SmartWard’s recently acquired funding marks yet another exciting milestone since their inception at the November 2012 Startup Weekend London, an event in association with Silicon Valley Comes to the UK and The Telegraph.  After winning the event, SmartWard then captured an impressive third place finish at the Global Startup Battle 2012, a competition including the best winning startups from local Startup Weekend competitions around the world.

The idea

Dr. Teo first came up with the idea for SmartWard while working in a cancer ward; she noticed that many aspects of patient care were left vulnerable to human error, and that the standard practice of writing everything on handover sheets functioned inefficiently with glaring impracticalities.  There was a conspicuous need for a safe and effective way to hand over important tasks in hospitals that hadn’t yet been addressed.

Convinced that she could improve the process, but unsure of exactly how to pursue the idea, Dr. Teo, armed with a preliminary wireframe and a medical degree, wandered over to Startup Weekend London.

Her initial pitch went well.  “I first introduced myself as a doctor,” she laughs, “and everyone was like ‘what are you doing here?’”  Her initial welcome into the community of developers, designers, and business people was extremely positive; Dr. Teo managed to build a strong, 9-person team, including her current business partner, award-winning UX designer Jacopo Marcantonio.  Marcantonio was most recently the lead designer for Masabi‘s mobile ticketing application, which allows customers to buy and display transit tickets on their smartphones.  Masabi sold $1 million USD of rail tickets in Boston in just seven weeks, and has won numerous awards for innovations in mobile technology.

In building the SmartWard application, the team used Dr. Teo’s firsthand perspective to differentiate SmartWard from the competition.  “Software built for doctors often doesn’t take into account what doctors really do,” Dr. Teo observes.  She outlined two main problems that she has experienced firsthand while working in an NHS hospital:  first, ward management is reliant on pieces of paper – things get skipped over, lost, or don’t get handed over – and second, none of the doctors know who is supposed to be around at any one time.  Shockingly, 1000 patients die each month from hospital errors in the UK alone.

The team designed the app to overcome these problems.  Dr. Teo confidently summarizes SmartWard’s pragmatic solution: “SmartWard reduces human error in hospitals by making sense of the rapidly changing information and critical tasks that are vital to patient care – streamlining ward communication into one place.”  It makes so much sense, in fact, that you’re left wondering why it didn’t already exist.

The win

“Winning,” Dr. Teo says, smiling broadly, “was kind of unreal.”  Dr. Teo attributes SmartWard’s continued success to the ability of her designers to capture her vision for the product, the ambitious work ethic of the team, and the continuing support of SmartWard’s Startup Weekend mentor, David White, founder and CEO of import.io.

But SmartWard’s commendable finishes at both Startup Weekend London and the subsequent Global Startup Battle were just the beginning; in February, Dr. Teo was invited to share SmartWard’s story and give the closing remarks at the Royal Society of Medicine’s Medical Innovation Winter Summit 2013.  SmartWard continues to elicit an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from the medical community, and their upcoming week at Seedcamp Berlin bodes well for massive improvements in patient care.

The end game

With Seedcamp’s stamp of approval and a beta version in the works, SmartWard’s future looks bright.  When asked about the company’s big dream, Dr. Teo mentions creating a single point of access, significantly reducing human error in hospitals, improving patient safety, and streamlining communication.

“I want to build a product that is so good, it would be ethically wrong not to use it.”

Tickets for the 2013 Startup Weekend London Creatives Edition (July 12-14) are going fast – register here!  You can follow Startup Weekend London on Facebook and on Twitter.

We know you are working hard to create disruptive services and products that will change the world we live in. And we want to help you do it! In this post we will inform you of important steps you need to take to make today a success, namely:

• Prepping and sending us content for the video of your presentation
• Attending the presentation training session
• Doing the tech-check
• Filling out the SW team survey
• The order of presentations
• Lunch

Prepping and sending us content for the video of your presentation

We will record and edit a video of your presentation which will be posted to our YouTube channel. This will make it quite easy for you to introduce to potential investors your startup. To do this you need to send 5 screen grabs that we can possibly use to integrate into the final edit. Send the screen grabs in JPEG format to london@startupweekend.org with the title: FINAL_VIDEO-TEAM_NAME-TEAM_NUMBER, for example: FINAL_VIDEO-LORUM.CO-3. Cristina should have assigned you a team number when giving you your practice schedule time. 

Attending the presentation training session

We will hold presentation training sessions upstairs in the auditorium starting at 2pm. Here you will practice your 5 minute pitch and get feedback as to how to improve it. We have a lot of teams to go through so we have allotted each team a strict 10 minutes each. The practice will happen in the back of the auditorium on the ground floor. Please queue in the front lobby shortly before your time. If you miss your slot, we will not be able to review your work. The schedule  for this is in order of Team Number:

1. 2:00 – Channel
2. 2:10 – Vote App
3. 2:20 – Football XP
4. 2:30 – Nearby
5. 2:40 – Well Check
6. 2:50 – Cake Walk
7. 3:00 – Bid On
8. 3:10 – Sloshed
9. 3:20 – Linxi Notes
10. 3:30 – Fliqio
11. 3:40 – Courrier Now
12. 3:50 – Scorebuddy
13. 4:00 – Flirt Now
14. 4:10 –  Super Fridge

Filling out the SW survey

Please do this immediately after the presentation practice and before the tech-check in the auditorium. An organiser will be on hand to help you with this.

Doing the tech-check

This will take place on the auditorium stage on the ground floor after you have filled out the survey.

The order of presentations

Presentations start at 5pm sharp! You will not know when you are presenting, so please arrive on time. You could be first! If you are not present, we will not reschedule.

Lunch 

We have order oven-baked pizzas from a local pizzeria run by two guys from Sardegna. As they are gourmet they take a while to bake and so will be coming in separate deliveries, the first batch arriving around 1:30pm.

Thanks so much for your support on our schedule. We are super excited to hear what you have accomplished in the past 54-hours. Best of luck to everyone!

NB Please be aware the SW staff will be occupied in these final hours reviewing your presentations and making sure everything is prepped for 5pm. If you could refrain from special requests for printing, or similar services that would help us incredibly ^__^.

If you’re starting up a business from scratch, luckily there are now more ways than ever before of saving money in the process. One of the biggest tools for any entrepreneur is technology; so whether you’re still working on an idea, or are on the cusp of making a massive investment – here are some basic internet-based solutions to help you stick to that all-important budget.

1. Consider Online Alternatives

Whatever category your business falls into, an effective marketing strategy will be vital to getting things off the ground. At its most basic level this can include anything from business cards to letterheads and even email signatures – whatever can help to effectively promote your brand and its message.  So instead of choosing a traditional design agency or printing company, consider going down the online route. With many websites allowing you to design your own logo, low-cost business cards can be easily obtained. It doesn’t mean you’ll have to sacrifice on quality either – a lot of companies can offer a perfectly decent service without the additional cost.

1. Use Money Saving Apps

For a lot of start-up businesses, it can be far too easy to spend money without even realising it. If you need to demonstrate tighter control over your finances – with lots of free apps geared around helping you control your outgoings, you don’t need to hire someone to do it for you – simply utilise the smartphone in your pocket! With apps like iXpensit or websites like Mint.com, you can take total control over your outgoings and help limit unnecessary purchases or confusing bank statements.

1. Delay Moving to an Office

Although Yahoo recently banned its employees from working at home, this doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. For start-up businesses, putting off moving into an office can really work in your favour. If you have all the technology you need at home, why waste money on office supplies, rent and utility bills until you really have to? In the meantime, simply disprove Yahoo’s theory by avoiding the lure of daytime television…

1. Search for Discount Deals

If you are based in an office already, there are lots of ways to save money on basic essentials as well as big technology. If you’re often in need of images, check out popular websites like iStockPhoto for regular money off deals, or if you often buy things like ink cartridges and paper in bulk, search online for business-related Euroffice discount codes. From low-cost laptops to cheap broadband rates, you might be surprised at how much you could reduce everyday outgoings.

Whatever stage you’re at, it’s always important to keep things in perspective. Although you might have big ideas, by saving money now, you could really end up investing in the long term future of your business.

Mark Pearson, chairman of MyVoucherCodes commented: “As an investor in start-ups, and someone who built one from scratch, I’m well aware of the pitfalls of starting a business. My advice – and this might sound like a contradiction coming from someone like me – would be to avoid being a perfectionist in the beginning. Even if it’s just a tiny website, it’s a foundation. Ultimately, doing something’s better than doing nothing at all.”

In the Spring there was much talk of a purported philanthropic endevour from Google to create a work space for incubators, startups and anything else that could contribute to the development of the UK’s tech industry. True to their word, Google Campus opened in the heart of the Silicon Roundabout and Startup Weekend had the honour of launching the venue with our March edition. This alignment of the stars was so auspicious that it lead to the winning team PollarizeMe grabbing a considerable amount of seed cash from O2′s investment-arm Wayra.

Our June event sold out under a frantic 3 hours of ticket buying while our September Women’s vertical brought in an unprecented number of females to what is normally a male dominated space. At Startup Weekend we see diversity as being an essential component to innovation and entrepreneurial creativity. The reasoning and vision behind this was reflected in an interview by yours truly published with The Huffington Post.

The year crescendo in November with an iteration being hosted at The Telegraph offices based in Belgravia. Overlooking their beautiful world-class newsroom the event was reported by the media group’s gold standard journalists. Hitting the front page of their website both on the Saturday and the Sunday, we received exposure to a new and broader audience. But for many the true acme was when London Mayor Boris Johnson paid a visit spending over an hour with a selection of teams to get a true understanding of what the spirit of the weekend was about.

Also in November was the Global Startup Battle which saw winning teams from Startup Weekend’s around the world compete during a two week period for an array of incredible prizes including trips to Brazil for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress and to San Francisco to meet with mentors and VCs. A total of over 10,000 participants, over 1,200 teams and over 100 cities competed. In the end our winners SmartWard from the November Edition came in an impressive third place.

Finishing off the year with our Winter Party held in the über-hip Designers Block studio in Shoreditch, it was an opportunity for the community to get together, stop networking for a moment and cut a rug. A packed house showed that not only do we work hard, but we play hard too.

2013 promises to bear a copious amount of new business fruit as Londoners have seen the relevance of our events. Things will kick off in January with our education vertical being held on the 25th. As always, our tickets go quickly, so pick yours up now.

Needless to say our last event at The Telegraph was a huge success. Even Boris Johnson needed to stop by to see what all the fuss was about. But just to cement our place as the leader in the London Startup networking scene, and to thank all of you for supporting us and making the magic happen non-stop, we are proud to announce the Startup Weekend Winter Party.

Held at the über-hip studios of Designers Block in Shoreditch, the evening will be the party of the year for those in the London Startup scene. In addition to being the ulimate mingling opportunity for London’s talent, we also have lined up an array of Londons top djays to make sure we are all on the dance floor until the wee hours of the morning.

Festivities will start early with an exclusive invite-only networking drinks affair for Startup Weekend winners of 2012 and other VIP guests. Then at 9pm doors will open for those able to buy a ticket before the sell out. Please note that here at Startup Weekend we are continuously seeking ways to support women In tech and have therefore reserved half of our spots for female entrepreneurs. Also, tickets will go on sale at 10:00am Tuesday November 27th. Our events sell out quite quickly, so be sure you are at the keyboards that morning!

See you there in your best holiday jumper.

The Startup Weekend Team.

Read the Telegraph’s articles here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9670974/SmartWard-patient-care-app-wins-London-Startup-Weekend-competition.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9671096/London-Startup-Weekend-the-entrants-and-winners.html

1. CamRo.bot

2. Face My Career

3. MiniMobb

4. StoreBerry

5. Rise Apps

6. Parker

7. SmartWard

8. Yuzu

9. Cakewalk

10. Bake It Sell It

11. Stamp Eater

12. Memoly

Startup Weekend begins its 2012 Global Startup Battle, aims to build 1,200 companies in over 130 cities

Startup Weekend, the organization famous for its self-described 54-hour “entrepreneurship boot camp” has teamed up with the Kauffman Foundation on a new worldwide competition its calling the Global Startup Battle. It says that it hopes that 1,200 new companies and startups will be created in just one week from Kansas City to Croatia, and Milwaukee to Ethiopia.

Timed to happen during Global Entrepreneuriship Week (GEW), the Global Startup Battle will focus on having companies battle against each other in their respective Startup Weekend events. The team that wins that weekend will face each other in a “best of the best” battle where they’ll post a 90-second video describing their company and product. The world will then vote and the top 15 will advance to the finals.

A panel of experts will decide who will take the top honors — and it’s quite a panel: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Foundry Group’s Brad Feld, TaskRabbit founder Leah Busque, prominent fund manager Chris Hollod, and actress/serial entrepreneur Jesse Draper.

The winning team will receive a bevy of prices that will certainly help them grow their company. They will get a free VIP trip to Rio De Janeiro for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, a trip to San Francisco to meet with Google, $5,000 each towards a PR launch package design services, and legal support, and finally $20,000 worth of Google Cloud services.

Global Startup Battle is in its second year and this year has doubled in size from 67 events to 130. It will occur over the two weekends during GEW from November 9-11 and 16-18. The winner will be announced the first week of December.

In the last competition was won by AfterShip who launched an e-commerce platform for merchants and buyers that provided live notifications for shipments. Earlier this summer, it raised a seed round from Australia’s Business Switch with an undisclosed sum.

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So LONDON, are you READY?

Here are the two events you should DEFINITELY attend (also a good prep for SW London this weekend)!

Brand Building with BBDO

Wednesday Nov. 7:  6 – 6:30pm

Campus EDUbeta: Brand Building by Robert Pryor & Giulia Watson

Sign up:  http://campusedubetabrandbuilding.eventbrite.com/

• Brand Parties – Taking a brand out of context to begin to understand their personalities. [Workshop]
• Crowd sourcing the definition of a brand. [Workshop]
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugg Boots – which brands are deemed to be a success and why? [Workshop]
• Why Me? – We all know WHAT a brand does; most of us know HOW they do it. We will investigate WHY they do what they do and why this is so important to understand.
• Brand Tools – The final section will summarise the different topics covered by providing a bit of theoretical background to help you consider your own brand as well as the provision of some useful tools and resources.

Speakers:

Giulia Watson and Robert Pryor  work at AMV BBDO, London’s largest creative advertising agency and work with BlackBerry, Lego and Disney Motion Pictures (including Pixar and Marvel films) to produce marketing and media strategies.

Advanced User-Centred Design and Experience

Thursday Nov 7: 6 – 6:30pm –

Campus EDUbeta: Advanced User-Centred Design and Experience

Sign up: http://campusedubeta-advancedux.eventbrite.com/

Consumers are now more demanding, time-starved, informed, and choice-saturated than ever-before. Consumers want the best, they want itnow and first, and they want real, human connection too. The aim of the session is to gain an understanding of recent trends in consumer behaviour, including consumer involvement with products and services (even before launch), increased need for transparency, and the blending of online and offline worlds.

Speakers:
Stephanie Wilson is a Senior Lecturer and Research Tutor in the Centre for HCI Design  at City University and currently teaches modules on Interaction Design and Usability Evaluation to postgraduate students. Simone Stumpf has professional agency experience as a User Experience Architect, working on web presence, e-commerce and social networking projects; her core research focus has been on the use of intelligent systems by end users, end-user programming and information management systems.