The Washington State Department of Commerce aims to increase awareness and sales in international markets for innovative technology businesses.
Demonstrating the state’s leadership in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, the Washington State Department of Commerce is leading a delegation of 18 companies at GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the world’s largest conference for the mobile tech industry. This is the fourth consecutive year Commerce has showcased new platform solutions and services in mobile apps, game design, productivity, security and location mapping developed by some of the state’s most creative and forward-thinking businesses.
“Washington is one of the nation’s vital hotbeds for established and new businesses that are pushing the envelope in digital media and mobile technology development,” said Brian Bonlender, state Commerce Director. “By putting our delegation on the international stage at Mobile World Congress, we are providing them with an opportunity to increase global awareness of their technologies and pave the way for future growth.”
The Washington State Department of Commerce Pavilion, themed “Choose Washington,” features a mix of established mobile technology businesses and startups for conference attendees to view demonstrations and learn more about their unique solutions. Pavilion exhibitors include: APImetrics,Apptentive, autograph, Black Pixel, Buddy Platform Inc., Codeproof, General UI, Glympse, Guppy Games|Media, IndoorAtlas, INRIX, Studio Pepwuper, PlayFab, Orca Wave, Sequitur Labs, Sirqul, and Syntonic, TouchBase, plus the non-profit organizations, One Redmond and Washington Interactive Network.
“As a startup, Mobile World Congress offers tremendous opportunity to introduce our technology to major global brands. We participated in the conference as part of the Washington State Department of Commerce delegation two years ago and found the experience to be extremely valuable as we were able to focus on our business goals instead of logistics. After participating last year on our own, we enthusiastically signed up for 2015, and we are already seeing the benefits from being a part of this great community,” said Bryan Trussel, co-founder and CEO of Glympse.
The Department of Commerce team organizes business matchmaking introductions for their exhibitor companies to meet with mobile carriers, hardware manufacturers, enterprise mobility strategists and marketers to negotiate licensing agreements and grow global awareness of their unique technologies and services. Though customer relationships often take years to develop, Washington State companies have already reported nearly $8 million in new sales as a result of their participation in this event over the last three years.
Many of these companies are smaller startups that wouldn’t be able to attend international trade shows of this caliber without the export vouchers provided by Commerce. Made possible through the Small Business Administration’s State Trade Export Promotion (STEP) program, these funds help offset the cost of attending major international trade events.
Washington State ICT Industry Snapshot:
• 14,000 companies with 176,600+ workers
• 90,000 software developers
• 300 game design companies
• $700 Million in 140 VC investments, another 260 startups financed by founders and angels
• $600B in market cap among the top 10 public ICT companies
• $2.6 Billion in mobile app development
Washington state has grown its presence each year as the world becomes more familiar with the region’s leadership in mobile technologies and role in shaping the future of information and communication technology, Bonlender said.
For more information on the Choose Washington Pavilion’s featured companies, download the free iPad app for iOS users at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/choose-wa/id954735761?mt=8. The app also provides handy quick reference information from GSMA about the show venues, hours, badge pick-up and more for all attendees.
The WA Dept. of Commerce's event press kit is available HERE.
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