N.E. now included in UK's GREAT Tech Awards

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By Lori Valigra

The United Kingdom has expanded its GREAT Tech Awards this year to include New England-headquartered technology companies, which can vie for a package of in-kind services to help set up or improve their operations in the UK.

“They don’t receive a check, but get in-kind services to set up and be successful in the UK,” said Shannon Felton, a spokesperson for the British Consulate General in Boston. “They will get office space for one year plus banking, legal and other services and hand-holding.”

“The UK is a great jumping point into Europe as well as Africa and the Middle East,” added Consul General Susie Kitchens, also based in Boston.

This is the third year for the competition. The first year included only New York companies, and that was expanded to Philadelphia in the second year. This year the New England states were added.

Six categories

Applicants can apply for one of six sector categories: CleanTech, EdTech, FinTech, Health, Lifestyle and Media.

The winners from the six categories will be chosen by a panel of industry leaders and announced at a gala awards ceremony on Oct. 29. Applications are currently open and will close on Friday, July 31. Winners will be taken to the UK the week of Nov. 29 for a series of meetings and events.

The six winners will get a roundtrip flight to London by British Airways, five nights at Corinthia Hotel London, and professional services from lawyers Fieldfisher, accountants BDO, recruitment agents Propel Executive and real estate advisors Knight Frank. They also will have high-level meetings with mentors and government officials, attend the unbound Digital conference in London and get business development services from sector specialists including Advice Cloud, Device Access UK, Durham Lane, Gateway Europe, International Management Answers, JMB Partnerships and MedTech Logistics.

Targeting smaller companies

“We’re promoting the contest to small- to mid-sized companies that are looking for their first international expansion and may already have more than one U.S. expansion,” Kitchens said.

She added that there is a lot of interest in the UK in Maine’s food technology and craft beers. Those companies would fit into the lifestyle category. In addition, EdTech technology involving video gaming, notably being developed around the University of Maine, Orono, is of interest in terms of new ways to use gaming in online education.

Judges for the event include two New Englanders: Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., and Thomas R. Burton III, chair of Mintz Levin’s energy technology practice in Boston. The other judges are Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar; Peter Cashmore, CEO and founder of Mashable; Michael Hayman, co-founder of Seven Hills;, Gareth Jones, co-founder and general partner of FinTech Collective; Ignacia Isa Martin, sales director of British Airways North America’ and Marco Mohwinckel, global head of integrated care solutions at Janssen Healthcare Innovation.

In addition to the six sector awards, one U.S. company established for less than 18 months in the UK will get the Best of USA prize, whereas a UK company established in the United States using disruptive technology in their sector will get the Best of Britain prize.

Felton expects applicants to have already applied to other contests and have elevator pitches at the ready, so she said it would take a solid day to fill out the contest application.

The goal is to get 50 applications from New England. Last year a total of 120 applicants applied for the six sector and two “best of” prizes.

“We’re keen to have a New England winner,” said Kitchens, who will visit various incubators and accelerators throughout the region over the coming weeks.