Startups Archives - Page 54 of 144

Before SnapChat There Was Quimby

Unless you’ve been living under the Christmas and holiday rock, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the “controversial” mobile app startup, SnapChat and the ensuing controversy surrounding Facebook copying the technology as “Poke”.

SnapChat is a mobile texting app that allows multimedia texting. What makes it particularly intriguing is the fact that messages sent with SnapChat can self destruct. Make no bones about it or call it anything less than it is, it is the “sexting” app and its burning up the charts. SnapChat quickly found its place in the top 3 apps in the iTunes App Store where it’s been living for weeks.

Teenagers are using it in droves for sexting, to talk freely about others and for anything else they don’t want accidentally left on their phones.

Facebook was quickly called out, when after seeing the runaway success SnapChat was having, copying the technology completely and releasing it as a mobile app called “Poke”. Poke quickly rose to the top of the charts as well but when people realized how Zuckerberg’s mobile engineers blatantly ripped off SnapChat, Poke began falling as quickly as it rose to the top.

Before SnapChat though there was another app designed to do the exact same thing. We first reported on Toronto startup Quimby back in April when we interviewed the apps founder Heather Burns.

Burns had teamed up with our good friends at Toronto mobile development giant Bnotions. The premise for her app was the same thing, self destructing messages.

Burns tried to take the high road though, she suggested adults may use it for when they are away from each other for long times and long distances. Another use case for Quimby was highly sensitive messages between employers and colleagues. Either way Quimby is just as much for sexting as SnapChat is.

SnapChat also went on the defensive at first but of course any press but your obituary is good press right?

See out interview wit Quimby here

CES 2013: CEA Partners With Launch.It For Eureka Park Coverage

Launch.it a New York startup that bills itself as an event news and social information management platform announced earlier this month that they’ve partnered with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) to power the official news channel for Eureka Park, the startup zone at the 2013 International CES.

Eureka Park is in it’s third official year and has grown 40% year over year. This year there are 140 startups exhibiting throughout the duration of the show. In addition Startup America will host a content stage with speakers, panel discussions and even pitches throughout the event.

“Every great company starts with a eureka moment, a unique idea that launches the next must-have product or service. And through our partnership with CEA, we have ensured that you can now find these companies within their dedicated home in the Eureka Park TechZone and online through their dedicated interactive news site,” said Brian Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of Launch.it said in a post on the company’s website. “I’ve worked at and attended CES for more than thirty years and it has been one of the best places to find these fledgling start-ups and diamond in-the-rough companies waiting to be discovered and make it big.”

Launch.it will provide access to all of Eureka Park’s startups to these important tools:

· In-depth social analytics

· Wiki-like environment to make story updates in real-time

· Investors and media can follow companies to get real-time updates

· An action box to engage readers for investment and media opportunities

· Facebook comments for insight and feedback

· Rich multimedia, tags and geo-location for enhanced engagement and discoverability

· “Buy it and Trial it” buttons to drive users directly to point of purchase

· Customized tweets for precise messaging and branding

“CEA recognized early on that startups are now an integral part of the consumer electronics industry and created Eureka Park to cultivate and support the passionate entrepreneurs,” said Trace Cohen, President and Co-Founder of Launch.it. “Having attended CES for the past few years, Eureka Park, in it’s first year last year, was one of my favorite areas to walk through because of the innovative startups looking to disrupt multiple industries. Best of all, I had the opportunity to ask questions, meet the passionate founders behind the ideas and can now support them through our partnership to make sure all their news can be easily found, discovered and shared.”

Of course nibletz.com the voice of startups everywhere else, will be covering the entire show including Starutp Debut and the entire Eureka Park experience as well. We’re looking forward to in depth interviews, pitches and reporting on all of the innovative startups in Eureka Park.

Through our previous web properties, and now nibletz, we’ve covered CES for the last decade. Typically with shows like CES we turn to BusinessWire or TradeShow Wire for up to the minute news releases.

CEA partnering with Launch.it, a startup in it’s own right, will better position the Eureka Park startups to make a bigger splash among the over 3500 companies exhibiting during the week in Las Vegas. Launch.it is better positioned in terms of the newest trends in news delivery and social media over the more traditional news services. This way the startups in Eureka Park have their own clear and coherent voice that’s a bit more relevant than traditional newswire services.

How To Raise Money Everywhere Else Find Out At Huge Startup Conference

Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference is being held in Memphis Tennessee February 9-12th at the Memphis Convention Center. Over 1700 attendees have already purchased tickets including over 400 angels and vcs. The conference will offer startups at any stage pre series-A unparalleled access to investors, fellow entrepreneurs, founders and speakers.

In addition to great speakers like Scott Case, Bill Harris and countless others, “everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference” is going to help startups outside of Silicon Valley unlike any other event in the world.

In talking with hundreds of startups every week we’ve found (and you probably know first hand) the biggest obstacle for founders outside the valley is access to capital. Sometimes we hear about it to nauseam.

Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference is going to tackle that issues in a variety of ways starting with a panel of some great startup founders who struggled bootstrapping until they had their big break, most of them staying right where they are.

We’ll talk with Gabe Lozano founder of St. Louis Startup LockerDome who’s raised over $2 million dollars to date from names including Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square. Lozano is firmly planted in downtown St. Louis.

Rob Kischuck the founder of Atlanta startup bad.gy, who on a chance meeting at a party for Mark Cuban hosted by Nibletz co-founder and CEO Nick Tippmann, met Cuban who loved the idea. Cuban is a big fan of founders putting in enormous amounts of sweat equity and Kischuck could write a book on the topic. Kischuck has now raised nearly three quarters of a million dollars for his startup. Kischuck will talk about his experience at everywhereelse.co

Shawn Flynn, co-founder of Memphis based Restore Medical Solutions will talk about moving his startup from Atlanta to Memphis Tennessee for the ZeroTo510 accelerator. After the accelerator program he and co-founder Ryan Ramkhelawan went on to raise a series A round of $2.5 million dollars in Memphis Tennessee.

McKeever Conwell the co-founder and CEO of Baltimore startup Given.To has had the opportunity to move to Silicon Valley and get in the venture capital rat race but stayed in his native Baltimore to grow his company and help others through his involvement with organizations like Accelerate Baltimore.

Scott Case, founding CTO of Priceline.com and the current CEO of Startup America will facilitate the panel and also talk about Priceline’s experience building a billion dollar company outside Silicon Valley.

Be part of the Startup Village at everywhereelse.co for your chance to pitch in three different contests for $100,000 in cash. Click this link for tickets.

MyMzone Bringing London’s Street Markets To Life Online

Etsy, the crafter’s online marketplace has been around since 2005 and is one of the most visited sites for homemade wears. A new London startup called MyMzone is hoping to disrupt that, at least across the pond.

MyMzone is hoping to become the curated online market place showcasing unique and authentic items handmade, handcrafted and designed by merchants selling in local markets in London. That’s actually the part that differentiates the platform from Etsy.

Back in August we interviewed Nashville startup Street Jelly. The premise for the company founded by Frank Podlaha is to take street performers and put them online to make real money for virtual tips. MyMzone is hoping to provide an avenue for street and market merchants hawking their ways in London, and put them online as well.

MyMzone co-founder Ravi Jay says he’d describe MyMzone to his Grandma by saying: “Grandma, Remember going to Portobello Market in 2006 and not buying that gorgeous handmade sweater from that lovely young woman because we did not have any British Pounds on us? You know what, she is still there and continues to hand made amazingly beautiful sweaters. Finally, you can see her online along with all the other goodness from local markets of London.”

It’s an interesting proposition for a city that has upscale street markets with handcrafted items you could find on Rodeo Drive in the United States.

Check out the entire interview with Jay below.

Vancouver Startup: iWishfor Is Making Gift Giving Easier

With the holidays behind us, gift giving isn’t on the minds of many. However when we go back to work next week there’s going to be some people undoubtedly worried whether they got someone the wrong gift. Typically you can read the fake smile but sometimes you can go all year, or at least until someone’s next birthday, to find out that they didn’t really like the last gift you got for them.

There are startups trying to solve this problem and Vancouver startup iWishfor is one of them.

The idea behind iWishfor is pretty easy. People can take their smartphone and scan the barcode of any item they may want to receive as a gift. From there they can sign up their friends and family members to see the list of the things they want. All of those people become the list follower.

As a follower you can see the list your friend created and you can cross the item off the list if you pick it up. You can also add your own suggestions to the list which the other followers can see but your gift recipient cannot. This way, not only are you getting a gift that your friend or relative really wants but your also getting a gift no one else is getting for that person.

Everyone has heard of a wedding registry or a baby registry, apps like iWishfor allow people to create virtual registries for any occassion.

We got a chance to talk with the team behind iWishfor. Check out the interview below.

Seattle Startup: XSync A Safer Way To Share Files On Mobile Devices?

Imagine if you were at a park or another public place and you snapped a shot of your child playing with another child. Perhaps you befriended the parents for just a few minutes but you don’t know them well enough to share phone numbers or email addresses. A new Seattle Startup called XSync has a solution that could work for you.

Xsync uses a QR code technology to securely link two smartphones for file transfer. Since the technology is using the QR code to establish the secured bridge, there’s no need to swap email addresses, phone numbers or Facebook accounts. Any kind of file can be sent using Xsync’s technology.

Right now there are several ways to send files between two phones, there’s NFC “bumping” like on the Galaxy Nexus phones, there’s email, SMS, Facebook, Drop Box, the bump app, and others. Is there even room for Xsync?

According to Xsync co-founder Bryan Leeds the company is already in negotiations with OEM’s and carriers to have the Xsync system pre-installed on future mobile devices. While Xsync exists in an app today, if it does go the pre-install route it would be a feature instead of an app. It would also give the startup a significant boost as they try to build scale.

Being based in Seattle could prove fruitful for this mobile centric startup. In addition to the obvious, like Microsoft, Samsung, HTC, Clearwire and T-Mobile all have significant presence in the city.

We got a chance to talk with Leeds about Xsync and growing a startup in Seattle. Check out the interview below.

Interview With Eric Mathews Founder Of Memphis Startup Accelerator Seed Hatchery

While some startup communities are in their earliest stages of development, Memphis’ ecosystem is going on six years old. One of the biggest drivers of that startup community is Eric Mathews, who’s Launch Your City organization has been at the center of Memphis’ entrepreneurial community for over six years.

Launch Your City is the organization behind Launch Memphis, Upstart Memphis, and Seed Hatchery, Memphis’ intense three month startup accelerator. Seed Hatchery is currently taking applications for it’s third class which will begin in February and graduate in May during Memphis’ legendary Barbecue Festival.

We got a chance to catch up with Mathews to discuss Seed Hatchery, what makes it different, and why Memphis. Check out the interview below:

CES 2013: CEA Welcomes Startups With New Membership Category

We could see the writing on the wall for this one over two years ago when Eureka Park was announced. CEA, the Consumer Electronics Association and the producers of the International CES show in Las Vegas January 8-11, has created a new membership category making it easier for startups to join the ranks of the top consumer electronics association in the world.

In addition to Eureka Park, one of the largest global gathering of startups in the world, CEA has been busy fostering startups, innovation and entrepreneurism in the United States. They’ve started a grassroots campaign “The Innovation Movement” to educate lawmakers on the spirit of innovation, they produce the International CES and have launched a new magazine called “It Is Innovation”.

This year, CEA has also partnered with Startup America to provide continuous programming at the Startup America stage as part of Eureka Park’s Tech Zone.

CEA’s President and CEO Gary Shapiro is also very supportive of innovation, startups and entrepreneurism. He often writes about innovation across the country, lobbies for innovation and speaks at startup events. Shapiro was on-hand for Chicago TechWeek this past June where he spoke to startups and founders as well as gave away and signed books.

“Startups are jumpstarting our economy and are paving the way for America’s future,” Shapiro said in a statement. “Creating a unique membership category for startups is another way we are pursuing our strategic goal of promoting innovation, the lifeblood of our industry. Many of the individuals behind startups have put all of their resources on the line to make sure their companies have the best chance of succeeding. Every bit of support we can offer as an organization is critical not only to advancing the consumer electronics industry but also to ensuring the world’s most cutting-edge technologies end up in consumers’ hands.”

CEA’s new Startup membership category is just $95 per year. In order to qualify for this membership level companies must be in development of a technology product, service or app that has been introduced in the market within the last year or will be in within the next year. They must have annual sales under $1 million, be located in the U.S. and not have been CEA members in the last two years.

To sign up for this membership International CES Attendees can visit the CEA booth in the Grand Lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the show. You can also email membership@ce.org beginning January 3, 2013.

Linkage:

More CES 2013 team coverage from nibletz.com here

Startup News

CEA’s Website

Event two in the grandslam of startup events is everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Boulder Startup: Seamless Toys, Creates Atoms, Things To Build Things That Do Things, For Kids

Boulder Colorado startup Seamless Toys, is one of the coolest startups we’ve heard about all year (and we’ve reported on over 1500), they’ve created Atoms, essentially toys that help kids build things that do cool things. Think erector sets, legos and blocks but for kids living in today’s times.

ATOMs were built to work in conjunction with the stuff kids already have like LEGOs, stuffed animals, Barbies, even those good ole erector sets. Seamless Toys boasts that within five minutes of taking ATOMS out of the box, kids can be creating things. Not only that but kids as young as five can create toys that interact with smart phones, move around, explode and more.

There are 13 unique modules that include a motor, light sensor, sound module, knob module, battery brick, splitter, IR laser, IR target, LED, Flip Flop, accelerometer, iOS control brick and our favorite the exploding brick (parents no worries there are no pyrotechnics involved).

Last year at CES 2012 we saw Cubelets which are robotic construction kids for kids. While those are cool, what the folks at Seamless Toys have been able to do is integrate and make their ATOMS Express toy sets something that compliments existing toys and makes them do whatever a kids’ imagination can come up with.

Imagine creating a lego house with lights that turn on and off by iPhone, or a garage door that opens. Imagine a dinosaur that rolls across the floor and has a mouth that opens. You could even build lego villages that explode.

All of this is why ATOMS were able to meet their $100,000 Kickstarter goal in just 22 days.

We got a chance to catch up with the team behind ATOMS, check out our interview below.

Memphis Startup: Xtrant Named Official Project Management Tool For Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Project management is an integral part of every startup and every startup conference. Often times founding teams are bogged down with multiple tasks. Without an effective project management solution, things can get chaotic quickly.

There are several project management tools out there like Basecamp and Asana however we found a new project management startup called Xtrant that allows collaboration, cloud based file storage and an extremely easy work flow. Xtrant is based in Memphis TN home to the everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference event.

Xtrant has a freemium model so it’s easy to sign up for an account and you simply pay to get more storage.

The startup was founded by James Sposto of Sposto Creative. It’s been evolving for the last 10 years and started as an internal tool that Sposto and his company used for managing web development, marketing and advertising projects. The different levels of access allowed them to share creative with their teams and important, more confidential information like contracts with the key stakeholders, a feature that’s made it into the public release.

Xtrant is in public beta at the moment but will officially debut at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference. You’ll be able to find Xtrant on the conference level with our top tier sponsors like Baker Donelson, Archer Malmo, Startup America and others.

We’re also privy to some important, and cool information, you should sign up for Xtrant now. In the coming weeks we will have an official “everywhere else” project in the Xtrant system where attendees, and startups in the Startup Village can win cool prizes.

Xtrant will be hosting a few cool events as part of the conference so stay tuned for those details as well.

Linkage:

Check out Xtrant online here

60 Startups From Everywhere Else Gear Up For Startup Debut At CES 2013

60 startups from “everywhere else” are set to take the stage next Sunday January 6th as part of the annual “Startup Debut” at CES 2013. This event puts early stage startups in front of as many as 800 journalists and tech media aficionados in an intimate setting where founders can get 1:1 about their companies.

Last year, Liquipel, debuted their product at Startup Debut, held at the HardRock in Las Vegas. The waterproofing product for smartphones had an exceptional award winning year after their initial debut at the event.

Startups from Texas, New York, Toronto, LA, Virginia and even Budapest will exhibit at the Bali Hai Golf Course, two blocks south of Mandalay Bay.

SocialRadius one of the earliest social media marketing agencies, and a die hard supporter of startups, started the event in January 2010 at CES. They now hold five annual events with their two biggest being CES and SXSW.

Nibletz, the voice of startups everywhere else will bring you all of the startup goodness from Startup Debut as part of our ongoing team coverage at CES 2013.

Linkage:

Complete team coverage of CES 2013 can be found here

The next big startup event after CES is this

Auburn Startup: GetCharitable Nominated For 2013 Mobility Award At CES

An Auburn Alabama startup that accelerated in Oklahoma City’s BluePrint For Business accelerated has just made history, by getting nominated for a distinguished 2013 Mobility Award at CES 2013.

GetCharitable, founded by Auburn University students Michael Isaacs and Kyle DeTullio, makes donating to charity extremely easy for the slackest of slacktivists. The app, currently available in the Google Play Store for Android devices, downloads a sponsored image daily.

Once the app is installed it’s so easy, GetCharitable says:

“That’s it! Once the app is running, you needn’t do a thing – just kick back and wake up each morning with the confidence that you saved a hungry child’s life as a new sponsored image appears each day.”

The Auburn startup was nominated for a prestigious “2013 Mobility Award” as part of the Mobiletrax event. Mobiletrax and the Mobility Awards were founded by longtime industry expert Gerry Purdy PhD.

While most exhibitors at the International CES are vying for “Best of CES” awards and nominations the Mobility Awards are a distinguished honor voted on by top level peers in the mobile industry as well as mobile focused media.

What’s particularly noteworthy for this honor in regards to GetCharitable is that this is the first time that such an early stage startup has been among the nominees. That alone speaks eons to the viability and prospects for the idea focused behind this mobile, socially conscious startup.

The winners will be revealed during a ceremony and banquet January 9th in Las Vegas during the International CES.

Linkage

Getcharitable

Iowa Startup BidOnMyJob Harnesses SMS To Take On Craigslist

A new Iowa Startup called BidOnMyJob is ready to talk on the likes of Craigslist and AngiesList. The startup, founded by Derrick Hans and Nathan Gibson takes the, gigs and service offered sections out of Craigslist and has made a targeted platform for job matching, social discovery, and referrals.

The concept behind BidOnMyJob is that there are contractors and people who can do work for other folks just about anywhere. ”

You have a huge network out there at your fingertips. Chances are there is someone that knows someone who can and wants to fix it for you” Hans said.

Contractors, workers and neighborhood handymen can sign up for an account at BidOnMyJob. From there, when there is a job posted that meets their criteria they will be alerted through the website and via text message.

We talked to Bruce Matheson, a carpenter and contractor in Maryland who said that the SMS integration would give BidOnMyJob a leg up on competitive sites he already uses for jobs. “I can only check Craigslist and Angie’s List in the morning before I go out for a Job and then at lunch. The jobs are gone by then. Having a system that texts me jobs would keep me more competitive.”

In addition to SMS alerts BidOnMyJob has a great social component that allows every job to easily be shared across multiple social networks like Twitter and Facebook, by email or even by text message. Hans and Gibson have launched the company in the Des Moines metro area and will stay local for now, but do plan on a nationwide roll out.

Linkage:

Check out BidOnMyJob here

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Accelerate MSP To Fund Up To 10 Twin Cities Startups

Accelerate MSP, Minneapolis startups,funding, startups

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (photo: business journal)

The Minneapolis /St.Paul twin cities region is about to get another non profit aimed at funding startups. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced the new “Accelerate MSP” initiative before an audience of a few hundred at the St. Paul Regional Economic Development Forum in Minneapolis.

Accelerate MSP will “…help fill a critical need for seed and early-stage funding at the valley of death stage in commercialization,” Coleman said.

The new group plans to fund early stage startups with a seed investment anywhere between $50,000 and $500,000 dollars. They plan on funding 10 startups per year.

To date the new organization has raised $200,000 with another $150,000 request pending. Accelerate MSP has received funds from The City Of St. Paul, The Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development, the McKnight Foundation, Saint Paul Foundation, Surdna Foundation and the US Department of Commerce.

Ernest Grumbles, Tom Kieffer, Brad Lehrman, Joy Lindsay, Steve Mercil and Jay Schrankler and make up the founding board for Accelerate MSP. They plan on hiring a CEO early next year that will help administer the fund.

Linkage:

Source: Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal

This is the biggest startup event in the U.S., and you CAN afford it