seedcamp, General Assembly and Ingenious Britain all joining in, #LabsChat is set to be fun, informative and full of great tips and advice for those involved in the start-up scene.

About our contributors

Seedcamp is Europe’s leading micro-seed investment fund and mentoring program and are the most connected international seed investor in the world. Since launching in 2007, their family now includes more than 80 of Europe’s most promising startups with several acquisitions.

General Assembly transforms thinkers into creators through education and opportunities in technology, business, and design.

Ingenious Britain is a campaign designed around, focused on, and created for small businesses and their needs.

When: Wednesday 27th February

Time: 5pm GMT (12pm EST)

Where: #LabsChat

Topic:  Finding the right incubator or accelerator for your start-up

Questions

1. When should a start-up look to join (at what phase/stage)?
2. Why should/do start-ups join incubators/accelerators?
3. What do start-ups look for in an incubator/accelerator?
4. How important is mentorship?
5. How important is money?
6. How do you measure the success of incubators/accelerators? (Networking, pitch opportunities, exits, funding, repeat funding)
7. Is being taken on by a successful or well known accelerator/incubator a guarantor of success?

Tweet chat @BBCWLabs: Finding the right incubator or accelerator for your startup: 27 Feb 5pm GMT #LabsChat @seedcamp @GA_London @ingeniousbrit

An induction session will be held on March 5 at Wayra’s Academy in London, giving hopeful applicants the opportunity to meet and hear from members of Labs team.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from Claude London, Digital Director, BBC Worldwide, Yakatak’s Simon Davies, MiniMono’s Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Flooved’s Hamish Brocklebank, Wayra’s Academy Director Ashley Stockwell and Google Campus’ Eze Vidra, as they discuss the value of programmes such as business accelerators, incubators, and weekend start-up sessions.  The Labs 2012 start-ups will also cover the opportunities and experiences they have been given via the Labs mentorship scheme.

Labs was first launched in September 2012, with six of the UK’s most exciting digital start-ups – wireWax, KO-SU, Flooved, Yakatak, MiniMonos and Foodity. Over the course of the past six months the start-ups have been integrated into BBC Worldwide’s ecosystem, working with experts across the business including technology, content, legal, advertising, marketing and sales.  They have also had opportunities to work with a host ...]]> We are delighted to announce that Labs will be opening its doors for the 2013 mentorship scheme in June.

An induction session will be held on March 5 at Wayra’s Academy in London, giving hopeful applicants the opportunity to meet and hear from members of Labs team.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from Claude London, Digital Director, BBC Worldwide, Yakatak’s Simon Davies, MiniMono’s Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Flooved’s Hamish Brocklebank, Wayra’s Academy Director Ashley Stockwell and Google Campus’ Eze Vidra, as they discuss the value of programmes such as business accelerators, incubators, and weekend start-up sessions.  The Labs 2012 start-ups will also cover the opportunities and experiences they have been given via the Labs mentorship scheme.

Labs was first launched in September 2012, with six of the UK’s most exciting digital start-ups – wireWax, KO-SU, Flooved, Yakatak, MiniMonos and Foodity. Over the course of the past six months the start-ups have been integrated into BBC Worldwide’s ecosystem, working with experts across the business including technology, content, legal, advertising, marketing and sales.  They have also had opportunities to work with a host of external companies and mentors including Wayra, General Assembly, Google, and SVC2UK.

“I am so proud of everything we’ve achieved with Labs over the past six months and thrilled to be announcing the launch of the second programme.  It has been an honour and a pleasure to help raise the profiles of six bright and talented start-ups in the UK, all of whom have a promising future ahead.  It has been a huge learning curve for us all and I’m very much looking forward to finding the class of 2013 and furthering our ambition of helping more emerging digital companies realise their ambitions.” Jenny Fielding, Head of BBC Worldwide Labs and Digital Ventures.

Labs 2013 programme is perfect for technology oriented start-ups focused on web and software development with international appeal such as web applications, gaming, virtual worlds, mobile, connective TV and CRM.  Successful applicants will be offered invaluable support from mentors and industry experts, access to intellectual property, content and technology and the use of office space in London’s headquarters.

To reserve a place at the induction session on March 5^th, click here:http://labslondonevent.eventbrite.com

Access the full press release here.

Foodity has now become the first Labs start-up to sign a commercial deal with BBC Worldwide.  BBC Good Food and Tesco will enter a partnership to bring the supermarket’s online shopping experience to GoodFood.com users.

BBC Good Food is one of the UK’s biggest recipe sites, and “with Foodity onboard,  Tesco’s online customers’ baskets will be automatically filled with ingredients, and it means they can shop at Tesco without leaving the GoodFood site.” (Paul Sawers, TNW)

“Our ambition when launching BBC Worldwide Labs was to discover some of the UK’s most talented digital startups who could share their knowledge and offer technology solutions to both BBC Worldwide and other publishers in the hope that partnerships like today’s would be struck … We are delighted by the news of this partnership that clearly supports the vision and objectives behind Labs.” Jenny Fielding, Head of BBC Worldwide Labs and Digital Ventures.

Read the full article by Paul Sawers, The Next Web

Published: 11 February 2013

To learn more about the Labs commercial deal, check out our  We are thrilled to announce our first commercial deal.

Foodity has now become the first Labs start-up to sign a commercial deal with BBC Worldwide.  BBC Good Food and Tesco will enter a partnership to bring the supermarket’s online shopping experience to GoodFood.com users.

BBC Good Food is one of the UK’s biggest recipe sites, and “with Foodity onboard,  Tesco’s online customers’ baskets will be automatically filled with ingredients, and it means they can shop at Tesco without leaving the GoodFood site.” (Paul Sawers, TNW)

“Our ambition when launching BBC Worldwide Labs was to discover some of the UK’s most talented digital startups who could share their knowledge and offer technology solutions to both BBC Worldwide and other publishers in the hope that partnerships like today’s would be struck … We are delighted by the news of this partnership that clearly supports the vision and objectives behind Labs.” Jenny Fielding, Head of BBC Worldwide Labs and Digital Ventures.

Read the full article by Paul Sawers, The Next Web

Published: 11 February 2013

To learn more about the Labs commercial deal, check out our press release.

The conference takes place in San Francisco and is focused upon exploring up-and-coming trends in innovation featuring successful entrepreneurial women, all of whom have reached  ’the billion’ milestone.

The event will cover  ‘The Next Billion’ – the future that we see today, including live pitches from the ‘PITCH SF 2013 Start-up Competition’ finalists. With the day packed with exciting speakers and real time investor feedback for the live pitchers,  it is the perfect place to learn, listen to great advice and pick up some great pitching tips.

For more information or to book your place : Women 2.0

Follow the action on Twitter at  #w2conf

“Today marks the first time such interactive hotspot technology has been allowed on YouTube, and represents a big win for a fledgling UK startup,” TNW’s Paul Sawers.

Read the full article published by TNW on 28 January 2013

What is Bett? Bett 2013 is an exhibition taking place at ExCel London, focusing on technology for education. Made up of a global community, the event is aimed to help people discover new and innovative education solutions that enrich, enliven and engage students better. With an expected footfall of over 30,000 people, Bett is the perfect place for both KO-SU and Flooved to showcase their exceptional educational technologies.

The event is free to attend, and is definitely worth a visit. Register here.

Want to meet our Start-ups? Here’s where they can be located

Flooved has a stall at the edmix run by Edward Baker which has been kindly sponsored by Pearson and LEAF investment. Find them at C31 / N1.

KO-SU are based on the second floor, (No.19) in the Mirandas net. To find them either take lift 7 or ...]]> Bett 2013 is here! We’re delighted to announce that KO-SU and Flooved from Labs are exhibiting and BBC Motion Gallery Education is showcasing some of their work as well.

What is Bett? Bett 2013 is an exhibition taking place at ExCel London, focusing on technology for education. Made up of a global community, the event is aimed to help people discover new and innovative education solutions that enrich, enliven and engage students better. With an expected footfall of over 30,000 people, Bett is the perfect place for both KO-SU and Flooved to showcase their exceptional educational technologies.

The event is free to attend, and is definitely worth a visit. Register here.

Want to meet our Start-ups? Here’s where they can be located

Flooved has a stall at the edmix run by Edward Baker which has been kindly sponsored by Pearson and LEAF investment. Find them at C31 / N1.

KO-SU are based on the second floor, (No.19) in the Mirandas net. To find them either take lift 7 or staircase 8.

BBC Motion Gallery Education can be found  at  stand F351.