MARCH | TECH
can move faster, and private owners
generally have a more entrepreneurial
approach to risk.”
“This, combined with an
increasingly open business funding
market keen to invest in good new
ideas, means that small businesses
have great opportunities to introduce
new technology to the events
industry.”
For Gill and VSL, then, the key for
an event tech start-up is to ensure
that enough planning goes into those
first few steps, to ensure that initial
funding can fully test a product in the
marketplace, and then launch it to a
target audience.
“It is only by doing both sides well,”
says Gill, “that you will know if [your]
idea or platform has a future in the
events marketplace.
Tech specialist: DBpixelhouse
DBpixelhouse is an event tech
company straddling the line
between the smaller start-ups and
the big corporates. It supplies tech
production services to events, from
interactive apps to LED walls, event
analytics and Wi-Fi networks.
The company’s website proudly
proclaims that DBpixelhouse
“combine the energy and ambition
of a start-up with the reassurance of
a well-established business”. Access
asked DBpixelhouse’s marketing
manager Matt Rakowski how being
a mid-sized company can give them
an edge.
“It is an advantage for us. Being
one of the largest tech suppliers in
Europe gives us the ability to deliver
on all sizes and scales. However,
our entrepreneurial streak allows
us to identify new opportunities
and deliver them to market, whilst
working intimately with clients to
exceed their marketing objectives.”
DBpixelhouse is currently in the
midst of an expansion phase, as it
grows out of its UK home and into
North America.
The company was present at Event
Tech Live in Las Vegas last November,
and since then has opened a North
“The app and content world
is built on good ideas, and it
only takes one to make you
a success.”
American division of the company,
working with several clients across
the Atlantic.
Rakowski says: “The events sector
is an international market, which
largely takes place outside of the UK.
Having offices in different countries
around the world allows us to provide
a premier level of customer service to
our clients.
“I think it would be naïve to solely
focus our efforts in domestic markets.
We have worked in many events in
North America in the past, so having
a permanent base there makes
sense, and it was easy enough for
us to implement given our current
American-based relationships.
When asked what advice he would
offer to burgeoning companies
entering the event tech sector,
Rakowski says: “If you have the right
idea, a passion for what you do and a
good business model, you can make
it work.
“The app and content world is built
on good ideas, and it only takes one to
make you a success.”
The major player: Cvent
Venue Search London are an
example of a company putting its
best foot forward in a relatively early
stage of its history, and DBpixelhouse
are on the verge of becoming a bigger
industry player, as they look to
expand internationally.
But both seem like small fish when
placed alongside Cvent, which has
been a market leader in event tech for
some time now. The company is
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