Here at Mobile Monday London, we have been waiting with baited breath to find out how the finalists got on at Picnic 2010 today, and in particular, our UK finalist, Roulette Cricket. We are delighted to announce the winner of Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010, the biggest competition of its kind, aimed at identifying and developing the best, most innovative mobile internet start-ups. Cardmobili, which describes itself as 'consumer loyalty going mobile and social' was awarded the title today at PICNIC festival in Amsterdam and will receive the €100,000 1st place prize fund.
Fending off competition from 159 other entrants, Cardmobili won the top prize for its intuitive application that allows consumers and retailers to share the latest coupons and reward vouchers entirely via mobile handsets. Users can also pass on special offers directly to friends from their social networks. Once the app is downloaded, consumers can register all the loyalty cards they carry around in their wallet to receive vouchers and redeem rewards without waiting for a statement or update at the checkout.
The 12-strong team, made up of some of the brightest young software developers in Portugal, is one of enthusiasm and persistence. Having launched Cardmobili in beta last year, the team has worked hard to take the number of retail partners from 200 to 1,500. Already successful in Portugal, North America and elsewhere in Europe, Cardmobili will invest the prize money in marketing to further awareness about the company, and encourage sign ups amongst consumers and retail partners.
Helena Leite, CEO, Cardmobili said, "It has been such a rewarding experience to be part of the Vodafone Mobile Clicks competition. We've met so many like-minded developers with interesting innovations to share. Being declared the overall winner is an absolute honour. We've worked hard throughout the past two years and will only continue to do so, reinvesting our prize money to make Cardmobili an even better offering for retailers and consumers."
Second place in the competition was awarded to Roulette Cricket, who received the runner-up prize fund of €50,000.
Roulette Cricket is an intuitive application that brings cricket to users from around the world. The first app in the market of its kind, the games can be played individually or as a group. There is at least one interactive game every day. A perfect form of entertainment during or outside of the cricket season, the game offers play throughout the year covering tournaments that include Champions League, Test Matches and The Ashes. The 5-strong Roulette Cricket team is made up of some of the strongest talent in gaming, having worked for companies including Virgin Atlantic on in-flight entertainment. Since launch, the team has secured a successful partnership with the Daily Telegraph, with usage numbers currently standing at 140,000 unique users.
David Tharp, managing director, Roulette Cricket said, "It has been a fantastic and exciting competition to be part of for the whole team. Winning this prize not only means great things for Roulette Cricket but will drive further development of the app. The prize fund will significantly help us to grow our offering and introduce other sports to the app which include football, golf, baseball and sailing."
The final judging panel was represented by Sanjeet Matharu - Vodafone Group representative, Om Malik - GigaOm blog founder, Russell Buckley - Vice President Global Alliances Admob (and a regular visitor and speaker at Mobile Monday London), Rudy de Waele - Mobile 2.0 Europe founder, Robin Wauters - Plugg organiser and TechCrunch blogger, Paul Jozefak - Vice Chairman Neuhaus Partners, and David Leftley - Head of Venture Capital at Vodafone Ventures.
Congratulations to the winners and all the entrants. If you are interested in finding out more about the competition then please click here.
