Startupland: The Movie, Chronicling Real Life In A Top Metropolitan (everywhere else) Accelerator

by Kyle in Accelerator, DC, Everywhere Else, Interviews, kickstarter, Startup News, Startups
1 Comment 0 Like 3,848

StartupLand, DC startups, Fortify.vc, The Fort, Jonathon Perrelli, startup movie

Justin Gutwein is a film maker and startup junkie who has combined his love of entrepreneurship and startups with his love of filmmaking with a little help from the most recent graduating class at Fortify.vc.

Gutwein has taken to Kickstarter to fund the post production and finishing costs of the Startupland documentary series. Startupland chronicles the lives of LegCyte, RidePost, SnobSwap, TrendPro, and TripTribe, who were all part of the spring cohort at Washington, DC’s “The Fort” accelerator, led by Jonathon Perrelli.

There have been a few spins on a “startup series.” Techstars did a series with Bloomberg that was great for entrepreneurs, but it looked more at the program and the program’s founders. Then there was that Randi Zuckerberg mess that didn’t really relate to any startup founders. What makes Startupland different, and necessary, is all the raw footage that Gutwein shot. None of it was scripted or orchestrated, aside from editing each episode for time, and to capture the story. It’s a real look at what an accelerator is like.

“JP [Jonathon Perelli] didn’t even want to be in the movie. He let me have full access to the startups and the program, but Startupland is about the startups and the stories are told by the startups themselves,” Gutwein told us in a phone interview.

Gutwein has a goal to have the post production done by the fall, just in time for–oh wait you’ll have to find out about that later this month!  To get there he’s looking to raise $75,000 on Kickstarter.  At the time this article was written, Gutwein had already had $25,000 pledged.

Startupland is going to be good for anyone involved in startups. For the beginner it will provide a good look into what it really takes to get into an accelerator program. For a startup in acceleration to seed or series A, it will show that every startup goes through similar issues. For the hardened veteran it will be both entertaining and educational.

Check out the rest of our interview with Gutwein below:

What is your startup called?

Startupland

What does your company do?

Startupland is a documentary series that weaves together the stories of five early stage companies in an accelerator together with interviews and advice from seasoned, veteran entrepreneurs.

Who are the founders, and what are their backgrounds

Justin Gutwein is the Producer / Director. He is the founder of ShineOn Storytelling and has produced numerous documentary projects including The Entrepreneurial Spirt and the video content for Creating Innovators.

Where are you based?

DC

What’s the startup scene like where you are based?

It’s energized, growing and supportive…you’ll have to watch to find out the rest!

What problem are you hoping to solve by releasing Startup Land?

The vision is to inspire and educate entrepreneurs globally on the ins and outs, ups and downs, successes and failures of starting and building a company and provide an accelerator-like experience to those who may not have access to an accelerator.

Why now?

With new accelerators sprouting up all over the world, it seemed the right time to capture what happens at an experienced one to teach those that may not have access.

How much have you completed already?

Five companies have been documented going through an entire accelerator course. Hundreds of hours of footage have been shot. The storylines that will be the backbone of the series are being developed and fleshed out.

What are your next steps?

We are in the final stages of confirming some legends of tech and venture capital to be interviewed for the series. We are also working on developing graphics and animations to help breakdown some of the more complicated topics, like the ins and outs of cap tables, the many methods for leveraging stock as a currency and sourcing tech talent.

Where can people find out more?

Back StartupLand on Kickstarter here.  find out more at startupland.tv 

This is an absolute must attend startup conference for any startup everywhere else.

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Cap Innovators Startup BidRazor Is Shaving The Time Off Contractor’s Bids…By A Lot

by Kyle in Accelerator, Chicago TechWeek, Everywhere Else, Interviews, St. Louis, Startups, Videos
0 Comments 0 Like 3,877

bidrazor2bWe ran into a handful of good St. Louis startups at Chicago TechWeek, including our friends at Bonfyre, a classified ads startup Ad Freeq, and BidRazor, a graduate of the most recent class at Capital Innovators.

Mike Pulley and his co-founder Cameron Larsen have developed a platform for contractors that shaves the time it takes to bid on a project down from 20 hours over 3 or 4 weeks to just 2-4 hours. The main ingredient in shaving the time is “standardization” Pulley told us in an interview. Basically the app takes into consideration historical data on previous projects along with other mitigating factors that allow the contractor to more easily bid out the job.

BidRazor is the first of the duo’s apps that they are developing to help the contracting industry. They are also working on a project management app to help contractors keep better track of every piece of data they need for a building project. That was actually their earlier idea, but then they figured that contractors have to win the job before they can manage it. So far that’s paying off.

Having just graduated from the accelerator, the company already has customers and revenue, and the response has been phenomenal. Cutting back on the time it takes to bid out a project is allowing contractors to spend more time on their current projects, and in some cases, spend more time with their families. It’s a win for everyone.

They also already have a major partnership with Magic Plan, an app that creates floor plans. Now contractors can have bids and floor planes right on their iPhones or iPads.

Check out our video interview below and for more info visit them at bidrazor.com

We’ve got more startup coverage from Chicago TechWeek here.

CTW-INSPILONG

 

Ernst & Young Partners With Cincinnati’s Cintrifuse

by Kyle in Accelerator, Cincinnati, Everywhere Else, Startup News
0 Comments 0 Like 2,832

Ernst & Young, Cintrifuse, Cincinnati Startups, startupCintrifuse is a huge regional initiative in Cincinnati, Ohio, designed to support high potential startups in the region. It’s backed by the Cincinnati Business Committee, with it’s initial venture capital investors including Proctor & Gamble, Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Duke Energy, University of Cincinnati, and Western Southern Financial Group.

In addition to a venture capital fund, Cintrifuse links entrepreneurs and startups with business partners, research institutions, mentors, and investors. They have partnerships with every startup-facing organization in Cincinnati including CincyTech and The Brandery, organizations we’ve written about here quite a bit.

On Friday the Cintrifuse and professional services giant Ernst & Young announced a partnership that will include capital, professional services, and annual operating support.  The Cincinnati Business Courier reports that the parthership is slated to run for five years.

“Cintrifuse is just kind of a startup itself – it’s really just been starting its activities this last year,” Julia Poston, Managing Partner for Ernst & Young in Cincinnati told the Business Courier. “Tax considerations, organizational considerations, human capital, that’s what we are offering as part of our contribution to Cintrifuse.”

Ernst & Young’s Erica Patterson is on loan to Cintrifuse. She previously worked in Ernst & Young’s growth market in Chicago.

Find out more about Cintrifuse here.

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These 100 Mentors Did 1500 Hours At Techstars NY; Now Follow Them On Twitter

by Kyle in Accelerator, Everywhere Else, Featured, New York, Startups
3 Comments 0 Like 4,897

Techstars, Techstars New York, Mentors, Follow on Twitter, startup acceleratorTechstars released some data on their current NY session on their blog Friday.  The Techstars New York class graduates this Friday, June 28th, and they’ve been burning the midnight oil.

Nicole Glaros, the co-manager of this Techstars New York session reported they’ve had 39,000 working hours (60 hours x30 weeks x50 people), 5 pivots, 1500 mentor hours, 1 wedding, 72lbs of La Colombe Coffee, 14 missing iPhone charges and one of those 5 pivots, pivoted back.

One of the keys to success for Techstars–or any good accelerator program for that matter–is their mentor network. Techstars has one of the best mentor networks in the world. Here are 100 mentors that have taken part in this current session in New York. Now you can pick up on their nuggest of wisdom by following them on Twitter.

 

Omaha Prepares For Inaugural Class At Straight Shot Accelerator

by Kyle in Accelerator, Everywhere Else, Nebraska, Startup News, Startups
0 Comments 0 Like 2,650

Straight Shot,Omaha startup, Jake Stutzman, Startup acceleratorOmaha Nebraska is no stranger to startups. Regional mega blog Silicon Prairie News is based there, and they’ve been holding the Big Omaha startup conference for the last five years. Earlier this month SPN welcomed even more startups to the Silicon Prairie with the announcement of the inaugural class of startups for the new cohort based accelerator program beginning July 8.

The accelerator has a focus on e-commerce with a variety of startups going through the first class. There are 14 founders in all and 7 startups. Four of the startups are from outside of Omaha and are starting to get settled in now before the fourth of July holiday.

According to SPN Hayneedle founder Mark Hasebroock is the brains behind Straight Shot.  In the early part of the new millennium Hasebroock helped found hammocks.com an online site to buy hammocks. He helped grow the company into Hayneedle, one of internets largest retailers of outdoor goods, decorative items and items for the home.

Hasebroock is now the Managing Partner for Dundee Venture Capital, the firm that’s backing Straight Shot. But Hasebroock didn’t want to just create a startup accelerator because it’s the in thing to do in 2013. He has set a goal of growing 100 viable companies throughout the next 10 years. Hasebroock is no stranger to the accelerator, he’s currently a mentor in 3 accelerators, The Brandery  in Cincinnati and Techstars Boulder and Chicago.

As with other accelerators, Straight Shot will be fueled by money, mentors and a mission to get the startups to an investible story by the end of the session. Local Omaha entrepreneurs are very excited about their newest entrepreneurial endeavor. Jake Stutzman the founder of elevate.co a local design firm that specializes in startups, is serving as a mentor for this first class and told nibletz.com that he’s been scoping out the startups and has already started informally working with some of the startups that are local to Omaha.

The program runs from July 8th to October 3rd and will culminate with an investor demo day at the end of the session. Straight Shot received 367 applications for it’s very first class. Silicon Prairie News reports that these are the startups selected:

CardioSys (Omaha)

“CardioSys is still developing the full SaaS model,” Larson said.

CardioSys combines advanced mobile and wireless technologies along with predictive analytics in order to provide a real-time monitoring platform for patients with acute or chronic illnesses.
Crateful (Omaha)

“Crateful still has further product development but they actually have active DJs who are utilizing the product they’ve developed,” Larson said.

Crateful uses advanced audio and data analytics techniques to make tools that help music enthusiasts with their No. 1 problem: finding the best music for the moment.
BuyNow (Omaha)

“BuyNow is out pitching, they have a trademarked product and are in the middle of their sales campaign,” Larson said.

BuyNow is a mobile-commerce app that enables consumers to instantly purchase advertised products/services off of any multimedia ad by sending an SMS text message.
Huntforce (Louisville, Ken.)

“Huntforce is currently in the prototype phase for a hardware component that it’s developing,” Larson said.

With HuntForce, hunters can view, organize, manage and share photos of their property and game from their mobile devices.
Cosmic Cart (Durham, N.C.)

“Cosmic cart has signed up retailers, actually active publishers and has some commerce that’s being transacted,” Larson said.

Cosmic Cart adds convenience and security to online shopping by allowing users to add products into one shopping cart from anywhere online.
Cympel (pronounced “simple”) (Minneapolis, Minn.)

“Cympel has had pilot companies and is in final product development stages,” Larson said.

Cympel delivers interactive advertisements and the ability for a customer to immediately purchase the product without redirection.
Business Exchange (San Francisco, Calif.)

Through the Business Exchange platform, businesses can provide feedback, insight, recommendations, reviews and ratings to one another based on real-world transactions.

This startup conference is all about startups everywhere else. Do you have our ticket?

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5 Reasons You Wish You Could Go to the NewME PopUp Accelerator

by Monica Selby Monica Selby in Accelerator, Featured, Startups, Tennessee
0 Comments 0 Like 2,084

newme1If you’ve been around the startup space for a minute, you know about accelerators. You probably know the best ones, the pros and cons of joining one, and that many people think they’re in a bubble.

Here at Nibletz, we love accelerators. Besides the wealth of information and time they give founders to grow their business, accelerators are good for the local ecosystems. With that in mind, we were super excited to find out about the NewME PopUp Accelerator. NewME is combining its world class accelerator program with another urban trend, the popup shop, and taking it around the country.

So, why should you take a weekend off to be a part of this new type of accelerator? It’s certainly not the intensive, boot camp experience that a traditional accelerator is. But, then again, we’re entrepreneurs. “Traditional” isn’t really in our vocabulary, now is it?

Here are our top 5 reasons to apply for the NewME PopUp Accelerator:

  1. Startup Coach–Each startup that is accepted will have 50 minutes 1-on-1 with a NewME coach. That’s 50 straight minutes of advice and feedback focused solely on your startup. These coaches are coming from Silicon Valley to everywhere else and letting startups in on what it takes to succeed.
  2. Master Classes–Each PopUp accelerator includes 2 Master Classes in the Art of the Pitch. From your company’s value proposition to compelling presentation skills, the experts teach it all. You will leave the weekend with a completed pitch deck and the skills you need to start pitching it.
  3. Demo Day–Yup, no accelerator is complete without a Demo Day, and NewME PopUp Accelerator has one of those, too. Local investors are on hand from each city, but there also a few special guests from the Valley. Demo Day participants could land a spot in the full 2013 NewME Accelerator in Silicon Valley. And, just in case you don’t think much can come from such a small event: DC winner Zoobean closed their first round in May.
  4. Networking–It’s true that the actual NewME PopUp program is awesome. But we all know deals don’t happen in a classroom. For 2 1/2 days, Silicon Valley experts will be in your backyard, and you can ask them ANYTHING. As great as local ecosystems are, it’s always good to get some fresh blood
  5. Cost–For less than $100, you can have access to Valley experts and decision makers, right in your hometown. In case math isn’t your thing, that’s less than the cost of a flight to California.

I know, you wish you could be one of the lucky startups selected, right? Well, the tour is just getting underway, and stops in Kansas City, Austin, and NYC are in the plans.

But, if you’re in the Southeast, Memphis is hosting a PopUp Accelerator on June 28-30, and there’s still time to register.

Use discount code MEMPHISEDU for huge discount

 

MassChallenge Startup ZoomTilt Announces New Analytics Product

by Kyle in Accelerator, Boston, Everywhere Else, Startup News, Startups
1 Comment 0 Like 4,248

Zoomtilt, MassChallenge, TechstarsAnna Callahan is a bad-ass startup chick. First she was a hackstar for Techstars Boston, but she got the startup bug herself and decided to apply to Boston’s other mega-huge startup accelerator, MassChallenge. It was there that she grew her startup ZoomTilt, which was named a finalist in last year’s MassChallenge program.

But what is ZoomTilt?

Well, think 99designs for film. Callahan loves film making; in fact it was reading a script while working as a Techstars hackstar that made her decide to take the plunge and launch her own innovative idea. The idea: link filmmakers to people who want to build a brand using short films, mini TV shows if you will.  If you’ve got a brand and want to see film and TV stars in a video featuring your product, ZoomTilt is the answer. If you want to have an engaging YouTube miniseries or Facebook page video series that highlights your brand, ZoomTilt is the answer.

Callahan tells Nibletz that they’ve got hundreds of filmmakers waiting for the chance to work on your brand’s short video project. By leveraging the talent and creativity within their network ZoomTilt is able to offer unparalleled engaging video marketing solutions without a gigantic budget.

Callahan joined forces with cofounder Chris Bolman and ditched their first name, CrewTide, which Callahan says made people think they sold nautical supplies. Then they hunkered down over the summer as one of the 125 startups in MassChallenge and emerged as a finalist.

On Wednesday Zoomtilt announced ZoomTilt Analytics. It’s the first of its kind A/B testing platform for video.“The information our analytics will provide for brands, agencies, media companies, and content creators will allow [them] to make better audience targeted content, quickly identify areas to improve upon allowing for [their] videos to be more effective, engaging and shareable,”  Bolman said in a statement.

zoomtilt1 ZoomTiltanalyticsscreen

The software allows for the online video marketing community to lessen the pressure to create a video that will “go viral” and increase their video marketing return on investment (ROI). ZoomTilt Analytics makes this possible by generating fast feedback directly from target audience members.

Callahan adds: “When using video on the web, [advertisers] must create entertainment – too much money is spent on videos that get low viewership and have no impact. Our analytics tools help you understand which of your videos really engages your target audience. With this you can make better decisions about which videos are right for you to promote.”

ZoomTilt has been helping brands obtain affordable, crowdsourced content from independent filmmakers since early 2012. Besides being a 2012 MassChallenge finalist, they were also members of the 2013 Betaspring class and participated in the 2013 SXSW Interactive Accelerator, where they were featured as a finalist in the entertainment and gaming industry.

You can check out the ZoomTilt dashboard here.

 

Now read what Drive Capital’s Mark Kvamme thinks about the Brandery.

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StartCo & FedEx Institute Of Technology Bringing NewMe To Memphis, Discount Codes Available

by Kyle in Accelerator, Everywhere Else, Memphis, SouthernB, Startup News, Tennessee
0 Comments 0 Like 3,624

NewMe Accelerator, Memphis, Startco,FedEx Institute Of TechnologyThe NewMe accelerator program is a critically acclaimed accelerator in San Francisco that specifically targets women and minority startups and founders. They launched their Silicon Valley program in June of 2011, and recently announced an abbreviated “pop up” accelerator tour, coming to cities across the country.

The NewMe pop accelerator will make it’s way to Memphis June 28-30 and be housed at the FedEx Institue of Technology, on the campus of the University of Memphis.

The three-night event June 28-30 features one-on-one coaching from NewME experts, a two-part workshop titled “The Art of the Pitch” that will provide the secrets to a perfect pitch and standing out among other founders. The weekend culminates with “Demo Day,” a night where startups will network with key players in Memphis’ tech scene, special guests from Silicon Valley, and ultimately pitch their idea to a panel of judges that consists of local and Silicon Valley investors.

They’ve already held the pop up program in Miami and Washington DC. In fact, Zoobean, the Washington DC pop up winner, has closed a $500,000 seed round led by Mitch Kapor.

In addition to Memphis Tennessee, the NewMe Popup accelerator will also be held in Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Durham, Austin, New York, Kansas City, Los Angeles and Oakland.

Participants in the NewMe popup accelerator in Memphis, or on any other city stop will get one-on-one coaching from Silicon Valley business leaders, hands on workshops, and the opportunity to pitch their idea to local and Valley-based investors with the chance to win $45,000 worth of prizes from our sponsors and the opportunity to participate in the NewME Accelerator in San Francisco.

“We’re excited about NewME’s mission and the important work they are doing to accelerate entrepreneurs across the country. Our mission with Google for Entrepreneurs is to grow entrepreneurial communities and equip them with the resources and technology they need to tackle big ideas and build amazing companies,” said Mary Grove, Director of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach at Google one of the key sponsors for the NewMe Accelerator. “We’re truly excited to be teaming up with NewME to bring this series to Memphis and can’t wait to see the big ideas that come from the teams here.”

Start Co. is eager to welcome NewME to Memphis. “We’re excited that Memphis was  selected for this exclusive opportunity,” said co-president and CEO Eric Mathews. “It’s a privilege to participate as their local community partner.”

Find out more and register here for the NewMe popup accelerator in Memphis.

Use discount code MEMPHISEDU for huge discount

Are you working on your pitch deck? Check out this Pop!

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Columbus’ 10x Startup Accelerator Now Taking Applications For Fall 2013

by Kyle in Accelerator, Everywhere Else, Ohio, Startup News
0 Comments 0 Like 2,662

10x accelerator, Columbus startup,startup accelerator, startup news

Columbus’ cohort-based startup accelerator, 10x, is gearing up for their 2013 fall session. The accelerator, started in 2011, has successfully accelerated startups like UFunded, Ribbon, and LaunchGram, which was acquired in February by Referly.

10x takes 10 startups for 10 weeks and seeds them with $20,000 in seed funding, office space, and a strong mentor network. The class will “graduate” at the end of 10 weeks with an investor day held in Columbus.

“Perhaps the greatest value teams will receive from the 10x program is the mentor network comprised of successful entrepreneurs, CEOs, VCs, and business veterans from the startup world,” Brooke Paul, Founder of Founders Factory and a director of the 10x program told metropreneur.com. “10x alums have effectively leveraged our mentor network for follow-on funding, access to customers, and more.”

10x’s mentor network includes people like Eric Corl, founder of Fundable, Ben Blanquera, founder of TechLife Columbus, and Mark Kvamme founder of Drive Capital. 27 startups have gone through the 10x program and have collectively raised over $9.4 million in follow on funding.

The next session begins September 4th and will run for 10 weeks. Startups interested in applying can use this application. The application deadline is July 14th.

Find out more about 10x here.

 

Bob Metcalfe, the inventor of ethernet, is speaking at this accelerator demo day in Chattanooga.

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Michigan’s Newest Accelerator, Coolhouse Labs, Launches Tomorrow

by Kyle in Accelerator, Everywhere Else, Featured, Launch, Michigan, Startup News
1 Comment 0 Like 4,645

jordanbreighnerMichigan’s new startup accelerator is launching its first cohort tomorrow. It’s not in Detroit, Pontiac, or even Ann Arbor.  The Coolhouse Labs accelerator is based in a resort town off Lake Michigan called Harbor Springs, the hometown of 27-year-old Jordan Breighner, co-founder and Managing Director of Coolhouse Labs.

Harbor Springs is a small town with under 2000 year-round residents. It was once a popular summer destination for autoworkers, the life bread of Michigan’s economy. Like many others, Breighner sees the path to improving an economy is through entrepreneurship and startups.

Although he has no “formal” entrepreneurial experience, Breighner has a diverse background, including a stint working for the Obama administration and going to college in Utah to become a ski racer. His vision, passion, and tenacity to get things done has helped him secure the seed investments for the first five teams in this first cohort. He’s also stocked his team with a Program Director, Resident Designer, and Resident Developer.  Breighner has also been able to attract a top notch advisory board.

Now, just four months after launching the idea, the first cohort is ready to move into Coolhouse Labs. Coolhouse has attracted teams from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Taiwan.  3 out of the 5 teams have a female co-founder, 3 out of the 5 teams have an international co-founder, and the average co-founder is traveling over 2700 miles to be part of Coolhouse Labs.

Here are the five teams.

Every Last Morsel – Every Last Morsel is a community marketplace for locally grown food – like an Etsy for small farms and backyard gardeners. It provides growers with web-based record-keeping tools and easy-to-use sales outlets that allow farms to focus on doing what they love: growing good food.

Lorious – Lorious is an online marketplace for expertise, where users can buy and sell one-on-one live video chat consulting services, at any time and from any location. Lorious empowers people to gain skills, from crafting to accounting, and to take ownership of their professional identities in response to this ever-changing economy.

Novi Times – Novi is aiming to redefine mobile news discovery through search. They have developed an editor-guided algorithm that helps users discover news through topics they want to follow.

QuickFixNow – QuickFixNow delivers fast and reliable home repair, connecting consumers with contractors on-demand through a mobile and web-based platform.

TRNK New York – TRNK New York is the online shopping destination for the discerning male who seeks an inspired and character-filled home.

Find out more about Coolhouse Labs here.

 

See what accelerator Drive Capital’s Mark Kvamme said was “One of the best outside Silicon Valley”

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Drive Capital’s Mark Kvamme: Brandery Is One Of The Best Accelerators Outside SV

by Kyle in Accelerator, Cincinnati, Everywhere Else, Ohio, Southland, Startups, Tennessee, The Brandery, Videos
4 Comments 0 Like 7,335

The Brandery, Mark Kvamme, Drive Capital, Cincinnati startups, accelerator

Mark Kvamme, Co-founder and Partner at Drive Capital and a former partner at Sequoia, is high on startups and entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley. Kvamme, a life long Valley guy, moved out to Columbus, Ohio, to start Drive Capital and help spur innovation “everywhere else”.

Appearing on a panel Wednesday afternoon at the Southland conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Kvamme defended the hustle outside of Silicon Valley.

“I know people here in Nashville, I know people in the midwest that I think actually work harder than Silicon Valley people. Because Silicon Valley people are all into the appearance of what I’m doing versus actually getting down and “gettin’ ‘er done,” Kvamme said in response to a question from panel moderator and Solidus Partner Vic Gatto.

Gatto had eluded to the fact that he feels that some entrepreneurs in the Southeast don’t hustle the way people in the Valley do because there is no competition.

Through Solidus, Gatto funds multiple accelerators in Tennessee including Nashville’s Jumpstart Foundry and Memphis’ Seed Hatchery. Earlier in the discussion Gatto had brought up accelerators so Kvamme took the opportunity to talk about one accelerator in particular: the Brandery.

Most Nibletz readers know that our co-founder Nick Tippmann has been through the Brandery with two different startups, and we work out of the Brandery facility in Over The Rhine when we’re in Cincinnati.

During the panel Kvamme spoke very highly of the Brandery calling it “one of the best accelerators outside Silicon Valley,” in effect putting The Brandery in league with Techstars and MassChallenge.

Kvamme said he just funded a company out of The Brandery, as did Khosla and Tony Hsieh. He goes on to say that the Brandery is successful because of the ecosystem that surrounds it, and that the ecosystem could be replicated in Nashville and pretty much everywhere.  Check out the video clip below:

 


We’ve been tracking The Brandery, and their companies, heavily over the last two years. Check out more of our Brandery coverage here.

Here’s more from Southland.

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Banyan, The Git Hub For Science, Shows Off New Features & A New Deck At Southland

by Kyle in Accelerator, Everywhere Else, Southland, Startups, Tennessee
0 Comments 0 Like 2,543

Banyan,Chattanooga Startup,startup, Toni Gamayel, Gigtank, Southland

On Wednesday, Chattanooga transplant startup Banyan was selected to pitch on stage as part of the Southland Summit in Nashville. You may remember Banyan; they won the entrepreneur track at the GigTank demo day last summer and took home $100,000 dollars. Although it wasn’t a condition of receiving their prize, the Banyan team–Toni Gamayel, Travis Staton, and TJ Weigel–decided to relocate their startup from Florida to Chattanooga late last year.

Banyan billed itself as a collaborative research tool that could handle enormous amounts of data. They were the only GigTank participant that really talked about the effects of 1gb ethernet and big data during last year’s Demo Day. To make his point, the company’s pitch man, Gamayel, point it this way: To take two terrabytes of data from Stanford to London, it would be faster to get on a plane with two hard drives than it would be with conventional Internet speeds. In contrast,  Chattanooga’s 1gb ethernet pipe would allow that data to transmit in just four hours.

seriousDuring the Southland pitch Gamayel revealed that scientific research hasn’t fundamentally changed since the 1700’s. Even in present day scientists have a really hard time collaborating because they need to keep control of their authorship. Gamayel also said that universities are very protective of their researchers as well. Gamayel pointed to a case where Stanford University lost $50 million dollars when they couldn’t clearly state whether or not a professor worked on a certain piece of research under his university role or independently.

The newest iteration of Banyan solves all of these problems. For starters they’ve added profiles for scientists and researchers on the system. Scientists can clearly list their accolades and achievements, skills, and research they’ve authored. There is also the base tool for collaboration as well as a way to leave comments and feedback. Finally Banyan has incorporated a system that can time and date stamp each iteration of the research and correctly credit the author. So in that case at Stanford, it would be clear whose “time” the professor was on.

Although we thought Gamayel did a fine job pitching their exciting product, he was a little hard on himself, stating after the pitch that it was the first time that he’s talked about the new features to a large audience, with some of their investors in the crowd.

Banyan is a fascinating product and is sure to continue changing the way researchers and scientists work. Check out Gamayel’s Southland pitch below.

Here’s more of our Southland Coverage at nibletz.com

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Bob Metcalfe, Inventor Of The Ethernet, To Keynote Chattanooga’s GigTank Demo Day

by Kyle in Accelerator, Everywhere Else, SouthernB, Startup News, Tennessee
2 Comments 0 Like 5,006

Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet, 3Com, Chattanooga starutp, GigTankWe weren’t kidding yesterday when we said that Chattanooga was a happening place for startups and tech. Yesterday we reported that Chattanooga was the 7th city to add the Kauffman Foundation’s new, 1 Million Cups, weekly morning networking and startup events.

Today, Chattanooga news comes to us by way of our friends at SouthernAlpha. It was announced earlier this week that Bob Metcalfe, would be the keynote speaker for Chattanooga accelerator, GigTank’s, Demo Day on August 6th. The GigTank Demo Day kicks off a month of Demo Days for Tennessee accelerators. GigTank, JumpStart Foundry (Nashville) and the ZeroTo510 accelerator (Memphis) all graduated on consecutive weeks in August.

For those of you that don’t know, Bob Metcalfe was the person who invented ethernet. For those of you not familiar with ethernet (man I’m feeling old here), it’s the “cat 5 cord” that plugs into your computer when you “hardline” yes we are well aware that there are actually computer users out there that have never been “plugged into” the internet.

Ethernet was created 40 years ago and recently celebrated it’s 40th anniversary at an event in Mountain View California.

It’s only fitting that the inventor of ethernet keynote the GigTank’s demo day. GigTank is an accelerator that was built on top of Chattanooga’s 1gb ethernet. Despite what some may believe, Chattanooga was the first city with 1gb ethernet to residents and businesses, a year before Kansas City turned the light on.

I am looking forward to being in Chattanooga … [for] GIGTANK Demo Day,” Metcalfe said in an email. “Are we not all engaged in gigafying the Internet?”

Metcalfe created ethernet as part of the infamous Xerox PARC lab (Paolo Alto Research Center), this is the same facility where the Xerox technology that was allegedly stolen by both Apple and Microsoft, was created. That story was chronicled in the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley.

In 1979 Metcalfe founded 3Com which eventually purchased US Robotics, the world’s leading manufacturer of external and internal modems. US Robotics is also the company that created the first Palm Pilots, although the 3Com brand took the Palm project over after buying US Robotics.

Metcalfe now serves as the Professor of Innovation at University of Texas, Austin.

You can check out the great startups in the GigTank and Bob Metcalfe at GigTank Demo Day, here’s a link to request an invite.

Speaking of Tennessee here are the first 20 startups selected for the Startup Village at Southland.

Milwaukee’s Gener8tor Accelerator Kicks Off Summer Session With These 5 Startups

by Kyle in Accelerator, Everywhere Else, Startup News, Wisconsin
0 Comments 0 Like 2,446

Gener8tor, Wisconsin accelerator, Milwaukee accelerator, startup acceleratorWisconsin based startup accelerator Gener8tor, is holding it’s summer session at their Milwaukee location this year. To date, the accelerator that operates out of both Madison and Milwaukee, has graduated 13 startup companies that have raised $5 million dollars in venture capital and created over 70 jobs. They hope to add to that impressive group with this year’s summer session.

Gener8tor co-founder Troy Vosseller and Joe Kirgues take a more hands on approach with their startups and keep the class size small. This seems to have paid off so far in terms of follow on funding and job creation. Of the 13 startup “graduates” so far, only one has been from outside of Wisconsin. That startup, MobileIgniter, relocated from Colorado.

This year’s summer session includes startups from Chicago, Austin Texas and Minneapolis. The other two startups are from Wisconsin, one from Madison, the other from Milwaukee.

This session begins today and runs through August 29th when the startups will participate in what Gener8tor co-founders call “Launch Day” (a much better name than Investor Day or Demo Day). Both Vosseller and Kirgues know that a startup really begins at the end of the program.

“The Summer 2013 Program consists of some of the most innovative startups from around the country,” Troy Vosseller, co-founder of gener8tor, said in a news release. “We’re really looking forward to helping these companies grow and achieve their full potential.”

Here are the five startups selected for Gener8tor’s third cohort.

Catalyze.IO Catalyze.IO offers cloud-delivered backend infrastructure for health and wellness applications to make it easier, cheaper and faster for developers to create solutions for healthcare. (Milwaukee, WI)

DeckPresenter DeckPresenter is a web presentation tool built for businesses designed to host, manage and track PowerPoint decks. (Austin, TX)

Docalytics  Docalytics builds online tools to help marketers get more from their content marketing activities. The Docalytics platform gives marketers a more efficient way to generate and qualify new leads, while gathering actionable information about how their prospective customers interact with their documents. (Minneapolis, MN)

OpenHomes: OpenHomes is a safe, affordable, modern way to buy or sell a home. OpenHomes uses technology to connect homebuyers and sellers as well as helping real estate agents serve their clients better and more efficiently. (Madison, WI)

Optyn  Optyn optimizes the marketing relationships between businesses and consumers. For consumers, Optyn is the first ever “marketing inbox” that lets consumers easily control their connections with businesses and automatically organizes their marketing emails. For businesses, Optyn increases conversions and revenue by acquiring and engaging customers through a simple, quick and inexpensive “opt-in” process. (Chicago, IL)

Check out the pitches from Memphis startup accelerator, Seed Hatchery’s recent investor day.

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