Publishing technology startups will be making their pitches to leaders in Venture Capital, Technology, and Publishing organizations at this year’s BookExpo America (BEA) conference.
Once again, starting on Wednesday, May 27th, there will be a Startup Alley at BEA, sponsored by Sourcebooks and Ingram, bringing together the best of Silicon Alley and the book publishing industry. Twenty startups will be selected to showcase their companies in Startup Alley, a unique opportunity for startups to be part of book publishing’s largest industry event and to receive high visibility, access to industry executives, investors and VCs.
Participating startups will compete to appear before the judges from the Venture Capital and investment community to be chosen as BEA’s 2015 Most Promising Publishing Startup. In addition, this year the BEA Startup Challenge will add the People’s Choice Award, selected by the attendees and exhibitors to BEA. All Startups selected to be included in the event are eligible for prize consideration. A select few will have the opportunity to make their case to the judges at this year’s event.
“Last year at BEA, we brought the tech community and the book publishing industry together for the first publishing Startup Challenge and we saw the great kind of innovation that comes out of bringing these communities together,” said Joanna Stone, CEO of Librify. “Thanks to our sponsors Ingram and Sourcebooks, we are creating a place for innovation at BEA again this year. Startup Alley is a place for the growing
book publishing startup community to gain access to traditional publishers and top venture capital and investment professionals”.
The judges will include well-known names from venture capital and publishing including Jordan Bettman, Bain Capital Ventures, Dominique Raccah, CEO of Sourcebooks, Brian Napack, Senior Advisor, Providence Equity, Jason Saltzman, Alley NYC, Ed Klaris, Managing Director, DiSilva+Philips, and more. BookExpo Startup Challenge will be accepting applicant startups at bookexpochallenge.com.
”BookExpo Startup Challenge is poised to be a fantastic event for BEA and the industry that will put a spotlight on innovation and technology at BEA, an important component of the publishing ecosystem,” said Steven Rosato, Event Director for BookExpo America, Reed Exhibitions. “We expect this event to attract wide media coverage and to bring in solid venture capitalists looking for unique opportunities.”
Librify and BookExpo America will select up to 20 startups to participate in BEA Startup Alley. All selected startups will get a free exhibition booth in Startup Alley, free passes to the event and will have access to additional benefits including interactions with executives from major publishing houses (including the Big 5), access to coaching and strategic advice from investment industry professionals, coaching from investment and publishing leaders, and much more.
Startups who would like to apply for selection in “Startup Alley” and be part of the BookExpo Startup Challenge should visitbookexpochallenge.com to apply. Others seeking more information regarding this year’s BookExpo America at the Javits Center should visit www.bookexpoamerica.com.
Registered attendees and exhibitors of BookExpo America are invited to attend the final BookExpo Startup Challenge event at 3:30PM on May 29th on the Downtown Stage.
BookExpo Startup Challenge is brought to you by BookExpo America and Librify and sponsors Ingram, Sourcebooks and DeSilva+Phillips.
ABOUT BOOKEXPO AMERICA:
BookExpo America (BEA) is North America’s largest gathering of book trade professionals attracting an international audience. The event is widely known as an ideal place for content creators, media, booksellers, rights professionals, and movie and television executives to meet new authors, discover new books, learn about trends shaping the book industry, and network with those who have a passion for books and reading. BEA is foremost a gathering place for creative writers and thinkers and the commerce they create. It is recognized for the media attention it brings to upcoming books as well as for the notable authors it attracts to the convention itself.
BEA is organized with the support of association partners including the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the American Booksellers Association (ABA).
ABOUT LIBRIFY:
Founded by publishing industry veterans and based in New York City, Librify is creating the world’s first book-of-the-month club for ebooks, bringing a dramatically improved shared, social reading experience and discounted pricing model to book clubs and readers across all platforms and devices Librify was the co-organizer with the Perseus Book Group of the first ever Publishing Hackathon in May, 2013 at AlleyNYC and BEA, bringing together the technology, venture capital and publishing communities For more information pertaining to Librify and its upcoming launch please contact info@librify.com, or visit www.librify.com.
