Pauline van Dongen & Surfly are finalists for 2014 SXSW Interactive Accelerator Pitch

Sat, Mar 8 - Sun, Mar 9  2014

For the 2014 SXSW Accelerator pitch competition presented by Oracle, more than 500 web-based companies applied for their chance to shine at Startup Village. On January 22, 2014 SXSW Interactive announced the finalists who will pitch on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9 at the Hilton Downtown Austin, representing some of the world’s most innovative entrepreneurial thinking. Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen and Dutch web sharing company Surfly are among the finalists.

The level of innovative ideas that were submitted made it very challenging to pick the top companies for each category. Some highlights include online identity verification that will help eliminate fraud and increase revenues for retailers, and a service that enhances your travel experience allowing you to point your smart-phone camera and translate images instantly without a data connection.

On Saturday, March 8, 2014 the preliminary rounds. will take place, and on Sunday, March 9, the top three startups from the previous day will each have a final chance to impress the judges (and the audience) to be named the best in their category. The winners in each category (plus several special awards) at will be announced at the inaugural SXSW Accelerator Ceremony on Sunday evening, March 9.

Pauline van Dongen is a finalist in the Wearable Technologies Category. She is a fashion designer working closely with companies in the field of science and innovation. She aims to merge fashion and technology. Her project Wearable Solar is an example of wearable technology integrating solar cells into garments.

Surfly is a finalist in the Social Technologies Category. The company makes surfing the web together as easy as clicking a link. Simply open surfly.com, enter the relevant website and share the resulting link. It just works – on any website – without extra software or setup.