Mar 10, 2015RFID Journal today announced that it has added a new feature—the RFID Journal Startup Challenge—to the company's 13th annual conference and exhibition, RFID Journal LIVE! 2015, being held at the San Diego Convention Center, on Apr. 15-17. Up to 10 early-stage RFID companies will be invited to present their product or service, as well as their business and marketing strategies, before a panel of RFID Journal's editors. The company with the best product and strategy will be chosen by RFID Journal, and will be given $100,000 worth of free promotional services, including banner ads on rfidjournal.com, a webinar and ads in RFID Journal's digital magazine.
"Our goal, in launching the RFID Journal Startup Challenge, is to give a jumpstart to a young company that has a promising product or service and a solid business and marketing strategy," says Mark Roberti, RFID Journal's founder and editor. "We also hope to highlight smart approaches to marketing RFID solutions, so other startups can learn and achieve greater success."
The RFID Journal Startup Challenge is open to all companies that are no more than five years old and have an RFID-related software or hardware product, solution or service on the market that they are currently selling. The startup's RFID product or service must be focused on addressing a specific business problem, and not be an RFID-related product or service intended to be sold to consumers.
Candidates must also have annual sales of no more than $3 million, and be willing and able to present their product and business strategy at RFID Journal LIVE! 2015, in front of a live audience. Each presentation, which should be a maximum of five minutes in length, will take place on Apr. 17 in the Awards Theater of the event's exhibit hall, and will be followed by a short question-and-answer period with the judges. After all of the startups have presented, the panel of judges will confer and announce the winner.
Businesses interested in participating should visit the RFID Journal Startup Challenge page of the LIVE! website, download the entry form and submit it no later than Mar. 27. Applicants will be informed within one week whether they have been selected as a finalist. No more than 10 finalists will be selected. Finalists will be given free admission to the LIVE! exhibition floor, but will be responsible for their own transportation and accommodations.
"I'm excited about this addition to LIVE! 2015, because I remember when RFID Journal was a fledgling startup," Roberti says. "Promotion was invaluable. It's the lifeblood of a young company with limited resources, so I look forward to helping one deserving RFID firm, as well as having other startups learn from participating in or viewing the challenge."
RFID Journal LIVE! 2015 will feature eight industry-specific and how-to conference tracks, seven in-depth preconference seminars and workshops, four post-conference seminars, two co-located events (IEEE RFID 2015 and the Internet of Things Conference), fast-track training presented by RFID4U, the Coolest Demo Contest, RFID Professional Institute certification, the RFID Journal Awards and more than 200 exhibitors showcasing the latest RFID products and solutions. For additional information regarding the conference and its co-located events, please visit www.rfidjournalevents.com/live/.
