We are very pleased to announce the judges & prizes for Norwich 54 Hour Startup event Sync the City.

Join over 60 people who have already signed up, don’t miss out on this fantastic event. Claim your spot at http://syncthecity.com/

Again, this year we have £4,000 in cash prizes (£3,000 judges’ winner and £1,000 people's choice), as well as sales training from Sandler Training and one-year associate membership of Norfolk Network.

£3,000 winners 2015 - Everyday Spaces – Making Churches Everyday Places



£1,000 winner 2015 - docdirect – Agentless NHS: Saving us £1,900 per minute



Other great ideas from 2015.

• Sox Suk — Gifts to Blow Your Socks Off!
• Prompto – Monitoring system for independent people who suffer from memory dysfunction.
• TeePee – Making lettings as easy as ordering a pizza.
• Gordon Bleu – Matching you with your perfect meal.
• Menulicious – Finding the restaurant that’s right for you.
• Memsabi – A delightful tactile way to structure your thoughts
• Zap – instantly connect to the world around you
• Gorrilla – Free wifi on the tube
• RenTech – Making tech affordable
• PROTO Norwich – A city of people ready to embrace your ideas..
• Unfold – We create quality narratives around events as they unfold.
• Zest – Interactive lectures are here!

Very pleased to annouce our judges lined up this year!


Jacyn Heavens, CEO Epos Now

Jacyn Heavens is a serial entrepreneur best known for being the founder and CEO of Epos Now. While running a bar, Jacyn identified a gap in the market for an affordable, customisable POS solution and began to develop his own software. Jacyn started Epos Now with £85,000 of his own money, and still has 100% ownership. He employs 200 people throughout the UK and the US, ensuring profitability of over 20,000 businesses across 109 countries.

Lauren Hine -  International Operations Manager at Techstars

Lauren Hine is a UEA graduate and start-up founder. She has previously founded two companies, Zealify and Incredibli, and successfully raised Angel Investment for both. Lauren is also the founder of FemaleFounderFridays, a blog showcasing exceptional women in digital. She is passionate about women in tech and breaking gender boundaries. Lauren is currently International Operations Manager at Techstars, a mentorship-driven startup accelerator and global startup ecosytem.

Lisa Price - Senior Digital Development Manager, Aviva Digital

Lisa has spent the last 14 years working within software delivery across a range of roles, business sectors and company types. The last five years have seen Lisa working with cutting edge mobile technologies, including BLE and NFC, where the experience of joining a start-up and growing the company have taught her many valuable lessons. Taking on her latest challenge within a large corporate, Lisa continues to challenge them in their approaches in order to achieve great things. She is passionate about building high performing teams and coaching businesses into being as great as they can possibly be.  

Abhi Naha - Chief Commercial Officer, Cambridge Wireless

Abhi has worked in the mobile and telecoms industry for 20 years. Currently at Cambridge Wireless, he is responsible for marketing, business development, attracting young entrepreneurs and engaging with SIG champions. Abhi has been a Cambridge Wireless Founder Member and SIG champion for over nine years. Founder of several technology start-ups and new business units in Cambridge and Silicon Valley he has brought an entrepreneurial culture to Cambridge Wireless.

Cathy White - Head of Communications

Tech City UK is a not-for-profit accelerating the growth of digital businesses and skills across the UK. Previously Cathy worked for Seedcamp, an early-stage fund, and is a Director of GeekGirl Meetup UK, a not-for-profit inspiring women in tech.

Quotes From previous participants

“It’s been really great to see so many people turn out. There are some incredibly talented people doing really cool things around the City. We’ve formed a really great team by accident, it’s really worked!” Shaun Church, developer

“It’s been a really steep learning curve. I’ve only met these guys in my team since I got here. It’s been mindblowing, it’s been eyeopening, it’s been hugely educational for me on how tech works” Ryan James Brown, freelance sales

“I’ve got a huge amount out of Sync The City. Some of us had worked together before, but others hadn’t. We’ve done more in 54 hours than I would have thought possible. The whole thing has been really well organised.” Jack Webb, developer

“It’s been an amazing opportunity. I like how the team has worked together and interacted. It’s a really different environment to the university and an opportunity to learn about the business environment.” Lidia Barrientos Gal, MSc Brand Leadership, Norwich Business School, UEA

“It’s shown the basics you need to start up a company. It is doable in a short time if you have the right idea!” Tom Brown, 3rd year Business Management student, Norwich Business School, UEA

“We’ve never had to implement the theory we learn in practice. I’ve learnt so much about marketing and segmentation being here. It’s helped to bring the theory alive” Jessica May, 3rd year Business Management student, Norwich Business School, UEA

“It’s been really interesting – such a wide variety of skills sets – apps, Raspberry Pi, robots. It’s not just been a load of nerdy people in a room. We’ve got arts people and business people as well. Everyone is playing a really important role on the team. It’s a really nice feeling, even if stuff doesn’t quite work the way you wanted it to.” Adam Ferguson, gap year student

“A fantastic opportunity to get people together from all walks of life to help enhance the digital offering through entrepreneurial thinking available in Norfolk. Norwich in particular has a great future as a Tech City and Norfolk County Council were eager to support this event to help showcase our local talent. Not only support through sponsorship but actually taking part in the event with pitches made from Library representatives, the Economic Development Department and Transport Management” Michael Cousens, Economic Development Officer, Norfolk County Council.

See you there!

The Sync the City Team

p.s. thanks for the sketchnote graphic @ChrisSpalton & @TimStephenson .