How digital music startups are thriving at London’s Silicon Roundabout

The concept of the ‘Silicon Roundabout’, London’s Old Street area that’s home to a multitude of new technology startups, has certainly become widely recognised in recent times, with Government investment now planned for the area and an ever-growing sense of connection with plans for a ‘Tech City’ that will stretch from the area to neighboring Stratford, hub of the 2012 Olympic Games.

It’s probably not a surprise that in recent years digital music startups have been drawn into the area, since it’s also known for its thriving gig and club scenes, bohemian bars and (at least in the past) relatively cheap rents. In fact, most of the key names of the UK’s emerging digital music industry call the Silicon Roundabout their home – Last.fm, MixCloud and Songkick have been based there for some time and Reactive Music, creators of the supremely innovative (and downright fun and clever) RJDJ and Inception apps have recently moved into ‘The Mission’ – an office space which has a backdrop of spray painted Underground carriages sitting on atop an old railway viaduct.

READ MORE

How I made millions from Twitter app

All the time, though, Tweet-Deck s popularity was growing. More than 20 million people have downloaded it and posts from the service account for 10 per cent of Twitter s messages.

London – He looks like an ordinary commuter on his way to work.

But as Iain Dodsworth leaves his modest detached home in the Home Counties, he has more to smile about than most.

For the 36-year-old father of two has become an overnight millionaire after selling his tiny company to US giant Twitter for £25-million.

His success is down a piece of computer software he created at home while unemployed called TweetDeck, which manages your social networking universe by organising messages from groups of people into columns.

READ MORE

London Silicon Roundabout Weekly Roundup 27-May

UPCOMING EVENTS

What:     Techmeetups June meetup (Mobile Apps)

When:     Thursday, June 9, 2011 6:00 PM

Price:     GBP3.00 per person

Where: Seren Partners, 57 Rivington Street, London EC2A 3QA

MORE DETAILS

31-May: Guardian Developer Network Drop-in Finale

Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU DETAILS

31-May: In The Brain of Kohsuke Kawaguchi – Continuous Integration with Jenkins

The Skills Matter eXchange London, 116-120 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7DP / +44 (0)207 183 9040 DETAILS

31-May: London .NET User Group – Long Term Value of Acceptance Tests

The Skills Matter eXchange London, 116-120 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7DP / +44 (0)207 183 9040 DETAILS

01-June: LiDG 28 – London iOS Developer Group at the Apple Store

Apple Store – Regent Street,235 Regent Street, London W1B2EL DETAILS

02-June: UKTI Pitch Workshop

Broadgate Tower, 20 Primrose Street, London EC2A 2RS / +44 020 3239 9325 DETAILS

03-June: MC ThinkCamp – mHealth

Wallace Space, St Pancras, 2 Duke’s Road, London WC1H 9PN DETAILS

 

IN THE NEWS

TWEETDECK’S DODSWORTH ON WHAT IT MEANS TO JOIN TWITTER – May 26, 2011

After months of speculation, Twitter has finally completed its acquisition of Tweetdeck, the UK-based desktop software for the micro-blogging site’s more sophisticated and prolific users. READ MORE

LONDON: THE NEW TECHNOLOGY CAPITAL – May 25, 2011

IMEX - The British capital’s new promotional agency London & Partners’ Head of Business Tourism Europe, Barbara Jamison, told an IMEX press conference 25 May that the city was “the best big city on earth”. READ MORE

TWITTER BUYS TWEETDECK FOR $40M – May 25, 2011

Tweetdeck – 3 years, staff of 15 and $40m – not a bad deal! READ MORE

FUNDING PROSPECTS ON THE HORIZON FOR UK’S OTHER TECH CLUSTERS AS DEADLINE LOOMS FOR TSB’S PILOT PROJECT: TECH CITY – May 24, 2011

Just hours remain for digital and creative companies in London’s Silicon Roundabout to submit their entries for the UK Technology Strategy Board’s Tech City Launchpad contest. But for laggards, all is not lost. READ MORE

STOP DREAMING OF A NEW SILICON VALLEY – May 24, 2011

Should we stop dream of a new Silicon Valley? READ MORE

HILL & KNOWLTON TO HELP TURN EAST LONDON INTO TECH HUB – May 24, 2011

Hill & Knowlton has been called in to help establish east London as Europe’s answer to Silicon Valley. READ MORE

ROUNDABOUTS: TRAFFIC BOON OR BANE? – May 23, 2011

Although the article is more about roundabouts and a group of 380 international experts converging in Carmel, Indiana to study & discuss them, glad to see our London Silicon Roundabout picture featured on USA Today. READ MORE

TWITTER STILL COMING TO LONDON DESPITE SUPER-INJUNCTION ROW – May 22, 20 11

Glad to hear Twitter is still coming to London. Didn’t think an injunction or two would frighten them away. READ MORE

DOES EAST LONDON TECH CITY NEED AN ARMY OF STAY-AT-HOME MUMS? – May 20, 2011

I think stay at home mums can play an important role in the Startup community especially in London Silicon Roundabout / Tech City. READ MORE

CARGO, CULTS, ARTIFICIAL REEFS AND THE EAST LONDON TECH – May 16, 2011

Andy Budd writes about East London Tech City. Interesting analogy between Tech City & Marine Biology.READ MORE

 

FUNDING

BSPA: OXYGEN ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME TO FUND TECHNOLOGY STARTUPS, APPLICATION DEADLINE 30 JUNE 2011

 

JOBS

24-May – UX Designer with 5+ years exp. working as a User Experience or User Interface Designer (FullTime)

24-May – Outstanding Creative Director to lead a team and oversee all Design, 8+ as a designer (agency or in-house) (Full Time)

MORE JOBS

 

READING / VIEWING

HACKER MONTHLY [STARTUP STORIES – SPECIAL ISSUE]

THE KEY DIFFERENCES IN VC FINANCING OF IT STARTUPS IN THE U.S, U.K, GERMANY AND

THREE NECESSITIES FOR START-UP SUCCESS [VIDEO]

DEFINING THE VOICE OF A START-UP [VIDEO]

—

Have a great Spring Bank Holiday !

Rgds

Shawn

London Silicon Roundabout Group 

Tweetdeck’s Dodsworth on what it means to join Twitter – FT

After months of speculation, Twitter has finally completed its acquisition of Tweetdeck, the UK-based desktop software for the micro-blogging site’s more sophisticated and prolific users.

READ MORE

LONDON: THE NEW TECHNOLOGY CAPITAL – C-MW

IMEX - The British capital’s new promotional agency London & Partners’ Head of Business Tourism Europe, Barbara Jamison, told an IMEX press conference 25 May that the city was “the best big city on earth”.

READ MORE

London Silicon Roundabout May meetup – MoodShare

The easiest way for people to understand new ideas – an ad concept, a font, a dress, a car or even a building – is to frame those ideas in terms of something the audience already understands.

Static moodboards, and their filmic brethren, are the common tabula rasa from which every idea begins the long journey towards becoming reality.

MoodShare drags this well-worn technique kicking and screaming into the digital age, breaking the artificial distinction between static and motion to create truly multi-media moodboards for the first time ever. MoodShare allows you to create and collaborate with others on truly multi-media moodboards.

If you work in the creative industries, no matter your discipline, we are certain that MoodShare will speed up and improve the way you sell ideas.

To know more about MoodShare, watch Zoltan Csaki’s presentation during the London Silicon Roundabout May meetup.

London Silicon Roundabout May meetup – Bambuser

In October 2009, Bambuser was the first of the live streaming start-ups to allow users to stream video directly from their mobiles to their Facebook Wall.

Bambuser is an interactive mobile video streaming platform, enabling users to quickly and easily stream and share live mobile video with all of their favorite social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, WordPress, RSS and Blogspot. Used by both professional broadcasters and consumers worldwide, Bambuser is the easiest and most dynamic video streaming solution available for 3G and Wifi devices.

Featuring geo-location tagging, integrated web storage, and one click social sharing, Bambuser is the smart mobile video solution. Bambuser is currently available for iPhoneOS, Symbian, Android, Nokia Maemo, Symbian, and Windows Mobile platforms.

Founded in Sweden in 2007, Bambuser is the leading provider of mobile video streaming platforms for consumers, media companies and brands. With support for over 200 different mobile devices worldwide, Bambuser enables anyone to quickly and easily harness the power of live social video.

In his presentation at the London Silicon Roundabout May meetup, Jason Vig, co-founder of Bambuser discussed the company’s business model, their edge over competition and the many important uses of the platform especially in the field of journalism.

London Silicon Roundabout May Meetup – PoraOra

Pora Ora has been developed by Caped Koala Studios; a social-networking, immersive-learning and entertainment company with a passion for creativity in education. The company is committed to developing a love of learning in young children; encouraging them to be creative, imaginative, inquisitive and social.

Pora Ora is a new educational online 3D world where children can learn, play and have fun.

In Pora Ora, they have created an engaging world for children in the primary school age range (5 – 12) which presents educational content in a compelling and immersive way. They have constructed a fun, social and safe 3D environment where children are rewarded for participating in educational mini-games and quests. Rewards take the form of in-game currency which allows children to customise their avatar, decorate their home and garden, buy gifts to send to their friends and much more.

James Lane, Head of Educational Content for Caped Koala Studios, talks more about PoraOra during the London Silicon Roundabout May meetup.

London Silicon Roundabout May meetup – Zuztertu

Zuztertu is a real word that means “to grow shoots”.  It is in this vein that Zuztertu develops educational and informational mobile applications that allow individuals to grow and develop.

ko-su is an innovative new mobile learning platform

Over the past 2 years, Zuztertu has developed and introduced more than 70 applications which are available on iTunes.  Gerlinde Gniewosz, CEO and founder of Zuztertu, talked about their latest mobile learning app, ko-su, during the London Silicon Roundabout May meetup.

Tweetdeck – 3 years, staff of 15 and $40m – not a bad deal!

Twitter buys TweetDeck for $40m

TweetDeck organises feeds from Twitter and other social networks into columns, making them easier to read