New York Archives - Page 13 of 14

NY Startup: Fancy Attracts Silicon Valley Backers For Social, Reverse Groupon Platform

If you like something, fancy it? Feeling kind of British? Well it’s not a British thing it’s an internet thing and it’s a new startup in New York that’s attracting some investors from the Valley.

Even though he didn’t get Instagram, that hasn’t stopped Twitter (and Square) co-founder Jack Dorsey from investing in an innovative disruptive new social platform. It’s also attracted the likes of Chris Hughes( Facebook) and Maynard Web of Ebay.

Although he hasn’t invested yet, Fancy has struck the Fancy of Ashton Kutcher. Kanye West, Bar Rafaeli and Selma Hayek have all become celebrity activists of this new kind of e-commerce platform.

So what is it? Fancy is part store, blog, magazine and wishlist. Anyone can join Fancy and when they do they can share the things they love and like with others. When their social friends across Fancy, like something, merchants can step in and offer a “Groupon in reverse type deal”. This is going to create a new, disruptive and competitive e-commere market place.

Fancy has 500,000 users across their web app, iOS app and recently introduced Android app. It’s great for users because they can see all the things their social friends like. It’s great for merchants because they know what’s in demand.

Fancy is free to join and get started. As Fancy tells Nibletz.com everything that you see on Fancy is either for sale or can be for sale.

Linkage:

Check out Fancy here at their website

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NY Startup: MOWA Launching Today, We Find Out What It Is In This Interview

A new startup in New York City is launching today. The startup called MOWA tells Nibletz.com that they are producing the ultimate social game to win unique and exclusive prizes. Sure the social gaming space is a bit crowded but with a unique name and a unique plan we’re hoping MOWA has a successful launch.

Now just as a quick note this isn’t the full launch but it’s a start. We got a chance to interview MOWA on this momentous day for them. Here’s that interview:

What is Mowa?

MOWA is the ultimate social game to win unique and exclusive products.

MOWA is mobile social game with challenging daily missions about fashion, beauty, food, sports and events. It is played by sharing pictures that respond to the challenge of the daily mission. The most voted picture of the day wins coveted prizes sponsored by trendy and high-end brands.

“So, you wake up in the morning and before anything else you grab your phone, just like most of us do. You read MOWA’s mission of the day which might read something like: ‘Who doesn’t love a lazy Sunday? We sure love kicking back and making the most out of the day off. Show us your lazy Sunday pajama and we just might hook you up with some PJs that are even more comfortable.‘ And the mission will show you what is the final prize. After that you snap a picture of your lazy Sunday PJs, and post it up on MOWA. You can promote your pic as much as you want, because in the end it’s all about other people voting for your picture. The picture that receives the most votes wins.”

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

The founder of MOWA is Matteo Franceschetti. He’s an Italian serial entrepreneur, passionate about conceiving and developing business opportunities and always focused on what’s next.

He’s most recent venture, before entering the tech industry, was GIR, an international group operating in the renewable energy industry with a main focus on solar energy.

Matteo’s passion for business and start-ups has motivated him to keep developing projects and mentoring young talents, which is a key element for him when putting teams together.

(you can read more information about Matteo on his site:www.matteofranceschetti.com)

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NY Startup: GiftSimple Wins Best Social Startup At NY Tech Day INTERVIEW

New York startup GiftSimple won the Best Social Startup award at the recent New York Tech Day. The woman owned startup is a crowdfunding gift registry startup.

Now, instead of collecting a bunch of regiftable gifts that you either don’t like, won’t wear or are way too small, you can use GiftSimple to tell people what you really want. The best part is, when the item is too much for one person, multiple people can team up to crowd fund that gift.

GiftSimple is fully integrated with Facebook so that you can easily share your gift list and friends can contribute whenever they want. GiftSimple also reminds you of your friends birthdays and easily allows you to see their gift lists as well.

We got a chance to speak with Jess Lachs the founder of GiftSimple about GiftSimple and winning the “Best Social Startup” at New York Tech Day.

Interview after the break
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Atlanta Startup: ViaCycle Powering Next Generation Bike Sharing

I’ve been to the Google campus quite a bit over the years. One of the coolest things about the campus of the all mighty Google is their bike share program. I don’t even know if you could call it a program. There are Google colored bicycles all over the campus and you just pick one up and ride it to your next destination. The next person that wants to use the bicycle just picks it up and goes.

Unfortunately, our average American culture doesn’t allow it to be that easy outside a place like the Google Campus. Sure if we were in Switzerland perhaps or some other country we may just be able to have a municipality provide bikes and pick them up and drop them off at our leisure and convenience.

That’s why cities all over the country offer bike share programs. Most cities right now are using the first or possibly second generation of bike sharing technology. In that instance there are a bunch of bikes at a bike rack. To unlock the bike you either call, text or use an app to get a pin that unlocks the bike. It’s reminiscent of your days at school and picking up a bike from a crowded bike rack.

The technology is great. Take Washington DC for instance, bike docks and kiosks are strategically placed around the city and people can execute the bike rental. After they enter their payment information and get the “code” they unlock the bike, use it and they can return the bike at any other like kiosk/dock throughout the city.

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NY Startup: Iwannanom Has Reinvented The Cookbook INTERVIEW

Sure there are a lot of recipe startups and websites out there. But how many were started by men, and how many are looking to reinvent and simplify the cookbook? That’s a lofty goal but it’s just what Iwannanom co-founders Danny Nahtan and Chuck Masucci have in mind.

Co-Founder Danny Nathan tells Nibletz.com:
“I Wanna Nom is a reinvention of the cookbook for the digital world. It’s a recipe bookmarking and discovery tool that allows the user to keep track of recipes they discover anywhere on the internet and easily share them, rate them, comment on them, and find new recipes and dishes by following friends and fellow foodies.”

The two co-founders met at POKE NY a creative technology and innovation consultancy based in New York. Masucci, a four year veteran of POKE has recently moved on to be the CTO of ske.dj an upcoming mobile/web startup and Nathan is approaching his fifth year there.

“We’re both ardent believers in the approach of creating simple, smart, and social products/services that add value and utility to people’s lives. (This thought process is largely what sets POKE apart from other innovation companies and has helped make it what it is today.) That thinking is certainly pervasive throughout the I Wanna Nom experience and has shaped our plans for the future of the product.” Nathan said.

We had a chance to interview Nathan about iwannanom and how they hope to (uggh i don’t want to say it), disrupt the recipe and cookbook space.

What are the differentiators from iwannanom and other online cookbook communities?

“The idea came about because recipe sites have become overwhelmingly difficult to use. There are too many, they’re too crowded, and many don’t show off food in a way that makes it appetizing. We were discovering more things that we wanted to cook on other sites – blogs, newspaper sites, tumblr, etc. – and we were usually drawn in by an image more than anything else.”

“The problem was, there was no way to keep track of those recipes other than bookmarking (which feels like too much of a commitment) or another social service that was crowded with anything and everything that people felt like saving (which feels like drinking from the firehose). The inevitable result was a bunch of good dishes and recipes floating around the internet that we’d never cook because we’d forget about them.”

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NY Startup GiddyUp Launches Social Mobile App For Short Term Planning

GiddyUp Co-Founder Elliott Goldwater asks a very relevant question these days, of the last 10 social apps that you downloaded how many do you still use right now. So I did an inventory. I’ve downloaded 36 apps that fit in the social mobile space. Here are the ones that I still use, at least in some kind of moderation: Hootsuite (all the time), Facebook (all the time), Instagram (quite frequently), Path (moderately), Pinterest (minimally), Sonar (moderately), Glancee (moderately), Trover (a little more than moderately). I’ve dumped countless others including Highlight.

So why bother with another social mobile app. Well as Goldwater points out, Giddy Up is a social mobile app in the truest form. The app allows you to plan and attend events and then communicate through the app using your actual friends regular contact info, novel huh.

Event hosts must sign up for Giddy Up however their friends don’t have to. While Giddy Up has integration with Facebook, and Twitter (with Privacy Controls) the foundation for the event is built upon actual contacts in your contact list. The user creates an RSVPable event.

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New York Startup: Wendr Wins $25,000 Partnership With AB InBev For Mobile App Idea

(photo: adage.com)

Wendr is a new mobile social app that launched in February at the onset of Social Media week in New York. It has many of the same characteristics of the Ft.Lauderdale startup we profiled yesterday called MyNyte. In trying out both apps MyNyte has a more personal feeling to it. However Wendr is hoping to lend their technology to AB InBev (Anheiser Busch) the makers of Budweiser.

The two month old startup won a $25,000 partnership with the beverage giant in Manhattan Wednesday as part of Ad Age’s Digital Conference. The hackathon was called “Brand Hack” and the wet behind the ears CEO Sam Zises blew away the competition, not necessarily with the app itself but with his total package.

Ad Age’s Jason DelRay report that not only did Zises bring his customized app called “Buds By Budweiser” but he engaged the crowd at one point doing a wardrobe change on stage from his Wendr hat to a hat that was already emblazoned with a “Buds By Budweiser” logo. This is the kind of thing that gets investors and contest judges engaged with the people presenting as much as the idea itself. A point echoed by Fubu founder and ABC Shark Tank Shark Daymond John in a recent Google+ Hangout Townhall meeting with high school students studying business.

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Follow Up: Twitter’s Fame Game Shut Down Already

Just a few weeks ago we brought you the story of the Fame Game. Fame was a side project for Adam Ludwin a principal at RRE Ventures in New York. The premise was simple, a raffle website “game” where the winner of the daily raffle got everyone who entered that days contest to follow them in one fell swoop. It was up to the winner to engage all the new followers into sticking around.

Well according to Betabeat, the Fame game is now over. The company sent out a Tweet on Thursday saying they planned to shut down the service because it violated Twitter’s terms of service. When it first launched Twitter didn’t seem to mind at all and in fact the team behind the Fame game thought they were clear because of a loop hole in the Twitter api.

“It was always a question mark about what Twitter would do,” RRE Ventures principal and Fame cofounder Adam Ludwin told Betabeat via phone. ”I have a lot of respect for the guys at Twitter and they gave us an extension, they gave us ideas about ways to change the app to conform more with what they viewed as in line with the spirit of their terms.”

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NY Startup Birch Box Teams Up With Gossip Girl XO XO

Birchbox is a women owned startup in New York that’s received a lot of traction. They are a monthly subscription club where their club members receive a box every month filled with the latest and greatest in cosmetics and pampering gear.

Subscription based clubs have been great for people with a hustle and bustle lifestyle. Nowadays you can find a subscription club for everything from shoes, to fashion, to cosmetics. We even profiled Chicago based KlutchClub earlier this year, they offer health and wellness products monthly.

Birchbox had two major pieces of news this week. First off they’ve introduced the Birch Box for men which comes complete with colognes, after shaves, and other pampering products that men love (but sometimes don’t like to shop for).

Their other announcement is that they’ve teamed up with the CW hit show “Gossip Girl” for their season finale.

The May Birchbox theme is “Gossip Girl” Birchbox founders Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna have teamed up with Amy Tagliamotti the shows department head for makeup and Jennifer Johnson the shows department head for hair. Tagliamotti and Johnson helped inspire the treats that will be in this months Birchbox.

“We’re all really big fans of Gossip Girl,” Beauchamp told Betabeat.com “The idea was to help the audience basically engage deeper with the show by getting a look into some of the looks from the show.”

Gossip Girl chronicles the lives of the upper east sides debutantes and their soap opera centric lives. “Gossip Girl” is a secretive blogger who posts the gossip that’s happening around the shows main characters. It airs on the CW network and is about to go on their season break.

source: Betabeat

Xoogler Spotlight: Powhow Learn New Hobbies In The Comfort Of Your Own Home

Former Googler Viva Chu has come up with something that hasn’t been done before. His new, New York based startup, PowHow allows people to take classes via webcam from the comfort of their own home.

Whether you want to learn how to knit socks, make fancy gift wrap or take a fitness class, there’s no need to comb the internet to find out when the next local class is happening. There’s no need to worry whether the class will be canceled because the instructor’s kids are sick. Powhow brings the class to your PC or Mac.

The classes cost each participant between $10- $30. Powhow takes a flat 30% fee off each “ticket” sold and the teacher gets the rest of the money. Simple enough right?

Now, all those great crafters on Pinterest could make a couple bucks sharing their knowledge using Chu’s new platform. It’s like Google Hangouts meets Pinterest for money.

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New York Start Up: Stamped Let’s You Put Your Stamp Of Approval On Things

Review sites like Yelp are great. The problem is when you’re looking for something in a hurry the last thing you want to do is read a 2500 word review on something. You want the meat and potatoes now and that’s what Stamped specializes in.

Stamped launched in November and was born in New York. Founders Robby Stein and Bart Stein previously worked for Google. The third co-founder, Kevin Palms worked with risk analytics at a New York hedge fund. They’ve already secured $1.5 million in seed funding from Bain Capital Ventures and Google Ventures.

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Google Acquires TxVia To Help Bring Google Wallet Into The Prepaid Space.

New York based TxVia has been working in the prepaid space since 2008. They reportedly handle over 100 million accounts and have partnerships with some of the biggest brands in the world.

Google announced on their Google Commerce Blog last week that they’ve acquired TxVia. Google didn’t disclose any of the financials behind the deal.

Google’s VP of Wallet & Payments Osama Bedier said on the Google Commerce Blog:

“They’ve partnered with the industry’s best known brands, and their leadership team has played an instrumental role in defining the fast-growing prepaid card segment of emerging payments.”

Google is working relentlessly as of late, on refining the Google Wallet platform and trying to build scale as quick as they can before ISIS rolls out.

While Google has teamed up with the nation’s third largest carrier, Sprint, to roll out Google Wallet the other three carriers have teamed up to form ISIS another virtual wallet and checkout program. ISIS has been successful in partnering with not only three of the for major carriers but some of the largest payment partners as well. For instance, Google’s current POS partner for Google Wallet transactions is Mastercard’s Pay Pass. ISIS on the other hand, has secured Verifone for their POS transactions.

According to Google TxVia has a payment network that is fast and reliable.

It hasn’t been revealed what role TxVia will play in all of this. Gift cards and prepaid cards have always been in the plans for Google Wallet. It appears, that with this transaction, Google Wallet will be closer to rolling out more “funding” options for Google Wallet customers.

Source: Google Commerce Blog

New York Startup: Get Shitter Puts Your Tweets On Toilet Paper

Before we dive into the bowl on this one let me first say that this is a 100% true story, now on with the runny details…

A recently announced startup that was founded by a four man team of developers in New York and Australia, has revolutionized the Twitter API in a way no one has ever thought of. These four men have found the ability to turn your tweets into four, useable rolls of toilet paper. This is actually brilliant.

All you do is log into their website at getshitter.com pay the $35 via paypal and voila your toilet paper will arrive shortly. It’s perfect for openhouses and press events, lets see how many rolls of getshitter paper we find at SXSW next year.

“Obviously this is fairly tongue in cheek, but we’re reasonably pleased we monetized Twitter in a way that avoided advertising,” said founder David Gillespie Told Venturebeat’s Ben Poper ”… The direction is still settling, but I think there’s some kind of course to chart around just trying to entertain people. I don’t know where the revenue is, it may very well wind up needing to be funded by brands when the right project comes along. I can’t imagine Kleenex having put their name to Shitter though!”

They may not be too far off fro funding as StockTwits founder Howard Lindzon tweeted that he wanted to invest in the shitter.

source: VB

NY: This Worldly Entrepreneur Puts Social Into Finding A Hostel Online With Inbed.me

Inbed.me is a new website that connects young travelers who stay in hostels together socially. It’s the brain child of Diego Saez-Gil who spent a good portion of his life backpacking across the world and staying in hostels along the way. His backpacking experience brought about his first business, the backpacking community, Off Track Planet, the ultimate backpacker’s online guide to travel. He quickly grew that site to 120,000 users from around the world.

Inbed.me is the first socially injected website for booking hostels, beds and couches and is targeted at the student traveler market. The company is headquartered in New York, and Bogota, Colombia. They currently have 1200 hostels on inbed.me however TechCrunch reports that they are about to start a partnership with Hostelworld, which is the market leader for booking hostels online. Hostelworld books beds in over 25,000 hostels worldwide. According to the site that’s only half of the hostels available.

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