by Andy Donner, Jen McCabe, Stead Burwell and Geoffrey Rutledge
Funders vs. Funded... The Rise of Pharma VC's: A discussion with Pharma about their new VC funds. The Funded: A discussion with recently funded health tech startups. This session is sponsored by Edelman.
Social discovery is the new kid on the block in the startup scene. Glancee, Highlight, Banjo, and Sonar are this year's SXSW hottest darlings. This session will provide a detailed analysis of this space by Andrea Vaccari, cofounder and CEO of Glancee. First, we will understand what is social discovery and why it is here to stay, ready to fullfil an already existing yet underserved market at the intersection of social networking and dating services. Then we will look at today's landscape: what are the most interesting players in the space, how they differentiate from one another, how they are tackling growth and privacy concerns, and how they play along with existing social norms. Finally, we will discuss about the future of social discovery: the long-term vision of bringing together the best of our physical and digital worlds, and the opportunity to create valuable services that can be easily monetized.