When you turn up at a tech conference in Berlin clad in a t-shirt only to discover everyone else is wearing a smart shirt and jacket, you’re entitled to double check which city you’re actually in. But after re:pubblica and NEXT, the GP Bullhound Summit made an interesting change of pace.
I was fortunate enough to be asked along to the invite-only event, held at the swish Nhow hotel in Friedrichshain, to watch the Media Momentum Awards. And there was good news for Germany, with Flip4New named Europe’s fastest-growing digital company based on revenue and market expansion.
Flip4New allows users to trade old consumer electronics for money and saw off competition including Berlin-based SponsorPay.
Another big winner was Swedish payment company Klarna, which landed five of the eight awards on offer including the judges’ prize. Its success came as no surprise, however, following the ‘fireside chat’ earlier in the day with deputy CEO Niklas Adalberth – named Man of the Year – who explained how he managed to co-found a company which was worth $1 billion by the time he turned 30.
British company Wonga.com was recognised as the fastest growing larger company, while Annelies van den Belt, CEO of SUP Media, won a deserved Media Momentum Woman of the Year gong.
The event involved more than 170 experts and leading commentators take to the stage to discuss some of the biggest issues facing Europe’s digital landscape and Manish Madhvani, managing partner at GP Bullhound, said: “The Top 50 companies have grown their revenues from c. €400 million to well over €2 billion in three years; I would like to personally congratulate all the winners and nominees for their achievements. In a dire economic environment this is an admirable feat and these entrepreneurs will be crucial for Europe returning to strong growth.”
The ceremony – which included an awesome video from Rooftop Productions – followed dinner and drinks, which provided a chance to network with an intriguing mix of people that British investment bank GP Bullhound had attracted to Berlin. Many were from the UK – including magician to the stars Robert Fox, who on this evidence could easily make a living reading minds or stealing watches – but there were also representatives from VC firms in the US, such as Battery Ventures, who were showing serious amount of interest in Berlin.
Thankfully, a standout figure from the startup scene was there to represent in the form of Gidsy’s Edial Dekker – and it was also nice to see someone ‘dress down.’ And eventually I even found someone else wearing a t-shirt…