THE LATEST…
Airbnb of the sea: France’s Click & Boat secures $200K to expand its peer-to-peer boat rentals marketplace
A Q&A with Click & Boat co-founder Edouard Gorioux. The Paris-based startup, which is a peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace, announced the closing of a €200,000 Seed funding round last week from unnamed Angel investors. It was founded late last year by Gorioux and Jeremy Bismuth, and is currently available in Europe. SUB: Please describe … [Read More...]
A note from the editor…
You may have noticed that there are no new postings over the last 24 hours or so. Don’t worry, StartUp Beat is on a brief, two day hiatus in order to make some important new site changes and add some new features that will add real value for readers. Thank you for your patience—I hope you like the changes, and as always, I welcome all comments … [Read More...]
Don’t get stumped by financier questions: Techniques that will even satisfy the ‘Shark Tank’ investors
By Richard Weinberger, Ph.D., CPA How many times have we seen small business entrepreneurs go before the investors on ABC’s hit show ‘Shark Tank’ and get tongue-tied when asked basic questions about their enterprise? It happens all the time, and the next thing we hear is: “I’m out.” That doesn’t have to happen to you. What every small business … [Read More...]
Featured Startup Pitch: Beveragewala wants to tap the huge demand for premium tea and coffee in India
By Manish Hada, Beveragewala co-founder Elevator Pitch: Beveragewala is a one-stop for all your tea and coffee purchase requirements. We have the widest variety and offer convenience to our customers. Product/Service Description Beveragewala, as the name suggests, is your online provider of premium beverages, particularly teas and coffees, right … [Read More...]
AlldayInternet wants to keep travelers connected while avoiding roaming charges and sub-par hotel Wi-Fi
A Q&A with AlldayInternet co-founder Julio Astarloa. The Santander, Cantabria, Spain-based startup, which offers a wireless Internet access service for travelers in Europe, landed a €240,000 Seed funding round at the start of April from unnamed investors. It was founded in 2013, and plans to use the funds to expand its service footprint across … [Read More...]
Muut gets a new name and $770K to give online forums a makeover
A Q&A with Muut co-founder Tero Piirainen. The Portland, Oregon-based startup, which offers an embeddable online forum solution for websites, announced last week the completion of a $770,000 Seed funding round. Investors include the Oregon Angel Fund and Portland Seed Fund. It was founded in late 2012 as ‘Moot’ by Piirainen, Courtney Couch and … [Read More...]
Perspectives: The women’s economy starts here
By Michelle Patterson, Global Women Foundation and The California Women’s Conference For the first time in this nation’s history, women are now the majority of the workforce—and what a force that is. As the number of entrepreneurial women rises, it is clear that this country’s economy can begin to move in the right direction as long as these women … [Read More...]
Featured Startup Pitch: Planet Jockey has built a gamified emotional intelligence training platform for developing better decision makers
By Kevin Allen, Planet Jockey co-founder and chairman Elevator Pitch: Planet Jockey is an employee engagement company that creates gamified learning and collaborative mentorship platforms based on emotional intelligence techniques. Product/Service Description The Planet Jockey Leadership Academy provides emerging leaders with practical, … [Read More...]
XOEye launches to bring connected wearable technology to enterprise workers in the field
A Q&A with XOEye Technologies co-founder and CEO Aaron Salow. The Ann Arbor, Michigan- and Nashville, Tennessee-based startup, which has developed industrial-grade smart glasses which allow real-time point-of-view remote collaboration, launched at the DEMO Enterprise 2014 show last week. It was founded in 2010, and the founding team also … [Read More...]
Featured Startup Pitch: Netherlands-based FlxOne is helping digital advertisers use data to optimize campaigns in real-time
By Matthijs Keij, FlxOne founder and CEO Elevator Pitch: Many real-time advertising analytics companies give insights and there it stops—FlxOne takes it a step further by automatically optimizing performance based on those insights. We focus on the trading specialists (trading desks, agencies, ad networks) and give them the technology to do their … [Read More...]
Just-launched GripeO is tackling the ‘big business’ of complaining
A Q&A with GripeO co-founder and CEO Mike Klanac. The Buffalo, New York-based startup, which is a social consumer complaint management platform, launched out of stealth mode last week. It was founded in 2012 by Klanac, Nicholas Campanile, Stephen Makula, Richard Panek, Jim Proulx, and Mark Taylor, and is currently in the process of raising its … [Read More...]
Ometria’s ecommerce platform integrates actionable data to help retailers better identify profitable customers
A Q&A with Ometria co-founder and CEO Ivan Mazour. The London-based startup, which offers an all-in-one ecommerce intelligence solution, announced in late March the completion of a $1.6 million Angel funding round. Investors include Alastair Mitchell, Andy McLoughlin, Tim Jackson, Phil Wilkinson, Guy Westlake, Sean Cornwell, Ned Cranborne, Shan … [Read More...]
Featured Startup Pitch: DataXoom offers data services designed to address the pain points of the mobile enterprise workforce
By John Tantum, DataXoom co-founder and CEO Elevator Pitch: DataXoom provides mobile data services for medium- and large-sized businesses. We connect tablets, mobile hotspots, and specialty devices to cellular networks, offering improved controls and lower costs. Market Opportunity Twenty-five million mobile data devices, including … [Read More...]
AARP LivePitch Startup Speed Pitch Finalists Announced
Submitted by: Christopher Sherman Companies To Take The Stage Before Judges from Kleiner Perkins, DFJ, Google Ventures, HLM Ventures and TEDMED Boston - April 7, 2014 - LivePitch Media and AARP today announced the five LivePitch Speed Pitch finalists that will take the stage for the third AARP Health Innovation @50+ LivePitch, a showcase of … [Read More...]
Featured Startup Pitch: Spin for Good was built to enable charities to tap into the big money in online gaming
By Amee Kamdar, Spin for Good co-founder Elevator Pitch: Spin for Good combines social online gaming and charitable giving in a simple and meaningful way. Users play online games with actual money on the line—so, the stakes and the excitement are real—and winnings go straight to the charity of their choice. Product/Service Description With … [Read More...]
TechStars Seattle graduate FlexMinder wants to help patients and businesses get maximum value from flexible healthcare spending accounts
A Q&A with FlexMinder founder and CEO Lowell Ricklefs. The Seattle-based startup, which offers Software-as-a-Service that allows administrators and patients to more efficiently manage flexible spending and health reimbursement accounts, announced in late March that it has raised $1.2 million in additional Series A funding from Rudy Gadre, Walt … [Read More...]
Vaavud follows its successful Kickstarter raise with $375K in Seed funding for its smartphone-based wind meter
A Q&A with Vaavud co-founder and CEO Thomas Helms. The Copenhagen-based startup, which has built an electronics-free smartphone-based wind meter, announced last week that it has raised $375,000 in Seed funding from unnamed Angel investors. It was founded last year by Helms, CTO Thomas Stilling Ambus, CFO Maria Nissen and Chief Scientist Andreas … [Read More...]
Featured Startup Pitch: Timesly’s iPad-based facial recognition time clock could mean the end of ‘buddy punching’ and time theft in the workplace
By Marc Aptakin, Timesly founder and CEO Elevator Pitch: Timesly is the first-of-its-kind facial detection time clock app for iPad. Using proprietary FaceCheck technology, Timesly allows employees from any organization and industry to clock in-and-out of work by snapping a quick picture and entering a custom code. ‘Buddy punching’ and time theft … [Read More...]
Through cloud-based collaboration, Upverter wants to upend the way hardware engineering is done
A Q&A with Upverter co-founder and CEO Zak Homuth. The Toronto-based startup, which offers a cloud-based hardware engineering platform, announced in late March that it has raised $2.3 million in new Seed funding. Investors include Version One Ventures, Golden Venture Partners, Tom McInerney, Carl Bass, Amol Sarva and David Lerner. It was … [Read More...]
Keys to startup success: Passion, drive…and the right IT plan
By Dan Tully, Conduit Systems What Makes A Successful Startup? To be successful, startups need the passion, drive, commitment, and resolve to work through all the challenges associated with starting a new business. One method that startups are turning to is the Lean model of outsourcing. This model calls for startups to outsource functions that … [Read More...]
