Read more about all the selected startups here!
Media City Bergen is one of four hubs responsible for the STADIEM project and has two dedicated project managers to help ensure that the recruited startups will be given the best possible support available in Europe. The four hubs, Media City Bergen, VRT, Storytek and Next Media Accelerator have just finished the process of selecting 41 out of 200 applicants to be accepted into the STADIEM incubation and acceleration program.
– The competition was extremely tough. In total, 200 startups, scaleups, and SMEs from all over Europe applied for STADIEM, with room for only 41 of them. The process of selecting these 41 was not an easy task with the high quality of the startup and scaleup companies, says Einar Kalsegard, Senior Project Manager in Media City Bergen.
– We are thrilled and proud on behalf of our two cluster members who managed to qualify for the STADIEM program, among these high levels of European startups, scaleups, and SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises).
Last year, the Norwegian Media Cluster was awarded EU funding to boost emerging media technology through the STADIEM consortium. The STADIEM program aims to bring together startups, scaleups, investors and media organizations to foster the development of Next Generation Media solutions. The goal is to boost the opportunities and success of innovative companies by developing and growing in close cooperation with corporate and venture partners. The program has a total budget of 19,5 MNOK to be distributed amongst the participants during the programs four different phases.
Visualyst has clear ambitions with what they hope to achieve in the STADIEM program.
– We are honored to be one of the select few to get this support from STADIEM. We believe this will help us move quicker towards market launch through funds and matchmaking, says Miguel Silva, CEO of Visualyst.
Visualyst helps video creators, regulators and distributors manage compliance checks faster than ever before, by using AI.
– When building a startup, there comes a point when you generally need three things to get to the next level: mentoring from industry peers, funding, and customers willing to test your prototypes. STADIEM offers all three. They have a network of mentors, they provide grant money from Horizon 2020 and they match you with participating media companies in Europe that are interested in your product.
Miguel is clear about what Visualyst wants to achieve through the STADIEM program.
– Through STADIEM, we are looking to partner closely with a broadcaster willing to use our base technology to discover new things in their archive, such as "what percentage of my catalog portrays genders in a negative way?" We can train AI models to detect specific things and use our tool to organize data points into useful information, says Miguel Silva, CEO of Visualyst.
STADIEM allows Web64 to realize a requested idea
Web64s platform is monitoring how ideas spread and grow throughout society. Collecting everything being published in a country and using Artificial Intelligence to discover hidden connections. This dataset allows you to measure key indicators within society in real-time, and see how one event or news story changes people's perception on an issue.
– We are super excited that Web64 is selected for STADIEM and can't wait to get started, says Olav Hjertaker, founder and CEO of Web64.
– STADIEM is a great opportunity to realize an idea we've had for a long time and we have already had requests from potential clients. STADIEM came along at a perfect time for us. This can be an essential milestone for the company by creating new business opportunities and expanding our network in Europe.
– We are planning to build an enterprise media monitoring platform where companies can get the critical information, they require to make the most informed decisions related to their business. We hope to bring a new product to market together with industry partners that can lead to long-lasting partnerships.
Match -> Develop -> Integrate -> Pilot – the four phases in the STADIEM program
The STADIEM program has a duration of 14 months and is broken down into four phases.
Match; 41 startups have been selected for the Match Phase, which consists of digital events, organized by each hub. These events will include pitching, mingling, networking, and one-to-one meetings. The aim is for startups, scaleups or SMEs to identify corporate partners and lead for developing a pilot/and present a "Letter of Intent" or strategy to lock pilot partners. This phase has a duration of two months.
Develop; Before this phase, 16 of the initially 40 startups, scaleups, or SMEs have been selected for further development in the STADIEM program. This phase will ensure validated commitment from corporate partners to carry out the pilot within the timeframe. The development phase will last for six months.
Integrate; From 16 startups, scaleups, or SMEs in the previous phase, there are now selected 12 who will begin integration and testing or pre-pilot activities for public pilots. This includes internal testing and evaluation of business processes and performance, technologies, and solutions that enable and drive forward startup and corporate collaboration. This phase has a duration of two months.
Pilot; In this last phase, only 4 startups, scaleups, or SMEs will execute public pilots with the corporate partners in real-life environments. The pilots are evaluated for generating business value and feedback from customers and other involved parties. The Pilot phase lasts for four months.
The project will also launch a second Open Call at the beginning of 2022 – so stay tuned!
Project Managers Einar Kaslegard (einar(at)mediacitybergen.no) and Marianne Fjellhaug, (marianne(at)mediacitybergen.no) can answer any questions you might have regarding STADIEM. You can also learn more at the STADIEM website.