In the world of digital media where new tools and applications are popping up left, right and centre, someone has to be making these new agenda-changing products. One young firm describing itself as a ‘cultural construction company’ is Harmonypark. Or as co-founder Andrew McPhee says “We were started to create socially useful applications and experiences.” As well as creating products for the likes ofeBay, Harmonypark is currently busy working on 3 new i-Phone applications, following the market to where demand is. In addition, they're enjoying the buzz around recent expense sharing tool Expensure.

But while designing ‘apps’ is a key, product and service incubation for others is also a huge part of what the company’s about, and the balance fluctuates “ It changes month to month: We try do something like 50/50, but it switches to 80/20 and to 20/80.”

Kiwis McPhee and Ebony Charlton, as well as Canadian Mike Evans, began to boot-strap with the company in 2005. They all had experience in starting their own companies beforehand, taking in digital agencies and E-Commerce ‘in Australasia’. “We’ve all worked in advertising, but this is creating useful applications in digital culture: we solve problems”, says McPhee. “Between us we all had the complementary skills: When you start you find out there are things you aren’t good at: we threw them all together.”

The company has developed well, being responsible for incubating successes such as video-player Vzaar. This whole process has taught the team the importance of taking equity in the fruit of their labour: “More often now we’re taking a stake as well as payment. It’s been an eye opener. Some products have gone on to be worth millions... and we didn’t take equity”, says McPhee matter-of-factly. But with a string of useful apps under Harmonypark’s belt, it looks like the opportunity to do so will continue to present itself.

Yerzies is a US brand which has come to our attention due to the growing trend for personalization and bespoke products. Launched this year, it’s a lot more than an online clothes store. In the words of founder Scott Killian, “It’s a place to create, share your ideas and profit from your creations. We give users the power to create their own products using our advanced configurator... When they're done, they can buy as little as one piece or sell their creations to other users and keep the profits.”

And that’s where Yerzies takes the ‘make your own’ T-shirt idea and drives it forward; it’s about users being able to monetize their own creativity, while sharing ideas with those around them on the site. Killian is adamant that this method engages people far more than simply having an ‘E-shop’ set-up: “We want to make Yerzies a platform that encourages the creation and consumption of user-generated content so we're continuing to develop a robust set of tools that our users can leverage to profit from the sale of their work. This includes social networking tools like our blog forum and user profiles attached to products they've created, but it also includes sales and marketing tools like widgets for promoting your work on other sites, robust sales reporting, etc... We'll be announcing some interesting twists to this in the near future that will leverage the idea of ‘community’ far more than what's already there.”

Launched this year, Yerzies has the software and advisory business DemandMade as its parent-company. DemandMade, which has customization as a core-focus, was in turn launched in 2005 after Killian and co-founder Tim Brule’s sale of FanBuzz - the platform for online stories which ranged from broadcaster ESPN to the 2002 Winter Olympics. In Killian’s mind, this venture was crucial: “We quickly realized we had stumbled onto something that was even more valuable to our customers. When we offered them to opportunity interact with merchandise, mix and match attributes and even personalize the final product, it became an instant hit.”

Both DemandMade and Yerzies were self-funded by the founders, who also raised about $10 million in private equity for FanBuzz, before the exit to a well-known US shopping channel.

London is awash with ‘creative’ agencies working across the board from music to film. What’s different about this West London start-up is that they’re representing artists in film making and TV production, publishing books, and having an attached illustration agency to boot.

Studio Rarekwai, or The SRK, was founded by the creative duo of Suridh Hassan and Ryo Sanada in November 2006, starting out in film production but rapidly expanding to include the illustration and publishing sides of the business. Hassan says things began with the duo wanting to push their own work, but soon grew to take in the work of others. “It’s been projects that have morphed and evolved: We started off making documentaries, then started making books, then started to represent artists, and now we’re working on making that one 'package' that we can offer out to clients and brands, and deal with tailor-made briefs.”

In the two years since launch, they’ve already expanded internationally. “We have a TV programme in Japan and our books are international, so we get a lot of interest from abroad - in fact at times more so than the UK.” Making a name for themselves via documentary on the Japanese hip hop scene, a recent street-art sticker-book has also been doing well, with a full page feature in The Metro newspaper . More recently, the world’s first documentary on the musical phenomenon that is dubstep (directed by Hassan) made its debut this October. All of this on an absolute bootstrapping budget – but as Hassan says “If you can work yourself into a position to do just what you like doing - why not?” Full marks for entrepreneurial spirit.

"It's one thing being able to read about something, but another to see video, which is far more engaging." So says Ed Baker, who this September launched Wordia, an online dictionary with a twist: not only do users submit the definitions of words themselves, but they do it in video form, ranking and commenting on each other's definitions. These sit neatly above more 'traditional' text definitions from HarperCollins.

Baker's co-founder is Michael Birch, the man behind social-network Bebo, which sold to AOL for $850m in March of this year. On September 18th, Wordia was launched at the home of Dr Samuel Johnson (on the anniversary of the doc’s birthday); the man responsible for what was arguably English’s first dictionary, in 1755.

Like many web start-ups "It came from the need", says Baker. Constantly writing treatments in his former life as television development producer, Baker realised that his vocabulary was lacking. He'd signed up to numerous 'word of the day' E-mails from online dictionary sites, but would never get round to reading them. "I wasn't getting them in context", he says. "It rarely jumped out at me." His time as a development producer has also assisted him: "The clearest crossover is that start-ups are about coming up with an idea where there's a gap in the market, and trying to get funding for it – the same as if it was seed funding."

Baker ended up shooting some 'pilot' material with comedian mate Danny Robbins, and the light -hearted approach given to the definitions made him feel he was on to a winner. "It's all about communication of the idea", he says. He also enlisted the help of his former flatmate who was, conveniently, also a developer, and repaid the favour by decorating said friend's new house.

But the launch required funding. Baker sold his house, secured some money from the DTI, and then acquired the financial assistance of Birch for an undisclosed sum. "I partnered with the best person possible - he's what I'd call a super-angel. He's been there and done it, and done it extremely well." Seeing Birch speak at an event in May this year, Baker joined the queue of twenty other fans and hopefuls who'd wanted to bash his ear after the speech. But he opted to chat with Birch's wife (and Bebo co founder) Xochi Birch, who was surrounded by a considerably smaller throng. Xochi introduced Michael to Ed, and the very next day the pair were in a bar discussing Wordia. Baker flew back to London, but soon returned to Silicon Valley to secure Birch's funding, keeping it quiet from the developers and colleagues he had working on the project in case the connection fell through."I told everyone I was off to Skye with my girlfriend!"

Revenue-wise, there is talk of brands getting involved to buy-in to certain words and terms they feel are well-associated with them. Whether this will develop, or leave a funny taste in users’ mouths, time will tell. But in the meantime, Baker feels the site is strong enough to be a purely ad-funded business - which, incidentally, won't be including pre-roll ads; "I still fnd pre-rolls quite intrusive, and it's difficult with user-generated content...the creator may end up feeling cheated."

Unsurprisingly, there has been some negative reaction to Wordia's 'democratic' approach to definition. While Baker has ensured the text definitions are contained in results, some journalists have been quick to point out the lack of etymological definitions, as well as potentially 'incorrect' definitions. He says etymology will soon make an appearance, and as regards 'true' definitions, some people will never get it: "It's not redefining the dictionary definition, it's just saying what it means to users, and it’s a way into a subject or debate...We're working with the Natural Literacy Trust and they love it. It engages users who wouldn't usually bother with dictionaries."

The ‘green tech’ sector is starting to get very serious traction, and according to chief executive of ecoConnect Robert Hokin, will soon be a multi-trillion pound industry. While the UK is a place brimming with green tech ideas, there’s a lack of meaningful places, online or offline, for the ‘community’ to gather. That’s where ecoConnect comes in.

It launched last week (October 2008), and Hokin says “It went exceptionally well, we were hugely oversubscribed – we could have had a venue twice the size”. Showcasing companies and ideas taking in a range of sectors, from renewable energy to clean IT, the idea behind ecoConnect is “to enable the faster adaption of green technology by providing information, connections and clarity...It’s about the business of green tech and how to make it more commonplace in business and commerce”, says Hokin.

ecoConnect will host events, including around a dozen already planned for 2009, while there are also plans in the pipeline for an eco-inspired TV channel on the site, as well the possibility of green tech start-up incubator.

Hokin says he’s started ecoConnect ‘out of frustration at accessing green technology’, but adds he’s ‘been an environmentalist since way back..’ And although a social enterprise, profit is of great importance. “Profit does matter. We’re a social enterprise so eligible for certain funding initiatives...but we’ll also provide value-added services for start-ups, and they’ll be chargeable.” On top of that, ecoConnect is currently in talks with other investors, as well as speaking with key sponsors keen to be associated with green-tech initiatives. As for the initial costs however, it’s money from Hokin’s own pocket.

Although originally from Chicago, Hokin says he’s ‘always been impressed at the UK’s innovation and activity’, but adds he’s often frustrated at the commercialisation of that technology. He says he’s been described as ‘eco in a suit’, but is quick to clarify this: “I’ve been involved in technology companies at the enterprise level for almost twenty years”, adding that he’s ‘been responsible for multi-million pound revenue streams’ – and is looking at the bottom line. And the ‘bottom line’ could be quite solid. With no serious competitors in the space ecoConnect has carved out, the likelihood that big-name partnerships will be forthcoming, and a huge growth industry as its focus, the future looks very bright indeed – or if not, at least a whole lot greener.

Having seen his team in action it’s obvious Daniel Priestley’s Triumphant Events is different. The sparky Aussie moved to the UK two years ago to set up the event marketing and management company in the niche area of real issues facing entrepreneurs as well as the usual inspirational stuff you'd get elsewhere. He’d cut his teeth running under-age club nights at university and managing a native version of the company from the age of 21.

On arrival here aged 25 Priestley joined Adam Street, a private members’ club for entrepreneurs, and the Institute of Directors to build what’s now an enviable contacts book.

And he’s been damned successful in achieving twin aims of securing world-class speakers and a devoted audience, along with a healthy £2m turnover. Renowned entrepreneurs such as Mike Harris, who founded two £1bn banking ventures in Egg and First Direct, and Roger Hamilton, chairman of the world’s largest network of socially responsible entrepreneurs and a speaker on ‘wealth dynamics’, feature on the roster, with speakers also typically running ‘bootcamps’ with smaller groups of entrepreneurs after main events for £500 to over £1,000 a pop depending on length – providing another tidy revenue stream.

In its two years here Triumphant has hosted well over 300 events, at which more than 40,000 have attended. It’s no coincidence that as many as 50% re-attend. “Most event companies are as good as their last event. They’re not worried about brand; it’s just get as much cash out of the audience as they can,” says Priestley, who claims that’s one of the areas that sets Triumphant apart. “Events is a constant challenge. If I own a fashion store and people can’t turn up on the day of a promotion they can turn up the next day.”

With this in mind loyalty and trust are crucial, which is why Priestley’s built up an arsenal of affiliate partners. Its network of more than 800 drives interest to the extent that when just a week before an event at the London Palladium, which holds 2,500, there were just 600 bookings, the strategy came into its own. Hammering the phones and a bunch of new affiliate sign-ups ensured Priestley’s team averted disaster by delivering an impressive 2,200 attendees.

The company also invested a great deal of energy and money in developing its web booking system and making becoming an affiliate an incredibly simple process. Again, having viewed the data from the back-end with Priestley, there’s no doubt it’s an advanced system, boasting, as it does, the ability to get real-time data on bookings, affiliate performance, and key financials. The business is expanding through city event managers in Manchester, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Birmingham and Bristol with a series of licensee ventures. Priestley’s also in the process of merging with a couple of event players to share expertise across verticals and event formats, such as exhibitions, seminars and training. With this kind of future-proofing and with Priestley living up to his name as a man on a mission, Triumphant is one you’ll be hearing a lot about.

“The key word is personalisation”, insists entrepreneur Alex Meisl.”‘Everyone’s talking about it. Look at cars with their optional extras list, things like people having union jacks on their roofs.” With this argument, Meisl puts forward his case for skins4things, a company looking to exploit this desire for all things personal by creating personalised ‘skins’ or covers for devices ranging from laptops to mobile phones. A tight fitting skin or jacket of vinyl, the product adds a degree of scratch resistance and a visual personality to consumer digitals.

Meisl was co-founder of Sponge in 2002, a successful mobile application development agency; amongst other campaigns, Sponge got themselves noticed via an SMS-utilising Walkers Crisps campaign to deliver the prize of a iPod to consumers every 5 minutes, which, according to Meisl, saw an incredible 7% of the UK population take part. This followed his work with Legion Telephony, so it’s probably fair to say there is some deeper passion for mobile technologies at work in his mind. Is this what convinced him and co-founder Dan Parker that skins4things would take off? “Unfortunately we convinced ourselves there were synergies!”, he jokes . “Superficially there are, but where Sponge is software and digital, with Skins we’ve had to come down to earth, dealing with certain things like stock!”

Despite the modesty, the company has already established some key contracts with brands ranging from Amnesty International to Toshiba, who are going straight for the promo approach. “Why not have the name of you company on staff laptops?, Meisl muses.
Where funding is concerned, £250,000 of the founders’ own money has been put in: skin in the game, so to speak, although there was discussion about getting external finding. “Despite believing we knew what we were doing, it took twice as long as we thought”, Meisl says, adding that many third party offers were ‘unreasonable’, considering the stake in the company that was being requested.

With the market in covers for products such as iPods and mobiles to grow on the back of growth of the products themselves, cmypitch will be watching closely to see if skins4things becomes a start-up star.

PeoplePerHour.com was founded in September 2007 by two Cambridge University graduates: CEO Xenios Thrasyvoulou and CTO Simos Kitiris. In the words of Thrasyvoulou,”We’re a community of freelancers facilitating remote work; it allows companies of all sizes to outsource work. The freelancer gets rated and builds a profile – we provide a safe platform for that to happen.”

And safety and security, in Thrasyvoulou’s eyes, is key: “Remote working has a lot of advantages if it can be done securely. As the employer you need to be able to first trust before you can delegate. The whole concept is accountability through feedback, the E-bay method if you like.” While users of the site pay a percentage to PeoplePerHour on completion of successful jobs, revenue is also ensured by the use of futures listings and premium listings.

Just months after the launch, PeoplePerHour attracted £350,000 of seed investment from prominent angel investors. But for Thrasyvoulou, there is both enjoyment and nobility in the bootstrapping involved in getting a business off the ground. Now on his third business, the Cambridge and Harvard graduate began with boutique lifestyle management business Arcanus, before extending the business to include high-end holidays.

The idea for the site came from the entrepreneur’s previous experience in business. "It was from personal need, I felt the pain factor in trying to find people to execute small but significant pieces of work. It was a nightmare. We all know the problems of hiring and firing... If you want just one thing done as a small company, you’re too small to justify going to a company dealing with it, whether it’s copy writing or having a logo designed. The traditional economies of scale don’t work. It needs to be automated and online."

With the economic downturn upon us, it’s not just ‘typical’ freelancers either. According to Thrasyvoulou, 40% of the users don’t traditionally work in this way, with many of them having 9-5 jobs. PeoplePerHour is counting on exploiting a gap in the market. Thrasyvoulou ‘s opinion? “There’s room for disruption in this space.”

Formed a year ago when ‘citizen journalism’ sites and services were popping up all over the place, newspepper soon failed. But one day, someone at an event asked founder Hermione Way how much the company charged for video services, and something clicked. ‘We’re a new media company giving apprenticeships to students in media. This way, corporations are able to get cheap media and fulfil a corporate social responsibility at the same time...those are the reasons that people choose us.’ Newspepper was reborn in January this year.

Way recently completed a degree in journalism, but found there was a lack of paid work experience for graduates. Unlike in other sectors, media and journalism graduates are often expected to work for large corporations for free, just to get a foot in the door. On top of that, Way feels that graduates are not fully developed. ‘The education system in Britain is so out of date: to be a modern journalist you have to be able to do everything, from writing to podcasts and video. I just finished a journalism course this year and had only been doing text. To be expected to go out into the modern world is just ridiculous.’

The answer to this is Newspepper – students with broadcast skills but not so much in the way of a C.V. are hired by the company, who in turn provide production services to companies who want to get a good deal, and a good night’s sleep. ‘We don’t pay loads; they get the same as they would in a bar or a shop’, says Way. ‘But even though it’s cheap we can still afford to pay our students. Because it’s for the web it doesn’t have to be shot in high definition or anything like that.’ And already companies are finding that the huge savings they can make mean it’s more than worth putting up with ‘mere’ students.

Way is quick to stress that older brother Ben, well-known as one of Britain’s top young entrepreneurs, provides great mentoring advice in his capacity as advisor, but not the financial support that one might assume. Way used her student loan after her second year of university, then pitched to Michael Smith, one of newspepper’s non-executive directors, who put in a further £2000. ‘And the first thing I got was a second hand camera’, she laughs.

But with citizen journalism sites a dime a dozen, Newspepper appears to have hit on a key factor that will drive it forward- a clear source of revenue.

Fairtrade products have become ubiquitous over the last few years, but haven’t by any means reached as many areas of food retail as they could. Obviously coffee comes to mind, as do bananas, but what about all the other food products from developing countries that we take for granted?

Liberation is the first 100% fair trade business, making headlines this week when it launched the ‘Harry’s Nuts’ brand with award winning surrealist comedian Harry Hill. It's a ‘community interest company’ – a social enterprise set up to protect the interest of the community in question. It puts a cap on dividends and locks the assets into the business.

‘We exist to serve the interests of producers and nut farmers, sourcing nuts from five continents...fair trade is giving aid through trade – it’s more sustainable’ , explains managing director Ceri Willmott. Co-operatives of nut growers and exporters at different stages of development work with Liberation. ‘We’ve worked with nascent co-ops and in some cases like Malawi we’ve helped start the co-operative from scratch’, adds Willmott. The largest shareholder is the co-operative itself, which takes a 42% share, while the other 58% of Liberation is owned by ‘ethical investors’. For this reason, the investors attracted to community interest companies are first and foremost concerned with assisting the community in question. On top of that, says Willmott, ‘We invest 1% of all our products in a producer partnership programme...which goes into helping the producers improve their products.’

Liberation is in the same stable as leading fair-trade brand Cafe Direct, being a project of Twin and Equal Exchange. Launched in June 2007 after some time trading as the Ethical Nut Company, the products can be found in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Oxfam, amongst other stores, while 80% of the business is actually ‘own-label’ fair trade nuts for suppliers including the likes of Tesco.

An initial investment of £1.5m got the company off the ground, while a certain level of refinancing is being looked at to continue pushing the brand. But what it all comes down to really, suggests Willmott, is making a difference to the 22,000 farmers and their families. She was a City lawyer before completing a PHD in anthropology and forging a career in international development, and it seems this want for change is pushing the business – and the consumers – forward together. ‘We’re bringing producers from around the world to Kerala in India next month. So farmers from the middle of nowhere in South America will travel to meet with other farmers from the middle of nowhere in India!’ There’s not too many companies who can claim to host such an interesting annual meeting.