PepsiCo Selects 10 of Europe's Most Promising Technology Start-ups

PURCHASE, N.Y. and LONDON, Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo today announced the 10 start-up companies from across Europe that will make up PepsiCo10 – a programme designed to discover and support emerging technology companies.

Chosen from submissions of more than 130 impressive and innovative technologies, the 10 winners will now work with some of PepsiCo's leading brands in the U.K., including Walkers and Pepsi, to activate pilot marketing programmes, whilst receiving the support and mentorship of Highland Capital Partners, OMD, Mashable and Wired.

The selected PepsiCo10 start-ups in Europe include a wide range of social commerce and mobile technologies. They are:

• SDMV (Slingshot Shopping) (UK): is the work of two recent university graduates who have created a programme set to revolutionise digital commerce by allowing consumers to instantly place products in their existing online shopping baskets from any website, Facebook page or mobile device, at just the tap of a mouse
• Shahmoon Ltd (UK): uses 46" HD video posters to bring big-screen advertising to small scale stores, enabling businesses to interact with passers-by, feed live information or 'tweet' direct to the street
• TvTak Ltd (France): is a mobile app, which lets users access additional content about a TV show or commercial they're watching by pointing their smartphone or tablet at the TV for one second
• SoDash Ltd (UK): is a social media monitoring tool which uses Artificial Intelligence to help companies manage their brand reputations, whilst also monitoring consumer insight and responses to their brand activity
• Sports Team Space (Bluefields) (UK): is a social network helping hundreds of amateur football clubs across the country easily manage their leagues, teams and subsidies online
• ParcelPoke (ParcelGenie) (UK): is the world's first instant gift text messaging service that makes sending real products to friends and family as simple as sending a text message
• ChartsNow.mobi Limited (UK): is an innovative and unique mobile music service that offers consumers instant access to the most current, hit chart music 24/7 on the majority of music enabled mobile phones
• Screenreach Interactive limited (Screach) (UK): offers a unique platform that allows consumers to use the smart phone as a device to create real-time two way interactive experiences with public digi-screens or the mobile device itself. For instance, using mobile phones as a controller to play a game
• Roamler BV (Netherlands):  uses a network of consumers as a mobile "workforce," enabling them to earn rewards by performing small tasks on behalf of corporations, organisations and individuals
• Waxwired Ltd (Flypost) (UK): is a location based smart phone game that lets users discover and interact in real-time with live events happening in their city

Speaking at the announcement, Mitch Vidler, a 22 year old founder of winning PepsiCo10 company SDMV, which owns Slingshot, said:

"We're thrilled to have been chosen as one of the prestigious PepsiCo10 winners. We only graduated from university last year, so it's hard to imagine that the technology we created in our university halls will now be used by a global, leading company like PepsiCo. We can't wait to start working with one of PepsiCo's U.K. brands."

Today, PepsiCo also announced that the company has committed to roll out a third iteration of PepsiCo10 in Asia or Latin America. PepsiCo10 first launched in the United States in 2010 and through the programme, a number of last year's winners have established lasting relationships with PepsiCo. For example, Table Top Media and Tongal have both undertaken a number of additional projects for PepsiCo since completing their pilots.

Commenting on the PepsiCo10 programme, Global Director of Digital and Social Media, Bonin Bough, said:

"Last year we identified the best upcoming tech start-ups from the USA, some of whom have been so impressive that we have continued working with them beyond the completion of their pilot projects. This year's standard of entry has been phenomenal and we faced a tough task selecting the final 10.

"Having now found promising technologies both in Europe and the United States, we will continue with our global quest to engage the best digital talent. I believe the next step for PepsiCo10 will be to tap the potential of Latin America or Asia."

Ian Ellington, General Manager for Walkers Crisps, one of the brands which will benefit from the PepsiCo10 technologies said,

"I'm really pleased and excited about our final 10 – in particular the variety of different technologies our brands will get to pilot. PepsiCo10 gives us a real advantage in spotting and nurturing the real tech and digital stars of the future."

To find out more about PepsiCo10, please visit www.pepsico10.com.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales each. Our main businesses -- Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, and Pepsi Cola -- also make hundreds of other enjoyable foods and beverages that are respected household names throughout the world. With net revenues of approximately $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment, including by conserving energy and water usage, and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support, and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

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About Highland Capital Partners

Highland Capital Partners was founded with the mission of helping great people build great companies. Since its inception in 1988, the firm has taken a sector-focused approach to investing in exceptional communications, consumer, digital media, healthcare, and information technology companies. With more than $3 billion of committed capital and offices in Geneva, London, Silicon Valley, Boston and Shanghai, Highland has invested in and worked to create such firms as Ask Jeeves, Avid Technology, CheckFree, Conor Medsystems, Coremetrics, lululemon athletic, Lycos, MapQuest, Navic Networks, P.A. Semi, PhotoBox, Privalia, Qihoo 360, Quattro Wireless, Quigo, Spartoo.com, Starent Networks, Sybase, Vertica and VistaPrint.   For more information, visit Highland's website at www.hcp.com.

About Wired

Every month in the magazine and every day online, WIRED explores the ideas, innovations and people that are reshaping our world. In a time of increasingly rapid change and unlimited access to information, WIRED determines what to look for: it is the guide to what's to come. WIRED is the only media brand whose mission is to map change - and then turn the points into a chart by which to navigate the future.

About OMD

OMD is the largest and most innovative media marketing company in the world, with more than 8,000 employees in 97 markets serving many of the most successful and well-known global brands.  OMD is recognised for its global footprint, strategic integration and creativity; and has been rated as the Most Creative Media Agency by The Gunn Report for an unprecedented five consecutive years; and Best Digitally Integrated Network 2010 by M&M Global.  OMD is part of Omnicom Media Group, the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc.

About Mashable

Mashable is the largest independent news source dedicated to covering digital culture, social media and technology. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's 17 million monthly unique visitors and 4 million social media followers have become one of the most engaged online news communities. Numerous studies and leading publications have declared Mashable the most influential online news outlet and a must-read site. Mashable also syndicates its content to top publications including ABC News, CNN, Metro, USA Today and Yahoo News, amplifying its reach to many millions of additional readers each month.   

SOURCE PepsiCo