At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year we’re teaming up with the creators of an awesome new event which runs alongside MWC, called Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival. Consider this the “Off Broadway” or Fringe Festival of MWC, where you get to actually talk about the real issues in the mobile startup ecosystem in a lively debate format.

This interactive event will feature some of the most innovative and interesting startups and investors on the scene. Sponsored by Oracle, GetTaxi, Telesocial and Swiftkey (with further sponsorship opportunities available), this should be a great way to kick start your week in Barcelona.

So here are the details for our TechCrunch @ Barcelona Lunch Meetup:

Date: Monday 27th February

Time: Doors open at 12.30 for a prompt 1pm start. We will be serving a sit-down lunch. Doors close at 3.30pm.
Location: “Aquarella” Restaurant

Venue: Aquarella, Gran Via 572, 08011 Barcelona. (Two Metro stops to Universitat or a short cab ride from La Fira. A MWC12 Exhibition ticket is NOT required for entry).

Tickets: Available to purchase here

Exhibition tables: Available to purchase here

As well as a lunch attended by the main players in the scene, we’ll be having two panel discussion. One from a mobile start-up perspective and the other from an investor / corporate perspective.

Themes for the panel discussion:

• Building mobile startups to get big fast
• Mobile games
• Raising VC for mobile startups
• Making the app stores work for you
• Getting Carriers excited about your app
• Monetization and app distribution secrets
• The rise of the tablet economy
• New devices breaking onto the market
• Developing for the platforms – the latest trends amongst startups
• And plenty more besides!

If you’d like to sponsors the event, please email Helen Keegan on helen (AT) beepmarketing.com

SCHEDULE

12.30 – Doors open to guests

1.00 – Everyone is seated and first course is served

1.15 – 1.45 WELCOME

PANEL 1
Mobile Startups: The Disruptors Are Coming!

SPEAKERS
Carlos Conti, Inveready Capital
Neal Fullman, CEO Get Taxi
Liraz Axelrad, Soundcloud
Tom Bradley, DN Capital
Tomaž Štolfa, Vox.io

1.45 – Second course is served

2.00 – 2.30

PANEL 2
Mobile Startups and Corporate Relations:
How to scale up and what are the opportunities for working with large
corporates (or not)?

SPEAKERS:
Bill Waytena, CEO Telesocial
Krishna Visvanathan, DFJ Esprit
Redg Snodgrass, Alcatel Lucent
Di-Ann Eisnor, Waze

2.30 – desert/coffees are served

2.45 – 3.15

PANEL 3

Mobile Showcase, Against The Dragons

30 second Elevator pitches (no slides) & responses from our panel of “Dragons”:
Daniel Hoepfner, PressMatrix
Appromoter
Aurasma

Dragons:
Jonathan Reynolds, CEO Swiftkey
Adam Ghei, Accel
TBC

3.15-3.45pm
FINISH, THANKS AND NETWORKING

Sponsors so far:

We are very grateful to our first sponsors who have helped make this event happen.

SwiftKey: SwiftKey makes typing much easier on Android smartphones, replacing the touchscreen keyboard with one powered by smarter natural language technology. The app understands how words work together to give incredibly accurate corrections and can accurately predict a user’s next word. It also powerfully learns over time to make typing even more accurate and users can personalise it using Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, SMS or their blog posts. SwiftKey has received more than five million downloads since its launch in 2010, saving users more than 35 billion keystrokes — or over 400 years’ worth of typing. The app supports 35 languages and is a finalist in this year’s Global Mobile Awards, in the Most Innovative Mobile App category.

Oracle’s OTN Java Developer Community: Java is the foundation for virtually every type of networked application and is the global standard for developing and delivering mobile applications, games, Web-based content, and enterprise software. As the steward of Java technology, Oracle’s OTN Java Developer Community is leading the technical innovation to enable developers worldwide to efficiently develop and deploy exciting new Java applications and services in a multi-device world. Learn more: http://oracle.com/java

GetTaxi opened its doors in August 2011 and was the first Taxi app to launch in the UK. Founded in Israel in 2010 and aggressively expanding into European markets the company has since received multi million pound institutional investment. GetTaxi allows Smartphone users (iPhone, Android and Blackberry) to order a taxi at the tap of a button on their mobile device or via a web interface. End to end instant connection between drivers and passengers means lower dispatch fees, a lower drop rate, more immediate service, and more fares.

Telesocial is the Mobile Operators’ last mile to the social web. They deliver core communication services directly into social networks and apps. With their Social Directory technology, they deliver mobile-to-mobile calls from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social platforms.Telesocial’s white-label apps bring core communication services directly into a social networking environment, for increased subscriber value and revenue.Find out more at Telesocial.com