Boston Startup Archives - Page 3 of 5

$1.1 Million Awarded To 18 Startups In MassChallenge Awards

MassChallenge, the largest accelerator program in the world, celebrated their awards dinner for their most recent session in Boston Tuesday night. The dignitaries, entrepreneurs, celebrities and investors that filled the Boston Convention and Exhibit Center were there to see the best of the best of startup innovation coming out of the program that’s gone on to produce hundreds of millions in follow on funding and exits.

The 18 startups that received cash awards were narrowed down from a field of over 1200 applicants and then a pool of 26 finalists.

The four startups that won the diamond award of $100,000 each were:

Global Research & Innovation Technology

LiquiGlide

Rally Point

Strong Arm Technologies.

12 gold winners took home $50,000 cash prizes each and they were:

Bounce Imaging

Coach Up

Guided Surgery Solutions

Lab Automate Technologies

Ministry Of Supply

Nordic Technology Group

BuysideFX

Dynamo Micropower

Integral Research

Lovin Spoonfuls

NBA Math Hoops

Recovers.org

Ten startups were selected to stay on with free office space until next years class arrives in May.

In addition to those prizes directly from MassChallenge and it’s supporters, there were several community awards given out as well. Lovin Spoonfuls and NBA Math Hoops were the recipients of the $30,000 John W. Henry foundation prize for social impact.

Global Research Innovation won an additional $15,000 Perkin’s School For The Blind Assistive Technology Prize. PlenOptika won $10,000 as part of the same prize.

Rainbank and Bounce Imaging were recipients of a $15,000 prize from VenCorps for the greatest potential to positively impact New York City.

125 of the startups selected from the original 1237 applicants were part of the four month accelerator program. A round of judging narrowed those 125 startups down to the 26 that were competing Tuesday evening.

Linkage:

Source: Boston Herald

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Cuban Backed Boston Startup Apptopia Heating Up, Sells First $25,000 App

Back in march we reported on Boston area startup Apptopia. They’re making a name for themselves as a second hand market for app developers. They essentially do what Flippa does for websites, except for mobile apps.

Mobile app developers may find that they’ve built an app that’s picked up a bit of traction, but they’re ready to move onto something else. Rather than abandon the original app idea or it’s user base, an app developer can turn to Apptopia and sell the app and the accompanying intellectual property to someone else.

Many mobile app developers are incredibly good at coding and design but they may fall short in the marketing or sales department. For some developers the thrill in itself is the development process. Apptopia is the perfect place for those developers who may not necessarily have the skill set or drive to push their app to an actual business model. In some cases Apptopia may actually save some really great apps and get them out to market, in the hands of a more business savvy owner.

Apptopia is also a great place for multi title app publishers to increase their portfolio size.

Apps can sell on Apptopia, with the business plan, intellectual property and user base in tact, from anywhere to a few hundred dollars, upwards to tens of thousands of dollars.

Such is the case with an app that modeled itself after humor site 9GAG. The Android based app, which in some opinions was better than the official iOS 9GAG app, (and had more downloads than the official app) recently sold on Apptopia for $25,000.00.

On the sale of the 9GAG app, Apptopia founder and CEO Jonathan Kay told nibletz.com

“The 9GAG app that sold for $25k on Apptopia boasts stats that include over 855,000 downloads & 37,000 ratings. This is great to see as this app (built by an independant developer) is far out performing 9GAG’s offical iPhone app (which has less than 10% of the stats). 9GAG plans to enter the Android Market “later this year,” but i would be quite shocked if they built something from scratch versus acquiring the best available option (and customizing it to fit their brand/API). In my opinion this is what makes the acquisiton so interesting – there is a massive opportunity to then flip this back to 9GAG when they are ready. Just remember it’s about the users, not the technology.”

That’s definitely not chump change, especially for developers that may not have as much skin in the game.

To date Apptopia has facilitated the same of 83 different apps from the original developer to a new buyer. Sure with the hundreds of thousands of apps available today 83 doesn’t sound like very many, however Apptopia has been growing exponentially since their launch earlier this year.

Why does this work?

“Probably 80% of people who want to get involved in mobile either don’t know how to code an app or don’t know an app developer,” Kay said. “So there’s this massive demand, but kind of a little bit of a barrier to entry.”

The model alone has attracted an investment from Dallas Maverick’s owner, entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban. The secondary app market will naturally continue to grow. As the word spreads about Apptopia people will start utilizing the service as a go to spot for app developers to sell their apps outright.

Kay also pointed out that there are some developers out there who are developing directly for Apptopia.

Linkage:

Check out Apptopia here

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Boston Startup: SlideShark Solves The iPad/PowerPoint Problem

Although we love our Apple products around here, sometimes getting Apple to play nice with others requires a little work around. In this case we’re talking about the fact that PowerPoint slide shows never show up right on an iPad. This problem had thousands and thousands of startup founders in a frenzy trying to find the best way to get their pitch decks onto their iPads.

Sure a KeyNote presentation will play well on an iPad, after all it’s an Apple product, but what about those 30 million presentations created daily using Power Point (according to Microsoft)?

Power Point can be a vital business tool and with more and more people taking to Power Point out of the board room, it can be frustrating trying to get your slides to fit and play right on your iPad. Well worry no more, as Boston Startup Slideshark has you covered.

Slideshark is available for all iOS devices. They recently launched their iPhone version and according to the company, it plays well with iPhone 5 too. Slideshark covers three main Power Points (you see what we did there). Of course it’s a viewer that allows slides to be seen with fonts, graphics and charts in tact. Secondly, SlideShark allows users to share, track and manage their presentations in the cloud. And now, with the iOS version available, you can show your pitch deck during your elevator pitch, on the elevator, on your iPhone.

We got a chance to talk with the folks at SlideShark, check out the interview below:

Boston Startup: Toursphere Lets You View MOBA’s Bad Art Anywhere

Back in June we brought you the story about Boston startup Toursphere, the virtual tour guide app. This startup lets tour go-ers take waking tours at their own leisure, and at their own pace by putting the tour on a mobile app.

Toursphere’s CEO and Founder Rob Pyles began with setting up tours of Boston using influential Boston locals and celebrities to actually narrate the tours. Dicky Barrett, the front man for the popular Ska band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones is one of the featured tour voices in the Boston tours.

Toursphere also has a way that other municipalities and museums can utilize the TourSphere platform and create their own tours easily. That system has already been implemented in Chicago, Miami, New Orleans and Washington DC as well as other major cities.

Now, instead of just providing a tour for people that have come to a destination, TourSphere has teamed up with the Museum of Bad Art in Boston to bring a virtual tour of the world’s worst art, out of Boston, virtually across the world by way of mobile app. The museum, which has an enormous following, will now be able to let those loyal fans iew the museum from the palm of their own hand. Built on the mobile DIY app platform TourSphere, the Museum of Bad Art’s app gives art enthusiasts everywhere a glimpse into one of the city’s quirkiest attractions from anywhere in the world.

“One of the best things about TourSphere are the unique, out-of-the-way museums and tourist sites that often build apps on our platform,” says TourSphere CEO Robert Pyles. “Our platform enables some smaller and lesser-known museums to create state-of-the-art mobile tour apps that are entertaining and informative and help to engage a wider audience than they otherwise would be able to reach. We give fans in other states and countries a way to check out artwork from all over the world with narration, history and other features you’d normally get on a live tour.”

The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) has three brick and mortar galleries in the Boston area as well as an online gallery. Its app provides short and humorous narrations of each of the pieces of art. MOBA’s TourSphere app provides a glimpse into the world of bad art to its tens of thousands of fans worldwide, many of whom are unable to visit the galleries in person.“We’ve always made use of technology,” says MOBA’s Permanent Acting Interim Executive Director, Louise Reilly Sacco. “TourSphere’s app for MOBA provides a richer experience for visitors to our galleries as well as access from anywhere in the world.”

Toursphere and MOBA will launch the app on October 17th.

Linkage

Fans can get the virtual tour app here

Find out more about Toursphere and MOBA here

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Boston Startup: BlockAvenue Officially The New Kid On The Block

We got a sneak peak at a great freshly launched Boston starutp in August, BlockAvenue. This unique startup has been described as a yelp for neighborhoods, and to some extent it is, but it actually offers a whole lot more.

While BlockAvenue is a bit of a discovery, and recommendation startup, it’s also a big data startup wrapped up in a really sexy frame. To that end, BlockAvenue, in it’s current form, touches over 50 million data points of neighborhood information. BlockAvenue helps you discover, and research neighborhoods any way you want.

Picture this, you’re thinking about moving to a new neighborhood. You want to find out about crime, schools,restaurants, transits and sex offenders. These are the typical things people research online before moving somewhere. Before BlockAvenue that would be five different websites and of course if you didn’t go to the right site you may be out of luck with outdated data and searching even more. BlockAvenue lays it all out for you.

“Until now, location-based information, has not been aggregated in an easy and useful way for people to understand and consume,” said BlockAvenue Founder Anthony Longo. “By providing an intuitive platform powered by both geo-data and social conversation, we can help people understand what the makeup is or where the trend is heading at virtually any location throughout the U.S.”

BlockAvenue lays everything out for you across a map. It aggregates a ton of data to give you a “block score” this block score is an A-F grade based on some of the information about like crime, sex offenders, schools, transit and crowdsourced reviews. As you can see from checking out DuPont Circle, a trendy neighborhood in Washington DC, there are already a few user reviews in the neighborhood.

The hope is that more people will join in the conversation to add to the data sets provided by BlockAvenue. As more and more people add their block reviews the platform will grow exponentially. This is another case where most of these resources have already been online but never aggregated in such an easy to use way.

BlockAvenue was built in DogPatch Labs at the Microsoft building in Boston Massachusetts.

Linkage:

Check out our interview with BlockAvenue here

Check out BlockAvenue for yourself here

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Boston Startup: UberSense Raises $1.1M Seed Round From Google Ventures & More

This week seems to be a good week for fundraising outside of the valley. Tuesday we brought you the story about Philadelphia startup Perceptual Networks and the A-List seed round they recently closed. Today the news comes to us by way of Boston and TechStars Boston 2012 graduate, UbserSense.

UbserSense is a sports app thats designed for athletes and coaches at any level to help the athlete with coaching and training. This can be achieved at anytime and anywhere using UberSense’s signature feature, a mobile video collaboration platform that makes it easy to tape, train, and coach.

Aside from participating in the TechStars Boston 2012 program, UberSense saw a huge uptick when it was discovered that the USA Gymnastics and USA Volleyball teams used UberSense to train for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Using an iPhone or iPad with the Ubersense app, coaches or athletes can video-tape and analyze their technique, compare themselves with pros, track their progress; coaches and peers can provide feedback not only in-person, but remotely.The Ubersense app’s main feature and most powerful asset is its innovative video-based feedback experience, called Uberview. An Uberview can contain a coach’s audio feedback, instructive drawings, alterations to video playback, and even comparisons; all are easily captured into an Uberview video that they can easily be shared with an athlete, parent, or peer in-person or remotely.

While UberSense is a sports coaching app, you can read between the lines and see how the UberView technology could be used for anything from coaching and training soccer techniques, basketball, swimming, track and field, even ballet dancing, and public speaking. The ability to not only train and coach from afar but to do it mobile makes the startup even more attractive.

.“Video feedback is an important tool in skill development”, says Jamie Morrison, Assistant Coach of the USA women’s national volleyball team. “It has allowed us to connect how an athlete feels they are performing a skill with what it actually looks like as well as what it should look like. Through ease of use and a low cost, Ubersense puts that valuable tool into the hands of all coaches, parents and athletes.”

“Ubersense helps you raise your game”, says Krishna Ramchandran, co-founder and CEO of Ubersense. “Our investors have contributed to building some of the most successful consumer companies and we are thrilled to have them on our team as we build out the product and company.”

UberSense has raised $1.1 million dollars from Google Ventures, Atlas Ventures, Boston Seed Capital and an undisclosed group of angel investors.

Linkage:

Check out Ubersense here

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Xoogler Spotlight Interview With Boston Startup Price Intelligently

Although it may not seem like it, pricing products and services is one of the hardest things that a business owner has to do. They of course need to make money and make a profit but at the same time, it’s a scary thought to most that a bad price could leave product sitting on the shelves for an indefinite amount of time. There is a huge problem with the way prices are calculated these days, and that just shouldn’t be in the 21st century.

Former Boston based Googler (Xoogler) Patrick Campbell has set out to find a way to more accurately and more effectively price products. As he tells us in the interview below, until now business owners have relied on weak data, archaic practices and even “gut feelings” when it comes to pricing. Price Intelligently’s technology is built on a scientifically proven methodology that leverages existing and potential customers to determine a products price.

How important is pricing? Campbell tells us that a 1% improvement on price correlates to an average increase of profits of 12.5%.

Check out our interview with Campbell below:

Boston Startup: Energy Harvesters Is Putting Recharging Power In Your Feet INTERVIEW

A startup based in Boston and Rochester is tackling the personal energy harvesting market with gusto. This new way of generating energy for the purpose of recharging your personal electronics has taken many forms. With Energy Harvesters the form is the “Walking Charger”.

The Walking Charger allows the user to charge their mobile electronics anytime and anywhere just by walking.

Energy Harvesters is building their charging products into OEM branded footwear and to insoles for shoes that allow the energy from walking to be converted into real power for dead phones. As they tell us in the interview below their technology is also able to power things like foot warmers and GPS locators without the need for traditional batteries.

A while back we brought you the story of some South Carolina engineers who were working on a way to charge your cell phone via your t-shirt. While that technology is still some time away, we could see the ability to charge your phone through your shoes in the next year or so.

Check out this interesting Boston Green (but possibly not so clean since it’s shoes) startup below.

Maryland Startup: Beagle Takes Zaarly, On Craigslist And TaskRabbit On Campus

Beagle, a startup born at the University of Maryland, is quietly taking on the likes of Zaarly, Craigslist and TaskRabbit on college campuses. By offering the Beagle service only to college students with .edu email addresses they harness the power of the highly coveted college consumer.

Traditionally college students are often early adopters, and when they like something they share it on social media networks faster than others. It’s also only natural that Julian Capps, Philippe Azimzadeh, Asif Jamil and Adeel Khan the co-founders of Beagle were college students when they launched the service. In addition to the University of Maryland, Beagle is also available on the campuses of MIT, Harvard and Boston University.

With Beagle, students can order up simple, easy to do favors and other students are the ones who perform the errands for a little extra cash. Delivering a Starbucks, lending class notes, hitching a ride to the airport or home, running to get printer ink and many more little tasks that college students need to get done can happen using Beagle.

Capps says that Beagle being only available to college students makes it a bit safer than other services. Knowing that both users in a transaction need to be actual students means at least they were vetted in the college application process. Beagle also protects both users and forces feedback by holding onto the funds until both users have left feedback, an indicator that the errand has been done. Users can use cash if they prefer.

Beagle says that ease of use is what sets Beagle apart from the likes of other similar services. “There’s a quick, easy feel of the process,” Capps told our friends at Bostinnodescribing what sets Beagle apart from other companies like TaskRabbit, Zaarly, Peddl or Craigslist. “Quick and easy tasks is what it’s optimized for.”

Linkage:

Check out Beagle here

Go explore our new layout

Find Out Everything There Is To Know About Your Hood With Boston Startup BlockAvenue

Whether you’re a local history buff, looking to move somewhere new or just want to know what’s up with your block there’s a startup incubating at DogPatch Labs in Boston for you. That startup is called BlockAvenue and it’s going to be your one stop shop for anything and everything about your neighborhood.

BlockAvenue uses a number of ways to find out everything about your block. The startup utilizes geodata, local trends, local happenings and plain old crowd sourced information from your neighbors. This is valuable information for other neighbors, people thinking about visiting, and people thinking about moving to the neighborhood. Sure all of this information can be found on the net, but there’s not one single site that serves it up all together, and quite in the way BlockAvenue will.

We’re sure that BlockAvenue is going to be epic why? Because DogPatch Labs, a Polaris Ventures backed incubator, is also where great startups like Instagram and Apptopia grew up. In fact, BlockAvenue’s founder, serial entrepreneur Tony Longo wrote a blog post about what it’s like to incubate at the dogpatch check that out here.

Dogpatch just oozes startups. The building the Boston Dogpatch is in is One Cambridge Center which also happens to be the address for TechStars Boston. Not including the 13 startups in the current fall class at TechStars the building itself is home to over 50 startups, and is also the Microsoft office for the Cambridge area.

As for BlockAvenue, this is going to be an amazing resource for anyone that wants information on their neighborhood. More and more people are starting to have more civic pride on a hyperlocal level than ever before. They’re taking to other blogs, and social networks to share the kind of information you’ll find at BlockAvenue. Once there’s one place for all that information it will continue to grow as more people get engaged with the service.

We were able to break the BlockAvenue team away from the whiteboards, conference rooms, coding and ping-pong for a short little interview. Check it out below.

Boston Startup: HoursForEquity An Alternative Jobs Social Network INTERVIEW

Let’s face it, in the earliest stage of a startup many founders are looking for co-founders, and other team members that will work for equity rather than an actual paycheck. It’s a gamble for the employee, if the startup doesn’t get off the ground, all that hard work may not have paid off. On the other hand, if the startup catches on fire like say, Instagram, you may have just earned seven figures for six months of coding.

Finding workers, co-founders, designers,engineers etc, that are willing to work for equity is a challenge in itself. Some workers feel that working for equity is like volunteering, and with the statistics for startup success as low as they are it’s definitely a gamble. Some founders don’t like to advertise that they are looking for equity workers, and they don’t necessarily know how to find them.

That’s where Boston startup HoursForEquity comes in. HoursForEquity is exactly what the name suggests, it’s a web portal connecting folks that are willing to work for equity, to those willing to give up equity for their work.

Bill Lott, co-founder of HoursForEquity tells us that their platform allows employers and founders to search a database of local, national and global people willing to work for equity. This way you can find the perfect team with the skills you need to succeed.

We got a chance to interview Lott about HoursForEquity. Check out the interview below:

Could Social Discovery Get Any Easier? Boston Startup Tagzidy Says Yes INTERVIEW

If you’re a long time reader of nibletz.com the voice of startups “everywhere else” then you are well aware of how we feel about social discovery startups. To get coverage here on nibletz, you need to “bring it” if you’re in the social discovery space. SXSWi 2012 was all about social discovery, and since then, hundreds have tried to do something in the space.

Tagzidy, a New York startup, has created a social discovery platform that is extremely easy. In fact, if you allow it to, Tagzidy will help you discover people with like interests, wherever you are, and you don’t even need to take your phone out of your pocket.

Tagzidy has a couple of unique components. You can tag and be tagged by people you don’t even know when you’re in close proximity to them (again with your permission). If you’re already linked up with that person your experience is gamified with trophies, points and other nifty stuff.

One of the really exciting features about Tagzidy is it may even be the replacement for business cards that Florida startup Fethr is hoping to be, without any button pushing, or taking out your phone.

We got a chance to interview Daniel McCarthy the co-founder of Tagzidy, who does an exceptional job of describing his startup in the interview below:

Boston Startup: Prospective Plus Wants To Give You More Prospective On Your Job Applicants INTERVIEW

Finding the best job applicants seems to be getting harder and harder every year. The applicant pool gets bigger every year and normal application/resume hiring practices aren’t providing enough background to possible employers in just about every situation. This is the pain point that Phoebe Farber and her team at Prospective Plus are hoping to solve.

Through their SaaS platform which targets entry level candidates, Prospective Plus is carving out a niche in the employment world by providing more robust feedback for candidates.

Prospective Plus calls their approach “Culture Fit” and it’s a holistic approach to applicant screening that provides recruiters and HR professionals with more well rounded information about prospective employees (hence the name).

We got a chance to interview Prospective Plus. Check out the interview below:

Boston Startup: DraftKings Raises $1.4 Million Dollars For Their Fantasy Sports Platform

If you’re into fantasy sports for real money you may want to check out DraftKings if you haven’t already. The hot Boston startup just raised $1.4 million dollars in venture capital to expand their marketing efforts and beyond Major League Baseball. They plan to add football, basketball and ice hockey to their already lucrative sports gaming business.

The legal, money betting fantasy sports startup offers same day settlement of cash prizes. They operate in 44 states excluding: Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana and Vermont where it’s not legal to participate in online “gambling”.

The $1.4 million dollar seed round was led by Atlas Venture. Boston Seed Capital, Hub Angels, Angel Street Capital and other private investors also participated in the round.

Thirty-two million people play fantasy sports in the US and Canada, and two-thirds of all fantasy sports leagues involve fees and payouts that are typically managed offline by a designated member of the league. DraftKings simplifies the process by handling financial transactions through its site while collecting a commission on every stakes game.

“While fantasy sports have been around for 50 years, online daily fantasy sports is much younger and growing rapidly. The sector is ripe for innovation via an analytical approach to marketing and customer relationship management,” said Jason Robins, DraftKings CEO and co-founder.

“There’s an opportunity for a daily fantasy sports platform to dominate the current field,” said Ryan Moore, partner at Atlas Venture. “With a deep understanding of successful gaming franchises, and expertise in customer acquisition and retention, the team at DraftKings has the potential to quickly achieve the top position in this market.”

Sports fans are flocking to DraftKings because they’ve cut away some of the fat associated with other fantasy sports sites. This way DraftKings can focus on players’ favorite aspects of fantasy gaming:

1. Daily fantasy sports games. No more season long commitments.

2. A community at the ready to play. No more hustling to round up a league.

3. On demand draft. Players can pick a new team whenever they choose, which is much more fun than scrounging to substitute mid-season.

4. Players are never “out of contention”. No more going an entire season with a poorly performing team. Engagement remains high for the duration.

5. Daily payouts. For those games involving financial stakes, players can collect immediately.

6. Onsite settlement. DraftKings handles the transactions and distribution of proceeds, freeing up precious administrative time.

“Playing fantasy sports should be fun and easy. Our approach is data-driven, but those themes underlay every customer-facing decision we make,” said Matt Kalish, COO and co-founder.

Linkage:

Check out DraftKings here at draftkings.com

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