AppCampus boosts mobile innovation

What is the next big app out there? The one application that will spur a revolution and perhaps change the way we work and play? We at the AppCampus program are trying to foster the creation of new innovative apps for Windows Phone, and Nokia platforms.
AppCampus is led and managed by Aalto University in Finland, and funded by Nokia and Microsoft. The basic idea is this: share your awesome idea or concept for a truly innovative mobile app and AppCampus might help you realize it with funding, coaching and any other help needed.

AppCampus is currently exhibiting at the Tech Crunch Disrupt 2012 expo in San Francisco and is attracting some of the best and brightest developers in the world.

Many projects already in the pipeline

“We’ve already received approximately 1,000 applications from 64 different countries,” says Pekka Sivonen, Head of AppCampus.

“This is the first time we’re having an official presence at an event, and we can’t wait to work with more developers at different events going forward.”

Pekka tells us that there are already 41 projects in the pipeline that have been approved and financed. In total, these 41 companies have received over $1.2 million in funding, but not to worry – there’s still more than $21 million left for what Pekka calls “truly novel ideas that are not yet available.”

So how does AppCampus work? You submit your idea via the AppCampus website – a process that shouldn’t take more than an hour. Within two to four weeks you’ll get an initial response: Thumbs up, thumbs down … or maybe.

If selected your project will get a cash injection depending on the complexity and use of backend services such as Nokia Maps, Near Field Communication and imaging. Pekka explains that they’re on the lookout for “first to market ideas that don’t exist in any other marketplace today.”

Show us something disruptive

But it’s not all about cash. AppCampus also helps with coaching from Nokia and Microsoft, and with something as basic as office space, creating a business plan or planning go-to-market promotion. AppCampus consists of a team of eight people with a combined experience of 100+ years in mobile software. These are the kind of guys you want on your side.

“We’re getting a strong interest at TechCrunch Disrupt, not only from developers but also from angel investors that see this as a really strong value proposition,” says Pekka.

Nokia and App Campus also sponsored the prize for ‘The Most Disruptive Mobile Application Concept’ shown at Disrupt 2012. The winner, Livebolt, received $50,000.00 and a place in the AppCampus program.

Livebolt created a cloud based identity management system that consists of a block that slides on the back of the lock. That block links to an app that lets you authorize a piece of metal that actually locks and unlocks the door.