Leading platforms, agencies, and strategies that have harnessed the awesome power of influencers and creators to move consumers in ways that no other medium can.
There is perhaps no more challenging question confronting publishers than the path forward in the zero-click future of Google’s AI Overviews. In this session, we hear about one innovators’ ambition to attack this – Perplexity’s Head of Publisher Partnerships, Jessica Chan.
AWAccelerate is Advertising Week’s Global Startup program that provides education, business development and partnership opportunities to marketing and media-related technology companies across the globe. This year’s cohort will be businesses in the creator ecosystem.
Startups will have the opportunity to learn and network with the world’s top marketers, thought leaders and early-stage investors. In addition, participants have strategic amplification access to the Advertising Week Global platform and Startup Community. The innovation program connects startups to Advertising Week constituents around the globe including brands, agencies, media companies, investors and more.
Our 2025 program is open for all attendees!
The schedule for the day runs as follows:
2:40pm – AWAccelerate Opening Remarks
2:45 – 2:50pm – Startup Pitch: BranchLab – Mallory Wils, EVP, Enterprise Solutions, BranchLab
2:50 – 2:55pm – Startup Pitch: SWYM – Andrew Altersohn, Co-Founder & President, SWYM
2:55 – 3:00pm – Startup Pitch: Katch Data – Andrew Tight, Founder & CEO, Katch Data
AWAccelerate Briefing
3:00 – 3:25pm – Marketing AI Success Stories: Notes from the Field
Marketing AI – everyone’s talking about it, lots of people are experimenting, but is anybody s쳮ding in having an impact on their business? We’ll hear real life use cases from the makers of cutting age AI solutions as they highlight customer success stories you can relate to today. Join the founders of SWYM (AI media buying for digital advertisers) and Katch Data (creator AI for brands) as they discuss AI, where it’s going, and how you can get to ROI today!
Andrew Altersohn, President, SWYM
Andrew Tight, CEO, Katch
Jeremy Kagan, Managing Partner, Textbook
Mallory Wils, EVP Enterprise Solutions, BranchLab
Start Up Pitches
3:25 – 3:30pm – Cipher Cipher
Cipher Cipher is the legal library of trending sounds for social media. Sourcing music from the biggest labels in the world, Cipher provides brands and creators the tracks that truly boost engagement for short-form content. Make culturally relevant content, avoid lawsuits, and get on your customers’ feeds using real songs, rather than stock music.
3:30 – 3:35pm – Jam!
Jam! Our mission is to empower the artist and reward their audience. Through bridging the gap between artists and music listeners on a social platform, we are streamlining artist career growth, community-building, and monetization while simultaneously rewarding, engaging, and consolidating the music-fan experience like never before.
3:35 – 3:40p Start up Pitch 3 – Ranktify
Ranktify is a light-touch tool that puts the power of authoritative content creation, AI search, and search engine optimization (SEO) directly into the hands of its users. Ranktify’s software — with its proprietary algorithms and AI — analyzes content (regardless of topic or length) and offers an array of easy-to-implement recommendations to ensure creators are publishing high-quality and trustworthy content that’s rewarded by search engines and conversational Large Language Models (LLMs), including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews and Anthropic’s Claude, as well as generates more revenue for its clients.
AWAccelerate Briefing
3:45 – 4:10pm – Change is a Constant: The Innovation Road Ahead
Technology and innovation continue to march forward even as AI and its impact sweeps across the industry. We’ll convene VC, founders and innovation experts investing in the future to discuss what’s next and how it will impact your business. No crystal balls, but we’ll predict the future based on where the smartest entrepreneurs and startups are placing bets.
Lynda Clarizio, Co-Founder and General Partner, The 98
Michael Browning, Founder, Unleashed Brands
Christian Tom, Co-Founder and CEO, AND Media
Moderator: Jeremy Kagan, Managing Partner, Textbook Ventures
4:10 – 5:15pm – Networking
Considering investing in the creator economy? Or working with creators on a more regular basis? Our expert panel comprising investors, creators, entrepreneurs and bankers will tell you everything you need to know about trends in the creator space, what’s hot and not so you can work out how best to work in this market.
Want to know everything about the hottest emerging ecosystem out there? In a fireside chat, Jon Steinberg, a Managing Director in the Media, Entertainment and Sports Group at Lazard takes us through what you need to know. Whether it’s creator tools, creator businesses and marketplaces, this essential talk is everything you need.
Learn to prompt like a pro with Mekanism’s AI Superstudio!
Discover how AI enhances creativity for leading brands. Gain a fundamental understanding of AI’s soul and science, then step into the creative director’s chair. Experience AI firsthand with a live, interactive demo, creating a movie in real-time. Explore practical applications, tech advancements, and human ingenuity essential for boosting productivity and creativity with AI.
What do Travis Scott, Daft Punk and Abba have in common? In addition to their legions of fans, they’re all using virtual performances to reach their fan base and expand their creative impact. Join Vivek Tiwary of Tiwary Entertainment Group, producers of plays with music giants like Jagged Little Pill (Alannis Morisette), American Idiot (Green Day), and Hamlet Hail to the Thief (Thom Yorke of Radiohead) among others, to discuss the state of virtual performances and the new Digital Artist Capture project, the ARK. Vivek will discuss working with talented artists, where the industry is going, and the ways brands and sponsors can begin planning to partner to reach their fan bases across the virtual world.