Ok it’s not officially Cincy startup week yet, but we’re looking to change that for next year. Our own Everywhere Else Cincinnati conference kicked off the week with two and a half days of 20 minute power talks, keynotes, and panels teaching young entrepreneurs and early stage companies anything and everything from branding to talking to investors.
The Brandery’s annual demo day, an opening of the new Cintrifuse, TED Cincinnati, and #Hack4Good rounded out more events and entrepreneurial experiences than some cities have for their actual startup week.
In planning our conference, we worked closely with The Brandery who actually housed our Cincinnati office as we geared up for the main event. Brandery co-founder Dave Knox kicked off the Everywhere Else conference. Brandery General Manager Mike Bott appeared on a panel about what accelerators are looking for.
Now in it’s fourth year, the Brandery, which some locals believed would never work, continues to improve upon the growing Cincinnati startup ecosystem. Year after year it seems the startups improve and the crowds get even bigger.
The main event for the Brandery startups kicked off Wednesday morning at 8am. Even Proctor & Gamble former CEO Bob McDonald was in attendance alongside some of the biggest investment firms in the country. Folks like Mercury Fund’s Blair Garrou, SoftBank Capital’s Joe Medved, Dundee Venture Capital’s Mark Hasebroock and others made a point to head into town a few days early to also speak to the crowd of hundreds at Everywhere Else.
Bott told cincinnati.com that eight of the ten companies had already lined up follow on funding for after the completion of The Brandery program. Those startups were: Tapfit ($750,000), Chalky ($750,000), and Sqrl ($500,000). Co-Ed Supply has already done $25,000 in sales and raised $150,000 while Frameri, a new way to buy glasses, surpassed their $30,000 Indiegogo goal and raised $43,000.
The stand out from last year’s Brandery class, Flight Car, has already raised over $5 million dollars, graduated from the Y-Combinator program and expanded their peer-to-peer airport car rental services to multiple airports. They are preparing for a launch at LAX later this month.
Nibletz is working with The Brandery, CincyTech, the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, Cintrifuse and other organizations to make the first week of October officially “Cincy Startup Week.”
As a testament to the success of The Brandery, Modulus, a 2012 graduate of The Brandery won the Startup Champion honors at Everywhere Else Cincinnati.
Here are all of the Brandery 2013 companies:
• Awesomatic: Tool allows a business’ customers to support each other.
• Chalky: Connects advice-seekers with mentors who’ve been in their shoes.
• Co-Ed Supply: Delivers box of college essentials on a monthly subscription, connecting brands with the college market.
• Donde: Mobile locator platform helps marketers drive retail sales.
• Dwllr: Allows buyers, sellers and real estate professionals to share information throughout the home-buying process.
• Frameri: Provides interchangeable eyeglass frames with one pair of prescription lenses.
• ShopStoree: Visual commerce platform allows retailers to create interactive online storefronts.
• Sqrl: Tool makes gathering information from clients and groups of people painless. Current focus is on accounting software market.
• Tapfit: Allows users to find, purchase a pass and exercise at studios, gyms and group fitness options that best fit their needs.
The Brandery’s next class will open registration in February. You can find out more about The Brandery here.
Check out our Brandery Coverage at nibletz.com