startup Archives - Page 77 of 87

Nashville Startup: Justapinch Wins Two Big Honors; Validates Series A Round

Justapinch, is a Nashville startup in the coveted recipe space. Although it may seem it’s the average recipe repository, they do boast the largest online collection of user submitted recipes in the world. In fact they have over 90,000 recipes available on the site.

Justapinch is a subsidiary of two year old American Hometown Media. As the company name suggests they like to build communities, like justapinch, that focus on user submitted content. That’s been a recipe for success so far for AHM and it’s CEO Dan Hammond (you see what we did there?).

How successful has AHM and justapinch been? Well they were recently named one of Nashville’s 25 most innovative technology companies by the Nashville Post. While that’s an honor in itself, Hammond was named Nashville’s Entrepreneur of the Year by both the Nashville Post and the Nashville City Paper.

Just five months ago the social media startup received a series A round of 4 million dollars. Nashville Capital Network’s Tennessee Angel Fund and affiliated angels, Tennessee Community Ventures, Limestone Fund, and Solidus Company participated in the round.

“The site’s fast growth, engaged user base and proprietary programming were key factors for our group’s investment decision,” says Sid Chambless, Executive Director of Nashville Capital Network. “We were also drawn to the strong management team and their successful track record in previous business ventures. These recent awards only reaffirm our group’s decision to support Just A Pinch.”

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Virginia Startup: FoodMeetsDrink Puts A Different Spin On Well, Food And Drink

When I’m on the road (which is 90% of the time) eating is usually easy, I know what kind of foods I like and I like to try restaurants that I can’t get anywhere else. I also have my favorite dives and regional chains based on where I am. It’s when I get home that dinner gets tricky. “What’s for dinner” can literally be a 3 hour process in my house because no one knows what they want or wants to articulate it in any reasonable fashion. By the time the decision is made it’s typically take out from one of the same four places from the previous day.

Well a Virginia startup called FoodMeetsDrink is about to help me with that problem. We are all well aware that there are a bajillion restaurant apps. Some are great, like Venga, others are useful, like urban spoon but so far there hasn’t been a good app that combines both restaurants and cooking at home. So to date we can’t find a good app that really answers the question “What’s for dinner?” Until now.

FoodMeetsDrink answers that question as co-founder Dave Forbes tells us: We answer the question, “What’s for dinner tonight?” by providing a visual method to create any combination of distinct ingredients and locate just the right recipe, local restaurant or food source for specific ingredients.

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L.A. Startup: Hereon.biz Discover Business Professionals Around You INTERVIEW

The past year has been a big one for discovery apps. We all know about the hype surrounding Highlight, Glancee, and countless other social discovery apps at south by southwest this year. Discovery apps are great for discovering people around you.

Most of the discovery apps are using Facebook and Foursquare as their backbone. This is great for finding people with like minded interests or in the same place but sometimes you want more out of a discovery app. Take conventions for instance. Big conventions like South By Southwest and CES have hundreds of thousands of people around. With everyone checking in somewhere or another it can be kind of noisy.

Hereon.biz solves the noise problem for people that are looking to meet people in their same profession or field. In most cases you’re paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars to participate in a work or professional conference. You don’t need to meet the barista from Starbucks that happens to be a block away jamming with friends.

Hereon.biz uses LinkedIn API’s to connect people in like minded professions. Ultimately events like conferences and conventions or being in major hubs on business are the ideal place where Hereon.biz really comes in handy, but you may be surprised at the people that are around you at home, in your same profession.

I know that when I signed up for Google+ and discovered the nearby feature it showed a lot more Google+ users in my hometown than I thought. However, after perusing their streams and profiles most of them really didn’t have much in common with me, outside the fact that they used Google+.

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Austin Startup: PitchPick Let’s Job Candidates Pitch Themselves On Video INTERVIEW

A new startup in Austin Texas has a real startup/entrepreneurial feel in it’s execution. PitchPick is a new job interviewee pre-screening solution that allows candidates to use a video platform to “pitch” themselves to employers.

The idea came about because the amount of non-hire interviews can be a major point of frustration for any small business owner and large scale enterprise HR department. Regardless of what is supposed to happen in a job interview, most interviewers can size up a candidate in the first minute or so. So in an effort to not waste valuable time for either the interviewee or interviewer, PitchPick was created.

We got a chance to speak with Jeff Talmadge one of PitchPicks co-founders.

Jeff tell us, what is PitchPick?

PitchPick is a web-based video hiring and candidate screening solution designed to lower the cost, time, and energy employers waste during the interview process. Often times, employers know within the first moments of an interview whether or not a candidate will be a good fit for not only the position but the organization. With PitchPick, an employer can request a 30 sec.-1minute response to a basic interview question such as, “Why should we hire you for this position?” and give a candidate a deadline to submit his/her Pitch online. The employer will be able to more efficiently evaluate their “Yes-No-Maybe” piles of resumes and bring only the individuals they want to learn more about.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

PitchPick’s managers are Co-Founders Reece Norris, Bryan Johnson, and Jeff Talmadge.

In addition to PitchPick, Norris and Johnson lead a large multi-site healthcare company as President and Chief Operating Officer. There, the two developed a workflow and software system for their niche in the healthcare industry. Before PitchPick, Talmadge spent his time developing his skill set in account service while interning at advertising agencies in Austin, TX.

After graduating from Baylor University with a BBA in Entrepreneurship, Reece Norris went on to earn his Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas Law School. Norris practiced law as a corporate attorney at Thompson & Knight LLP in Dallas, Texas and clerked for U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade. Despite his success as a lawyer, Norris’ hunger to create and grow a successful business ultimately caused him to join Johnson in building their healthcare company. His depth of knowledge regarding the law and unparalleled work ethic has and will continue to be invaluable to PitchPick.

As Norris was beginning his study and practice of law, Bryan Johnson began his career as a business development associate for an infusion management company based in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas. Also graduating from Baylor University with a BBA in Entrepreneurship, Johnson went on to found the Austin Infusion Center, which has since grown to be one of the largest office-based infusion centers in Texas. Johnson’s proven ability to start and grow a successful business has been instrumental in the foundation of PitchPick.

With the knowledge he gained studying and observing the fast-paced world of advertising, Jeff Talmadge took the opportunity to join PitchPick as its first employee to help oversee its final months of development and marketing strategy. Demonstrating his capabilities as a reliable and driven individual, Norris and Johnson distinguished him with the title of Co-Founder following his graduation from UT Austin. He completed his BS in Advertising with High Honors and was recognized by the College of Communication as a Senior Fellow.

Allen Sockwell, Trey Weir, and Nigel Dessau currently helm the Board of Advisors for PitchPick. Sockwell is the founder of a consulting firm, Sockwell Performance Advisors, and was previously the Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Talent Officer for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Weir has an extensive background in technology and entrepreneurship and currently operates his own enterprise, Trey Weir Media, which produces magazines, online recipes, and other media. Dessau is the principle consultant at Ad Claro Consulting based in Austin, Tx where he specializes in helping companies form or update their marketing organizations. Additionally, he is the driving force behind the website “The 3 Minute Mentor,” and was previously the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of AMD.

While Norris formed the original vision for PitchPick, Johnson largely developed its initial design and functionality. After designing the product for several months, the two brought on Talmadge to build a marketing strategy and eventually lead the PitchPick sales efforts. With PitchPick in its last stage of development, it is already being tested by a series of beta clients and will be ready for market within the next three months.

So roughly the concept is, the interviewee pitches the employer in the same way that a startup pitches potential investors in the first round of most contests?

That’s a great analogy! Whether you are a job candidate or a start-up, The Pitch is crucial for creating opportunity. From the hiring perspective, we’ve developed a platform for employers to evaluate a candidate on their ability to sell themselves and their potential value.

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Detroit Startup: Picket Report Let’s Home Buyers Dive Into A Neighborhood

While some may dispute the fact that “home buying season” is among us, it is. With that there’s a new startup in Detroit that’s hoping to make shopping for the right neighborhood a little easier.

Imagine before you even leave the comfort of your home and computer you could see more in depth information about schools, favorite restaurants, what kids of cars your neighbors drive and more. That’s just some of the in-depth analytical information you can get from Picket Report a new map based real estate tool launching out of Detroit.

This may not be the tool for real estate owners with all the fair housing laws around these days, but if you as the buyer want more thorough analysis of important demographics this tool could be for you. After all you wouldn’t want to live next to someone that drove an 82 Chevy Citation would you?

“People looking for their dream home can now make sure it’s also in their dream neighborhood even before driving through,” said Bryan Kunka, Co- Founder and CEO of Picket Report said in a statement. “We’re right at the beginning of home buying season, so house hunters looking to buy their first home or relocate to a new area can use Picket Report to make sure they are choosing the best neighborhood for themselves and their family.”

While it doesn’t say how they vet their information, the data is aggregated from over 300 sources. Kunka insists that home owners will now be able to judge the safety of their perspective neighborhood with the data provided.

PicketReport was born out of the Bizdom entrepreneurial accelerator in Detroit. Bizdom was founded by Dan Gilbert the founder and former chairman of Quicken Loans.

Linkage:

Source: GrowDetroit.com

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Boston Startup: Abroad101 Poised To Become The TripAdvisor For Studying Abroad

Here’s another great startup idea coming out of Boston Massachusetts, in fact it’s hard to believe that no one else has done anything like this. Abroad101 was actually founded in 2007. In 2010 they won $50,000 as part of the inaugural session of MassChallenge.

So what is Abroad101. The web based service is the brain child of childhood friends Mike Stone and Mark Lurie. They’ve developed a web tool that pulls data from participating colleges on programs to study abroad. There was obviously a need for students who study abroad to find the best programs that meet their educational needs. As Xconomy reports Stone and Lurie knew all too well the “archaic” process of sifting through folders and brochures to match study abroad programs.

Abroad101 allows users (students) to search their growing database of official school sanctioned programs for studying abroad. They can learn everything from course curriculum, to attractions in the city, safety information and find reviews from students who have been through the same program. If this sounds a lot like TripAdvisor for students studying abroad that’s no coincidence, as executives from TripAdvisor are part of Abroad101’s advisory board.

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New Orleans Startup: Neighborland Offers Social Networking For Neighborhoods

One of the fastest growing segments in mobile and web life these days is the social network. Of course MySpace and then Facbeook put the social network on the map but now there have been slices of the social networking pie, carved out in unimaginable ways, that work.

Earlier today we featured a social networking app for pets. There are social networks for picture takers, business people and crafters. Now that people have stopped sitting out on the stoop and grilling in the front yard, a social network is a great way to connect.

Speaking of that stoop and grilling in the front yard, that’s the foundation behind New Orleans’ startup Neighborland.

One thing that makes Neighborland especially intriguing is the fact that co-founder Candy Chang actually took something physical and made it digital. There have been a lot of startups launched to do the opposite, take printstagram and stitchtagram for instance.

Chang came up with the idea after doing two, almost installation art projects, one in New Orleans and one in Fairbanks Alaska. In New Orleans she stuck stickers to structures that said “I Wish This Was________”. In Alaska she draped an abandoned apartment building in a sign that said “Looking for Love” she also installed chalk boards all over the place around the building and encouraged passerby’s to write things down.

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Baltimore: Betamore Plans To Launch Charm City’s 3rd Tech Focused Co-Working Space

Co-working spaces are hot. With the rise in startups and entrepreneurship cities everywhere are finding themselves home to these new centers. We’ve visited a bunch of co-working sites up and down the east coast as part of our sneaker strapped start up road show.

Three Baltimore entrepreneurs, Greg Cangialosi, Mike Brenner and Sean Lane have teamed up to bring Baltimore’s third tech focused, incubator, accelerator co-working space to life. The space is called “Betamore” a rather clever name don’t you think. Betamore joins the Emerging Technology Center and a forthcoming space which is a partnership between Loyola and Wasabi partners, now that’s hot (you see what I did there).

Betamore is part Hybrid Accelerator, Incubator and co-working space says the website Citybizlist Baltimore.

The space is 8,000 square feet and will feature two large classrooms, dedicated office space, conference room space and a co-working space. If you’re not familiar with co-working spaces, think the lunch table at your high school, just much longer with plugs and internet. Oh and of course toss out the gossipy drama because one thing is proven about co-working spaces and that is that people love to talk about startups and people actually help each other.

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San Diego Startup: TextaPet Is Picking Up Steam INTERVIEW

If you’re a pet lover you’re going to love this new innovative idea called TextaPet .It’s like a cross-breed (ya see what we did there) between Instagram, and Facebook for your pet.

TextaPet co-founder Matt Clevenger told Nibletz: “TextaPet is a fun, easy photo-sharing app for animal lovers. We created TextaPet to help make people’s relationship with the animals in their life even more meaningful and enjoyable. We also hope to use the technology to better connect new pet seekers with adoptable shelter pets! We see TextaPet saving thousands of precious lives each year.”

Sure there are plenty of ways to share your pet pics already but TexaPet is it’s own unique app and environment and it’s sure to be a huge hit with pet lovers. Although they haven’t released their user numbers, they’ve already created a good following on social media networks. They’ve amassed a following of 22,000 followers on Twitter already. Most of their reviews in the iTunes store echo the same thoughts, people have been waiting for an app like textapet.

Textapet’s other co-founder is Daniel Carpenter. The two met in their home town of Santa Cruz but they are in the process of relocating the company to San Diego. Both co-founders have entrepreneurial spirit in their blood and they both had started clothing lines in college.

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Portland Startup: Churchkey Can Company Gets Tech Investors For Their Nostalgic Beer

This isn’t the first time that tech investors have backed a food and beverage startup. Tech Investors came out in droves to back Jonathan Kaplan, the creator/founder of the Flip video camera with his chain of grilled cheese restaurants called “The Melt”.

Entourage star Adrian Grenier and former Nike designer, Justin Hawkins have teamed up to found the Churchkey Can Company. Churchkey makes what’s being dubbed a “Pacific Northwest brewed Pilsner style craft beer”, however it’s not the beer itself that has everybody talking, but rather the can it’s packaged in. Churchkey Can Company is putting their beer into a flat topped churchkey opening can.

Before pull back lids you may remember having a can opener in the house that had a diamond shaped end on it. You would puncture the soup can on both sides and pour the soup our of one of the triangle shaped openings. The opposite opening made sure that the soup poured out smoothly. That’s the same idea behind Churchkey Can Company’s flat can. A style of beer can that dates back to the 1930’s.

ChurchKey Can Company’s flat top steel cans are made out of all recycled steel. Grenier and Hawkins turned to the Ball can company to manufacture the cans for them. According to some, the flat top can and the church key opening actually locks in the freshness.

“It’s about the joy of drinking good beer – from the people you drink it with, to where you drink it, and with this unique package, how you open it,” said Justin Hawkins, Churchkey’s co-founder and creative director. “We didn’t make these traditions, but are keeping them alive with Churchkey.”

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DC Startup: Stitchtagram; Design Your Own Instagram Pillows

Earlier this month we reported on Social Print Studio’s latest venture, printstagr.am. Social Print Studio, a San Francisco company, lets you print your Instagr.am pics on just about anything printable. Today we’re reporting on a DC area startup that actually lets you print your Instagr.am pictures on pillows.

This story comes to us by way of our good friends at Inthecapital.com (check that site out). Stitchtagram was started by the brother and sister team, Doug and Rachel Pfeffer. Of course with Instagram’s rising popularity, their new Android app and their $1 billion dollar purchase by Facebook, everyone is looking to get a cut of the pie. Stitchtagram is probably one of the most innovative ideas to come as a result of the photo sharing phenomenon.

Doug Pfeffer told Inthecapital.com that the idea came about because he and his sister love taking digital things and making them physical. Doug has a background in digital advertising. His sister, Rachel, has a background in selling jewelry online. They wanted to find something to do together. After tinkering with an Instagram slide show screen saver they decided on pillows. They began selling pillows in November of 2011 and the rest has been history.

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Chicago Startup: Journatic Under Fire For Partnership With Chicago Tribune

Journatic, a chicago based new media startup that delivers content for some of the major newspapers across the country in a quasi-syndication form, has gone under fire for inking a partnership with the Chicago Tribune. In reading about this all over the internet it seems a bit crazy that they’ve had such blowback from Chicago.

The company produces content for cities all over the country including, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Miami and other large metropolitan areas.

The Tribune deal has come under fire because the newspaper giant laid off many of it’s local beat reporters in lieu of using the Journatic service. Journatic is actually based in the Chicago Tribune tower so the Tribune didn’t go far for this outsourcing, and unfortunately it’s the way many papers are going, as they lose more and more readership to the internet.

It was widely reported that Journatic’s executive editor Peter Behle offered Journatic staffers a $50 bounty to not engage in conversation about the upcoming lucrative deal with the Tribune and instead talk to a supervisor. They probably didn’t want Tribune reporters asking Journatic reporters about the deal out on smoke breaks in common areas in the Tribune Tower.

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Startup Quickbyte: Austin Startup: InView Technology Raises $2M For Compressive Sensing Technology

A two year old Austin based tech startup called InView Technology has announced that they’ve raised $2M in funding to further it’s research on compressive sensing technology. InView’s compressive sensing technology uses advanced mathematics to calibrate sharp photographic images.

InView Technology plans to start building prototypes of their technology in June and start production in August. Their compressive sensing technology will be important in surveillance, maritime navigation pollution monitoring and public safety. Their technology makes it easier to take sharp photographs in low light conditions and even detect images hidden by smoke of fog.

“Compressive sensing will revolutionize the architecture of cameras used in a wide range of applications, including surveillance, maritime navigation, materials research, medical imaging and pollution monitoring,” said InView CEO Bob Bridge.

InView just presented their technology at the SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing Conference in Baltimore Maryland this past week.

This $2 million dollar round was led by El Paso based Cottonwood Capital Partners. Q-Tel, which led the company’s first $4 million dollar round also participated as did Texas’ emerging technology fund.

Source: Austin Statesman

Philly Startup: TicketLeap Is The First Ticketing Startup To Offer Reserved Mapped Seating

Of course sites like TicketMaster, LiveNation (part of Ticketmater) and stub hub offer arena and venue maps for ticketing but the do it yourself event ticketing companies like Eventbrite have yet to offer that service. A Philly ticketing startup called TicketLeap has just leapt in front of the San Francisco’s event/ticketing startup giant.

Now smaller venues, self organized events and even larger conferences can sell tickets to an event by seat number, and incremental pricing the way you would purchase a ticket to an NBA game or a rock concert. While EventBrite allows you to offer different tickets to the same event, like a VIP ticket or an early admission ticket, once through the front door all the tickets are pretty much general admission.

TicketLeap’s new service will allow clubs, bars and other venues to seat auditorium style if they want, build a map and sell tickets accordingly.

“Our goal is to continue refining and simplifying the ticketing process for event organizers, and we’re stoked to be the first company to bring the self-service, reserved seating functionality to market,” said Chris Stanchak, founder and CEO of TicketLeap, in a statement. “We’re all about catering the ticketing experience to the needs of all our customers, and this new feature allows us to further the personalization and customization process of creating events and selling tickets.”

TicketLeap has been around since 2003 but started gaining major traction in 2008 with a venture funding round of $2 million. In 2010 they had another venture round of $2.53 million. Their most recent funding round was a $25,000 investment from Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin Technology Partners (source: Crunchbase)

Source: Venturebeat