NAA announces winning startup companies for the Accelerator Pitch program at mediaXchange 2014

ARLINGTON, Va. - Jan. 16, 2014 - PRLog -- The Newspaper Association of America (http://www.naa.org/) is pleased to announce the participants for its Accelerator Pitch program for NAA mediaXchange 2014, which will take place March 16-19, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency in Denver. The program is an opportunity for startup companies aimed at fulfilling newspaper companies’ print, digital, mobile, audience or advertising needs to pitch industry executives who will be in attendance. NAA mediaXchange 2014 (http://www.naa.org/mediaXchange.aspx) will unite more than 1,000 executives from media and advertising to discuss best practices for increasing revenue, evolving digital trends and forward-thinking strategies for the newspaper industry.

“We were blown away by the overwhelming response to our Accelerator Pitch program and are thrilled to announce these participating companies,” said Caroline Little, NAA president and CEO. “These companies will showcase exciting, new ideas as we continue to transform the entire newspaper industry. This program is a unique opportunity for these startup companies and everyone in attendance at NAA mediaXchange will be able to see the future of our industry on display.”

In December, startup companies submitted their applications and an NAA committee judged the entries based on usefulness to newspaper media companies, innovation and creativity. After narrowing the field down to 20 finalists, the following eight companies were selected to participate, with a quote from their entry:

·        Cinemacraft – “As the newspaper industry gets more and more into the video content business, particularly with the increase of mobile video consumption, Cinemacraft helps publishers gives their users a top-notch and immersive video viewing experience.”

·        City Portals, LLC – “City Portals, LCC provides a partnership approach to newspapers for building a substantial growing business sin both online and mobile. Our relationship includes a complete and cloud-based platform as well as a full suite of services for quickly creating a market-dominant digital media business.

·        Ebyline – “Ebyline provides publishers with a virtual newsroom environment that challenges the concept of a physical newsroom altogether. In short, our business is about improving content economics.”

·        Guarantee Digital – “Guarantee Digital provides while label Digital Agency services to a growing list of media partners in over 30 markets in the United States. We give our partners the ability to offer the essential web, social and mobile marketing and services local merchants need to reach today’s connected consumer.”

·        MediaWorks – “MediaWorks brings Big Data to publisher media. The goal is to bring the power of data driven solutions to a publisher’s advertising offerings, which ultimately translates to stronger advertiser ROI.”

·        saambaa – “saambaa is revolutionizing how local publishers deploy and monetize mobile apps. Our technology makes it easy for publishers to transfer their entertainment content into a branded, native mobile entertainment app for iPhone or Android.”

·        Simpli.fi – “Our In.Finity Programmatic marketing platform is the first platform purpose-built for unstructured data. The fundamental differentiating capabilities around unstructured data empower Simpl.fi to serve the unique needs of the local media company and their advertisers.”

·        SocialNewsDesk – “SocialNewsDesk is the only social media management tool designed specifically with the needs of a newsroom in mind. SocialNewsDesk enables the newspaper company to manage its entire social strategy from a single web-based application.”

NAA mediaXchange (http://www.naa.org/mediaXchange.aspx) is the largest gathering of industry executives in North America. The conference is designed to offer exceptional networking opportunities that allow industry professionals to share information and ideas that provide insight and produce results.  Additionally, the conference will focus on strategies to increase audience and revenue, innovations inside and outside the industry, and the sharing of best practices from our members.

Visit NAA.org/mediaXchange (http://www.naa.org/mediaxchange.aspx) to register for the 2014 event.