IBTM Canvas Planner
Painting by numbers
IBTM World’s Accelerate stage put the spotlight on burgeoning event
start-ups – and one tech company came away with €5,000
he 2019 edition of IBTM
World in Barcelona’s
Fira Gran Via featured
a new stage, focused on
cutting-edge event tech startups.
The IBTM Accelerator stage was
home to pitches from a series of
small businesses over the course
of two days, with a panel of judges
eventually deciding on a winner.
They received a giant cheque worth
€5,000, as well as the mentorship
and experience of one of the judges.
In the ‘graduation’ ceremony, it
was Canvas Planner who came out
on top – a business which provides
online planning software in a
highly visual, easily readable form.
The business was set up in 2017
by sisters Jane Houlind Ulsøe and
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
Nanna Ulsøe, as a reaction to the
surplus of spreadsheets and emails
which the pair saw being used in
the event planning process.
“Canvas Planner is designed for a
world that has grown used to visual
media – the kind we experience
every day in our online social lives,”
says Jane Houlind Ulsøe. “This is
what sets us apart from the market.
We are delivering a platform that is
as simple to use as possible.”
“When you organise an event,
you have a lot of stakeholders, a lot
of information. If you need to pass
that information on, you waste a lot
of time on emails.
“With Canvas Planner, if a team
or a third party needs to jump
into a new event, they can quickly
Above:
Jane Houlind
Ulsøe, co-
founder of
Canvas planner
understand how it works.”
The streamlined nature of the
platform clearly appealed to the
IBTM Accelerator judges, who
awarded them the victory. But
beyond the money, Ulsøe says
that the exposure they received at
IBTM World was hugely beneficial:
“Winning on the Accelerate stage
validated what we are trying to
do, and of course the money was
nice. We can use that for our sales
strategy and marketing.”
So, what next for Canvas Planner?
“Together with Jason Allan Scott,
our new mentor, we will go and
spread our vision as far as we can.
We will go out and showcase Canvas
Planner to as many people as
possible.”
Issue 6 2019
13