Nominate Your Favorite Female Speaker for Everywhere Else Cincinnati

Everywhere Else Cincinnati, EECincy, Female Founder, Startup Chicks, SpeakersEverywhere Else Cincinnati is fast approaching, and the Nibletz team is working like crazy to make it the best event everywhere else. We’ve already announced tons of speakers, and we have even more waiting for unveiling.

But, we want YOU to be involved, too! We need to know who you want to hear speak at Everywhere Else Cincinnati. Fill out our quick survey, and we’ll send personal invitations to the fan favorites.

Here at Nibletz, we love to celebrate women starting up. We have our Bad-Ass Startup Chick series that highlights awesome women starting awesome companies. At our Memphis event, the Kick Ass Female Founders panel was one of the most popular. In fact, women swept the pitch contests at the Everywhere Else Memphis conference.

Female founders face unique challenges, and the best ones do it with so much grace, you’d never know starting up was hard. They have amazing stories that entrepreneurs–male and female–can learn from. And we want to make sure our Everywhere Else Cincinnati attendees are getting the best in-the-trenches stories possible.

That’s why your input is so important to us. The survey is super-quick (2 questions!), and you can make sure the best women get a prime spot in our lineup.

So, let us know: which women should we invite to Everywhere Else Cincinnati?

By the way, after you nominate your favorite women speakers, make sure to get your early bird ticket. We’re selling out fast!

 

Why Your Startup Should Get A Startup Avenue Booth At Everywhere Else Cincinnati

Everywhere Else Cincinnati, EE Cincy, Startup Village

Update 8/29/2013- After being contacted by the legal eagles at SXSW we had to change the name of the startup exhibition at Everywhere Else Cincinnati, from Startup Village to Startup Avenue! Nothing else has changed as far as the Startup Avenue ticket, section, and features are concerned.

The Startup Avenue booths at Everywhere Else Cincinnati are going fast. We have just two early bird discounted booths left at $495 before the price goes up to $749.

Yesterday we brought you 42 reasons to attend Everywhere Else Cincinnati, the national startup conference specifically for startups everywhere else. Our mission is to help startups “Start Where U Are”.

One of the unique things about Everywhere Else is that we make it possible for even bootstrapped entrepreneurs and founders to attend and get a top shelf startup conference experience. For example, early bird attendee tickets are just $99 and early bird Startup Village booths are only $495 (and include 3 attendee tickets). Compare that to some of the other big conferences which cost up to 10x more.

Startup Village will give your startup the opportunity to showcase in front of hundreds of investors, entrepreneurs, and other founders. You’ll be able to rub elbows with angel investors and VC’s from your local region and from everywhere else.

Not only do we have some great VC and angel firms already committed to attend and even speak at the conference (like Fortify Ventures, Dundee Venture Capital, SoftBank Capital, The Mercury Fund and Lightbank), but Everywhere Else Cincinnati is the lead-in to The Brandery’s demo day which is one of the most well attended accelerator demo days outside Silicon Valley. Many of those investors will be at Everywhere Else.

You’ll be able to network with other founders, designers, and developers and possibly find your next rock star teammate.

Your startup will compete against the other startups in the Village for thousands of dollars in cash and prizes that will help your startup get to the next level.

The Startup Village Booth registration includes 10′ x 10′ booth space with 8′ table, 3 attendee tickets, 1 VIP ticket to the investor & startup only luncheon, a chance to pitch on stage, and more.  Register for your Startup Village with the early bird discount below.

 

 

42 Reasons You Should Attend The National Everywhere Else Conference In Cincinnati

Everywhere Else Cincinnati, EECincinnati, EECincy, Startup Conference

Downtown Cincinnati is preparing to play host to the national Everywhere Else conference September 29-October 1st at the Duke Energy Convention Center. Over 25 top shelf speakers from across the country will be featured in keynotes, round tables, panels, and workshops catering to startups from everywhere else.  The goal: to help entrepreneurs “start where you are”.

Startups, entrepreneurs, developers/designers, students, press, and investors from around the world are heading to Cincinnati for the big event. Here’s a great list of reasons why you should get an early bird ticket or early bird Startup Village booth for the biggest startup conference everywhere else.

Startups

  • Meet & talk to investors
  • Get a booth to showcase to our 1000+ attendees
  • Find new talent
  • Learn from our amazing speakers
  • Close new deals & partnerships
  • Top startups will get to pitch on stage

Entrepreneurs

  • Learn from other top founders & investors
  • Find out about the latest trends
  • Meet the speakers & investors
  • Find a co-founder
  • Make new partnerships

Investors

  • Find the hottest startups
  • Hangout with other investors
  • Meet awesome entrepreneurs
  • Enjoy great content
  • Learn from like minded investors

Developers & Designers

  • Meet cool startups
  • Learn from the best
  • Find new customers or jobs
  • Network and party
  • Improve your skills

Corporate Execs & Marketers

  • Find new partnerships
  • Top notch networking
  •  Meet decision makers
  • Find news customers or jobs
  • Dip your toes into entrepreneurship
  • Discover the latest trends

Students

  • Boost your CV
  • Meet your next employer
  • Be amazed by our speakers
  • Learn about top startups
  • Make important contacts
  • Kickstart you career

Volunteers

  • Support the startup community
  • First 15 get a free ticket
  • Work along side the Nibletz team
  • Access to parties
  • Boost your CV
  • Get a free t-shirt

Press

  • Guaranteed News
  • Interview startup founders
  • Access to speakers

Oh and of course the Parties! Get your early bird attendee or Startup Village booth below. Here’s an up to date list of speakers (and we still have more to announce)

  • Blair Garrou, Managing Director Mercury Fund
  • Joe Medved, Partner SoftBank Capital
  • Naithan Jones, Founder AgLocal
  • Derek Flanzraich, Founder Greatist
  • Andrew Warner, Founder Mixergy
  • Andy Sparks, Co-Founder MatterMark
  • Wil Schroter, Founder Fundable
  • Jake Stutzman, Founder Elevate.co
  • Jonathon Perrelli, Managing Director, Fortify Ventures
  • Justin Gutwein, Filmmaker and Entrepreneur StartupLand.tv
  • Mark Hasebroock, Founder Dundee Venture Capital
  • Jason Healy, Founder Blu
  • John Bracken, Founder Evite and Speek
  • Dave Knox, CMO Rockfish, co-founder Brandery
  • Patrick Woods, Managing Director a>m ventures
  • Sarah Ware, Founder Markerly
  • John T. Meyer, Founder Lemon.ly
  • Raghu Betina, Managing Partner The Starter League
  • Ryan O’Connell, VP Influence & Co
  • Blake Miller, Managing Director Think Big Accelerator
  • Michael Bergman, Founder Repp

And because John Hall of Forbes said our first event was one of the “Must-Attend 2013 Conferences for Entrepreneurs.”

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Image: downtown Cincinnati

ShareThis, The Social Sharing Startup With Cincy Ties, Closes $30 Million Dollar Round

ShareThis, Silcon Valley, Cincinnati Startup, Cintrifuse, FundingShareThis, one of the most successful startups to come out of Cincinnati, has just announced the closing of a $30 million dollar round of venture funding.

The company, now based in Paolo Alto, has created a platform that makes it incredibly easy to share any kind of content across over 120 different social channels. ShareThis claims that they touch the lives of 95 percent of U.S. internet users across 2 million publisher sites. Whenever you’re cruising a website like AllthingsD, Cosmopolitan or any of the Food Network sites and you see the little green sharing icon that’s ShareThis.

The company was founded by native Cincinnatian Tim Schigel who before he founded ShareThis was the director of Blue Chip Venture Company, a Cincinnati based firm which participated in the startups latest round. Schigel is also the founder of the public/private partnership Cintrifuse that’s supporting downtown Cincinnati’s startup movement.

Back in April when ShareThis acquired Socialize they opened up a funding round and raised $23 million dollars. They left the round open and took another $7 million dollars before closing the round.

In addition to Blue Chip Venture Company, Blair Garrou of the Mercury Fund , Heidi Rozen of Draper Fisher Juverston and T-Venture also participated in this round. All of the investors had previously invested in the company.

Come see Cincinnati’s amazing startup community for yourself during this national startup conference!

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CincyTech Closes Biggest Fund To Date

CincyTech, Funding, Cincinnati startups, Everywhere Else

CincyTech, the public/private partnership, seed stage investor, and pillar of the Cincinnati startup community, has reportedly raised it’s largest fund to date. Earlier this month The Cincinnati Business Courier reported that CincyTech has closed on a $10.8 million dollar fund.

CincyTech Fund III, LLC combines a $5 million Ohio Third Frontier investment with $5.9 million raised by CincyTech from Southwest Ohio partners.

Like CincyTech Funds I and II LLC, Fund III will invest in companies focused on information technology and bioscience that are based in or willing to move to Southwest Ohio. The fund has the capacity to invest in at least 15 companies.

“Over the last five years there has been a significant increase in seed stage investment activity in the Cincinnati region. CincyTech Fund III will enable us to continue to invest in entrepreneurs in Southwest Ohio to create jobs and wealth to propel our region forward,” said Bob Coy, president of CincyTech.

CincyTech has a variety of investors that have participated in Fund III, including eight local institutions and 51 individual investors.

“The number of individual investors in Fund III represents a dramatic increase from the nine individual investors in Fund II. These individuals are the foundation of the larger seed stage investment syndicates that we organize for our portfolio companies. Based upon our past investment experience, for every dollar invested in a startup from Fund III, an additional $3 will be invested by other investors in the seed round prior to an investment by an institutional venture capital fund,” said Coy.

Local institutions that have committed to invest in Fund III include Castellini Foundation, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, The Christ Hospital, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.

CincyTech has invested in $15.3 million dollars in 43 portfolio companies, including ChoreMonster, Impulcity, Lisnr, VenturePax, Ahalogy and many more.

Speaking of Cincinnati, this huge national conference for startups everywhere else is in Cincinnati Sep 29- October 1.

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Greatist Founder Derek Flanzraich Added To Everywhere Else Cincinnati Line Up

Derek Flanzraich, Greatist, New York Startup, Everywhere Else Cincinnati, EE CIncinnnati Speaker

No, we did’t misspell “greatest” in that headline.

Greatist is an web startup about health and wellness. It’s an expert community driven resource that helps you reach fitness, health, and happiness goals. Whether you’re looking for great healthy recipes, workout tips, or even how to get over a hangover, Greatist offers a variety of wellness and health related content.

While the content on Greatist.com is overflowing, the team at Greatist encourages their users to take it slow, one week at a time. The startup’s mission is to inspire and inform the world to make at least one healthier decision per week.  Whether you want to lose weight, eat better, get stronger, get motivated, relieve stress, or just start working out, Greatist offers the content you need, in an easy-to-read format for all of their users.

Derek Flanzraich has been an entrepreneur since his first “lemonade stand” startup dog walking business. All the while friends, family members, and new acquaintances would ask him what drove him, and one of those main ingredients was health and wellness. That’s why he created Greatist.

Flanzraich has been featured by Forbes as an up and comer.  That’s also why Andrew Warner, the founder of Mixergy, (and another Everywhere Else Cincinnati speaker) interviewed Flanzraich on his popular site Mixergy, home of the ambitious startup.

Flanzraich told Warner in the interview that he thought of product first, in his case the content on Greatist, before he thought about revenue and traffic, a healthy recipe that seems to be working out.

Flanzraich can talk about his experience building a school newspaper in middle school, a political forum in high school, or a web TV show and network at Harvard. He can also talk about how he joined Clicker, a startup that sold to CBS for hundreds of millions, right before exit. He even picked the startup route over joining Google. Then he can talk about building Greatist into the greatest. Why people come, why they stay, and what he has learned in his career in new media.

Check out Flanzraich’s site, Greatist, here

Flanzraich joins the growing list of confirmed national speakers for Everywhere Else Cincinnati:

  • Naithan Jones, Founder agLocal
  • Andrew Warner, Founder Mixergy
  • Andy Sparks, Co-Founder Mattermark (backed by NEA and a16z)
  • Wil Schroter, Mr. Ohio, founder of Fundable
  • Jake Stutzman, founder evlevate.co
  • Jonathon Perrelli, Managing Director, Fortify Ventures
  • Justin Gutwein, Filmmaker and Entrepreneur startupland.tv
  • Mark Hasebroock, Founder Dundee Venture Capital
  • Jason Healy, Founder, Blu
  • John Bracken, Founder e-vite and Speek
  • Dave Knox, CMO Rockfish, co-founder, Brandery
  • Patrick Woods, Managing Director a>m ventures
  • Sarah Ware, Founder Markerly
  • John T. Meyer, Founder lemon.ly
  • Raghu Betina, Managing Patner, The Starter League
  • Ryan O’Connell, VP Influence & Company
  • Blake Miller, Managing Director, Think Big Accelerator
  • Michael Bergman, Founder Repp.

Get your ticket or Startup Village Booth for Everywhere Else Cincinnati below.

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4 Early Bird Startup Village Booths Left For Everywhere Else Cincinnati

EE Cincinnati, Everywhere Else Cincinnati, Startup Conference, Startup event, Startup Convention, Startup Village

UPDATE: 8/12/2013 Only 4 startup village booths left at the early bird discount rate.

Everywhere Else Cincinnati is less than two months away. When we announced the conference last week, we offered the first 30 startup village booths at an early bird discount rate of just $495. That rate includes three attendee tickets, booth space, a pitch contest, and more.

The Startup Village at Everywhere Else Cincinnati is a great place to get your startup huge exposure. VC and angel firms from across the country will be in attendance at the conference including Fortify Ventures, DVP, CincyTech, Elevate Ventures, DFJ and many more. Also, the Brandery demo day is on October 2nd, and a lot of investors will already be in town for that.

The Everywhere Else conference series gives startups from across the country and around the world access to top tier conference content, networking, and education, even on the most bootstrapped of budgets.

We’re still not finished announcing speakers for this big national conference. Speakers already committed include:

  • Naithan Jones, Founder agLocal
  • Andrew Warner, Founder Mixergy
  • Andy Sparks, Co-Founder Mattermark (backed by NEA and a16z)
  • Wil Schroter, Mr. Ohio, founder of Fundable
  • Jake Stutzman, founder evlevate.co
  • Jonathon Perrelli, Managing Director, Fortify Ventures
  • Justin Gutwein, Filmmaker and Entrepreneur startupland.tv
  • Mark Hasebroock, Founder Dundee Venture Capital
  • Jason Healy, Founder, Blu
  • John Bracken, Founder e-vite and Speek
  • Dave Knox, CMO Rockfish, co-founder, Brandery
  • Patrick Woods, Managing Director a>m ventures
  • Sarah Ware, Founder Markerly
  • John T. Meyer, Founder lemon.ly
  • Raghu Betina, Managing Patner, The Starter League
  • Ryan O’Connell, VP Influence & Company
  • Blake Miller, Managing Director, Think Big Accelerator
  • Michael Bergman, Founder Repp.

We are going to close out the discount this week. The first 30 startups in the village will get the best booth placement and a featured spot in the startup village guide.

If your startup is currently in an accelerator or accelerator alumni, there’s a good chance that your accelerator has a discount code. If not, the remaining 8 4 early bird Startup Village booths are discounted an additional 10% by clicking here. 

We’ll see you in Cincinnati at the end of September.

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Drive Capital Announces First Investments In OH Startups, RoadTrippers (Cincinnati) And CrossChx (Gallipolis)

Drive Capital, Mark Kvamme, Chris Olsen, Road Trippers, CrossChx, Cincinnati Startup, Columbus startup

When Mark Kvamme left Silicon Valley for the Midwest he went all in. Kvamme took a position as the lead for JobsOhio, where he helped create jobs across the state. He used his vast experience as a VC with Sequoia, where he was one of the first investors in LinkedIn, to help spur innovation across the state. He and cofounder Chris Olsen continue to do that with their VC firm Drive Capital, which just announced the closing of their first fund yesterday.

The firm reported to the SEC that they have raised $181 million dollars with a goal of raising $300 million.

“Since moving here, I have had the opportunity to meet several companies and entrepreneurs that would rival those in any other place in the world, and these two companies and these entrepreneurs are among the very best,” Kvamme said in a statement. “We can’t wait to see what they become.”

With that announcement they also revealed the first two startups the firm has invested in. Kvamme gave the audience at the Southland Conference in Nashville, TN in June a hint about one of their first investments saying that they had invested in a Brandery startup. That startup, revealed yesterday, was RoadTrippers.

RoadTrippers graduated from The Brandery two summers ago. They built a platform that offers more intricate road trips than just hopping on hotels.com or kayak. The company, America’s fastest growing startup travel site,  just announced a partnership with Travel Oregon. The terms of Drive Capital’s investment weren’t reported.

“In very practical terms, Drive Capital’s investment has given us the financial resources to allow me to spend less time fundraising and more time on growth. When I’m not fundraising, our company grows faster,” said James Fisher, founder and CEO of Roadtrippers. “But more than that, the experience they bring has helped us scale up and execute our vision at an accelerated pace. They understand not just the opportunity we have, but the challenges we will face. There was great alignment between all parties, and they have backed my vision as founder of this company 100 percent.”

Fisher said that since he began working with Drive Capital about three months ago, Roadtrippers has grown from 200,000 unique visitors per month to 750,000.

The second investment for Drive Capital was with CrossChx, a biometric startup based in Gallipolis, Ohio. The company, led by founder Sean Lane, uses biometric security at doctor’s offices, pharmacies, and hospital systems to prevent medical fraud. Lane told The Wall Street Journal last summer that he became interested in biometric security when he was deployed in Afghanistan.

“When CrossChx was exploring growth options, we made a conscious decision to partner with accomplished investors that could provide more than just capital, and we found that strategic partner in Drive Capital,” Lane said in a statement “Drive Capital grasped our long-term vision and has been instrumental to the rapid growth of CrossChx.”

Both Olsen and Kvamme have long track records with Sequoia and plan on investing aggressively across the Midwest. “The region is set up for more success,” Olsen said. “(The incubators) have really been the seedlings of a tremendous growth economy.”

Now check this out: National startup conference heads to Cincinnati

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UpTech Accelerator Announces Second Cohort

UpTech accelerator, Northern Kentucky University, NKU, Greater Cincinnati Venture Association, Cincinnati startups

On Friday morning UpTech, the Northern Kentucky accelerator just outside of Cincinnati, announced their second class, dubbing it “the next eight big ideas.”   UpTech reports on their blog that 78 startups applied to the program and were narrowed down to 22 semi-finalists. The eight startups selected represent a variety of spaces, a few of them we’ve already covered here at Nibletz.

The eight startups will move into the accelerator’s new Covington headquarters on September 9th. They’ll also receive $50,000 in seed capital, an executive mentor, access to an entire network of mentors and advisors,  a one-year Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce membership, a one-year Greater Cincinnati Venture Association Membership, and access to resources from Northern Kentucky University’s Center for Applied Informatics.

These are the eight startups that made the cut:

  • 3DLT.com: Recently named “Innovative World Technology” by SXSW V2V, 3DLT.com is the “iStockphoto” for 3D printable designs.
  • Bearhug Technologies, LLC: Bearhug Technologies is a web-based, connected care platform for behavioral health providers. It enables behavioral health providers to securely use the Internet to locate, connect, and communicate with other healthcare professionals.
  • Bright!Tax: With clients in over 50 countries worldwide, Bright!Tax is a cloud-based, US income tax preparation firm most sought after by the six million Americans who are living abroad.
  • Inteo: Inteo is an interactive tool for mathematics-based studies which continually measures and updates student performance. The software provides real-time insight into student achievement, which helps teachers tailor coursework and assess preparedness for state exams.
  • Liquid: Liquid builds mobile software to collect, store, analyze, and organize any and all data.
  • New Home Marketing Services: New Home Marketing Services is helping home builders better understand their business opportunities and their competitive landscape with the world’s first customized, real-time data portal to daily marketplace activity. New Home Marketing Services provides powerful data tools through an easy-to-use dashboard that allows for enhanced decision-making regarding inventory management and profitability.
  • Tixers: By trading your tickets to Tixers, they guarantee the value of your ticket, and you receive points (credit) almost immediately that you can use for other tickets on Tixers.
  • Touritz: Touritz allows local historians and tour guides to create and upload walking tours and videos, which can be viewed and downloaded to mobile devices. Touritz is cultivating a community of tour creators to share local landmarks and historic sites, art gallery and museum tours, scenic locations, and family destinations.

You can find out more about UpTech here.

Now check out this huge startup conference right across the river.EECincyBanner

Andrew Warner, Wil Schroter, Naithan Jones & Andy Sparks Added To Everywhere Else Cincinnati Line Up

Everywhere Else Cincinnati, EE Cincy, Startup Conference, Nait Jones, Andrew Warner, Andy Sparks, Wil SchroterWhen we announced our next national conference Everywhere Else Cincinnati this past Monday, we promised more big announcements all the way up until the event itself. (September 29-October 1st at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati, by the way.)

The time has come to announce 4 more great speakers coming to celebrate startups and entrepreneurship everywhere else.

Nait Jones the founder of AgLocal, Andrew Warner the founder at Mixergy, Andy Sparks co-founder of Mattermark, and Wil Schroter, serial entrepreneur and founder of popular crowdfunding startup, Fundable have all joined the amazing line up of speakers that will take to the main stage.

nait-speakerNaithan Jones, AgLocal:

Nait Jones comes from a family of chefs, and delicious fresh food has always been a part of his life. Living in the Kansas City area, Jones observed a problem connecting independent and family meat farms to wholesale and retail buyers. He created AgLocal in 2011 to deal with that problem head on.

Jones is no stranger to startups and entrepreneurship, he left his last full time job as the Director of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Aspiring Entrepreneurs FastTrac Program to start AgLocal. He obviously made the right decision as AgLocal was able to attract marquee venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz to lead their $1 million round last summer.

 

AndrewWarner-SpeakerAndrew Warner, Mixergy:

Andrew Warner is one of those life long entrepreneurs who has a brilliant sales mind. He and his brother Michael created their first company when they were in their 20’s. They called their company Bradford and Reed because they figured with a name like that, people would always take their calls. Warner explains in this post that a name like Bradford and Reed sounded like a law firm, which could mean trouble, or a VC firm, which could mean opportunity.

Bradford and Reed hit it big making online greeting cards, which resulted in nearly $40 million in annual sales.

After taking a break about 10 years ago, Warner was refreshed and wanted to take on mentoring and help entrepreneurs in an entirely new way. Mixergy was born. Chances are if you read Nibletz and plan on coming to Everywhere Else Cincinnati, you are well aware of Mixergy, a platform that allows you to learn from proven entrepreneurs through courses, interviews, and events.

In a Nibletz story in June Derek Capo the founder of Next Step China said this about Mixergy: “My investment in Mixergy’s premium membership has paid itself back 1 million times over. I have learned so much from the interviews, the classes, and the discussions. I’ve gained an MBA-type network without the $200K tag. Andrew Warner, the owner of Mixergy, is great at getting guests who can contribute tangible advice to other entrepreneurs, regardless of what industry they are in.”

Warner’s got a great story and his brain is exploding with entrepreneurial nuggets of wisdom from one of the biggest networks in the world.

AndysparksAndy Sparks, MatterMark,

MatterMark is one of the best weapons in many VC arsenals to help sniff out the best startups. The company was founded by Refer.ly founder Danielle Morrill, her husband Kevin, and Andy Sparks who was brought into the Y-Combinator backed Refer.ly team when they acquired his 500 Startups backed, LaunchGram. Just four months later Refer.ly was shut down to create Mattermark.

With roots in Y-Combinator and 500 Startups, the rockstar team behind MatterMark is now backed by NEA and Andreessen Horowitz.

Sparks founded LaunchGram in Columbus before relocating it to Mountain View to go through 500 Startups.

Sparks has ties to 500 Startups and Y-Combinator, and he’s a facilitator for Startup Weekend. He’s also a huge believer in the fact that startups can come from anywhere.

WilSchroter-SpeakerWil Schroter, Fundable and several other amazing startups.

Wil has literally been an entrepreneur since the age of 19. Now at the age of 36 he’s still never “worked for” anybody but himself in his entire adult life. His entrepreneurial journey started when he created Blue Diesel, an interactive marketing agency that eventually merged with inChord Communications where Schroter helped build the company to $700 million in annual billings.

At least 10 years before incubators were the “in thing,” Schroter created Virtucon Ventures, an incubator for startup companies that is still running today. Schroter’s other startups include Startups.co (2004), Gotcast.com (2006), Affordit.com (2008), Bizplan.com (2009), Unsubscribe.com (2010), and finally Fundable in 2011.

Fundable is a crowdfunding site that’s seen a lot of traction. Fundable offers both rewards and equity based campaigns, and often attracts out-of-the-box winners for funding on their site.

Schroter has been named the Young Entrepreneur Of The Year by the US Small Business Association, Ohio’s Business Person Of The Year, and named to Business First’s 40 under 40. Schroter was also recognized by Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Program.

Jones, Warner, Schroter, and Sparks join this already great list of startup speakers from across the country who will be in Cincinnati September 29-October 1st for Everywhere Else Cincinnati:

  • Jake Stutzman, founder evlevate.co
  • Jonathon Perrelli, Managing Director, Fortify Ventures
  • Justin Gutwein, Filmmaker and Entrepreneur startupland.tv
  • Mark Hasebroock, Founder Dundee Venture Capital
  • Jason Healy, Founder, Blu
  • John Bracken, Founder e-vite and Speek
  • Dave Knox, CMO Rockfish, co-founder, Brandery
  • Patrick Woods, Managing Director a>m ventures
  • Sarah Ware, Founder Markerly
  • John T. Meyer, Founder lemon.ly
  • Raghu Betina, Managing Patner, The Starter League
  • Ryan O’Connell, VP Influence & Company
  • Blake Miller, Managing Director, Think Big Accelerator
  • Michael Bergman, Founder Repp.

Attendee tickets are available at the early bird discount rate of just $99. Startup Village booths, are available at the early bird discount rate of just $495 (only 18 remaining).

 

StartupLand Sneak Preview And Panel At Everywhere Else Cincinnati September 30th

StartupLand, DC startups, The Fort, Fortify Ventures, Jonathon Perrelli

Justin Gutwein, the filmmaker and entrepreneur behind the documentary series StartupLand, will debut a limited edition special sneak preview to the attendees, startups, investors, and entrepreneurs at Everywhere Else Cincinnati.

The documentary series was filmed during the spring session of The Fort accelerator housed at Washington DC’s 1776. StartupLand takes a no-holds-barred look at the entire accelerator experience and then talks to the startup founders upon completion of the accelerator, shining a light on the ins and outs of the Fortify Ventures-backed startup accelerator.

The five teams that are chronicled in the series are:

LegCyte (DC) leverages technology to make legislation easier to understand. http://www.LegCyte.com

RidePost (DC) is an online marketplace connecting drivers and riders for safe & social ridesharing. http://www.RidePost.com

SnobSwap (DC and San Francisco) is an evolved marketplace where fashion lovers can swap, sell, or buy coveted pre-loved designer clothing and accessories. http://www.snobswap.com

TrendPo (San Francisco) analyzes the political world daily using news, sentiment, and social metrics. http://www.trendpo.com

The Trip Tribe (DC) has cracked the code on how travelers can have the experience of a lifetime. http://www.thetriptribe.com

Jonathon Perrelli, the Managing Director of Fortify Ventures and co-founder of The Fort, will be on hand at Everywhere Else Cincinnati. He and Gutwein will answer questions about the documentary, the process, and the accelerator.

StartupLand just completed a Kickstarter campaign to help with the costs of post production. Gutwein was looking to raise $75,000 for the documentary series and surpassed that goal by over $10,000.

You can see Justin Gutwein, Jonathon Perrelli, and some of the featured startup founders in a panel at Everywhere Else Cincinnati. Gutwein will also show a special  sneak preview of StartupLand during the conference. They hope to completely wrap up production later in the fall or in the early winter of 2013.

Get your ticket or startup village booth by clicking the banner below. For more information on StartupLand visit startupland.tv

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Detroit Venture Partners & CincyTech Aren’t Afraid Of The ChoreMonster

ChoreMonster, DVP, CincyTech, Cincinnati Startup

Original ChoreMonster artwork like this fills the 3rd floor at the Brandery where ChoreMonster works. It’s referred to as the “Alumni Penthouse” (photo: nibletz LLC)

 

I love writing about ChoreMonster. It’s a Cincinnati startup and Brandery alum who helped me get my daughter engaged in doing chores when she was four years old (during beta). Now my daughter is about to turn six and loves doing chores thanks to the ChoreMonster.

This fun startup uses great illustrations to help parents develop incentives to get their kids to do chores. It’s all handled through an interactive app. My daughter can access her chores on her iPod touch or iPad mini, and we can keep up with them on our iOS devices as well.  As she completes chores she earns credit towards prizes that we’ve selected. My daughter’s room is filled with My Little Ponies, Beanie Babies, and a telescope set that were all incentives for chores over the last 14 months.

ChoreMonster continues to grow in my home and on the national front as well .

The company just announced a $1.5 million dollar “early stage round” led by Dan Gilbert, the chairman of Cincinnati casino operator Rock Ventures LLC and founding partner at Detroit Venture Partners.  Cincinnati’s CincyTech also participated

ChoreMonster plans to use the money to increase its staff to 14 and continue to grow. They also took the time this week to announce a major partnership with Proctor & Gamble’s Crest Oral-B.

Cincinnati.com reports that this investment is also notable because it marks Gilbert’s entry into the Cincinnati entrepreneurial ecosystem, one that continues to thrive.

ChoreMonster has steadily been raising capital since their graduation from the Brandery in the 2011 class. In January 2012 the company raised $350,000 in seed funding.  A year later they launched ChoreMonster out of private beta and took a $775,000 investment round.

This latest round doesn’t just bring capital to the table. DVP will also provide some expertise in the parental space. DVP partner Ted Sebrinski was the co-founder of ParentsClick, which was acquired by Lifetime Television.

“DVP is a firm led by experienced and successful entrepreneurs with a hands-on, deterministic approach to early stage investing that is aligned with our approach,” said Mike Venerable, CincyTech’s managing director for digital, software, and health technology companies.

With Gilbert already having business dealings in Cincinnati and now also involved in the startup ecosystem, Venerable is confident that DVP will participate in more Cincinnati deals, telling Cincinnati.com:  “DVP is one of several new Midwest funds that are bringing new energy and capital to work in cities like ours, and DVP is active and engaged in Cincinnati. We fully expect to work with them on other opportunities in the future.”

Check out our video interview with Choremonster below:

And speaking of Cincinnati:

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Co-Ed Supply Launches Just In Time For Back To School

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Summer is winding down for college students across the country. Many are returning for  their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of life away from home, but for college freshmen 9and their parents) this is an entirely new experience. Undoubtedly, millions of parents of incoming college freshmen are scouring the aisles of their local Target store buying everything on their son or daughter’s dorm room list, and probably some extra stuff too.

As move-in day approaches, parents everywhere are going to start thinking about what to send to their new college student.  I didn’t go to college, but I got my first out-of-state radio gig around the same time in my life. I was 18 years old and about 500 miles from home. My mom would send me these enormous boxes every week or two. Blank cassette tapes (for airchecking, yes I’m old), clippings from the local paper, Twinkies (even though there were plenty on the shelves at the local grocery store), clothes and whatever my mom could find. The same goes for most college freshmen these days.

Until Now…

We featured Brandery startup Co-Ed Supply in our Startups in the Fastlane series yesterday, an interview with a startup going through an accelerator. We learned a lot about what two Philadelphia natives had cooked up with Co-Ed Supply.

Basically it’s a college student care package wrapped up in a monthly subscription package. Co-Ed supply takes all the work out of putting together care packages. Now instead of silly trinkets, Co-Ed supply makes sure you get college essentials.

“The contents of each box is a surprise but all contain healthy snacks, personal care items, and entertainment. For students and their parents, basically we’re offering a cheaper, healthier, and more entertaining alternative to traditional care package options,” Forston told us in an interview.

Co-Ed Supply launched this morning, just as most college students are thinking about heading back to school. The cost of the subscription is just $20 per month and right now if you help five friends sign up, you’ll get a month free.

Check out Co-Ed Supply here.EECincyBanner

Everywhere Else: The Startup Conference Comes To Cincinnati

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It’s official. Everywhere Else Cincinnati is the startup conference helping you start where you are. The second event in our Everywhere Else series will take place September 29th – October 1st in Cincinnati, OH at the Duke Energy Convention Center.

This conference will unite the startup community everywhere else for 2 1/2 days of learning, inspiration, and connecting. Enjoy two full days of content from our amazing line up of nationally recognized speakers, three killer parties, a pitch competition between some of the hottest startups, and so much more. Things will get under way with a huge party September 29th in downtown Cincinnati.

Everywhere Else Cincinnati kicks off a huge month of innovation in Cincinnati. The Brandery Demo Day immediately follows the conference on October 2nd, and some of the best designers in the world will be in town for Cincinnati Design Week.


When you’re starting up outside Silicon Valley, you face huge challenges, and it can often feel like you’re all alone. But, all startups everywhere else struggle with the same obstacles.

It’s time for the “everywhere else” ecosystem to come together. Nibletz and the Everywhere Else conference series believe that when we collaborate, “everywhere else” is THE place to be.

Everywhere Else Cincinnati comes with a new theme, tag line, and mission: Start Where U Are. Through our conferences, events, and activities, we want to help entrepreneurs from around the globe start right where they are.  There’s a startup renaissance happening right now, and events like the Everywhere Else conference series are here to highlight that.

Speakers for Everywhere Else Cincinnati include:

  • Jake Stutzman, Founder & Creative Director Elevate.co
  • Dave Knox, Cofounder of The Brandery & CMO at Rockfish
  • Jonathon Perrelli, Founding Partner Fortify Ventures
  • Dan Porter, Founder of OMGPOP
  • Jason Healey, Founder of Blu eCigs
  • Patrick Woods, Managing Director at a>m Ventures
  • Raghu Betina, Managing Partner at The Starter League
  • and more..

A full list of current speakers can be found here, and many more will be announced soon. And, we all know entrepreneurs work hard and play hard. Soon we will also announce the three huge parties where you can relax with 1000 of your closest new friends.

Everywhere Else events are geared towards startups everywhere else, which means we keep the ticket prices low enough that even bootstrapped startups can afford to attend and exhibit.  Tickets will sell out fast, so don’t miss out. We have 200 early bird attendee tickets available for $99 and 30 Startup Village Booths discounted to just $495 (includes exhibit space, 3 tickets, and a huge pitch contest).

You can book your room for Everywhere Else Cincinnati at the beautifully remodeled downtown Cincinnati Hyatt for a discounted rate here.

Come join us as we learn, network, party, and build something huge–the everywhere else ecosytem.

 

Get your tickets now and find more info at eecincinnati.com