SoftWear Automation Bringing Garment Industry Back To U.S. By Way Of Atlanta

SoftWear Automation, Atlanta Startup,Startup, Venture Atlanta

Steve Dickerson, founder SoftWear Automation (photo: TedX)

Five years ago, retired Georgia Tech automation professor Dr. Steve Dickerson was getting ready for a seminar on the future of robotics.  In preparation, he asked what the biggest need in robotics was today?  The answer came quickly – automation of the garment industry.

To the Lowest Cost Provider Go the Manufacturing Contracts

Dickerson, a mechanical engineer and entrepreneur, grew up in Commerce, Georgia, where at one time there were three sewing operations. Today, most sewing is done overseas, where manufacturers have sought cheap labor.  Pricing pressures are so intense that clothing manufacturing has moved from China to countries with even cheaper labor like Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam.  Dickerson plans to change that trend and bring garment manufacturing back to the United States.

Dickerson, who co-founded SoftWear Automation, Inc. with Dr. Wayne Book, envisions technicians specializing in robotics supervising an entirely automated process, which will replace the need for seamstresses in factories and make the United States competitive in the garment industry again.

According to Plunkett Research, Ltd., in 2012 America imported more than $100 billion in textiles and apparel, while exporting only $22 billion. “In order to manufacture in the U.S., [you] have to be automated,” Dickerson says. “[Businesses] have to eliminate direct labor to make it profitable.”

Old Problem, New Solution

The loss of U.S. apparel manufacturing is not a new problem. In the 1970s and 1980s, government agencies recognized the issue and began developing projects to bring it back. These efforts failed in large part because an economical way to bring the industry back remained elusive — until now. In 2012, SoftWear Automation received $1.2 million from the U.S. government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is required by law to purchase military garments made in the United States.

SoftWear Automation’s robotics focus on more than just sewing. In place of seamstresses, the system will guide fabric through machines and transferred from one machine to another.

Continue reading at VentureAtlanta.org

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Atlanta Startup AppPax Is Making Life Easier For Enterprise Developers [interview]

Apppax,Atlanta startup,startup,startups,startup interview

There are a lot of enterprise developers out there that are grinding their gears working on similar projects for different companies or clients. While developers need to stay competitive and productive, there are several menial tasks that could be done in a much easier way.

For instance, right now hundreds of developers are building enterprise enrollment modules. Typically these enrollment modules are just one tiny part of the overall finished project. A lot of time is being wasted with all these different engineers working on the same things as just part of the bigger project.

While we’re not suggesting some kind of socialist, round all the developers together in one circle and sing kumbaya kind of thing, there’s an Atlanta based startup that has a solution.

AppPax offers a cloud based platform delivering pre-built business modules that are customizable and accesible through a robust API. Their AppPax Central hub offers “cross everything” for all platforms mobile, web and desktop. This means that developers using AppPax can get the nuts and bolts from their cloud based hub and work on the actual project rather than building the initial tools.

AppPax was founded by Bill Forsyth an enterprise software engineer with 29 years experience.

We got a chance to talk to Forsyth. Check out our interview below:

appaxscreenshotWhat is AppPax?

We offer pre-built business modules running in a cloud-based hub — all accessible via a robust API and configurable through AppPax Central. Our webware is cross-everything. No more choosing between platform or device. No more deciding whether to develop a mobile app, mobile site or desktop experience.

In layman’s terms, how does it work? (In other words how would you explain it to your grandmother)

Developers can now call ready-made, integrated business modules from any device (web app, mobile app, etc.) instead of building features from scratch. Right now, hundreds of developers are building enterprise enrollment modules.

That’s a waste. With AppPax Access, for example,  they don’t have to build it, they can just call it and load in their data. 

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

For the past 29 years, Bill Forsyth has been conceiving and building enterprise systems, merging the technical with the aesthetic, all to create simple solutions to complex problems. He’s held technical and leadership roles at S1 Corporation, EDS, Gemstone Systems, Bellsouth, and Platinum Software.

Where is AppPax based?

AppPax is based in Atlanta, Ga.

What is the startup scene like there?

Young, but growing. And the influence of Georgia Tech is helping to fuel it. 

How did you come up with the idea for AppPax?

Bill created AppPax after years of building business systems using unnecessarily complex processes, working on system integration, playing World of Warcraft, observing the rise of mobile, and realizing that half to three quarters of all data models and features of business applications apply to other business applications. Why are we still building them from scratch?

What problem does AppPax solve?

AppPax eliminates the need to spec, design, model, and develop the majority of any business app’s features from scratch. It also makes all app features available via secure API to all devices. It’s already built. So don’t build it. Just call it, with AppPax.

What’s your secret sauce, what makes you different?

Pre-built, integrated enterprise business models in a cloud-based hub built on universal data models. The hub is the difference.  

Why now?

We’re entering a new phase in the evolution of software development. Common features of apps (access, people, products, requirements, agreements, files, etc.) will simply exist in the cloud for you to call, already built, already integrated with each other. In the old days we coded everything every time. Then we went to libraries you could “link” in. Then to SDK’s and open source. And you still needed to create and operate your database, backend, and now do that cross-device. 

BaaS tried to help that but as it exists right now it might actually be a retrograde since it once again requires you to design, model, and build most everything all over again. But at AppPax we’ve invented a way to provide core, integrated business features you can simply call in the cloud yet still use your own data. 

Developers already no longer consider building their own maps. They simply call GoogleMaps, Mapquest, or something in the cloud. Nor would most developers think of building their own payment processor. They just call PayPal, Chargify or something in the cloud. AppPax now provides similar services but for core business features. We believe in the near future you won’t have to build or assemble most of your app. You’ll simply call the features you need from your front-ends, cross-device, allowing you to focus on your own unique front-ends. AppPax aims to lead and dominate that market.

What are some milestones you’ve achieved?

We just released AppPax Beta with our first five Pax: People, Access, Tracking, Files, Contact. We have more waiting in the wings.

You can find out more at AppPax.com

New York startup Problemio wants to help other startups fail less.

Atlanta Startup Medicast Is Uber For HealthCare [video][sxsw]

Even though it’s 2013, Obamacare is kicking in and people are clamoring for insurance, there is a wave of “old school” healthcare sweeping the nation. It’s not about going retro to the olden days, but more about convenience in the hustle bustle, no time to stop lifestyles that plenty of American’s have grown accustom too.

What is it you ask?  House calls, and doctors are starting to make them again.  That’s where Atlanta startup Medicast comes in.

Medicast is an on-demand, doctor hailing application, similar to Uber for black cars.


Medicast,Atlanta startup,startups,sxsw,sxswi,techcocktailUsing the app, a patient would say what kind of doctor they need, order the doctor and then the doctor would come to their home or office to administer care. Doctors on the system will have another version of the app, designed for the medical provider. They can respond to requests by type of service, distance or what the patient is ready to pay.

Medicast founder Sam Zebarjadi came all the way down from Atlanta to Austin for TechCocktail’s celebration of startups event. It was there that he got to pitch Medicast during the Pitch Jam session and where we caught up with him.

Check out the video interview with Zebarjadi below and for more information visit medicast.co

Check out over 30 stories we’ve already filed for SXSW 2013, here

This is a two man show bringing all this coverage, sneaker strapped, help us out here.

 

David Cohen, That Ideas Market Startup Has Arrived And It’s Called ThoughtMarket

ThoughtMarket,Atlanta startup,startup interviewI’ve seen a handful of interviews where Techstars founder talks about ideas being worthless without follow through and execution. He’s absolutely 100% right. I’ve seen him throw a reporter for a loop in an interview where he gets all hyper about a startup that sells ideas, and when the reporter asks him the name of the startup, he confesses it doesn’t exist, again, because ideas are worthless.

Atlanta startup ThoughtMarket is actually more in depth than just a place to hash out and sell ideas, it’s about creating and being creative even if you aren’t the person taht executes.

“The Thought Market is a unified platform for the exchange of all forms of creative media and intellectual property.  We believe that the human mind truly is the most valuable resource in existence and seek to create the modern, technologically advanced equivalent of the ancient Greek agora for the trade of this resource.” Ben Burger co-founder of ThoughtMarket told us in an interview.  “By this, I mean that your imagination has the potential to create things that can change the world – but it has always been limited by technology’s ability to spread and share your creation.  An author could have the best idea ever for a book that would sell millions of copies and change the world, but without a pen and paper, it is only a story in their mind that gets spread by word of mouth (even the mouth can be interpreted as a technology).  With every advancement that technology makes, the mind’s potential to create advances as well.  From the mouth to the pen, to the printing press and now the Internet – every advancement had enormous implications on the ability of an individual to become wealthy or change the world just by something they write.  Every day, people use technology to create.  They create music, books, code, businesses, inventions and numerous other unique works on an ever-growing list of things that technology has enabled.  There are so many of these works or pieces of content being created that the Internet is flooded with them and an unknown number of magnificent and valuable things go completely unnoticed – while cat memes go viral.  But the important thing is that entire industries rely on these intangibles because they are immensely valuable to them, and more people than ever are creating today than ever before – both amateur and professional.  ”

To sum that all up Burger says “what the Thought Market will do is create the World’s first unified and all-inclusive trading platform for these intangible resources of value.”

So the concept seems intriguing, are you actually selling anything?

“We are not directly selling anything, just like stock exchanges don’t sell anything.  The trading happens between the users of the site.  We have adopted many of the same tools and concepts that modern investment trading sites implement to give their users total control over their investments.  So for instance, you can see how many android apps have been posted within a given period of time, how many of them sold, what they sold for, what the asking price was for the ones that didn’t sell, what the rating was for a given sale price etc.  Anything you could possibly want to know relating to the value of your investment in intellectual property will be made available to our users/traders.”

Ok so now that we’ve got that down, how does ThoughtMarket actually work?

“So let’s say that you are a musician.  You might have a day job and do it as a hobby or you might just not be a good performer – for whatever reason, you aren’t in a band for a living.  But you have just written the best song ever and you know that it would be a hit, making someone a lot of money.  So you go and post your song on the Market in its respective category for sale (this is the basis of how the econometrics aspect works).  Audio -> Music -> Country music -> etc.  There are many security measures we are implementing to help assure the value of your creation, but for this example, we’re listing it unrestricted so anyone can listen and rate it.  All of the users of the site may listen to it, rate it, comment on it, and most importantly, make you an offer.  So you are selling your song for 50k (Country music is infamous for song buying and songs often go for hundreds of thousands of dollars) and it has been given a good rating by the other traders of 9.2/10.  So someone wants to buy the rights to your song.  They can pay you the full 50k, or negotiate an offer with you. ”

Burger has also explained that ThoughtMarket isn’t just about music, it can be for book ideas, like starts to manuscripts, website ideas, even business ideas. So the site is just as it suggests, a thought market, with a whole lot more.

 And how does ThoughtMarket make money?

“As far as our revenue, we are still refining our model because we want it to be as conducive to all trading as possible. We are considering up to a 10% commission of the initial total sale price of an item (taken from the seller.  They get 90% of the sale price.)  For trades involving no money, we will take a $5 fee from both parties.  Advertising will be bare minimum if at all and custom designed to fit the design scheme of the Market. ”

Burger is a native of Atlanta Georgia and returned there after three years at the University of South Carolina. He agrees that the Atlanta startup scene is on fire.

“It’s amazing.  Earlier this month I attended an entrepreneurial event called Startup Rally.  I think I saw your tweet about the coverage so you know about the event.  But in general, Atlanta really is a growing community for entrepreneurs.  Hypepotamus sounds like the shit.  I haven’t had time to get involved there yet but I am very excited to do so.”

So how did you come up with this idea?

I was actually watching a TED talk last summer while taking summer classes at USC.  It was an unbelievably hot day, something like 109 degrees and humid.  Needless to say we were indoors.  But I was relaxing and watching Don Tapscott’s Four Principles for an Open World. http://www.ted.com/talks/don_tapscott_four_principles_for_the_open_world_1.html

The talk is about how all of humanity is becoming connected into a system via technology.  “Humanity is building a machine” I think was what he said that kind of sparked the whole idea.  If humanity is building a machine, who is making the parts?  And how are they being compensated?  So that’s kinda how it happened. 

ThoughtMarket plans to go into beta later this spring. You can learn more at thoughtmarket.net

We’re sneaker strapping it again across the country, on our nibletz sneaker strapped startup road trip part deux. Learn more and help us out here.

Holy Peaches Atlanta’s Airwatch Raises $200M Series A

Airwatch,Atlanta startup,funding news,startup newsAirwatch, a company that has been bootstrapped since 2003, just closed a $200M series A round led by Insight Venture Partners.

The company helps untangle the mess created by companies that are going the BYOD (Bring your own device) to work trend. BYOD is saving companies a lot of money by allowing employees to use their own smartphones, tablets and laptops. The company cuts hardware expenses but headaches for IT departments mount.

Airwatch, offers a device management solution for IT departments that helps companies manage overall compatibility and security within their enterprise.

Business Insider reported that this is the biggest enterprise category funding to date. More at TechCrunch

Body Boss Is A Fitness Startup For Teams VIDEO INTERVIEW

Body Boss, Atlanta Startup,startup,startup interview, fitness startup,startup rally

Body Boss co-founder Daryl Lu explains his startup at Startup Rally (photo: NMI 2013)

There are a lot of fitness startups out there. At CES 2013 back in January, a panel of media big wigs actually talked about the fact that there may be too many fitness startups these days. There’s a lot of noise in the fitness space and you’ll have to be unique to succeed.

Atlanta startup Body Boss may actually have that uniqueness people are looking for. Body Boss isn’t just a fitness app, but it’s a fitness app for teams. High School, college and even professional sports teams can use the Body Boss platform to track the fitness performance of their players.

Coaches can use Body Boss to track workouts from individuals as well as the entire team. The platform gives coaches the analytics they need to compare each player, how fit they are and where they need improvement.

Body Boss is making it easier for college recruiters to get a better picture of the high school athletes they’re looking at.

“This is a great tool for tracking and recruiting high school athletes.  I like the competitive aspect, accessibility on smartphones and tablets and instant updates. There is nothing on the market that is this professional looking” John Sisk, Director of Football Player Development at Georgia Tech said about Body Boss.

The competitive aspect that Sisk mentions is a feature in Body Boss that allows intra-squad competition. Virtual weight room crap-talking can be done through Body Boss, and whether athletes want to admit it or not, that can be a powerful tool.

Real time updates and an easy to understand UI make it a great way to create accountability for players and coaches. It also eliminates paperwork coaches would have to do on athlete’s workouts.

As the platform grows, Body Boss co-founders Daryl Lu and Don Pottinger hope that teams will be able to use Body Boss to not only keep up with their own team but other teams as well. A network for collaborating and sharing is already baked into the platform.

Check out the video below:

For more info on Body Boss visit bodybossfitness.com 

Atlanta Startup Plisten Is Bringing Pinboards For Brands VIDEO INTERVIEW

Plisten, Atlanta startup,startup,startups,startup interview, startup rallyWhile we will stay away from calling Plisten, Pinterest for Brands, that may be a very good description of exactly what Randy Mitchell and Eric Yu are doing with their Atlanta based startup.

Mitchell tells us in this video interview that Plisten came about after he had some trouble with major brands. He gives us just one example, citing a problem he had with a major bank where he had been a customer for years. As his situation got escalated he became more and more frustrated with customer service and the way the bank was treating him. Finally, a customer service “manager” told him to get any further he would need to write a letter to the CEO. Plisten is that letter.

But, Plisten is more about good interactions with brands as opposed to bad ones. Facebook, Google+ and even Twitter have taught us that people will communicate about their favorite brands. People will tweet about great experiences and of course bad experiences with any brand from Best Buy to BMW.

Coca-Cola, MTV, Disney, Red Bull, Converse, Starbucks and McDonalds are just some of the top brands on Facbeook today. Those seven brands alone count for over 250 million likes.

Brands are definitely a big play, Yu and Mitchell are hoping to hit a homerun with Plisten, which is a pinboard specifically for brands.

Consumers will be able to talk about their favorite brands, like their favorite brands and communicate directly with those brands. This is a powerful tool for consumers and for the brands themselves. By cutting away the noise from everything else people like, and honing in just on brands, Plisten will be able to deliver captive audiences and in turn those brands will be able to market directly to their most active customers.

Of course in Mitchell’s case, when someone has a problem with a brand they’ll also be able to communicate that problem. Perhaps they’ll find that the problem is more widespread. They may also find it’s isolated, but either way, with the focus strictly on brands, brand managers will have a better way of finding those problems, and fixing them.

Check out our video interview below.


You can find out more at plisten.com

Atlanta Startup TripLingo Is Disrupting The Yellow Box

TripLingo,Atlanta Startup,startup,Startup RallyIn 2011, after my third trip to IFA in Berlin I made a conscious decision to try and learn German. I wanted to be able to know how to order more than just a “cola light” (that’s German for Diet Coke). So I did what everyone in my position would do, I went to Union Station in DC and plucked down nearly $500 for a big yellow box from Rosetta Stone.

Don’t get me wrong, Rosetta Stone seemed great, but it wasn’t teaching me what I really needed to know. How can I hail a taxi, how can I read a mass transit sign, how can I ask someone where the bathroom is, and how can I order a German chocolate cake.  I learned a lot of words I would never need to know, and not enough of the phrases I did need to know.

Well with a trip to LeWeb planned next year, I need to learn French. Since I didn’t pay an ounce of attention in high school, I need to get learning. Luckily at Atlanta’s Startup Rally I bumped into Bijal Nagrashna the VP of Strategy at Atlanta startup TripLingo.  After a couple of real time lessons on how to correctly pronounce her name, she took me on a tour of what language learning software should look like.

TripLingo is a platform for learning languages specifically geared toward travelers. The extremely robust application is intuitive and pleasant to use. You start off by identifying where you are going, what you want to do there, why you are going there and your special needs.

For example, I’ll be going to France on business, to cover LeWeb. I won’t be shopping, but I will be eating. I’m type II diabetic (there’s an option for that), other than that I like just about any kind of food.

TripLingo pulls a bunch of popular, and necessary phrases together and gives the user a bunch of options. You can pick the text book translation, or you can go with something a little more casual or slang. If you’re adventuresome there’s a “crazy” option as well. Once you master that option you’ll sound like any hipster local.

TripLingo leaves no stone unturned (no pun intended). Their app offers the transliteration in text and if you plug in a headset you can hear how it’s supposed to sound.

The app also has the ability to help you out in a pinch, whether you’re having an emergency or you’ve spent all day at a conference and forgot to take a break to eat.

While I haven’t dove into the platform just yet, I’m going to use it and I’m confident that it’s going to be a much better experience than Rosetta Stone (and a lot less expensive).

TripLingo also offers a customized professional version for companies. Say you’re the CEO of a big company with offices in another country. Your company can customize TripLingo for phrases that will be important to people traveling on behalf of your company for business.

TripLingo was one of nearly 100 startups that exhibited at Startup Rally in Atlanta.

Find out more here at triplingo.com

Jermaine Dupri And Scott Case To Kick Off Startup Rally And Startup Georgia

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Monday afternoon in Atlanta Georgia promises to bring the largest gathering of startups in the city since 1895 when it hosted the Cotton and International Exposition.

Jermaine Dupri, entrepreneur and CEO of SoSoDef Recordings, is set to keynote Startup Rally which will showcase 100 regional startups at the Biltmore Hotel.

The exposition and summer internship fair will kick off at 3:00pm and run until 7:00pm. At 5:00pm Scott Case, the founding CTO of Priceline.com and the CEO of the Startup America Partnership will take the stage to officially launch Startup Georgia.

Dupri is no stranger to startup and entrepreneurship. His homegrown record label has spawned several Grammy award winning artists, and remains in Atlanta to this day. Dupri I also the founder of Global 14, a social network he launched in 2011 because he wanted a real social network vs “social notifying” which he says other social network are riddled with.

Dupri was also one of many top tier keynote speakers at Startup Grind, earlier this month.

”My roots are in Atlanta, and so is my future,” explains Dupri, “I am excited to share the story about So So Def Recordings and Global 14 at Startup Rally and to support the growth of fresh ideas emerging from Atlanta.”

Case continues his cross country evangelism for promoting startups and entrepreneurism. Last week Case kicked off everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

“Focusing on high-growth startups is a smart strategy for Georgia to grow its economy,” Case said. “Startup Georgia will provide a state-wide network to help the local entrepreneurs building the next great success story to access the opportunities and resources unique to the state.”

Ticketing information can be found here.

CabCents Brings The Priceline Model To Ground Transportation

Cabcents, Atlanta startup,startup interviewAtlanta startup CabCents is bringing the name your price, Priceline model to ground transportation. Whether you need a sedan service, van service, ride to the airport or ride around town, using CabCents you name the service you need, and the price you want to pay and BOOM you’ve got a driver.

Not only that, but CabCents has a thorough screening process to insure that you’re getting a quality driver and you should have nothing to be afraid of.

There are several customer and driver protections built into the entire web based CabCents experience. A customer goes to the website CabCents.com and fills out an easy to understand driver request form.

Once they’ve completed the form, the request is broadcast to CabCents’ network of thoroughly screened drivers. The drivers can decide if they want to “bid” on the job by responding positively to the request. From there the customer can see pictures of the drivers and their vehicles, that responded positively to the request.

Once the customer picks a driver the entire payment is collected in full from the customer. The payment is essentially held in escrow until 24 hours after the job is completed, giving the customer ample time to notify CabCents of any problems. Provided the customer doesn’t report any problems the driver is paid.

We got a chance to talk to the CabCents team. Check out the interview below.

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Shimi The Dancing Robot From Atlanta Startup Tovbot Debuts At CES 2013

You’ve always wanted a dancing, djing companion robot for our iPhone right? Well if you did you’re in luck. A group of entrepreneurs hailing from Georgia Tech, IDC in Israel and MIT Media Lab formed a company called Tovbot and have now introduced their first product to the world, and it’s name is Shimi.

Tovbot says they specialize in social, expressive, connected robots and Shimi definitely speaks to that mantra.

“Shimi is a robotic musical companion. He’s like your personal DJ, the guy that knows how to keep a party going and always knows what you want to hear next” Tovbot says on their website.

While companies have been trying to make robots interact with music for quite sometime it seems like Tovbot has really nailed that goal. The robot also doesn’t feel like some cheap piece of crap that’s going to have howling, treble filled speakers. The sound that comes out of Shimi is pleasant, although we didn’t get to hear it that loud.

Check out the video below from our interview at Eureka Park at CES 2013:

Over 130 startups, and over 1800 attendee tickets sold so far for the largest startup conference in the US everywhereelse.co The Starutp Conference

Draw Something Meets Twitter With New Social Startup Didlr: CES 2013

We met a very interesting, and fun, app startup from the UK and Atlanta Georgia at Eureka Park. The startup, called Didlr, essentially combines Draw Something and Twitter for a fun new way to socialize and interact with people across the globe.

Users download the app to their smartphone or tablet, on just about every platform commercially available. After the app is downloaded you go through the normal social networking notions like creating a profile and inviting your friends. Once you’re all set up you can get to Didling.

A Didl is using your creativity through drawings and creating pictures rather than through words. As they tell us in the interview below, 140 characters is a lot more limiting than creating pictures. Didlr allows you to be as creative as you like, or can be.

Thousands of people have already flocked to the service and see it as having a little more meaning than playing the once uber popular Draw Something.

Like Twitter you can follow friends, or Didlr’s whose pictures you like. Also, the more popular a Didl is the longer it stays on the front page of the app.

Creatively speaking Didlr has included a good sized color pallete and various brush tools for any artist.

Check out our our cofounder and CEO, Nick Tippmann’s interview video below.

 See startups from across the country and around the world at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Atlanta Startup: CloudSherpas Announces $40 Million Dollar Raise

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CloudSherpas, an Atlanta based startup has announced a VC raise of $40 million dollars as well as an acquisition of CloudTrigger, a consulting company that specializes in Salesforce.

TechCrunch describes CloudSherpas as a “cloud brokerage”. The company is a reseller of Google Apps and services as well as Salesforce products. They also consult on everything cloud.

But their own intellectual property also puts them in a category by themselves. CloudSherpas has a treasure trove of their own proprietary extensions as well as those stemming from their acquisitions.

TechCrunch is quick to point out that CloudSherpas is themselves a product of a merger. Back in March they merged with New York company GlobalOne. At that time they received a $20 million dollar investment from Columbia Capital, who had previously invested $15 million in GlobalOne.

This $40 million dollar round was led by GreenSpring Associates and brought their total vc funding to $62.6 million. Columbia Capital and Delta-V Capital joined in the new round. Australia-based Queensland Investment Corporation, an institutional investment manager, also participated.

CloudSherpas reportedly employs 350 people and plans to have a head count of 500 in the coming year.

Linkage:

Find CloudSherpas on the web here

Source: TC

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Interview With Atlanta Startup StockClout A Communications & Social Media Platform For Public Companies And Investors

StockClout,Atlanta startup,startup,startups,startup interviewInvestors have a lot of tools out there to do research on companies both public and private. There are tools like Bloomberg, Hoover and other mega research sites for companies. One of the problems with these sites though, is that they all stopped at different points in the current digital evolution.  They also don’t factor in tools that business professionals in 2012 use, like social media.

That’s why Tony Golden, a seasoned Wall Street stock professional, came up with StockClout. Golden is no Wall Street wannabe, he spent 15 years with firms like Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns and Smith Barney, back before the big investment banks went belly up. Golden has spent the last 17 years as the CEO and Founder of a successful investor relations firm in Atlanta. It’s this experience dealing with investors and helping them find information that led to the creation of StockClout.

Through StockClout you can create your own free profile and then add your portfolio companies to it. StockClout will do the rest bringing you the most up to date information on the public companies you have your money in. You’ll get updates from traditional sources and social media as well.

StockClout is free for anyone to use and sign up for. Golden says that StockClout actually gives their users the most precious commodity back, and that of course is “time”.  StockClout cuts out hours of research and provides everything to you in easy to read updates, and it’s all free.

We got a chance to talk to Golden about StockClout. Check out the interview below.

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