In the lead-up to our Effective Mobile Marketing Awards Ceremony, weve been previewing the finalists in one of the 30 categories. With the Awards tonight, its time for our final category, and the last of our Peoples Choice categories: the Startup of the Year.

Hero.cx
Hero.cx is a ‘conversational shopping’ app that aims to bring the rich customer experience of bricks-and-mortar retail to online interactions by connecting customers with real-life sales associates using live video. Associates can make instant recommendations, showcase new collections and boost their sales. The app has been adopted by brands including Made, Sefton and Tokyobike, and has been called the “Uberfication of retail”.

Carwow
Led by 29-year-old co-founder and CEO James Hind, UK car purchasing app Carwow hopes to disrupt the traditional second-hand car market with its innovative system. Rather than making consumers haggle down individual dealers, dealers compete to provide the best bid to customers. The unique approach saves customers an average of £3,600 on list prices for cars, and the app has just begun international expansion into Europe.

Dice
Dice is a mobile-first music discovery and ticketing app that enables consumers to avoid the price-inflating fees from similar services like Ticketmaster and See Tickets by dealing directly with artists. The app has been highly praised within the music industry and the tech sphere, with high profile backers including the founders of DeepMind and the creator of Monument Valley. Over 700 artists including Taylor Swift, Jack White and Justin Bieber have sold tickets through the app, and it has recently seen an additional $6m in investment.

Minicabit
A graduate of Dragon’s Den, Minicabit is a London-based ride-hailing startup that enables users to compare prices and features from hundreds of operators, ensuring they receive the best deal, and encouraging competition. The service has already won App of the Year at the Startup Awards 2015, and is aiming to increase its coverage to over 1,000 fleets and beyond the 40 cities it currently operates in.

Molotov.tv
Molotov.tv is a French mobile video startup that’s aiming to disrupt the live-streaming and on-demand video markets with a freemium model that blends the two together, enabling live and on-demand consumption. Users can access 35 channels and 10 hours of recording for free, paying to increase their storage or access more channels, including a selection of movies. Most notably, Molotov has managed to sign up every major French network, as well as a large number of smaller channels and digital-only services.

Zenreach
Zenreach is an automated marketing startup that provides free in-store wi-fi for consumers while helping retailers and the hospitality industry to connect and engage with customers, and bridge the physical/digital divide. In San Francisco, the company estimates that over a third of the population has logged into its service at some point. The startup emerged from stealth earlier this year with $30m in Series B funding and a new board member in the form of Peter Thiel.

Our Award winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in London on 17 November. To book a seat or table, head for the Awards website or call John Owen on 07769 674824.