startups Archives - Page 62 of 75

Virginia Startup: SpydrSafe Launches First Scalable DLP Solution For Enterprise

As more and more people fall into the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) category, the need for enterprise solutions for multiple managed devices has risen. Security is an issue that’s paramount to companies allowing employees to bring their own device to work. Security can also be a headache for IT departments.

Data loss is one of the main security threats that enterprise IT professionals are concerned about with people bringing their own devices to work. Before the rise in popularity of bringing one’s own device, IT departments could control the flow and security of data, especially in a Blackberry enterprise server dominated world. Now with BYOD the main element of security is gone and IT departments need to find a solution that will secure their data no matter who owns the device.

A Virginia startup called SpydrSafe is addressing that problem for people that are bringing their own Android devices to work. SpydrSafe Mobile DLP™, safeguards against data loss with innovative technology that delivers app-level protection on Android smartphones and tablets.

“Protecting corporate information on mobile devices presents enormous challenges for enterprise IT departments. The risk of data breaches is no longer solely an external threat as more employees use their own personal devices in the workplace (BYOD).” said Michael R. Pratt, Chief Executive Officer of SpydrSafe Mobile Security. “SpydrSafe Mobile DLP™ addresses the issues created by BYOD by providing enterprise IT the tools necessary to safeguard data that is accessed and used by mobile apps.”

The SpydrSafe solution consists of two main parts:

SpydrSafe Mobile DLP™ is an advanced mobile data loss prevention solution comprising SpydrSafe Mobile DLP™ for Android and SpydrSafe Security Manager™. The SpydrSafe Mobile DLP™ for Android app is available on either Google Play or Amazon Appstore for Android.

SpydrSafe Security Manager™ is a SaaS (Security-as-a-Service), cloud-based security management console used by IT administrators to add and enroll new users, assign users to groups, assign policies and access audit and reporting information.
About SpydrSafe Mobile Security, Inc.

Linkage:

Check out SpyderSafe here at their website

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” here are more stories from “everywhere else”

Startups helping startups that’s what this is all about

Chicago Startup: SocialKaty Is Social Media Marketing For Everyone Else INTERVIEW

Enthusiastic and Scottish. Katy Lynch took her personality and social media skills from a hobby to creating a thriving venture backed company is less than two years. With a goal of providing result driven social media services for companies, she founded SocialKaty in August 2010.

SocialKaty is a full-service social media marketing firm employing 29 “social media assassins” who create and manage content for brands (big and small). Simply, they’re a one stop shop for social media who maintain and create content on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs and even develop tabs and apps for Facebook.

Why start SocialKaty?
1) Companies are struggling with creating and managing effective social media campaigns.
2) There are no real pure play social media firms out there. (There are marketing and PR agencies that offer social media as an “add on” service, but not as their core offering.)

What’s interesting is the diversity of companies and industries they service. To name a few – funded startups, bars, restaurants, retailers, non-profits, and heck even energy companies. It’s no wonder they’ve been profitable since day one, grown to a 29 person team and raised a Series A round from Lightbank.

We caught up with Katy last week during Techweek Chicago:

Links we’ve got em:

SocialKaty Is Here

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” here are more stories from “everywhere else”

Nibletz could use YOUR help click here

Spanish Startup: ChattyBuy Is Turning Tweets Into Cash INTERVIEW

Back in April we reported on a Portland startup called Chippify that is enabling people to send money using Twitter. Using their service, sending a payment is as easy as replying to a tweet.

On the other side of the Twitter payment spectrum is ChattyBuy who is turning people’s tweets into cash, well at least legitimate discounts saving you cash. ChattyBuy is based in Alicante Spain, where they’ve already partnered with merchants and social media mavens to create a platform that, in some capacity pays you to Tweet, in discounts.

We got a chance to interview Alex Aitkenhead the co-founder and CEO of ChattyBuy about his unique new startup.

What is Chattybuy?

Chattybuy is a social network that turns communication into savings.

How? By rewarding users with discount points for chatting, sending “tweets” and
following businesses that they exchange for the coupons they want!

Who are the founders & what are their backgrounds?

Alex Aitkenhead Founder & CEO

Founder of www.quedescuentos.es an e-coupon directory in Spain.

Silvia Sanchez Co-founder

Working as sales representative for large multinationals

Alex Fernandez Communication

Recently graduated from university qualified in grafic design and communication.

Where are you based?

Chattybuy is a startup based in Alicante, Spain. The founder is Scottish but has lived in Spain for over 19 years.

What problem is Chattybuy solving?

More than solve a problem it’s about creating a new solution. No Social network wards users for chatting, why not be the first? Cash back sites are complex and you have to buy, in chattybuy WE reward you for using us to communicate and YOU decide where to exchange your points!

What is your secret sauce/competitive edge?

Our secret sauce is the simplicity of the product. We have turned online communication into something extra, helping user save money doing what the do most, chat, send tweets and use coupons!

What is the startup culture like in your town?

Unfortunately the startup culture in our town in non existing, in Spain most startups como from Barcelona, Madrid or Valencia. This is especially so when we are looking at technology startups.

What is one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?

The main challenge was being able to produce a fully functional beta version with such a limited budget and no external investors, they are really lacking in Spain it’s always the same 4-5 people.

What is next for Chatty Buy?

The next step for chattybuy is crowd funding to help create our mobile apps and improve systems. We want the public to decide if they think chattybuy is a great concept and reward them for backing us up from just $1.

We also want to setup chattybuy as a business in NYC or London ideal cities to grow as a company and hire the best.

Hit the links:

For more on Chattybuy find them here at chattybuy.com

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” here are more interviews from “everywhere else”

Check this link out, help the nibletz team

Dutch Startup: MeeChannel One Dashboard For All Your Media, INTERVIEW

The Netherlands apparently has a much bigger startup scene than we had first imagined. On Friday we brought you an interview with the Dutch startup “ShowDates” today we’re talking with the founder of MeeChannel.

MeeChannel is a new aggregator that brings all of your photos,videos, rss feeds and other online content into one simple, easy to navigate dashboard. Once you have all of your “channels” in one place you can share your favorite content from any channel, be it vimeo, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa or any one of hundreds of other sources that you subscribe to, and share them with your friends.

MeeChannel is currently in Beta and still entirely in Dutch, however the user interface makes it such that you may have no problem navigating it even in a foreign language. Pieter Havermans, MeeChannel’s founder and managing director is looking forward to expanding the service globally, after the initial beta version is released to the public and they start building scale.

They’ve actually done a really great job with the ux on the site. The concept has been done before but as with a lot of startups it’s now all about the execution.

We got a chance to talk to Havermans, check out our interview below:

Cultivation Capital Invests In Two More St. Louis Startups: Yurbuds & Systematic Revenue

Two weeks ago we got a chance to meet Rick Holton of Holton Capital, Arch Angels, and Cultivation Capital among other things. We talked about the thriving tech scene in St. Louis and the synergy created when a meeting at Holton’s office formed VentureSTL.

Cultivation Capital is back in the news again as they’ve announced their two most recent investments. Cultivation Capital’s principals include Holton, along with Square co-founder Jim Mckelvey, Brian Matthews and Peter Esparrage. Back in April we reported on Cultivation Capital’s first three investments, including a $250,000 investment in St.Louis favorite, LockerDome.

In the latest round of investments Cultivation Capital invested $219,000 in Yurbuds a company that makes sports headphones. The company makes earbuds that can withstand the heaviest of workouts. In fact at the International Consumer Electronics back in January, Yurbuds had acrobats walking on their hands while the earbuds stayed firmly in their ears. To prove that there was no PR hocus pocus on-lookers were encouraged to open brand new packs of the earbuds for the acrobats to use. Yes they were awesome.

The other startup to receive funding from Cultivation Capital was Systematic Revenue. While not as sexy as earbuds that won’t fall out of your ears, Systematic Revenue is an online automated marketing solution to help track potential clients. Back in May the startup reported that they had 25 businesses signed up in their beta test.

Systematic Revenue received $100,000 from Cultivation Capital.

“We look forward to assisting the vibrant Yurbuds team and the calculated Systematic Revenue teams as they continue to define St. Louis as an entrepreneurial hub,” saidCliff Holekamp, a general partner of Cultivation Capital, in a statement.

Cultivation Capital plans to invest $500,000 in the most promising startups in the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 classes of Capital Innovators.

Linkage:

Here’s Cultivation Capital’s website

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” here are more stories from St. Louis

Help us out on our sneaker-strapped nationwide startup roadtrip here

St. Louis Startup: NorseCorp Lands Huge Deal With Global eTelecom

NorseCorp is a technology startup located in St.Louis that specializes in fraud detection. The company was one of the first startups to receive funding and mentorship as part of the first Capital Innovator’s program in St. Louis last fall. As part of the program NorseCorp received $50,000 in seed funding along with free office space. They also presented during Capital Innovator’s first demo day last December.

Two weeks ago the startup, led by CEO Sam Glines, a 1995 graduate of Saint Louis University, reported a major deal with one of the largest electronic check and ACH payment processors in the U.S. Global eTelecom has over 55,000 merchants nationwide that will rely on NorseCorp’s IPViking software to provide another layer of protection for their customers.

NorseCorp has developed a technology that assists in online transactions by spotting for high risk, fradulent transactions. “Our eCommerce Fraud Prevention service works seamlessly at the payment gateway level to identify and block high-risk transactions before they occur,” said Skip Foss, NorseCorp chief operating officer said in a statement. “The service addresses two essential aspects of effective fraud prevention. It offers accuracy in evaluating the legitimacy of the IP address behind any transaction, and it delivers that information in real time for automated decision-making, not manual review.”

Linkage:

Check out NorseCorp here

Source: St. Louis Business Journal

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” here are more stories from “everywhere else”

We’re sneaker-strapping our nationwide startup roadtrip, help the cause here

Interview With California Startup: RewardMe

Loyalty and reward is the hottest space for startups right now. Within a years time (probably by the next sxsw) many of the loyalty and rewards startups out there will have disappeared and only the brightest and best will survive. One of those is California based startup RewardMe.

RewardMe was founded by four friends that were college buddies from UCLA. The company provides a point of sale based loyalty and rewards program that provides great information back to the business owner. RewardME rewards those loyal customers but it can also assist in bringing lost customers and sales back into the retail store or restaurant.

One of the unique things about RewardMe is while you can get incentives, messages and discounts via your smartphone or regular mobile phone, a smartphone isn’t required.

RewardMe’s merchant dashboard is available to any user anywhere. This is great for when the owner or manager goes out of town or if you’re managing multiple locations from one centralized office.

RewardMe has thought of everything that should be built into a solid reward and loyalty program. We got a chance to interview the guys behind RewardMe. Check out the interview below:

Interview With Aaron Gray Founder Of Atlanta Startup The Legacy Movement

As a youngster growing up almost Asian (Hawaiian) I sort of fell into a minority category. As my career in media, first in radio and then later in tech media, flourished I was no longer in the minority. Especially in the tech scene. However in our plight to cover startups “everywhere else” we also try and highlight those startups that are women owned, black owned and latino owned, because those entrepreneurs are underserved.

In fact, when we did office hours a little over a week ago in Memphis Tennessee we met the co-founders of BioNannovation a startup currently participating in the zeroto510 incubator in Memphis. The companies co-founders, Charleson Bell and Andre T Stevenson are both in their twenties and black. Both of them appeared similar to any of the other young black guys I have hung out with near my home in Baltimore. However they may both have been the smartest two guys I have ever had the chance of meeting. Bell, a Phd candidate, had discovered a nanoparticle that could change the way doctors find, track and treat virus’ and infection and Stevenson had discovered the biomarkers for cancer, before it manifests. (see what I mean BRILLIANT). Now these two on smarts alone should have no problem bringing their ideas to market, but that’s not the case for everyone.

Take another good new friend of ours, Harold, his startup Yadoog is one of the best photo-sharing ideas we’ve seen in years. Harold is really friendly, outgoing and has ideas pouring out of his brain at a mile a minute. He’s also in his twenties and black, and admittedly a little rough around the edges. He’s got another great startup as well.

This is where Aaron Gray and his Atlanta based startup “The Legacy Movement” comes into play. Gray, like many

Aaron Gray founder of Atlanta based Legacy Movement

entrepreneurs, fell into the world of corporate America early in life but had an itch that needed to be fixed. Actually, two itches, that Gray is hoping to solve with one startup.

The Legacy Movement, he hopes, will become the Linked In for anyone who wants to do deals. Anyone who wants to buy or sell a company, or launch a new company will come to the Legacy Movement they way you go to LinkedIN for talent.

His second itch, helping the underserved entrepreneur ecosystem in America, will also be solved by the same startup.

Gray filled us in on The Legacy Movement, check out the interview below:

Skip The Grocery Checkout Lines & More With Seattle Startup: Qthru

If you thought the self serve lines at grocery store checkouts were convenient, you ain’t seen nothing yet. A new Seattle startup called Qthru is developing a mobile app system that integrates with a grocery store checkout kiosk to let you scan, pay and go,skipping the traditional checkout line altogether.

The startup’s founder, Aaron Roberts, grew tired of waiting in checkout lines, so he developed an app for that. Qthru allows the user to scan the barcodes of their grocery items with their smartphone creating a “shopping cart” while they go. As the user scans and puts the groceries into their cart, the app keeps a running tally for the total.

Roberts even figured in the necessity of the scale, so at their beta testing store in The Seattle area, they integrated a barcode printer for weighable items.

When the user is finished shopping they scan their phone at a kiosk and then enter their pin into the app which initiates the payment with the card tied to Qthru. A store employee looks over the groceries and the customer is ready to go.

Qthru is being tested at the Snoqualmie IGA store which is owned by Tyler Myers. Myers owns four more IGA store and a hardware store as well.

At first Myers was concerned about theft but quickly found out that with the employee checking through the groceries when the customer leaves, shoplifting is nearly impossible. Myers has been a big proponent of the Qthru system and has even offered Roberts feature ideas for the app.

“There’s a lot to be done with coupon and suggestive selling,” Myers told the Seattle Business Journal

Myers has suggested that Qthru could offer customers suggestions for wines and other things that would compliment the items already in their carts and offer a discount with them. He also suggested that the system could let a customer know if there is a cheaper alternative to the item they just bought, for example if the customer scanned Coke products and it was Pepsi week.

The beta test is near completion and the app is just about ready to upload to the iTunes store. Roberts promises and Android version and Windows Phone version as well.

Linkage:

Checkout Qthru here

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” here are more startup stories from “everywhere else”

Did you know about this? We could use your help!

Wisconsin Startup: DateCheckPro Keeps Your Inventory Fresh, INTERVIEW

One of the things I always bring up here at nibletz.com is the fact that sometimes the most useful startups aren’t the sexiest startups. Such is the case with DateCheckPro. DateCheckPro is a startup based in Whitewater Wisconsin and their main objective is to help keep store inventory fresh.

Date Check Pro is a cloud based solution for grocer’s to keep up with the ever important expiration dates. Andrew Hoeft the founder of Date Check Pro has done a great job of creating an easy to navigate cloud based platform and native apps for both iPhone and iPad.

Grocer’s can keep up with their expiration dates now. Date Check Pro reminds the grocer when products are coming up to their expiration dates which enables them to rotate stock or possibly put products on sale to get them out of the store before they expire and their money is wasted.

Hoeft is a student at UW-Whitewater, in between that and starting Date Check Pro we got a chance to interview him. Check out the interview below:

Startup Weekend Heads Back To Los Angeles, Register Now

The 54 hour Startup Weekend program is headed back to Los Angeles next weekend, starting on July 20th which is the same weekend as Memphis’ Startup Weekend.

Los Angeles just completed a Startup Weekend back in February that was a great success.

The February event saw 13 teams pitching on Sunday evening before the judges. The judges that time around included: Howard Marks (Start Engine), Paige Craig (BetterWorks), David Waxman (PeoplePC, Firefly Networks, SpotRunner) and Tyler Crowley (Sqweal, OAF, Launch, TWiST, Mahalo).

The judges for this round haven’t been announced yet but we are sure they will be just as good.

Organizing the Los Angeles event are Tyler Koblasa, Cameron Rasouli and Avesta Rasouli.

Registration started July 2nd and the organizers warn that last spring’s event sold out in 10 minutes. As of right now the eventbrite page shows tickets still available.

Startup Weekend LA kicks off Friday July 20th at 6:00pm and is being held at Coloft (920 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401).

To register click here

Austin Startup: VolunteerSpot Raises $1.5 Million From Nebraska New York & More

Whether you’re in charge of volunteers at a school’s PTA, your local church, civic organization or even the boy scouts, organizing volunteers can quickly turn into a big mess. Everyone typically means well when you first call out for volunteers and you end up with more than you need. Then, when it gets to be crunch time, people are too busy with other things or forget what their volunteer job was. This can lead to a chaotic mess for any volunteer coordinator or event organizer. Until recently, even the most organized of volunteer coordinators often pulled off a great event with a gigantic headache.

Karen Bantuveris, the founder and CEO of VolunteerSpot said enough was enough and took this problem into her own hands. She solved it by creating an online platform to manage volunteers. The service has taken off with over 1.5 million volunteer users already using the free platform. What’s even better is the fact that there’s been no real marketing. The startup has survived off word-of-mouth advertising and some social media.

Last week VolunteerSpot announced that they’ve raised $1.5 million dollars in a round of funding that they plan to use to bolster their marketing efforts.

The round was led by FF Venture Capital out of New York. The Central Texas Angel Network, the Baylor Angel Network and Angel List also participated in the round. But those aren’t the only angels Bantuveris was able to woo.

The Nebraska Angels ponied up $450,000 in the round. 14 of the Nebraska Angels contributed $25,000 or more towards that $450,000. Nebraska Angels Vice President Steve Clinch told SiliconPrairieNews that he liked Bentuveris from the minute he picked her up from the airport because of her “go-getter” spirit.

“We like to look at scalability. Does it have that?” Clinch said. “VolunteerSpot, from my investment standpoint — and I think I speak for a lot of other angel investors — does.”

Bart Dillashaw, President of the Nebraska Angels told SPN “The Nebraska Angels are excited about the investment in VolunteerSpot. VolunteerSpot provides a fantastic service to an attractive demographic, and we were incredibly encouraged by the strong loyalty and support of their users.”

“Until this point, we’ve grown almost entirely by word of mouth,” said Bantuveris told the Austin Statesman. “Now, with formal marketing money, we’ll be able to reach a wider group of power moms, teachers and community coordinators who drive the lion’s share of volunteer activities in this country.”

VolunteerSpot is one of the most scalable startups we’ve seen in quite sometime. Every kind of organization from gymnastics clubs to habitat for humanity can, and do use VolunteerSpot, and of course there are volunteer organizations in every town, city and state in the U.S.

Linkage:

Check out Volunteerspot here

Source: SiliconPrairieNews, Austin Statesman

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” here are more startup stories from “everywhere else”

Help keep the Nibletz “sneaker-strapped, nationwide startup roadtrip going” find out more here.

New Startup WarSocial Is A “Risk” Like HTML 5 Game, Interview Here

If you spent hours as a kid, or even a teenager planning, strategizing and taking over the world in the game Risk then you’ll be happy to know that two entrepreneurs have started something called WarSocial which is an HTML 5 game based on the fun, and strategy behind the game Risk.

The game was born out of another game that Bill Franceschine and his co-founder Dustin had played but was pretty much abandoned by it’s founder. They put their heads together and expanded that idea to form WarSocial. Now with one game out under their belts they may continue to develop other group played social games using HTML 5.

As a kid I played a lot of Risk, after graduating from Stratego. While many think of big multiplayer online and mobile games being fantasy, or science fiction based, it’s nice to see a startup bringing back a real thinker’s game.

We got a chance to interview Franceschine. Check out the quick interview below:

What is warsocial?

An HTML5 social game inspired by Risk.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Bill: Serial web entrepreneur with a deep background in poker. There is your hint about what our next game might be!

Dustin: Software engineer who was previously CTO of a venture backed startup.

Where are you based?

Distributed team: Bill in California, Dustin in NYC, contractors in Canada and India.

How did the idea for WarSocial come about?

Dustin and I met playing a simliar game. A game the creator has all but abandoned the last few years but which still has a very loyal following who play it many hours per week for years. We both saw the potential for the game to be very popular if done correctly so we decided to do it.

Briefly tell us how the game is played?

2-7 players can play. Each is randomly assigned lands on a map and those lands are randomly assigned dice. Players attempt to win the whole map by attacking the lands of other players.

Can people win prizes? Money? Virtual goods?

We are currently giving away $500 per season (roughly six weeks) in cash prizes to the top ten on our leaderboard.

Tell us one of the challenges you faced in the startup process?

Our biggest challenge thus far has been onboarding additional programmers. The game is very popular with engineers so recruiting talented developers is easy. Indeed many people reach out to us volunteering to help. However since we use a number of cutting edge technologies onboarding them has been a challenge. They have to setup a Ruby on Rails environment to work with Redis, Heroku, Pusher, HTML5 and in the near future probably also Node.js. This isn’t an easy task.

Whats next for War Social?

Continue quickly iterating based on user feedback and growing the community. Bringing the game to Facebook, iOS and Android are also top of mind. Once we are ready we’ll be using our platform to launch additional games as well. We could easily launch most turn-based games.

Linkage:

Wanna play? Check out WarSocial here

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” here are more stories from “everywhere else”

We’re on a sneaker-strapped,nationwide startup roadtrip, check out how you can help us here

Boston Startup: Ministry Of Supply Gunning For Kickstarter Fashion Award

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer could really benefit from Ministry of Supply's shirts

A new Boston startup called Ministry of Supply is looking to break the fashion category fundraising record on crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The current record is held by a company called Flint & Tinder that makes men’s underwear. They were able to break the fashion record by raising $291,493 back in May.

At the time this story was written (late Friday evening) the Boston startup that uses space suit technology to manage moisture, sweatstains and odor, in dress shirts, had raised nearly $275,000. The best part of this story is that their initial goal was just $30,000. In what’s becoming a trend now for Kickstarter projects, Ministry of Supply quickly blew through that goal.

“After we got the word out about the Kickstarter campaign through the help of friends and family sharing the news through social media outlets, we then saw the Kickstarter community really start to embrace us,” Ministry of Supply co-founder Kevin Rustagi told the Boston Business Journal

Ministry of Supply’s Apollo shirt is sweat free and will save many business people the embarrassment of odors and big sweat stains in meetings and around the office. The Apollo shirt will come in real handy in the heatwaves we’ve been experiencing across the country.

The company’s Kickstarter campaign goes until Wednesday so it looks like they should have no problem reaching the number 1 spot, and raising close to, if not more than $300,000.

Ministry of Supply is currently working hard on their e-commerce platform and opening a brick and mortar location which will contain a showroom as well as their offices. The Boston Business Journal reports that Ministry of Supply will also participate in MassChallenge this summer.

Links, we’ve got em:

Check out Ministry of Supply here

Get in on their Kickstarter project here

Source: Boston Business Journal

We’re sweating it out across the country in our sneaker-strapped startup roadtrip, more here