Winning Venturefest’s early stage Innovation Showcase competition will help with investment, PR and networking says Beatstream Media
The winners of Venturefest Manchester’s early stage Innovation Showcase competition say they hopes the kudos from the event will help secure investment going forward.
Gig-streaming platform Beatstream Media, who will feature in BusinessCloud’s upcoming Tech 1sts list, fought off four other start-ups for the title.
The revolutionary app lets fans watch their favourite bands streamed live from performances around the world, allowing music venues to have a global reach.
Each team had three minutes to pitch their business to an audience of around 650 people, a mix of investors, fellow entrepreneurs, innovators and business enthusiasts from around the region.
“We’ve already got a strong boardroom in place so it’s hopefully just the catalyst we need to gain the investment now,” Beatstream CEO and co-founder Matthew Walsh told BusinessCloud in the podcast you can listen to below.
“It will allow us to gain a bit more traction with PR, and for our network to grow exponentially – we can start to really move forward.”
The winners each take home a £20,000 prize package, with drinks company Mello taking home the title of Best Established Business.
Walsh, who says he’s “a bit in shock” at the win, admits the team will have a drink to celebrate but will be back to work on Friday morning.
“It’s a massive kudos winning Venturefest,” he said.
“We’ve worked really hard in the last 12 months to put the right support structure around the business, add it to this the package and exclusive victory for us and the sky’s the limit for Beatstream.”
Speaking at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Walsh shared why Venturefest, which is in its fourth year, is so important for the business community and the city.
“Obviously Manchester’s very good at promoting itself and that’s why we felt so proud that we’re from Manchester – to be a part of that is amazing,” he said.
“Manchester’s an ever-evolving city, whether that’s breaking new ground in music, in tech – it’s somewhere that reinvents something that’s previously been done.
“There’s something magical about Manchester that makes you think differently when you’re there – the people, the personality, everything taps into your creative strain and off you go.
“That’s why Beatstream’s developed as it has – we’ve gone through two rebrands, we’re now established and happy and we’re proud we’re from Manchester.”
Speaking to last year’s winner Mike Anderson of Nothing But Epic, the benefits of the win are clear.
“The last year has been crazy since winning,” Anderson said.
“There are two sides to the business. The agency side, Nothing But Epic, has gone from strength-to-strength, the team has increased by five and we’ve won a few national clients.
“Padoq, our community network platform, managed to raise £315,000 investment earlier this year and we’re now working to get the final product to the public early next year.”