Six teams from the UK have seen off competition from nearly 100 international applicants to join us for 13 weeks at Electric Works in Sheffield.

We think their products  are a great showcase of how cloud and web technology can be used to create disruptive platforms that change the way we do things in our business and personal lives.

The ideas range widely, bringing new cloud-based technology to disrupt markets as diverse as car buyers and dealers, live gigs, and hospitality. Some of the other data-intensive products include sophisticated technologies to improve writing and content generation, a natural language interface for data-mining, and an elegantly simple timeline of everything you might be interested in.

Delver: Getting your answers, quickly.
Flowify: Real-time workflow management in the hospitality industry.
GigOwl: Find, organise and promote live music.
Motoneer: New car shopping made easy.
Scholarly: Technology to write better.
Twile: The time of your life.

Stay tuned to see how they go.

We want to say a big thanks to all of you who have expressed an interest in the programme, those of you who have submitted applications, and all the mentors, partners and other friends of the programme who have helped us reach out to hundreds of startups across every continent.

Sit back, relax … the next bit is out of your hands, so take 5 minutes to enjoy the calm.

We’re spending the next few days shortlisting for telephone interviews. We’ll contact successful applicants from the end of this week, over the weekend and into next week.

Keep Thursday 14 March free – that’s when final interviews will take place with the investors in Sheffield.

Good luck everyone!

Missed out? Keep up to date with the news of this and future programmes.

Image credit: ocularvision

These destinations are so obviously super attractive when you are looking in from the outside, and it is very easy to miss what other places have to offer.

Scott Belsky, founder of the creative portfolio platform Behance, has just written a cracking article explaining why he chose to build his startup in New York City, rather than Silicon Valley.

In the end, choosing the right location for your startup boils down to the culture of the place, and its tech ecosystem.  The way Scott describes it really resonated with us at dotforge HQ:

 grounded aspirations

A tech company in NYC is seldom just about the tech. Most of the entrepreneurial designers and developers I know in NYC want to solve a problem … It’s about the fix versus the dream.

collaboration based on interests

The NYC technology community is still a community, not a scene … And when we work together, it is usually out of shared interests rather than to associate with big names. 

 strong loyal teams

Tech in NYC is more of a medium than a mission. Teams assemble for more of the right reasons – genuine interest in the product, culture fit, and mission. As a result, teams stick together.  

In each of these snippets, I could easily swap “NYC” for “Sheffield, UK” and it would fit perfectly.  Which is kind if nice. It speaks of our legacy in Sheffield, and it helps us remember the culture  and spirit in which we want to realise our ambitions, and the kind of startups we want to attract here.

In many ways we are still finding our global identity in Sheffield. But if we take the US as our frame of reference, we could say that Sheffield is to London what NYC is to Silicon Valley.

The other thing Scott’s article reminded me of was an observation from Jon Bradford (TechStars London, formerly Springboard).  The chief at London’s Google Campus, Eze Vidra, describes him as a “force of nature when it comes to running [accelerator] programmes,” and he’s been working closely with us to help develop dotforge:

Startups are usually drawn to capital cities, but Sheffield UK is poised to be one of the world’s top startup destinations, especially for cloud-powered businesses. dotforge is just one part of the organic startup ecosystem that’s taking shape up there. It’s more like the city as an accelerator, they’re building Europe’s startup engine room. Definitely worth a second look.

Take your second look at dotforge here. The deadline for applications is noon GMT on Mon 25 Feb. There’s not long left now, so if you’re interested, begin your application and holler at us if you get stuck.

Apply to accelerate your startup »

Dan Dukeson is co-founder of Sheffield-based OrderHarmony which provides online stock & order management for retail shops and online stores. Dan and co-founder Ed successfully completed a similar programme to dotforge in December last year.

dotforge: Before OrderHarmony applied for the programme, what state was the company in? How long had you been trading for?

Dan: We’d been live with customers for just over a year when we applied so we had revenues, but we were at that difficult stage where you seem to be pushing hard and getting nowhere fast.

dotforge: It’s a little unusual for a startup that’s been trading with customers for a year to apply. What did you want out out of the programme?

Dan: We needed to become more investment-ready. We started out as two techies, and since we were bootstrapping the company with our own savings we didn’t really know how to talk the language. For me personally, I needed to start focussing on business first, code second, and the accelerator seemed like it might help me to make that transition.

dotforge: Did the programme help you do that?

Dan: Yes definitely. Spending time with mentors (and investors amongst them) helped us to focus on the most important issues rather than the most fun stuff. As a developer its easy to revert to type and treat every problem as a software problem. We also learned how to refine the pitch. Telling dozens of strangers your business plans and hearing their feedback will tend to focus things.

dotforge: Aside from the programme and investment, what else did you get from the programme? What was it like working so closely with other startups?

Dan: Spending 12 hours+ a day in the office with other startups was one of the best things. Surrounded by people who were obsessed with getting their own businesses moving was a big motivator. People helped one another out a lot but it was great how people were genuinely chuffed when another team made progress. I still spend an hour or two on the phone to other teams a week, talking tactics. That’s a support network of peers that I didn’t have before.

dotforge: OrderHarmony is a Sheffield-based startup; if teams are successful in joining dotforge, what can they expect from being based in the city?

Dan: Sheffield is a great city. I came here to university in 1998 and never left. The startup “scene” is more nascent than other cities but there are some serious tech businesses here just getting on with it. It’s small enough that people know each other or they know who can help.

dotforge: Finally, what’s your one piece of advice for startups looking to apply this year?

Dan: Think big, do your homework, ask for help.

If you’re determined to apply for an accelerator, location probably isn’t your primary concern but we appreciate you don’t want to go broke attending the programme. The good news is that you don’t have to worry. Wherever you live in the EU, it’s affordable and straight-forward to reach Sheffield.

Cheap flights and lots of them

As well as nearby Robin Hood Airport, Sheffield is close to Leeds-Bradford, Manchester and East Midlands Airports. We’re a frugal bunch in the North, so there’s no shortage of budget airlines with dozens of routes serving Europe.

Live in Poland? We’ve got you covered. What about Iceland? Not a problem. Nearly all the European airlines have routes into one of these airports. If you’re looking to apply from further afield, many international airlines fly into Manchester.

If you’re not sure whether there’s a route connecting your hometown and dotforge, try the likes of Skyscanner or feel free to ask us on Twitter.

How far from London?

Sheffield isn’t in another realm to London. It’s barely two hours from Sheffield to the capital, and you’ll find plenty of companies doing lots of business in both.

Live in France or Belgium?

Trains from Sheffield direct to St Pancras in London, which also happens to be the Eurostar terminal. That means you can travel by rail from Paris to Sheffield in under 5 hours.

Any more questions? Get in touch on email or Twitter.

This Wed 6 Feb we are dropping into Leicester, and would love to meet you and your team, especially if you’d like to find out more about the dotforge programme.  We’ll be camped 10:30am – 11:30am at Leicester Startups meetup (at Phoenix Arts).

If you’re thinking of applying or want to meet up, drop us a tweet or a message to let us know you’re coming, and then please do come say hello to Jag!

Can’t make Leicester? We’ve also got office hours in London, Manchester, Leeds and  Barnsley in Feb 2013.

On Tuesday 12 Feb from 9am – 11am, we will be at Barnsley Breakfast Club hosted by the Digital Media Centre, and would love to meet you and your team, especially if you’d like to find out more about the dotforge programme.

If you’re thinking of applying or want to meet up, drop us a tweet or a message to let us know you’re coming, and then please do come say hello!

Can’t make Barnsley? We’ve also got office hours in Leeds, Manchester and London in Feb 2013.

This Friday 8 Feb we’re pitching up in London for the day, and would love to meet you and your team, especially if you’d like to find out more about the dotforge programme.  We’ll be camped 12pm – 4pm at Central Working (at Google Campus) and then heading on to the Strongroom for Silicon Drinkabout from 6pm – 8pm,

If you’re thinking of applying or want to meet up, drop us a tweet or a message to let us know you’re coming, and then please do come say hello to Jag or Emma!

Can’t make London? We’ve also got office hours in Manchester, Leeds and  Barnsley in Feb 2013.

We’ll be there for drop-in office hours from 4pm – 6pm on Wednesday 6 Feb, and would love to meet you and your team if you’d like to find out more about dotforge and how the programme can boost your startup.  If you’re thinking of applying and want to ask us any questions,  drop us a tweet or a message to let us know.

We’ll be sticking around in the evening too from 6:30pm, when Martin Bryant from The Next Web presents How to Pitch to the Media. So, if you can’t make it during the day, please do say hello to Jag or Emma!

Can’t make Manchester? We’ve also got office hours in Leeds, London and  Barnsley in Feb 2013.

We’re kicking off in Leeds at the monthly edition of LSxCafe. Community Manager Emma will be there from 10am – 11:30am on Tuesday 5 Feb, and would love to meet you and your team if you’d like to find out more about dotforge and how the programme can boost your startup.  If you’re thinking of applying and want to ask us any questions,  drop us a tweet or a message to let us know.

Can’t make Leeds? We’ve also got office hours in Manchester, London and  Barnsley in Feb 2013.