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Lumia
March 28, 2014

How AppCademy is helping Windows Phone developers make app magic



Are you an aspiring Windows Phone app developer? Ever wondered what kind of support is on offer for you and your ilk from Nokia and Microsoft?

Well, AppCampus is the answer: a mobile application accelerator program based in Espoo, Finland, which funds and supports exciting new talent and is financed by no other than (you guessed it!) Nokia and Microsoft. More specifically, though, we’re excited about AppCampus’s two-week long seed acceleration program, AppCademy – a residential programme that fosters the best of the best talent to come through the AppCampus system. The next AppCademy is kicking off on Monday March 31st, and will run through until April 11th 2014.

It’s an appy world!

So how does it work? It’s an invite-only programme: all attendees have been hand-picked by the AppCademy team from the pool of AppCampus alumni. Having been chosen, then, for their dedication and promise, twenty teams of international development hotshots will descend upon Espoo from as far afield as Brazil, Singapore and Italy. The programme will provide participants with accommodation and travel expenses; world-class coaching and workshops; the opportunity to learn which tools and techniques have helped past participants succeed; and, of course, networking opportunities, both with other developers and with AppCampus, Nokia and Microsoft gurus. Make no mistake: this isn’t a geek-out holiday camp. Rather, it’s a full-time intensive experience, with scheduled activities and assignments running daily between 09:00 and 17:00.Developers, prepare thyselves! To get a sense of how it works, check out this video made during last year’s AppCademy.

Marketing magic

Why two weeks, you might ask? Well, while the eagle-eyed amongst you might have clocked that previous incarnations of AppCademy ran for a whole month, this new shorter pilot version is designed to be a more targeted, streamlined experience: alongside all the usual excellent tried-and-tested modules, this AppCademy will hone particularly in on the part of the development process that causes the most headaches for our tech whizz-kids: their Go To Market strategy and implementation. What this means is that the teams will get intensive sessions on pitching, app store optimization, digital marketing, PR and Communications, and Go-To-Market, which is all about accelerating development time and getting the end product out to users.

It’s launch time!

What’s the outcome? The idea is for each team to have launched or demoed their app successfully by the end of the fortnight. With all the targeted coaching, one-to-one sessions, and business and marketing advice and training in branding, positioning, design, monetization and more, the AppCademy participants ought to have no trouble finding their marketplace niche. Sound like hard work? It is: but it’s also set up to be fun, because the AppCademy team are all about passion and enthusiasm as well as graft. This is Finland, home of the sauna, after all: the invitations to participate strongly advise folk to pack their swimming trunks.

appcademy autumn graduation 2013

We’re very much looking forward to seeing what apptastic gems these AppCademy top guns create in the next two weeks. However, if you can’t wait that long be sure to head over to AppCampus where you’ll find the fruits of previous labours ready to download for your Lumia pleasure. And if you have any questions, queries or comments, we’d love hear them down below.