Interview With Sheboygan Brand Engagement Startup: Yappem [SXSW]

Yappem is a social platform that allows users to engage with the brands they love and get rewarded for it. Sure there are other social networks that have brand sections. Facebook and Twitter both have heavy brand presence but they weren’t designed to talk about brands they were designed to talk about you. That’s the fundamental problem that Yappem has set out to solve.

Founded by Dave Sachse and Justin Webb, Yappem has already raised $2.5 million dollars in seed funding from private investors. They’ve also inked a partnership with McDonald’s to help with the relaunch of the Big Mac.

The startup just came out of beta and is using SXSW to launch their exciting new startup. While startup communities are growing extremely fast in cities like Madison Wisconsin and Milwaukee Wisconsin, Yappem was quick to point out that they were the startup scene in Sheboygan, but both founders are hopeful that their success will encourage others.

Yappem was a sponsor for TechCocktail’s SXSW celebration, TechCocktail’s SXSW video series, Mashable’s Mash Bash, and their own free events at SXSW. They were also giving Yappem coins away that can be used for $5.00 gift cards. They are giving away $150,000 worth of gift cards for the launch. They are also giving away gift cards redeemable for a free Big Mac.

Check out our video with Sachse and Webb below. For more info on Yappem visit yappem.com

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We Caught Up With Fetchnotes At SXSW INTERVIEW

Last April we first started reporting on Ann Arbor Michigan startup Fetchnotes. This startup was born out of the University of Michigan which is where Co-Founders Alex Schiff and Chase Lee met.

While they are tons of note taking apps available, Fetchnotes secret sauce is that the app is based on how the user takes notes rather than having the app dictate how notes will be taken.

Fetchnotes allows the user to organize their notes by hashtag. The user can use any hashtag methodology they want and they can categorize notes with multiple hashtags. For instance Schiff explained that if he wanted to write a note on me he could code it email, nibletz, SXSW and I would be on his list of people he met at SXSW, he would know I’m from nibletz and that he should email me.

Fetchnotes is no longer a Michigan based startup. They relocated to Cambridge Massachusetts after going through the last session at TechStars Boston.

We got the lowdown on what’s new and exciting with Fetchnotes from Schiff. Check out the video interview below.

Find out more about Fetchnotes here.

More startup coverage at SXSW can be found here

TechStars’ Katie Rae On What Drives An Entrepreneurial Community

Entrepreneurial and startup communities are growing everywhere across the United States. The recent everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference event highlighted entrepreneurial communities “everywhere else” outside the major hubs like Silicon Valley and New York.

We’ve recently started up our “Sneaker Strapped Nationwide Startup Road Trip Part Deux”. During our first journey, that started at SXSW 2012, we visited over 60 startup communities across the country. Since going back on the road we’ve visited Atlanta for Startup Georgia’s kick-off, Nashville for Spark Nashville and Arkansas for Think Big Arkansas and the kickoff of Startup Arkansas.

Last month, Katie Rae, the Managing Director at TechStars Boston, spoke at Grid New Haven. Gris is a hub or startup community catalyst, that’s part of Connecticut’s “innovation ecosystem.” They hold several programs including CEO Boot Camp, Startup Weekend New Haven, Launch New Haven and several speaker sessions designed to help entrepreneurs on their journey.

On January 24th Rae spoke at Grid New Haven and offered what she thinks are the four backbones to a great entrepreneurial community. In addition to being the managing director at TechStars Boston (one of their most successful accelerators) she is also a founder of Project 11 a firm that invests in and helps early stage startups.

Check out her video below and add these things to your list of important things for startup communities.

See Startup Community Activist, and Startup America CEO Scott Case on the importance of Startup Marketing here.

Techstars Boston Unveils Spring 2013 Class

Techstars, one of the most widely respected accelerator programs in the world, has just announced their Spring 2013 class for their Boston location. The session kicked off yesterday and will end on May 23rd with Demo Day.

Techstars Boston has graduated 57 companies since their first class back in 2009.

One of the biggest advantages to accelerating in a Techstars program is their huge mentor network of successful entrepreneurs, business leaders and community leaders. Some of the Boston mentors include Brad Feld, Rich Miner and Dharmesh Shah. They have over 100 mentors in their network to date.

Here is the entire Spring 2013 class, as reported by our friends at Bostinno.

CheckiO
An interactive and educational game and competition platform for developers.

Codeship
A hosted continuous integration and deployment platform.

CONSTRVCT
A crowd-sourced fashion label, where anyone can create and sell their unique designs with our 3D design tools, custom fit, and on demand production.

coUrbanize
Helps communities and developers build better real estate projects.

Fancred
A new social app for sports fans.

Freight Farms
A scalable farming platform can be installed anywhere and operated by almost anyone, transforming shipping containers into a source for high yield crop production.

Jebbit
Jebbit’s pay per performance model benefits both brands and consumers, guaranteeing a brand that their message is comprehended while rewarding consumers with cash for actively answering questions that educate them on the brand.

LinkCycle
LinkCycle helps manufacturers manage resource consumption across product lines to reduce costs without any extra hardware or data collection.

Neurala
We build brains for bots.

Outline
Using advanced economic modeling and data visualization to improve government transparency, efficiency, and performance.

PillPack
Pharmacy simplified.

qunb
A “YouTube for numbers,” a platform that makes data broadcasting and data visualization accessible to anyone.

Rallyt
Helps organizations achieve their goals by connecting and engaging communities around meaningful actions.

Synack
Redefining vulnerability discovery.

We’re back on the Sneaker Strapped Startup Road Trip, Part Deux, here’s how you can help.

Excelerate Labs Becomes Techstars Chicago

Today in a blog post penned by Techstars founder David Cohen, he announced that Excelerate Labs, the startup accelerator located at 1871 has become Techstars Chicago.

Excelerate Labs was founded by Troy Henikoff and Sam Yagan (OKCupid, SparkNotes and Match.com) in partnership with Sandbox Industries and New World Ventures.

We’ve covered several of the Excelerate Labs startups and have managed to make a few trips to 1871 over the last year. Their classes work hard, play hard and innovate. It’s one of the finest accelerators in the country, which has prompted Cohen and Brad Feld to invest in multiple Excelerate Labs graduates including: SpotHero, GiveForward and Tap.Me

Techstars has always started their programs from scratch. At one point they began endorsing a number of accelerators that applied their same methodology. That network was once known as the Techstars Network and has since spun out of the Techstars brand and into “Global Accelerator Network”.

For the first time ever Cohen is now turning to an existing accelerator, Excelerate Labs, to open Techstars Chicago.

“We were so impressed with what they’ve built that we asked them to join forces with us and turn Excelerate Labs into TechStars Chicago. TechStars and Excelerate have always been kindred spirits: we both put entrepreneurs first and believe in the power of mentorship.” Cohen said on the Techstars blog.

Troy Henikoff says, “We are excited to combine Excelerate’s deep roots in Chicago with TechStars’ vast alumni and mentor networks. TechStars Chicago will be an even stronger force in Chicago and will add incredible firepower to the TechStars platform.”

“I congratulate Excelerate Labs and I am pleased that TechStars has identified Chicago as one of the best places to start a technology business. This advancement is a huge step forward for the city’s technology economy and will fit hand-in-glove with the other efforts being made to promote entrepreneurship and create new jobs around Chicago.” – Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Applications for Techstars Chicago are open now. The first early bird deadline is March 1st, the final deadline is March 15th. The program will begin May 29th and end on August 29th. To apply click here

Join Pat Riley, Managing Director of the Global Accelerator Network, along with several of their accelerators at the biggest startup conference in the U.S. everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Techstars Hackstar Launches Her Own MassChallenge Startup ZoomTilt, 99Designs For Video

Anna Callahan is a Techstars hackstar turned startup founder who went through Mass Challenge. With all that startup pedigree we know her startup ZoomTilt is already destined for success. The magic comes into play now that they’ve completed MassChallenge and were named a finalist.

But what is ZoomTilt?

Well think 99designs. Callahan loves film making, in fact it was reading a script while working as a Techstars hackstar that made her decide to take the plunge into launching her own innovative idea. The idea, link filmmakers to people who want to build a brand using short films, mini tv shows if you will. If you’ve got a brand and want to see film and tv stars in a video featuring your product, ZoomTilt is the answer. If you want to have an engaging YouTube mini series or Facebook page video series that highlights your brand, ZoomTilt is the answer.

Callahan tells nibletz in an interview that they’ve got hundreds of film makers waiting for the chance to work on your brands short video project. By leveraging the talent and creativity within their network ZoomTilt is able to offer unparalleled, engaging video marketing solutions without a gigantic budget.

So after joining cofounder Chris Bolman, and ditching their first name, CrewTide, which Callahan says made people think they sold nautical supplies, they hunkered down over the summer as one of the 125 startups in MassChallenge and emerged as a finalist.

We got a chance to talk with Callahan about ZoomTilt, in what’s been one of the wittiest, fun and creative interviews to date. Here it is:

Important Techstars Deadlines Approaching

Techstars, the globally recognized startup accelerator brand has some important deadlines coming up for startups interested in applying for their programs.

The deadline for the next Techstars New York session is this Friday January 18th. Finalists will be notified by February 2nd. The program runs from April 2nd to June 28th. Interested startups can apply here.

Nike introduced a new Nike+ accelerator program in partnership with Techstars. The program will be based in Portland Oregon close to Nike’s world headquarters. The program will run from March to June. The deadline to apply is February 3rd. If you’re interested in this new innovative program with one of the nation’s biggest brands you can apply here.

The Microsoft accelerator for Windows Azure is also another partnership with Techstars. That cohort will take place in Seattle Washington from April to June. The final deadline for those applications is February 2nd. You can apply here.

Techstars is the founding member of the Global Accelerator Network. Patrick Riley the Managing Director of GAN and the GAN staff will be on site at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference with three panels on accelerators and talking to over 2000 attendees who’ve purchased tickets across the country, as well as over 100 startups in the startup village about what accelerator would be best for them. For tickets or more information click here.

Big News: Global Accelerator Network Partners For Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Now that the International CES show, and Eureka Park are winding down this weekend, we’ve got a ton of news about the largest startup conference in the country, everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference. As you may have heard the conference has already sold (not forecast, but sold) nearly 2000 attendee tickets. In addition we have over 130 startups in the Startup Village with a very limited amount of spaces left for your startup. For more on Startup Village booths click here.

Well the conference has some big news that they’ll be announcing over the next week or two starting with a great partnership that will really help startups “everywhere else”.

Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference is pleased to announce that the event has partnered with the Global Accelerator NetworkGAN is an organization of over 50 of the top short-term, mentorship-driven, seed stage accelerators around the globe. Their members include TechStars, Excelerate Labs, TechWildcatters, LaunchPad LA, StartupBootcamp, and more.

Global Accelerator Network’s Pat Riley will be on hand at everywhereelse.co as well as an entire team from GAN.

Everywhereelse.co will feature three accelerator focused panels. The first panel is “what I learned in an accelerator” featuring startup founders that have been through accelerator programs across the country. We’ll have founders from 500 Startups, YC, TechStars, Brandery, Jumpstart Foundry, The Fort, Seed Hatchery and several others. This panel will help give entrepreneurs an insight into the life of the startup accelerator.

The conference will also feature a panel of some of the top accelerator Managing Director’s across the country. While many startup accelerators live to the same principals and road maps some may be different. We’re going to have Managing Directors from startup accelerators across the country.

The third accelerator focused panel will address the reasons why your startup should or should not apply to startup accelerators. This insightful panel will draw from some of the best entrepreneurs who could talk about why your startup should do an accelerator and what vertical accelerators your startup should apply to.

To that end, Global Accelerator Network will be on hand throughout the conference helping entrepreneurs and founders figure out which accelerator may be best for them and then help them apply.

Is your startup in the startup village at “everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference“? It’s not too late to register here!

Seattle Techstars Startup: SandGlaz Raises $500K

A Techstars Seattle startup graduate that specializes in collaborative project/task management has just announced a $500k raise. The startup, called SandGlaz, was founded in 2011.

SandGlaz makes it easy for high performance teams of 5-15 to manage and collaborate on tasks and projects which are managed in “infinite grids”. Users can break down task lists, add descriptions and set notifications and due dates. All this is managed through a drag and drop interface.

The funding round, led by private investors, will be used to launch more email integration, smartphone apps for Android and iOS, and launch a universal grid feature so that users can see all of their current tasks and projects on one screen.

There are already plenty of collaborative management tools out there already. Basecamp, Asana and even xtrant, offer teams of users the ability to manage tasks and projects together. However, SandGlaz CEO Nada Aldahleh, feels her startup serves the middle space between quick easy management solutions and more complex offerings like MS Project and SmartSheet.

SandGlaz seems to have all of the right things in the right places. Their revenue stream comes from their three tiered pricing plans. They offer a fermium model all the way up to team subscriptions. They also have their TechStars pedigree which definitely gives them a leg up in talking to investors.

Adlahleh spoke to BetaKit about their experience at TechStars:

“During our time at TechStars, we’ve been looking at how to improve our virality metric. I really think that virality is the key ingredient that every startup should be thinking about early on,” said Aldahleh.

Linkage

Check out SandGlaz here

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Boston Techstars Grad: Testive Raises $500,000 Seed

A recent Boston Techstars startup graduate, Testive, has just announced a $500,000 seed round led by influential local investors.

Testive operates on the premise that SAT prep books suck and SAT prep classes are too expensive. Miro Kazzakoff, the startup’s founder says not only can Testive predict a high school students SAT score but also their method is more efficient.

“Somewhere between cheap, boring prep books and expensive classes is an opportunity to deliver online test prep that doesn’t suck,” Kazakoff told the Boston Business Journal “Testive is building the tools that help students learn more efficiently and more enjoyably.”

Immediately following the Techstars Boston session the company moved into Dog Patch Labs an incubator/co-working space founded by Polaris Venture Partners and also in the same Microsoft building that houses the Boston Techstars program. Several other high growth potential startups occupy the space and work in a collaborative environment.

Local angels; Jean Hammond (A Zipcar investor), Eileen Rudden (co-founder of LeanLaunch), Dharmesh Shah (co-founder of Hubspot) and Bill Warner (founder of Avid/ProTools), all participated in the round.

Kazakoff reports that over 10,000 students already use their SAT Habit software. Their software is based on Turbo Test, originally developed at MIT. The investment will go to continued development of the software. They plan on adding features to add in the preparation of the “writing” part of the SAT.

Linkage:

Most startup news from “everywhere else”

Find Testive here

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Techstars Now Taking Applications Via AngelList

The popular TechStars accelerator program announced last week on their blog that they are now taking applications via AngelList.

500 Startups was the first to go the route of using AngelList to allow startups to apply their program, with their current session. Traditionally to get into 500 startups accelerator program a startup had to be recommended internally. 500 Startups founder Dave McClure opened up the current session for general applications, but only using the AngelList platform.

TechStars is taking applications through their website and also through AngelList.

Techstars founder David Cohen does say that if you apply via AngelList and you’re selected for further evaluation you may need to answer some of the more specific questions found on the application on the Techstars website. However, applications are welcomed from either site.

Techstars is currently taking applications via AngelList and their website for their Boston program that starts February 25, 2013. The early bird deadline for Boston applications is next Monday December 3rd and the final deadline is December 17th.

Applications are also open for the New York City 2013 cohort. The early bird application deadline is January 4, 2013 and the final deadline is January 18, 2013. That session begins April 2, 2013.

Linkage:

Techstars schedule

Techstars application via their website

Techstars application via Angellist

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Boulder Startup Mobiplug Gets $2.7M Series A Putting Home Control In Your iPhone

When a startup lands itself in the Boulder flagship Techstars program and then catches the eye of startup evangelist and venture capitalist Brad Feld it’s typically a recipe for greatness. Just check out how well Orbotix, the creators of the “Sphero Ball” have done since their time at Techstars.

Another recent Techstars Boulder graduate is following in the robotic balls footsteps by landing an impressive Series A round and a top level executive. Mobiplug, a company that brings home monitoring, control and automation to the palm of your hand via an iOS app, just landed the capital it needs to accelerate development. They also landed the leader they need to take the startup to the next level.

Feld’s Foundry Group led the $2.7 million dollar round. TechCrunch reports that Bullet Time Ventures, SK Ventures, Social Leverage, and Clarion Direct Investment, among others, participated in the round as well.

Mobiplug also announced that serial entrepreneur Tim Enwall, most recently CEO of Tendril, is now at the helm at Mobiplug.

Mobiplug consists of a small black box, that serves as a control hub, and an iOS app. Through the combination of the hub and the app, the user/home owner, can control everything from the lights, to the thermostat, electrical outlets, sprinklers and more. This can be done in the home or remotely, providing an extra element of security to the user’s home.

New CEO Enwall said in a statement:

“Getting wirelessly-enabled household items like locks, thermostats, lights, outlets and shades made by different manufacturers and based on different protocols to talk to each other is an enormous problem to solve, which is keeping this market from exploding. We’re fixing that.”

The Foundry Group’s Ryan McIntyre is joining Mobiplug’s board of directors. He also served as Mobiplug’s mentor during the Techstars program.

“I was really impressed by the co-founders and their ability to solve the thorny technical and interoperability problems that are currently holding back the home monitoring and control and Internet of Things (IoT) industry from mass adoption,” McIntyre said in a statement. “And when Tim Enwall decided to join Mobiplug, we felt confident that the addition of his experience and leadership to this already talented core team could really disrupt the market and lead this growing space.”

Linkage:

Source: TechCrunch, DailyCamera

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Boston TechStars Startup: Saverr Offers Coupons From Receipts, You Know The Things You Actually Buy

The intuitiveness of the algorithms used to deliver Google adsense and Amazon suggestions can seem eerily close to home, but even as good as they are they still sometimes miss grasping what you are really looking for and what you really want to buy. Proximity based coupon apps are great but unless they are generic in nature it’s hard to say what you’re going to buy.

That’s why Boston startup, and Techstars alum, Saverr offers the best couponing proposition to the coupon user. Saverr gives you coupons based on what you actually buy based on what you actually bought using your receipt.

You know those machines that set next to the register tape at Target and the grocery store? You know the ones that spit out the coupons at the end of your visit? Well Saverr is giving you that machine, inside your phone. Pretty bad ass huh?

Saverr uses your actual receipt, the entire receipt, to give you coupons on the items that you just bought. Most likely you are going to buy them again right?

The idea came about when the Israeli team was trying to create a shopping discovery app of sorts. What they quickly found wasn’t that the world needed another discovery app, but the world needed a money saving app. Their proprietary receipt scanning technology is the back bone of their app.

The best part for the consumer is since Saverr is working on the manufacturer coupon side of the world, you can get coupons based on receipts from all types of stores. You’re not relegated to the store that you’re currently shopping in.

We got a chance to talk to the Saverr team which relocated to Boston for Techstars and is staying around for a while. Check out the interview below:

New York TechStars Startup Condition One Raises $2.35M From Mark Cuban And More

New York Techstars alum Condition One has just closed a seed round at $2.35 million. The round was led by Dallas Maverick’s owner and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban as well as Manilla CEO George Kilavkoff and more. Cuban initially invested $500,000 in the immersive video startup earlier this summer.

Academy award nominated photographer and videographer Danfung Dennis has seen his work in Newsweek and the New York Times. He’s been hailed for shooting some of the best war footage ever seen. That’s in part because Dennis has found a new way to capture more of what we see in video.

Humans actually see a wide range of things in their peripheral vision and then adjust based on what’s interesting in their range of vision. Video isn’t that way. Video can actually see what’s shot straight on, but then, because of the way us humans see, it doesn’t feel as natural.

Dennis has created Condition One to capture and share things that typical video misses and includes a 180 field of vision. Condition One is software that takes that warped 180 degree footage shot with a fisheye lens and then translates it back into a clear flat image that we see. It’s somewhat like the Lytro that lets you shoot out of focus photos now and focuses them in later.

Even with Shark Tank, people know that Mark Cuban isn’t typically an investor at seed stages of the game. However, in addition to the Maverick’s Cuban’s other large business is HDTV which was just rebranded as AXS TV. This is where Condition One makes a lot of sense. Cuban’s AXS TV is known for it’s live concerts and events. Condition One’s technology is perfect for capturing events and putting them into a better viewing perspective.

“Our technology is going to enable some amazing new concert experiences where the user can pan back and forth between the stage and the crowd, between the drummer and guitarist, or between the action onstage and what’s going on backstage,” Condition One COO Andrew Chang told The Verge.

Condition One allows viewers to take videos of concerts, and sporting events and then pan back to the action that they really want to see, bringing into focus the parts that are most important to them.

“My work has been an evolution from still images to video and now into immersive experiences,” said Dennis. “Yet, I’m still motivated by the same idea: that the future of storytelling will be driven by technology.”

Linkage:

Check out Condition One here

Source: TC Verge

Huh a Startup Conference where we can exhibit for less than $400?