IC Tomorrow names Bookseer winner of publishing award

IC tomorrow has announced that the winner of its ‘Meet the Innovators’ publishing award is Bookseer, a start-up company that provides a real-time analytics service for book publishers to improve the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.

Bookseer has been awarded a prize of £10,000, which the company will use to conduct a commercial trial, in partnership with one or more members of the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG).

“Innovation is not just a buzzword, it's a survival strategy. We believe that understanding demand and how to create it is one of the most innovative steps a publisher can take,” said Bookseer’s CEO Peter Collingridge.

“Bookseer gives publishers real-time, laser-guided insight to the effectiveness of their promotional activities, saving them time and money on the tactics that don't work, freeing them up to identify and invest in the ones that do.”

The second annual ‘Meet the Innovators’ event, organised by the Technology Strategy Board's IC tomorrow programme in association with the IPG, took place on 12 July 2012.

The aim of IC Tomorrow is to stimulate innovation and economic growth in the digital sector, by opening doors for a new generation of entrepreneurs.

Ten companies participated in the competition, including Flooved and Valobox, which received high praise from the judges panel, made up of the Bookseller’s editor Philip Jones, Osprey Group CEO Rebecca Smart and IPG patron Oliver Gadsby.

Flooved is a web-based platform providing academic textbooks, past exam papers and video content to students for a monthly subscription and Valobox makes accessing the premium content inside eBooks faster, cheaper and as easy as viewing a regular web page.

“The calibre of the competing companies was very high but Bookseer's offering stood out as being a transformational tool for publishers. We are delighted to have partnered IC tomorrow once again in brokering links between innovative start-ups and publishers,” said IPG's Executive Director Bridget Shine.

Last month, the Technology Strategy Board published details of how it plans to invest £250m of new government funding in around 60 competitions, which it claims will lead to innovative projects and business growth.

The funding will be divided between 12 thematic areas for investment, including five that address global challenges: energy (£26m), healthcare (£65.7m), built environment including future cities (£37.5m), food (£10m) and transport (£23.5m).