Just like that, that’s a wrap of SXSW 2015. We had a great time checking out Interactive panels and keynotes, some films, and great bands in the sun (and a lot of rain). To wrap it up, we will be running two blogs: this one on awards and then an upcoming one on top speakers. Two of the most important awards for Interactive honor incredibly innovative companies, products, and startups. The SXSW Accelerator Startup Competition has 48 technology companies go head-to-head in a two-day competition with six winners, while the SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards focuses on evolving and broadening trends of the digital industry, giving out fourteen awards and four special honors.
SXSW Accelerator Startup Competition
The seventh annual SXSW Accelerator Startup Competition was presented by Oracle on March 14-15th. The event features 48 startups from across the globe and is a two-day competition, where these technology companies compete head-to-head for both days. Six startups earned honors in Enterprise and Smart Data Technologies, Entertainment and Content Technologies, Digital Health and Life Sciences Technologies, Innovative World Technologies, Social Technologies, and Wearable Technologies.
The startups taking home the honor were Partpic, Tinnitracks, SLANTRANGE, Tinitell, Zype, RealSavvy, SIX, BioBots.io, and ShotTracker. Be sure to view the full list for all the details.
“The number of international startups that want to be a part of SXSW Accelerator continues to grow and proves how popular the competition is becoming around the world. This year’s startups were the strongest entries yet, and I’m excited to see how these companies will evolve and grow as a result of the exposure they received here.”
-Chris Valentine, SXSW Accelerator Event Producer
SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards
The SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards ceremony occurred on Tuesday evening, hosted by comedian and actor James Adomian. The 18th annual ceremony was presented by PwC with supporting sponsors IBM, Cloud.typography, and Acision. The ceremony focuses on evolving and broadening trends of the digital industry, giving out fourteen awards and four special honors –Breakout Trend of SXSW 2015, Speaker of The Event, Meme of the Year, and Best of Show.
Categories ranged from Internet of Things to Innovation in Connecting People to Music Discovery. Winners included VocaliD, FireChat, Clever Buoy, and Cone. You can check out the full list of winners to find out more.
“We are grateful to all participants and finalists for raising the standard on how we can continue to improve the quality of life through technology together.”
-Mason Stewart, SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards Coordinator
We highly encourage researching these 48 startups and the Innovation Award winners, as these companies are some of the best and most innovative in today’s technology. Stay tuned for our blog on top speakers to wrap up our SXSW coverage. Our team at HMG had a great time out at SXSW this year, and now we wait until next year!