Web Mission 2011 - social networking of the investment kind

by Steve Ragan - Mar 7 2011, 11:00

This week, 18 companies, part of a select group of the UK’s most successful and promising startups, are visiting Silicon Valley and San Francisco for Web Mission 2011. To date, the companies who attended the previous two Web Missions have raised more than $60 million in private financing.

Those hitting the left coast for Web Mission will look to develop business relationships and investment collaborations, as well as hold meetings with stakeholders. Some of the US talent that Web Mission attendees will visit includes the likes of Twitter, Microsoft, and TechCrunch.

Companies selected to take part in Web Mission produce, and are developing, a wide range of web technologies.

One of the sponsors for Web Mission, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), feels that events like these add value to the UK economy by helping businesses succeed internationally.

“This mission gives the companies a unique chance to be exposed to how businesses and their peers here in the US achieve success, and that has potential to add a whole new dimension to their own business,” said UKTI’s Vice Consul of Software, Helen Moore.

One of the companies taking part in the Web Mission this year is Crisp Thinking. They have a product that uses behavioral analysis to stop cyber bullying. More than 70 businesses use Crisp Thinking’s tools, including Turner Broadcasting and Electronic Arts. The hope is to increase that number before 2012.

Interestingly enough, the week that Crisp Thinking’s CEO and founder, Adam Hildreth, is stateside, the Obama Administration is hosting a special conference addressing cyber-bullying.

On March 10, President Obama, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services will welcome students, parents, teachers, and others to The White House for a conference on Bullying Prevention. Now there’s no word if Hildreth will be attending, but it would be a perfect chance for him to catch the eye of the nation’s wallet holders.
 
Still, Web Mission is mostly about networking and bridge building. So it is no surprise that another sponsor is a known name in the UK’s startup world. The Technology Strategy Board, a UK government agency promoting technological research, is thrilled about this year’s mission goers.

“Digital services are an area of development arguably capable of transforming the digital world, just as manufacturing transformed the physical world,” said David Bott, Director of Innovation Programs at the Technology Strategy Board in a statement.

“The technologies developed by mission companies change and benefit the way we network and interact with each other. They take advantage of ubiquitous web and mobile technology to advance the industry.”

While Crisp Thinking is a security based company, which brought them to our attention, others attending Web Mission 2011 have unique ideas too.

BraveNewTalent, says that they are the next generation of online recruiting. They harness the power of social media to build communities of potential employees and employers.

Then you have ParcelGenie.com, a service that allows users to send real gifts to friends on social networks, without needing to know the shipping address.

Web Mission 2011 is taking place now, ending March 11. More information is here.

Crisp Thinking’s website: http://www.crispthinking.com/

BraveNewTalent’s website: http://www.bravenewtalent.com/

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