HENRi@Nestlé heads to SXSW in search of the next big idea

by Startacus Admin

Following HENRi@Nestlé’s involvement at this year’s 4YFN event in Barcelona, suitcases are once again packed, this time with the team heading to South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas in search of the next big idea.

Key to HENRi’s proposition is enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future. To achieve this ambition, HENRi - via its open innovation platform - is partnering and collaborating with innovative and equally ambitious startups. 

Indeed, HENRi’s ambitious goals cannot be achieved in isolation or exclusively in an online capacity. As such, HENRi is heading to SXSW to gain new connections, countless points of inspiration, and a fresh perspective on current challenges. Often, it’s the unexpected discoveries that lead to new ground breaking ideas and this is exactly what HENRi hopes to find at SXSW. 

Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. However, delve just a little deeper and you’ll find that the week-long event has an abundance of startup and tech focused events and gatherings that would rival any other tech & startup event globally.

SXSW aims to prove that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. And this is precisely why HENRi will be taking a proactive approach to meet with new startups and open up conversations with partners.

Pete Blackshaw - Global Head of Digital Social Media at Nestlé - whose professional background encompasses public policy, digital marketing, and brand management will be taking part in a one hour panel at SXSW called “Concierge Marketing: Customer Experience 3.0.” Here he will be discussing how brands can reach consumers in today’s concierge economy, along with Dana Reinglass, Chief storyteller for United Airlines, and Angela Patterson, Chief Nurse Practitioner of CVS Minute Clinic.

Whilst in the US, HENRi@Nestlé will also be using the visit as an opportunity to conduct a number of internal presentations in order to engage & inspire key business units and will also visit arguably the number one food innovation accelerator in the World, Food-X Accelerator, based in New York. 

Gerardo Mazzeo, Global Innovation Director at Nestlé, who recently discussed corporate and startup collaboration with team Startacus, had this to say about HENRi@Nestlé’s participation at SXSW: 

“Our goal at HENRi@Nestlé is clear. We want to work with the most innovative and creative startups on projects that matter, so that we can truly make a difference to the world we live in. This is a huge ambition and we need to work with entrepreneurs from all over the world to achieve this. To this end, events like SXSW are hugely important when it comes to making those valuable connections and taking inspiration from innovative startups. On the road, I’ve met some truly incredible entrepreneurs, with astonishing creativity and ambition. I’m excited to see the talent that SXSW holds and I’m hopeful that this will generate many more valuable partnerships that are based on shared purpose and mutually-beneficial collaboration.” 

We look forward to finding what success comes from the SXSW visit and where next the HENRi@Nestlé team land next.

 

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Published on: 8th March 2018