Data and AI are hot. No wonder that many new tech companies are involved in this. Thirteen international startups and scale-ups, mainly active in the field of data and AI, presented themselves on the MatchMaking Day of MediaMatters to seven Dutch media companies. With success, because 25 matches were made.

It was already the seventh time MediaMatters organized such an event. Again with an international group of companies, because the thirteen startups and scale-ups came from eight countries. After two editions in Vondel CS in Amsterdam, the location was this time the M-building in Hilversum. That underwent a major renovation last year.

In the morning there was a program for only the startups and scale-ups. They got an overview of the media landscape in the Netherlands. After that there was an opportunity to do their pitch. Experts from MediaMatters then gave feedback to maximize the chance of a successful match. The comments were taken to heart, because many presentations were drastically changed at the last moment.

After lunch it was time for the real thing. The startups and scale-ups each got three minutes to present their solution for the media companies. Based on the pitches, the media companies could schedule a conversation with a startup that was interesting for them. This was done with an app from Boiler, a partner of MediaMatters.

In total, almost 40 meetings were held between the Dutch media companies present (NPO, Persgroep, Talpa Network, RTL, AVROTROS, ANP and Bindinc) and the startups and scale-ups. In 25 cases there was a 'match', varying from 'we have to explore whether we can do business' to 'we certainly have to talk further'.

Echobox was the most successful. The London-based company had four interviews with media companies and in all cases there was a match. One on one, something Frederico Sattanino of Echobox was very happy with. The Dutch flow.ai also scored well, as did the British/French company Synchronized. They both had three matches. Also the podcast platform Lytt from Norway, from batch 8 MediaMatters-partner Next Media Accelerator, was satisfied with the result. Linn Dyveke Wilberg of Lytt had the NPO and de Persgroep in her sights and succeeded in making a follow-up appointment with both.

The coming weeks will be exciting for the startups and scale-ups. Meetings will have to show whether the match will actually lead to business for them. Because that is ultimately the goal of MediaMatters and of course also where the tech companies came for.

Below is a video impression of the MatchMaking Day on February 1.