International Innovation at Northside Festival

Last week, Northside Festival, called by some the South by Southwest of the East, took over a corner of Williamsburg for film, music, and innovation. Now in its seventh iteration, Northside is growing bigger each year – this year with horizons beyond New York, and the US itself.Most striking was the number of international startups present – both at the Northside Innovation Expo and with several of their own special regional pitch sessions. While last year the Netherlands was the only country representing, this year each corner of the Innovation Expo tent housed a cohort of startups from a different European country or region, including Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia.Dutch, Belgian, and Swiss startups faced off in the “Heart of Europe” pitch session, featuring Swiss startup Fotokite (which is exactly as cool as it sounds – a flying, leashed camera), Flatev, described by its expressive and hilarious co-founder, CarlosRuiz, as “a nespresso for tortillas,” and the winner of the competition, Dutch iLost, “the search engine for lost and found.”Directly following the Heart of Europe competition was a special Hungarian startups showcase, with nine Hungarian startups pitching back to back. Notable startups included contest winner PublishDrive, an ebook distributing company that graduated from Estonian accelerator program Startup Wiseguys, Unibreeze, "EventBrite for college students," and TEP, a sport tracker app/tomagatchi hybrid.Film and music from the same countries were also on display throughout week, with screenings and performances, like that of the poignant Hungarian film For Some Inexplicable Reason, or the electric sounds of Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Hungary during the International Music Night showcase.New York is the place to be – and others are taking note. Looking forward to welcoming startups from some of these countries at International Week 2015! Hope to see you there.