SXSW celebrates its 25th year this week, with 250,000 visitors expected during the 10 day music, film and interactive festival in Austin. Social media platform companies such as Foursquare, Twitter and Siri (voice recognition acquired by Apple) either launched or were popularized here. Around 30 companies will be exhibiting at the i:Made in Israel pavilion, including the following:
Anyclip: Allows for searching and sharing clips from Warner Bros. and Universal across the web. Anyclip Video
Brandsforce: Technology platform for brands and PR agencies to build and nurture an effective online, brand advocacy program. Brandsforce video:
Conduit: White-label toolbars for web and mobile publishers with more than 250 million users and partners such as Major League Baseball, Groupon, Fox News, Travelocity, Weather Channel, etc
Craze Digital: Extensive music video catalaog for online and mobile music. The library specializes in exclusive licenses of Hip Hop music artists, garnering over 3 million daily views and up to 45 million daily minutes viewed. Craze Digital video
DoAT: A mobile application enabling search for any content, through voice recognition.
Face.com: Facial recognition technology platform that is best known for its partnership with Facebook, scanning all public photos in your social network and suggesting tags for untagged faces.
Hashtag Art: Launched two years ago at SXSW, where they won clients such as The Today Show, Ellen DeGeneris and others. This is a tool to transform the posts and messages of your online fans and followers into a visual mosaic where the average visitor stays for more than 3.5 minutes.
InstruMagic: Mobile application that lets anyone, regardless of musical training, play any song on guitar.
Interlude: Video technology platform enabling content owners and brands to integrate choose-your-own adventure video storytelling. Interlude video
Jam Star: A web application, running inside the browser or on Facebook that listens to you playing guitar and provides real-time feedback.
Kaltura: Open source online video content management platform used by over 150,000 companies across media, enterprises and higher education. Kaltura video
Live U: Portable video over cellular technology, eliminating the need for expensive satellite uplink. Live U video
Livingrid: real-time, social platform for creating and hosting multi-performer live stage shows. Interactivity includes messaging, voting, gestures and eliminations.
Macadamia Apps: Real time visual effects and visual processing applications. GroupShot, available on iOS, automatically optimizes group photos. GroupShot video
Pops: Android application enabling mobile users to personalize their phone alerts, including new email, SMS, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, WhatsApp, etc. This is accompanied by a 5 second animation or video clip that precedes the notification, supported by a gallery of thousands of animations and clips. Pops video
Rounds: Cross platform environment for hanging out live and doing stuff together with friends and new people of interest. Rounds’ members are able to video chat in real time while engaging in various fun social activities and real-time games. Rounds video
Serendip Media: Customized music experience driven by your particular social graph. Serendip video
Shaker: TechCrunch Disrupt winner Shaker is a virtual nightclub residing inside of Facebook. Shaker video
Tracx: Social media management system designed to provide professional users with the tools to optimally build and operate their social media presence.
Twtrland: A social analytics tool that builds profiles according to Twitter timelines, helping Twitter users connect and others understand the Twitter universe.
Vidit: Platform for video interaction as a customer service tool and differentiator.
One of the key people integrating the Israeli start-up community with SXSW is PR thought-leader Alan Weinkrantz. He splits his time between Tel Aviv and Texas. Below is Alan''s perspective:
SXSW – It’s What’s Next
SXSW (South by Southwest) 2012 took off like a rocket on Friday. No, this is not a tradeshow and it’s hardly a conference in the traditional sense. Yes, there are exhibits and yes, there some 5,000 (not a misprint) events taking place over the ten-day event.
If you can’t make it person, here’s my guide to following and connecting with what’s happening. On Friday night, it was Jeff Pulver’s kick-off networking event at Lanai. There was room for 600 of Jeff’s best friends and the 4,000 people that signed up. Aside from being the networking event that it is, Jeff also provided a platform for some of the startups he discovered in Israel.
Brandsforce Founders Nili Goldberg-Levy and Roni Dagan, at the Jeff Pulver party
On Saturday, Government officials from The State of Israel will participate in the Austin International Tech Summit, which brought together leaders from other nations including France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Finland, Japan and others.
Later that afternoon, David Blumberg held an event with Intel Capital in the vein of speed dating with CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) and potential investors. Here’s my interview with David that took place at Landmark Ventures’ Dealmaker’s Conference last month in Tel Aviv.
On Sunday night, the Government of Israel will hold a private dinner for 15 Israeli companies to meet senior executives from leading media and technology companies looking for innovation and sources of new technologies.
Natasha Shine (Rounds) and Gilad Zirkel (Hashtag Art) at the Jeff Pulver party
Monday – Thursday, there’s the SXSW Tradeshow, where countries like Great Britain, Germany, France, and of course, Israel have booths showcasing companies in music, film and of interactive. There’s so much to see, and makes for a great way to scan to globe of music, film, and interactive technologies.
If You Can’t Be In Austin, Here’s How To Connect From Afar:
- Israeli Interactive – 30 Cool Companies to keep on your radar.
- Tel Aviv Beach Party – Yes, the Mediterranean comes to Austin, Texas. While chicken fried steak may not mix with humus, it’s gonna be an awesome experience.
- Twitter – you can follow the iMade In Israel feed here.
- Israeli Music – uh… not what you’ve heard a zillion times at a Bar Mitzvah. This is great stuff from bands like Balkan Beat Box.
JCC of Austin Welcomes and Showcases 25 Israeli Companies at SXSW
The awesome Austin JCC is holding a reception on Monday night for those who may not be going to SXSW, but live in the Austin area and want to connect, or just learn more. Austin is a center for technology in its own right, and many companies like Dell, Cisco, Apple, Motorola and a ton of startups call Austin home. Check out companies like Vidit, and Twtrland who’ll be there.
Watch Jeff Pulver and I Live on UStream at 1 PM CST (USA) 9 PM Israel Time
So, here’s your chance to connect with us – live and in real time if you log on to this UStream channel, where Jeff Pulver and I will highligh even more of the Israeli companies on the show floor at SXSW. The fun starts about 1 PM CST in the U.S. or 9:00 PM in Israel. The State of Israel has its own booth and companies like HashTag Art and Rounds will have booths of their own.
But Wait, There’s More.
Last month, I was in Israel helping some of the companies get ready for SXSW. I also did some video interviews, which you may watch. The City of Tel Aviv’s Economic Development Director, Avner Warner, shared his insights on what makes Tel Aviv so special and a center for innovation.
Are You At SXSW?
If you are reading this article and happen to be at SXSW, I’d love to meet you and connect. Email is best – alan@weinkrantz.com, or just shout out to me on Twitter and I will look for you. If not, then be sure track the goings on from the iMade In Israel Facebook page.