Edinburgh-based company Good-Loop, an ethical programmatic video advertising platform, has made it to the finals of inaugural Vodafone Techstarter awards.

The awards programme aims to uncover and develop ideas that harness the power of technology, connectivity and innovation to improve health, education, environmental protection or social mobility.

Vodafone Techstarter has been developed in partnership with the Vodafone Foundation, the company’s charitable arm; and Social Tech Trust, the UK’s leading dedicated supporter of socially motivated tech ventures.

Social purpose

The twelve shortlisted organisations, both profit and not-for-profit, all have prototype ideas with a clearly defined social purpose. The ventures exploit a range of technologies from mobile apps to the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain.

Good-Loop, for example, aims to enable brands to connect social purpose with better viewer experience and better ad performance.

The other finalists are; Alexandra Rose Charity, Code 4000 UK CIC, Full Fact, The Church of England’s Children’s Society, The Integrate Agency CIC, Wayfindr, BfB Labs, Lettus Grow, BlakBear, Walk With Path and Alice SI. For more information, please see below.

In addition to sharing a prize fund of £300,000, winners will benefit from access to industry and technology expertise from Vodafone and the Social Tech Trust, enabling them to take their innovations from prototype to market readiness. This will include coaching, commercial development support, mentorship, investment and partnership advice.

Anne Sheehan, enterprise director at Vodafone UK, said: “We believe some of the biggest challenges in society can be addressed using technology and innovation. Vodafone Techstarter is about recognising and celebrating how UK start-ups are helping shape society for the better; we want to empower small businesses to truly make a difference in society. I’m really excited to meet the finalists and see first-hand the impact their ideas and innovations could have.”

Ed Evans, CEO of Social Tech Trust, said: “It’s fantastic to see such an inspiring group of social tech innovations make the Vodafone Techstarter shortlist. All of them are driven by social purpose and are making a positive contribution to people’s lives. We look forward to working with the winning teams to help them grow and scale their social impact.”

The Vodafone Techstarter winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on 7th February.