A few weeks ago during SXSW we had heard some rumblings that DC area native Paul Singh was tapping his network back east and preparing to launch a startup of his own, sort of.

This announcement from TechCocktail says it’s official. Armed with a $250,000 investment from DC based NextGenAngels, Singh is embarking on a mission to take a system he developed that has been used internally at 500 Startups and bring it out to the world.

While we were in Silicon Valley last week we stopped by for a three hour tour and a cool session with 500 Startups Fire Chief George Kellerman. Kellerman reiterated the positive things that many of the 500 Startups founders we’ve talked to have said about their internal dashboard system, which is the Dashboard.io product Singh is now working on full time.

The dashboard system has allowed 500 Startups founders, and 400 accelerator companies to communicate internally with VC’s, Angels and Mentors. Sarah Ware, CEO and Founder at 500 Startups alum Markerly, told us “The dashboard system gives us access to people that may not necessarily correspond with us outside of the system.” Being a 500 Startups company certainly gives a startup credibility but Ware added “potential investors and mentors get back to us quicker when the message comes through the system.”

“This thing is so deceivingly simple, but it’s amazing that no VCs have really innovated in this space,” Singh said to TechCocktail.

New startups sign up for the system using Angel List. Dashboard.io gives them access to their investor’s networks where they can start having discussions, send private messages and make comments. If a startup shares their analytics, the system gives investors access to comparative data on how the startup stacks up against other startups and their competition.

As of this writing there have been 18,509 interactions, 2,224 mentor sessions across 1,044 funded startups.

For more info check out dashboard.io

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