CEDIA Expo is bringing it Launchpad back this year, designed to highlight brands that have been in business for less than three years and have never exhibited at CEDIA Expo.
As a cost-effective opportunity for emerging brands, The Launchpad creates a necessary platform for new companies to introduce themselves and their technologies to the residential technology industry.
Those companies included in The Launchpad will also participate in the TechStarter Competition and present short business pitches to CEDIA Expo’s panel of industry expert judges, who will evaluate the brands on their product, innovation, opportunity, and marketing and sales strategies. The top five brands will be named as the CEDIA Expo 2022 TechStarter FIVE and will receive a host of special benefits to elevate their new businesses to media, attendees, and customers.
The Launchpad programme will finish with a TechStarter judges panel discussion on the Smart Stage, as well as the selection of The Launchpad TechStarter Grand Prize winner.
There are currently 20 brands participating in this year’s CEDIA Expo Launchpad initiative.
Last year, guardDog.ai, a growing company in cybersecurity solutions for consumers and businesses, was chosen as the winner. Kelly Ryan, director of business development for guardDog.ai said: “The Launchpad has provided a platform to introduce our cyber security protection product for IoT devices. It was amazing to launch our product on the same stage as Microsoft, Cisco and many others. The Launchpad and the Propel programme through CEDIA were the best we could have done to launch our product in the home automation sector.”
Jason McGraw, CTS, group vice president for CEDIA Expo and KBIS, Emerald added: “We recognise that new companies need the opportunity to gain exposure to catapult their brands in the marketplace. The Launchpad is designed to highlight new brands and innovations and provide them with unparalleled publicity and an opportunity to engage with integrators, reps and distributors in the industry. We are excited to welcome these new companies to CEDIA Expo, the largest event for the channel in North America.”
A number of well-known brands have had success in the past with The Launchpad, which was formerly called Innovation Alley, to introduce their brands to the industry, including AXIS, Domotz, Josh.ai, and HDMI Staffing.
Brands interested in joining this year’s Launchpad can submit an application to participate.