UK tech stars hit NYC: Blippar & UKTI co-host Great Tech Expedition party

Selfie Time(s Square)! From left, Christopher Morton (Director, Goal Group), Mo Tayeb (CEO, Readycache), Naimish Gohil (CEO, Show My Homework), Simon Hill (CEO, Wazoku)

If you’re a British company eager to set up shop in the US, there’s one team you need in your little black book: the guys at UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

When it comes to Blippar’s Stateside success story, UKTI have been instrumental; they helped us leap across the Atlantic in 2012 to open our New York headquarters, and ensured we met all the right people once we arrived.

We won their prestigious Advisor’s Choice Award at 2013’s GREAT Tech Awards, and our collaborative relationship continued as we opened Blippar offices in San Francisco and Chicago followed by Amsterdam and India, steadily growing into a global company.

So we decided to celebrate this fruitful partnership in the best way possible: with a party. Fifty-two floors above New York City’s Columbus Circle, Blippar US joined forces with UKTI to wrap their Great Tech Expedition last week.

The view of Manahattan from the event

The event was held fifty-two floors above New York City’s Columbus Circle

With a bird’s eye view of Central Park, a whip-smart group of 20 British entrepreneurs celebrated the end of their exciting week-long business trip through the US.

Aiming to ‘help the next generation of UK entrepreneurs to succeed globally’, the expedition took 20 of the UK’s fastest growing cloud software startups to Chicago, Boston and New York to explore commercial opportunities and build relationships with key US enterprises across financial & business services, life sciences, retail, media, education and FMCG/CPG brands.

The Mayor of London’s Growing Places Fund and the European Regional Development Fund supported the event through the Mayor’s Export Programme, which provides practical assistance for London based companies new to exporting overseas or seeking to grow their business in emerging markets.

Johnny Adamic of Stepjockey at the Great Tech Expedition wrap party in New York

Party guests networking and blipping Blippar markers at the event last week

High up in the New York clouds, over gourmet salmon and blippable cereal boxes, this sharp set traded tips, ideas and reasons for their common goal: establishing a solid business presence in the United States market.

Almost 50 percent of worldwide cloud computing revenue is generated in the US, according to UKTI - hence such international determination for a foothold there.

At lunch, crisply crafted pitches from tech startups including Paperfold, Goal Group, Step Jockey, and Show My Homework demonstrated the range of British entrepreneurial talent that had enjoyed the all-American three-city tour, which included meetings with banks and venture capitalists, a media lab tour, and the chance to stand on the Wall Street trading floor for an official IPO.

Gary Sharma of Gary's Guide with the Blippar girls

Blipping Lucky Charms cereal boxes at the party

‘There were so many highlights,’ said Mo Tayeb, founder and chief of online content delivery accelerator Readycache. ‘We met with great companies (Blippar included) that are two to three years ahead of us. They started in the UK and evolved into the US market, and had plenty of learnings to share.’

Building friendships with like-minded entrepreneurs was, he said, one of his trip’s most valuable take-aways.

One luncheon guest and UKTI supporter had one piece of advice for global startups eager to launch new and agile strategies in the States.

- Written by Gillian Barth, Account Manager at Blippar NYC

‘Take your time,’ said Elizabeth Rose Daly, who served as director for the New York City mayor’s office for international affairs under the Bloomberg administration. ‘Remember that when you enter the US market, you’re actually entering 50 different markets. It’s worth taking the time to do it right.’