The NEXT conference may be done and dusted, but it’s not time to put your ‘I Heart Berlin Web Week’ t-shirt away just yet – today it’s the turn of GP Bullhound to take centre stage with the Media Momentum Awards. The event strives to recognise Europe’s fastest growing digital companies, and among the ten shortlisted for the prize are Germany’s own SponsorPay and Flip4New.
They will be hoping to scoop the top prize at the Nhow music and lifestyle hotel in Friedrichshain this evening.
Manish Madhvani, managing partner at GP Bullhound, told Silicon Allee recently: “We track revenue growth. It’s about finding out who the next Internet stars will be. We want to catch them quite early, to discover the next Google or Amazon – the new stars of the Internet economy.”
Among the Berlin-based startups which didn’t quite make it into the top 50 but were dubbed ‘The Ones to Watch’ were Madvertise and SoundCloud, with the latter at least able to find consolation in the successful redesign unveiled on Wednesday.
Organised by the British investment banking firm, the nomadic GP Bullhound Summit is in its ninth year after being hosted in Barcelona in 2011. Manish said that Berlin was an obvious choice for 2012: “There is so much going on there; a lot of the coolest new companies we’re seeing are coming from Berlin. We try and go wherever we’re seeing serious activity; right now that’s Moscow, Stockholm, Istanbul but above all Berlin.”
The summit will see the pioneers of Europe’s digital landscape get together in the German capital for a day and evening of brainstorming, networking and celebrating the industry’s successes. In the evening, an expert judging panel will pick a winner in the Media Momentum Awards from the shortlist.