29. Buyapowa

Founder: Gideon Lask
Founded: July 2011 (launched October 2011)
Website: www.buyapowa.com

A social media explosion over the past few years has, inevitably, led to a deluge of companies attempting to capitalise on the vast marketing potential it offers. Many of them ambitiously claim to push business’ marketing spend to the very limits of its potential, with little to back up these assertions – but having amassed a star-studded client list including Tesco, Pfizer, Sony and Timewarner since launching in 2011, it’s clear that Buyapowa’s offering is more than just the usual hubris.

Rather than focusing on one social media outlet, Buyapowa allows brands, retailers and publishers to create multi-channel social shopping campaigns across multiple devices through a system known as ‘co-buying’. Under Buyapowa’s unique system, the consumers themselves decide what they want to buy through ‘Kickstarter-style’ group buying campaigns, in which groups commit to buy an item in order to drive its price down. The system also promotes ‘gamification’ of e-commerce, incentivising shoppers to bring more friends in through rewards systems. With over 80 clients signed up so far, founder Gideon Lask plans to build on recent business wins in Brazil and the USA by taking the business truly international.