PCR’s Top 30 Women in Mobile

The Top Women in Mobile was intially launched on PCR’s sister title, Mobile Entertainment, however after its closing I was determined to publish this list.

It is packed full of amazing minds and visions that should be recognised and celebrated, and hasn’t even scratched the surface of how many great female innovators are out there contributing to the market.

The mobile industry is one of the fastest moving markets in history. Mobile became an everyday necessity almost instantly, and has been growing ever since.

Some may think that the mobile industry is a largely male dominated space, they would be wrong.

PCR – who also recently lists the Top 50 Women in Tech – wants to get rid of any illusion that men rule the roost in mobile, and prove that, in fact this couldn’t be further from the truth.

See for yourself in our list of some of the best, most influential, most innovative mobile maidens in the UK.

Those who have entered are women who work in a UK-founded company, or work in the UK-based office of a company.

The list is in no particular order and if there is anyone that you think should’ve been included then let us know.

Without further ado, here they are:

PCR’s Top 30 Women In Mobile

Lucy Zakrewska, co-founder, Gig Sq

Lucy is the heartbeat of Gig Sq and works tirelessly to promote, share and support live music in London via our app.

She understands our industry intricately and has a gift for connecting and working with people at any level. We have a lot of work still to do, along with a significantly enhanced product that will go live in early 2015 and again, Lucy will be integral to its success. 

Heather Grunkemeier, product director e-commerce, Expedia

Heather began working at Expedia on a temporary six-month admin role.

During her time she has moved with Expedia from the US to Singapore and now London and covered a range of business areas from building loyalty solutions for Expedia to driving user research in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Korea with a strong focus on developing best in class mobile experiences.

Sarah Groarke, MD, Snack Media

Sarah was among the first marketers in the UK to recognise the emerging trend for second-screening in sport.

As a result in 2007 she co-founded Snack Media, the UK’s first fan engagement agency dedicated to connecting brands with fans via the mobile touch point, working with a number of major companies including Ford, RBS, Capital One and Strongbow.

Rachael Pettit, marketing director, YPlan

Rachael has been responsible for leading YPlan’s marketing team to drive over 1.5 million downloads globally and bag an NPS score of 80%, higher than twitter and Google.

Prior to YPlan she led GetTaxi’s UK marketing team as part of the senior management team. Rachael successfully translated the business model to London, the second launch city outside of Israel through a mixture of PR stunts performance marketing and partnerships.

Catherine Morgan, head of creative solutions, Ocean Outdoor

Catherine leads Ocean Labs which launched in October 2014, a dedicated department that focuses on creative, technical, experiential, data driven and bespoke digital out of home campaigns/specials.

She joined Ocean in October 2012 and has progressed through the ranks very quickly, to a senior member of the award winning sales team.

Florencia Huart, operation and development, Gameloft

Florencia joined Gameloft in 2011, working in the Buenos Aires office before moving to the UK in 2013.

She is responsible for the operation and development of Gameloft’s proprietary distribution platform, and manages Gameloft’s relationships with major mobile operators in the UK and Nordic region. A creative and strategic thinker, Florencia ensures ROI and business objectives are always front of mind.

Kathleen Carter, global head of marketing, Fetch

Kathleen joined Fetch 18 months ago to become its first full time marketing lead at a time when it could have been described as an ambitious independent in stealth mode.

Bringing digital, creative and global marketing skills from her experience at leading agencies MEC, Dare and Havas Digital, Kathleen has played a key role in this fast moving agency’s global expansion plans moving beyond its hub in the tech centres of London and San Francisco to the recently launched Fetch Berlin. 

Kirsty Endfield, freelance communications consultant

Kirsty Endfield is at the forefront of communications and public relations for the UK mobile scene, having worked with the biggest and most influential publishers and developers.

She was responsible for the launch of Hitman GO, which is one of IGN’s Top 10 iOS Games Ever, the Bafta 2015-longlisted Doctor Who: Legacy, and Sonic Dash, which has been downloaded over 65 million times. Kirsty’s previously worked with such companies as Big Fish Casino, Thumbstar, SEGA, Square Enix, GREE, nDreams (Gear VR) and SpaceApe.

Maria Hudson, VP marketing, Acision

Maria Hudson heads up the Corporate Marketing and Communications team at Acision as well as fronting its Rich Communications client, FuseMe overseeing efforts cross-continents.

She is wise to the ways of the industry that elevated Silicon Valley geeks to new rock star status and has brought with it a huge amount of class and strength. An always-online ever-omniscient presence, Maria works around the clock making many things happen for many stakeholders.

Lindsey Pickles, marketing manager, Yodel Mobile

Lindsey has worked in the mobile sector since 1999, working on some of the very first mobile marketing companies including pioneers such as 12snap. 

She has worked across the full spectrum of the mobile content business working with agencies, media partners, network operators and marketing directly to consumers and spent some time working for Richard Desmond at Express Newspaper.

Sabine Douglas, partner manager, Apadmi

Sabine is the Partner Manager at the recently awarded UK’s leading App Developer, Apadmi

Her role sees her focusing on building relationships with new clients to produce extraordinary mobile apps such as BBC iPlayer Radio, the Guardian, Xfactor & the British Museum. Sabine has successfully ensured that Apadmi’s clients understand, and achieve, the ROI that they expect. 

Rimma Perelmuter, CEO & global board director, MEF

Rimma launched MEF from scratch as a global trade body back in 2001 with a group of seven founders dedicated to growing the fledgling mobile entertainment industry. 

In those early pre-iPhone days, the mobile and entertainment industries were separate and distinct. MEF’s aim was to address this chasm by facilitating partnerships across vertical sectors and geographies, driving thought leadership and collaborating with industry to establish self- regulation.

Karen Troop, digital executive producer, Endemol

Karen has worked at Endemol for four years making apps that have seen creative and commercial success, setting the standard in their respective categories.

In particular, Karen has pioneered the most successful TV play along apps in the market, helping redefine the TV viewing experience. She has worked on such projects as The Rolling Stones mobile app, The Million Pound Drop Play Along and Anytime App for the long running TV series and The Singer Takes It All app for the recent Channel 4 TV show

Laura Fordham, advertising solutions manager, PubMatic

Laura joined PubMatic in February rapidly making an impact on our business growth.

Recently, Laura was behind the transformation of a well-known UK publisher’s mobile advertising strategy. Her efforts saw It receive tens of millions of mobile app impressions a month

Through providing strategic counsel and working closely with the client to maximise its digital mobile advertising strategy, Laura drove the go-to-market strategy, which resulted in its mobile app inventory eCPMS increasing 400%.

Salone Sehgal, CEO, TrulySocial Limited

Salone started her career as an M&A analyst in India and went on to build a career in Investment Banking and Private Equity.

Her career took her across the world. Within a short span of time, under her leadership, she restructured the company, raised a funding round, got selected and graduated from StartupBootcamp – Europe’s most prestigious accelerator programme, built an exceptionally talented team and scaled the startup in record time.

Sarah Weller, MD, Mubaloo London

Sarah became the London Managing Director of enterprise mobile consultancy and app developer, Mubaloo in July 2013 after joining to company as marketing manager.

Sarah has been responsible for doubling the size of the London team and is involved in new business, marketing and also new initiatives for the company, such as the firm’s MiBeacons location-based services division and working closely with both partners and clients.

Kate Barry, VP of client services, EMEA, Amobee

Kate Barry joined Amobee as Media Director in July 2013. She was one of two initial employees responsible for establishing and growing Amobee’s EMEA presence from the company’s London office.

Today, she has risen to her current position as the VP of EMEA Client Services in recognition of her talent and influence within the industry. Her team is comprised of experts across disciplines including Client Services, Media Planning and Creative.

Hannah Pym, marketing manager, Apadmi

Hannah Pym heads up the Marketing department at mobile app development company Apadmi, having joined the company 18 months ago from an agency role in London.

Since Hannah’s appointment, the company has won new business with clients such as the General Medical Council and the British Institute of Radiology and gained recognition as a Top 10 Global App Developer as well as winning the prestigious accolade of App Developer of the Year 2014.

Denise Breslin, parter mobile ad sales, Mobsta

Denise is a partner in UK Mobile Ad Sales network, so far driving the company’s Geo-targeting product.

Mobsta claims to be one of the top Geo providers in UK advertisers, as stated by a number of senior UK agency personnel. Denuse has worked at Mobsta for 3 years but was previously at Velti, Mobile Money Networks and Bluepod Media. Her mobile experience is extensive and she is widely know by most involved in this sector.

Gianna Illenseer, senior product manager, Somo

Gianna has been at Somo for almost three years as Product Manager. She has a proven track record of defining award-winning digital and mobile products, and delivering them successfully.

Gianna worked with clients such as Audi, Caffe Nero, Diageo, Visit England, Hearst Magazines, BP, B/S/H, De Beers, Summly, Nature, plus many more. Since working with Somo, she has won numerous awards for my applications. Her previous roles include six years experience as freelancer for Web Design and Development.

Brooke McGregor, sales account manager, Mapp Media

Brooke started with us from New Zealand, having no prior experience of the UK market.

Her positive, bright, ambitious and innovative personality has benefitted the way she has presented mobile as a whole to the industry and presented Mapp Media as a portfolio of platforms that deliver bespoke, creative & engaging advertising solutions.

Lucy Blundell, graphics design manager, Chillingo

Lucy has been at the forefront of design on mobile working to create everything from truly ‘iconic’ icons, to app store screens and mobile advertising campaigns.

Lucy has been working on assets, UI and illustrations for mobile games, for over five years, in that time she has basically worked on some major brands in the industry from Contre Jour to Cut The Rope as well as existing IP from He-Man to Bear Grylls.

Tamara Sword, director, TRM&C

Tamata exited Aurasma after transitioning the company through an acquisition by HP, moving over to run TRM&C – a strategy agency set up to give early stage tech companies access to world-class tech marketing.

Still very focused on mobile – amongst other clients, the company drive all Marketing and Strategic Partnerships for Traces, a new app designed by neuroscientist Beau Lotto that lets users hide secret messages in location for friends to discover. The August launch was covered by Mashable, Vice, New Scientist, Wired.

Dr Catherine Mulligan, head of digital strategy and economics, Future Cities Catapult

Dr. Mulligan achieved her PhD’s at the University of Cambridge. Her colleagues praise her intellectual capacity, management skills and humanism in any field –in particular, in the telecom industry.

She has turned around several different strategic groups ensuring their continued success. Her fellow colleagues have also shared their admiration of her ability to combine the technical facts with the personnel implications in such a way as to influence controlled change in an industry that is growing and changing at a phenomenal rate.

Alex Kozloff, head of mobile, IAB

Alex joined the IAB in 2010 and since then she has led several industry first research projects in mobile, including the IAB’s Mobile Ad Effectiveness Research.

During Alex’s time at the IAB, the mobile advertising industry has grown from £28m in 2008 to pass the landmark figure of £1bn in 2013. Alex has previously appeared The Drum Mobile Top 50 in 2013 and 2014, and has most recently been nominated for Mobile Marketing Magazine’s mobile marketer of 2014. 

Libby Robinson, MD EMEA, M&C Saatchi Mobile

Libby is without a doubt one of the most intelligent and enthusiastic women currently working within the mobile industry.

From leading M&C Saatchi’s global clients, to having full autonomy and ownership of the businesses EMEA P&L, there really is no job too big or small. Libby has a deep knowledge of mobile and digital, as is an approachable, inspirational and passionate leader.

Jackie Vause, director of digital, mobile and social, Dimoso

Jacki has been working with technology companies for more than fifteen years, and understood the rising and potential of the mobile sector at its start.

In 2011, Jacki co-founded dimoso, the PR and marketing agency specialised in supporting companies in the mobile industry, that she now owns and leads. Jacki is always involved in the planning of communication strategies, and is the first point of contact for all the potential clients "with an app idea" that she screens.

Danielle Newnham, co-founder, We Make Play

Danielle was on the founding team of mobile apps studio, Ubinow, which started in London in 2008.

As the only non-technical member, she helped grow the company and client list to include work for Cadbury’s, adidas, Universal Pictures, The Royal Navy and Diageo.?? An advocate for getting more women into tech and entrepreneurship, she co-founded Tease and Totes to sell slogan tops to women who “curb convention”.

Caroline Van De Bergh, head of business development, Golden Gekko

Caroline works to develop objectives, strategies and understanding of how mobile can provide solutions and help develop and grow existing or new businesses.

She has built a plethora of relationships with key UK brands including O2, Tesco, Compare the Market, Ford, and Virgin. Her career was spent working in Mobile from Mobile network 3, the first mobile DRM company Lockstream, Buongiorno, Vodafone, Nokia and now Golden Gekko and could call herself a veteran of the mobile industry. 

Cordelia Meacher, founder, Fieldhouse Associates

Cordelia founded FieldHouse Associates in early 2012, with 20 years experience in PR. She specialises in working with high growth businesses in the mobile, digital and tech space helping them get to progress.

Cordelia has worked with a huge range of clients over the years including Pearson, Telefonica, DMGT, Erste Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Octopus Investments, MMC Ventures, Somo, Marmalade, and EVRYTHNG. Cordelia is also a BBC Labs mentor; a Techpreneur Judge; a Tech London Advocate; and on the Advisory Board of Silicon Valley Comes to the UK and the Angel Academe.