App Factor, the two-stage competition for mobile business, showcased the best new mobile app ideas from across the UK.
THE WINNER – VRTU
VRTU uses Virtual Reality to achieve social impact with a focus on mental health applications. It currently produces VR content to provide caregivers and patients therapeutic resources to combat symptoms of dementia, such as memory loss, anxiety, and depression. VRTU takes a unique approach to an existing form of dementia treatment called Reminiscence Therapy (RT), which reactivates old memories to enhance cognitive functions and emotional wellbeing of dementia patients. VRTU’s subscription-based mobile app contains a catalogue of virtual simulations of historic scenes that can be used to facilitate RT. Compared to conventional forms of RT like verbal discussions or physical constructions, VRTU’s approach is more immersive, cost-effective, and accessible.
Contact – [email protected]
2ND PLACE – GOSWEAT
Startup’s Mission is to change how people see sport, helping to save the NHS from the ground up. GoSweat is a platform that provides instant access to the sport going on around you. This includes gyms, PTs, classes, wellness, clubs, teams, events and facilities. By providing instant and ongoing access to the widest range of sport anywhere, we will enable users to find the sport they enjoy, and will therefore carry on doing.
Alex Hind
Stephanie Newport-Booth
Contact – [email protected]
3RD PLACE – DYMMO
Dymmo is a location independent bike sharing business meaning you can pick up and park anywhere anytime. We are location independent due to a smart electronic lock that has a GPS inside. Each bike has a QR code attached, which is linked to a smart lock so that when a user comes up to the bike and scans the QR Code, the bike instantly unlocks itself and charges the user through the saved card details. Additionally to having a much secure lock, the usage of bike would hence be much more efficient and practicable giving consequently incentives for people to be healthy and environmental-friendly.
Contact – [email protected]
SOCIAL MEDIA WINNER – MULALO
It’s no secret that when it comes to people’s relationship with money, something isn’t right. Mulalo are making saving money simple. Not only this, they don’t want you to compromise your lifestyle, and it’s completely free. They use personal insights and machine learning algorithms to find you specific and unique savings opportunities. All you have to do is sign up, link your financial accounts, and they do the rest. Essentially an artificially intelligent MoneySuperMarket, that saves you both money and time. Mulalo are currently running a private beta, you can sign up to their waiting list at www.mulalo.co.uk
Contact – [email protected]
SAFE IN SOUND
The Safe In Sound app is a loyalty & road-safety app engaging music + tech. The app turns the volume down on headphones and warns users about the dangers of crossing the road with their headphones on. It will also track travel and if they stay on route they will be rewarded with prizes. Since conception we have progressed to partnerships with retailers, all major road safety charities Think!, RSGB and Brake, as well as gaining celebrity endorsement and recently secured sponsorship with some of the largest councils across the country (Essex, Yorkshire, Berkshire & Croydon).
Chukwuma Ogbobie
Contact – [email protected]
BANDERS
Getting your music effectively to market through a co-creative community. Banders empowers bands to take their recorded music to market effectively by utilizing existing channels. We build a release strategy based on their goals, and facilitate the execution by mobilising and facilitating a workforce of fans or other creatives to give the release community context. Generating the right visual content to go with the music in the digital strategy, enables the upcoming band to create a story around their music and brand, that potential fans will buy into. Banders –
Contact – [email protected]
SALARYFITS
At SalaryFits is focused on making sustainable credit a reality and empowering individuals through their salaries. The startup’s technology consists of a platform, including a BI tool that integrates quickly and efficiently the salary deduction credit offers from local financial providers to the payroll systems of entities, enhancing the credit score of the employees of those entities and allowing those providers to better access their credit profile. SalaryFits is a spin-off of ZetraSoft, a company that disrupted the credit market in Brazil, bringing financial inclusion to over 2.7 millions of individuals around the world.
Contact – [email protected]
FASHION KANVAS
Fashion Kanvas is a job search platform for fashion freelancers. We offer a platform for fashion designers, stylists, models & make-up artists to network, recruit & search for jobs through the app. Simultaneously the company offers users the opportunity to sell their brand within our app showcasing their new collection of unique garments to sell to the public. FK goes beyond the basic networking concept, offering an interactive platform where our users will be able to see live job posts via their location for instant hire or collaboration.
RENTOMETRY
Rentometry is a revolutionary AI assistant that helps you to find your dream home. The app prompts you with relevant questions to ask during viewings and recommends in real-time whether the property is good value for money, based on your unique profile and personal preferences. Tired of trawling through dozens of emails from estate agents? Rentometry solves this too – agencies can send you properties that match your profile directly through the app, rather than by email or phone. The AI engine takes care of the rest, telling you instantly which ones are most worth your time to view.
David Foster
Ross Witeszczak
Contact – [email protected]
ARTWISE
Artwise makes London’s best known art galleries and museums accessible to Chinese visitors. The first tour developed, of the National Gallery, combines the founder`s knowledge of art and experience of audience engagement, with research into Chinese art and culture. By hosting this tour on an app, Chinese tourists will be able to access it at any time: before, during and after their visit. Eventually the app will host a range of concise and engaging audio tours of the highlights of London’s top museums and galleries, as well as architectural attractions.
Janet Clark
Contact – [email protected]
About App Factor
iOasys and The Bakery partnered to debut the next big startup competition for mobile business, the App Factor. The two-stage competition showcased the best new mobile app ideas from across the UK. On 14th March, at Huckletree coworking space, the finalists were featured at the final event pitching in front of judges and audience, with the winner received mobile application developed for FREE by iOasys. The judging panelwas composed by experts in the startups scene: Andrew Humphries, cofounder of The Bakery, Emma Jones founder of Enterprise Nation, Leo Castellanos, Investment Director and equity partner at Saatchinvest, Alexis de Vienne from Startup Pirate, and more.
iOasys is a mobile app development company from Brazil with an office in London. The team is expert in native languages and have developed over 100 projects. Clients are the main startups in Brazil, startups from other programs as Startup Chile and big companies and organisations as Nissan, Cisco, Playboy, UKTI.
The Bakery transform big companies and their teams, by helping them to innovate quickly and efficiently, connecting up the technology, talent and ideas to solve their biggest business challenges fast, and teaching them to become more entrepreneurial.
