StartUp Beat

Company: Move That Block

Website: www.movethatblock.com

Headquarters: Albany, NY

Year Founded: September, 2010

Founders: Todd Drowlette and Patrick Gray

Investors: Privately-Funded

Employees: 30

By Todd Drowlette and Pat Gray, Co-Founders

Product Overview

MoveThatBlock.com is an innovative, cutting-edge website that offers professional quality, one-stop shopping for jobs, dating, commercial real estate, residential real estate, apartments & home rentals, vacation rentals only before found on pay-to-post sites. We offer more features, better functionality, and dynamic cross traffic that no single pay-for-use competitor offers. Our custom features are easy to use and allow simple searching and posting in an uncluttered environment. MoveThatBlock.com is the world’s first premium quality site to offer full access free of charge across multiple categories in the Essential Life segment of the Internet. We also offer personal, step by step guidance through life’s most difficult decisions, providing local experts in each step of the process. From buying a home to landing that dream job or date, we’ve got you covered. You never have to go it alone. Welcome to the Block.

Revenue Model

MoveThatBlock.com is completely free to search and post with no restricted areas or premium memberships. Our revenue is generated by featured, targeted advertising based on category, geographic, or other determining factors. We have the ability to offer targeted, industry specific advertising that is not widely available on the Internet today.

Founder’s Story

Patrick Gray and Todd Drowlette began their friendship as roommates at Siena College just miles from New York’s capital in Loudonville, New York. Both raised in small upstate towns, Todd began his career in commercial real estate, while Patrick Gray began working for an Albany based Tech start up. Todd’s boutique real estate firm represents some of the country’s premiere retailers and landlords. It was from this business that a need for a more cost-effective way of marketing and finding properties became evident. This sparked the idea sparked for a premium quality, 100 percent free to post and search site. By adding multiple categories, it allowed all users to benefit from dynamic cross traffic that niche only sites do not provide. Todd approached Pat about the technology side of the business. They brought in others and MoveThatBlock.com launched a year later in September of 2010.

Business Model

Our goal is to simplify personal and professional lives, because we realize they are interconnected and often pull people in every direction at once.

Movethatblock.com provides one stop shopping for everything your busy life demands. We believe in only delivering fresh, accurate, reliable, and relevant content instantly in a free to post and search with no restricted areas format. From jobs and internships to dating to homes or commercial office space, we strive to do a little more so that our users can do a little less. We aspire to be the world’s most technologically advanced classifieds site on the Internet. We match users to relevant advertisers by providing users with professionals to help them with life's biggest decisions, while providing professionals a cost-effective approach for targeted lead generation.

Current Needs

MoveThatBlock.com’s traffic has been increasing steadily day over day. Our goal is to spread the word to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

MoveThatBlock.com is the world's first premium quality, 100 percent free to post and search site on the Internet with no restricted areas and no premium memberships. MoveThatBlock.com is a superior classifieds website that is free both for people who want to list and for those who want to browse through all of MoveThatBlock.com’s listings. MoveThatBlock.com is there for life’s biggest decisions. Welcome to the block.

Move That Block LLC - www.movethatblock.com

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Mobile

White-Label App Marketplace Platform Appia Raises $10M At $100M Valuation (via TechCrunch)

Web Content

Disrupt Winner Qwiki Raises, Like, $1 Million From Groupon Co-Founders (via TechCrunch)

Wolfram Research Acquires Modeling And Simulation Software Developer MathCore (via TechCrunch)

Online Video/Advertising

TidalTV Raises $30M For Online Video Ad Optimization Technology (via TechCrunch)

Social Media

Social Media Monitoring Company Visible Technologies Lands $6 Million (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Cloud/Social Media

Salesforce Acquires Radian6 For $326 Million (via Mashable)

Telephony

Voice SMS gets a boost as Bubble Motion nabs $10M (via DealsBeat)

Finance

DST Sets Up New Fund, Joins Huge Rounds For Spotify And China’s 360buy: Reports (via TechCrunch)

Gaming

India’s Games2win raises $6M for casual online games (via GamesBeat)

eCommerce

Sundrop Mobile Raises $900K, Offers Mobile Loyalty Solution To Daily Deal Merchants (via TechCrunch)

Posted by startupbeat at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DineTonite is an online restaurant reservation and discount service. The New York City-based company was founded in 2010 and currently offers its service in New York, with more rollouts planned in the near future.

SUB: Briefly describe the DineTonite user experience.

Islam: DineTonite offers restaurant patrons the ability to save an unlimited dollar amount at restaurants. Individuals simply login to www.dinetonite.com to find and research the right restaurant by searching by location, cuisine, and other factors. Upon selection of the restaurant, DineTonite presents a real-time reservations calendar that displays percentage discounts off the entire food bill for that specific day. Dynamic discounts vary day-by-day per the restaurant management’s desire, with deeper discounts typically appearing during the week. DineTonite members can use the service to book restaurants up to three months in advance.

The restaurant is not charged a fee for using the service. A flat fee of $5 is paid by the customer to DineTonite for each book reservation. Usage of DineTonite does not require the patron to bring any sort of coupon or printout to the establishment. The DineTonite system provides restaurant management with all of the pertinent information, including the patron’s exact percentage discount which is automatically deducted from the bill.

DineTonite patrons are recognized by the establishment upon taking their seat. The discount is handled with complete discretion, so only the patron and the restaurant staff know about the savings.

SUB: Where did the idea for the site come from? 

Islam: I owned a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan and always needed new ways to bring people in, especially during non-peak times.

I thought the industry needed a new model where customers receive a percentage off of their bill as opposed to a set dollar amount. To achieve the goal of restaurants of filling tables on weekdays, I created a tiered percentage discount system to offer greater discounts during the week. Restaurants would charge less on the customer’s bill, and while they would take in less immediate money, that is offset by the increased traffic and exposure.

SUB: What is the value proposition you bring to the market?

Islam: On typical daily deal sites, patrons often receive a $10 or $15 savings and they have to present coupons. For larger parties, giving a static dollar amount of savings does not make much of an impact.

Our offer benefits consumers by providing a bigger discount, of up to 35 percent at some restaurants. Patrons can book reservations on our site for parties of up to 8 individuals, meaning total percentage discounts can easily eclipse $100.

For owners, they are giving up a percentage of their sales, but they are building traffic in a better manner. With daily deals they consistently lose money, but DineTonite still gives them a positive return while increasing exposure. Expenses such as establishment and other fixed costs remain the same, but by filling tables with DineTonite that would have otherwise been empty, the owners receive additional profits that they normally wouldn’t, while adding just food costs.

SUB: What is your business model? How do you make money?

Islam: DineTonite has a simple business model that involves a flat $5 booking fee per reservation that is charged to the patron. The participating restaurants do not pay any “membership” or service fee to be a part of DineTonite.

SUB: Who do you consider to be your competition?

Islam: There is a site in New York called Village Vines that has some similarities to DineTonite, but it is not comparable. They do not offer real-time reservations, which causes patrons confusion and forces them to call restaurants directly to confirm reservations. Our site was designed and built to be user friendly, and we feel our actual reservation process is the best and fastest for consumers.

We don’t consider other daily deal sites or review-centric sites to be competitors.

SUB: What were some of the challenges you faced in getting the web site/service up and running?

Islam: A main challenge for the company was to build a customer friendly site that would be easy to use for even the least tech savvy individuals. We carefully minimized the steps involved to sign up and make a reservation. If the site is not designed right from the start, it won’t gain traction and repeat usage, so we really challenged ourselves to produce a polished site.

SUB: How much outside funding have you raised to this point? Do you plan to raise more in the near future?

Islam: DineTonite was launched as a completely self-funded venture. As the site expands into other cities and we need marketing dollars, we will likely pursue outside capital.

SUB: Where do you see DineTonite in roughly a year from now?

Islam: Assuming the site performs within our expectations, we will expand into five to seven other major metropolitan areas within the year.

SUB: Finally, a question I always ask: as an entrepreneur who has weathered the down economy, what advice do you have for those just starting out—especially in an economy that remains less than dynamic?

Islam: The biggest key for early entrepreneurs is to always present value to the consumer. The customer needs to have a real perception of value. With our site, we presented something of true value that was very attractive in a down economy. We offer a win-win situation for the consumer and the merchant, which is an important goal for any entrepreneurial venture.

Beyond value, I always embrace the core values of working hard, focusing on the goal, and moving on from brief setbacks.

DineTonite – www.dinetonite.com

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Mobile

Apperian Gets $9.5M Funding to Tap Enterprise Mobility Boom (via GigaOm)

Web Content

Mark Cuban And Kevin O’Leary Invest In Online Toy Rental Service Toygaroo (via TechCrunch)

Limos.com lands $10M for swanky online limo services (via DealsBeat)

Stealth online payments startup Stripe draws backing from PayPal founders (via VentureBeat)

Message Bus: The Start Project’s First Graduate Launches, Pulls In A Cool $3 Million (via TechCrunch)

Exclusive: Flashy Website Creator Wix Raises $40 Million (via TechCrunch)

Finance

Startup Incubator TechStars Raises $8 Million (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

eCommerce

eBay To Acquire GSI Commerce for $2.4 Billion (via Mashable)

Upstream Commerce Helps E-Retailers Price Their Products, Raises $1.25 Million (via TechCrunch)

Cloud

CertiVox raises $1.46M to make the cloud more secure (via VentureBeat)

Cloud-Based Networking Company Aerohive Networks Raises $25 Million (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

eCommerce

DealsGoRound Launches Out of Beta, Secures Series Angel Funding

Cloud

Hybrid Cloud Hosting Startup Voxel Raises $5.5 Million (via TechCrunch)

Web Content

Seattle Startup Thinkfuse Scores $500k By Hanging Around During Y Combinator Demo Day (via TechCrunch)

Forrst Gets Seeded With $200,000 (via TechCrunch)

Advertising/Marketing

Marketing Intelligence Service Motista Raises $4.5 Million in Series A (via TechCrunch)

Social Media

Foundation Capital Picks InsideView As Sales Intelligence Winner With $12M Investment

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Company: ExpertBids.com

Website: www.ExpertBids.com

Headquarters: Chicago

Year Founded: Launched in November 2010

Founder: Nick Cronin 

Investors: Self-funded, in addition to a small angel investment 

Employees: 3

Company Description: ExpertBids.com is a professional services marketplace where clients can get personalized bids from lawyers, accountants and consultants.

By Nick Cronin, Founder and CEO

Product Overview

ExpertBids.com is an easy-to-use platform which connects clients and professionals saving both parties time and money.

The site works like this: Clients register and post a service request which either lawyers, accountants or consultants can view. Professionals then search the requests by location, category, and other criteria. When they are interested in a service request, they can send the client a personalized bid using either a flat fee or an hourly rate. The client can then review the details of the bid and the professional’s profile, which includes information such as their name, educational information, licenses, websites (i.e., Linkedin, Facebook, etc.), and finally, past client reviews of the professional’s work.

Using this information, the client can choose any of the bids. An email is then sent to the selected professional, and they can then pay a small fee of $14.95 to receive the client’s name, phone number, and email address and the two parties can connect.

Founder’s Story

My background is as a corporate lawyer. I worked in the legal departments of two publicly-traded corporations and in these positions I needed to hire many lawyers throughout the United States. In doing this, I found the process of finding a lawyer to be very inefficient. It was a very time-consuming process of having to locate and then call many different lawyers to find one that was interested in the case and had applicable experience. Even after I would find an acceptable fit, it was very difficult to pin the lawyer down on a set price. As so many other businesses start, I felt there had to be a more efficient way.

I then created LawBidding.com, a site where people could get bids from lawyers. After gaining traction and learning many clients shared my problem is when I decided to quit my job as a corporate lawyer and focus on building ExpertBids.com, a marketplace which includes not only lawyers, but also accountants and consultants. ExpertBids.com was launched in November of 2010. Our goal is to make the process of finding a lawyer, accountant or consultant much more efficient and transparent.

Revenue Model

Our site is 100 percent free for clients to use. For professionals, the site is free to register, search and bid on service requests. Our pay-only-for-performance model, where only the selected professional is charged, removes all risk for the professional because the only time they will be charged a fee is if they obtain a new client. This eliminates the need for inefficient marketing.

Current Needs

We are currently in the process of raising a small A round of investment.

Conclusion

Chances are, at some point in your life, you will need a lawyer, an accountant or a consultant. The next time you are looking, ExpertBids.com may save you time and money in finding the right service professional.

ExpertBids – www.expertbids.com

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Web Content

Color Looks To Reinvent Social Interaction With Its Mobile Photo App (And $41 Million In Funding) (via TechCrunch)

Advertising

Legolas Media raises $5M to expand audience marketplace (via DealsBeat)

Shiny Ads secures funding for self-serve advertising platform

Social Media

InsideView Raises $12M To Give Businesses Social Sales Intelligence (via TechCrunch)

linkedFA Secures $3 Million Funding to Drive Global Growth Strategy and ExpandUtilization of Social Media for Financial Professionals and the Enterprise

eCommerce

Boom! Walgreens Buys Online Retailer Drugstore.com For $409 Million (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

eCommerce

Gemvara lands $15M more for custom online jewelry (via DealsBeat)

Social Shopping Startup ShopSquad Lands $1.25M In Funding From Heavy Hitters (via TechCrunch)

Web Content

Offline Labs Goes Online With $1 Million Seed Round. Enter The Project Dragōn: Sōsh (via TechCrunch)

Gilt Groupe Acquires Interior Design Community Decorati (via TechCrunch)

HealthTap Raises $2.35 Million To Help People Manage Their Health (via TechCrunch)

Digital Textbook Startup Inkling Nabs ‘Multi-Million Dollar’ Investment From McGraw-Hill And Pearson (via TechCrunch)

IT/Security

CMP.LY Raises $750,000 To Keep Companies Honest Online (via TechCrunch)

IT Services/Software

Software Development And IT Outsourcing Powerhouse Globant Raises $15 Million (via TechCrunch)

Advertising

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Company: GameStaq

Website: www.gamestaq.com

Headquarters: New York City

Year Founded: 2009

Founder: Joseph Gindi

Investors: Self-funded and private equity

Employees: 4

Quick Company Description: GameStaq is a simple way to buy and sell videogames at fair and preset prices.

By Joseph Gindi, Founder

Company Overview:

GameStaq is a peer-to-peer marketplace that features set fair pricing for the buying and selling of console video games. I knew that traditional brick and mortar game resellers introduced huge markups. The spread between the price you would receive for selling a used game and the price to buy that same game is just too wide.

We bring together sellers and buyers at an equitable price that is developed by looking at average pricing across the web. Our transaction process is simple. A seller offers a game, and then is matched with a buyer looking for that specific title. GameStaq is always the mediator, as we have eliminated any need for the buyers and sellers to interact, so there is no auction or haggling. Through transparent and equal pricing, we establish a marketplace where neither party feels like they are getting a raw deal. Furthermore, we guarantee all transactions and ensure all personal information including payment data is kept secure.

The site has more than 12,000 current users after being live for about 10 weeks. We focused our initial outreach to the hardcore console gamer community that desires the best and latest games.

Founder’s Story:

I attended Baruch Business College in New York City where I majored in Marketing. In 1999 my father and I started a family business in the garment industry and together we grew the company to $17 million in annual revenues over the next decade. After leaving that company, I pursued my goal of starting a new venture that involved an early passion, video games. Co-founder David Faham and I are life-long friends and gamers. We had a lot of personal experience and frustration buying and selling used games, and thought there had to be a better business model. From this idea, GameStaq was born.

Revenue Model:

By founding GameStaq, we simply wanted to build a whole new way to buy and sell video games. GameStaq is a peer-to-peer marketplace for console video games that brings together buyers and sellers at one fair-market price point. Unlike traditional brick and mortar stores, we don’t work with markup as we don’t take actual inventory of the games. We charge a small transaction fee that is based on a tiered pricing system that corresponds to the price of the game. For example, GameStaq charges a $2 fee for both the buyer and seller for any game priced $25 to $40. We are also putting in a system where sellers can get their credit card information confirmed in advance. This allows them to be qualified as verified sellers and means they receive the buyer’s funds faster.

Since GameStaq’s service benefits both buyers and sellers, equal fees are assessed to both sides of the transaction. Buyer and seller always transact at one price, instead of the model of our competitors which involves buying games at an unfairly low price, taking inventory of the game, and then reselling it at close to the new game price.   

Current Needs:

GameStaq is funded by a private equity firm and is not currently looking for any outside capital. Within the next three months we will be expanding our number of customer service staff, and we are currently actively searching for an outside marketing firm. We also have the need to hire more engineers within the next few months to handle increased demand for our services and to help implement some new innovative features.

GameStaq – www.gamestaq.com

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Advertising/Social Media

SocialVibe Raises $20M for Engagement Ads in Social Apps (via Mashable) (See SocialVibe’s StartUp Beat pitch from 2008)

IT/PaaS

Open PaaS DotCloud Raises $10M From Benchmark And Trinity, Jerry Yang Joins Board (via TechCrunch)

Mobile

Endomondo raises $800K to make cardio training virtually social (via VentureBeat)

Yuilop Raises 1 Million Euros For Social Communication App (via TechCrunch Europe)

Web Content

CrowdFlower raises $7M to crowd-source freelance work (via VentureBeat)

GreenTech

VIA Motors Raises $5.3 Million To Build Clean Trucks And SUVs (via TechCrunch)

Social Media

Meltwater Group Buys Social CRM Startup JitterJam For $6 Million (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Mobile/Social Media

Facebook acquires Israeli mobile app startup Snaptu

Web Content

STELLAService Raises $2M, Tests Online Customer Services So You Don’t Have To (via TechCrunch)

Gaming/Social Media

Social Game Developer A Bit Lucky Scores $5M From Nexon (via TechCrunch)

eCommerce/Social Media

Social Commerce Platform 8thBridge Raises $10 Million (via TechCrunch)

Security

Security Software Maker AVG Announces $235 Million Financing Deal (via TechCrunch)

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SpeechTrans is the maker of speech-to-speech language translation software. The Lyndhurst, NJ –based company was founded in 2010.

SUB: Please briefly describe the service you offer and the technology behind it.

Frei: SpeechTrans provides the world’s most advanced speech-to-speech language translation software, powered by Nuance (maker of Dragon Dictation). SpeechTrans Ultimate currently enables Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) in English, UK English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, with spoken translations in English, UK English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean and Arabic.

SUB: What is the primary value proposition you offer your users?

Frei: Elimination of language barriers allowing users to have an improved experience while traveling abroad on vacation, providing a competitive advantage in entering the global economy for business and an exceptional language learning tool to students or people who want to learn a new language.

SUB: Who do you consider to be your primary competition?

Frei: The main competitor in the space as of mid-February is Google, previous competitors are the Carnegie Melon University Spinoff, Jibbigo, and a Belgium Based company by the name of Trippo.

SUB: How do you market your services?

Frei: SpeechTrans is marketed as a service-based language translator. It is a transcription-based service which allows users to purchase additional transcriptions in-app. We are currently an iOS based software, primarily on iTunes and supporting marketing outlets.

SUB: How did the idea for SpeechTrans come about? Was there one specific “aha” moment?

Frei: The idea of SpeechTrans came to me about three years ago, when my younger brother and his fiancé were planning a trip to Switzerland. Having previously lived in Switzerland, my brother was fluent in Swiss-German. His fiancé at the time spent a few hundred dollars on language learning software, which didn’t exist when I originally moved to Switzerland at the age of six. It brought back the memories of dealing with the language barrier and frustration of trying to learn a new language. That’s when I had the first “aha” moment, and came up with the idea of instead of learning a new language, have software allow you to speak in your native language and translate it for you. The second “aha” moment came to me about a year later, when in less than two hours I created the proof of concept on the computer. I was familiar with Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking Software, having used it for business. I also used Google Translate frequently to translate what I wanted to type to new friends in Norway over Skype. I found an open source text-to-speech to enable the audio output. I had all three programs running on my computer at the same time and had to copy and paste from the first to the second, hit translate and copy and paste the translated text to the TTS, but once I heard the spoken German, I was jumping for joy. That definitely, was the “eureka” moment for me.

SUB: What were the first steps you took to founding the company? For example, did you secure financing first, did you assemble a team, build a prototype of the service, etc.?

Frei: The first step was making the Provisional Patent Application. I then got sidetracked with another business venture and the Provisional Patent expired. I came to the point that, if  I didn’t act on this innovative idea and someone else beat me to the punch, I would regret it for the rest of my life. On March 8, 2010 I took on a business partner, formed an LLC, refilled the Provisional Patent Application and immediately began development on the prototype to work on an iPhone platform. We were bootstrapped at the beginning and I knew we would need capital to develop the software on other smartphone platforms as well as marketing, so I began marketing to VCs and Angels in May of 2010.

SUB: Have you accepted outside financing? Do you plan to in the near future?

Frei: We were very fortunate to have family invest once we were strapped. I found NJ Jumpstart Angles Group on angelsoft.net and after 7 months of back and forth from initial meeting, pitch, term sheet and contract negotiations, we closed our series A round on January 14, 2011. Jumpstart has an option to invest additional funding over the next two years and hopefully we will not need to find a series B investor and can continue to grow the company organically.

SUB: Where do you see SpeechTrans in a year from now?

Frei: Hopefully on every smartphone in the world, as it has tremendous utility. You may not need it every day, but similar to a calculator or a calendar, it’s there when you do need it.

SUB: Finally, a question I always ask—as an entrepreneur who has weathered the recent financial crisis, what advice do you have for those just starting a business now?

Frei: It may sound like a contradiction, because most entrepreneurs start a business to make money. Instead of focusing on making money, the best thing an entrepreneur can do is focus on providing the greatest service possible to as many people as possible, success and money will naturally be the result. Facebook is a great example in which they were spending an enormous amount of money to get as many people to logon to their website with no initial return on investment.

SpeechTrans – www.speechtrans.com

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Web Content

Footbo Raises $2.5 Million, Swings For The Fences With New Fantasy Baseball Game (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

eCommerce

Exclusive: Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Leads $6.5M Round For Jumio (via TechCrunch)

GreenTech

Zero Motorcycles Raises Another $17 Million To Make More Electric Bikes Domestically (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Social Media

LivingSocial Close To Raising $400M-$500M [REPORT] (via Mashable)

Web Content

Rotten Tomatoes owner Flixster in acquisition talks with Yahoo, others (via MediaBeat)

KIT digital Buys Polymedia For $34.4 Million, Teases Big Upcoming Acquisition (via TechCrunch)

Doximity Raises $10.8M, Helps Physicians Connect On The Web – And On The Go (via TechCrunch)

Genius.com Raises Series E Funding – Misspells ‘Genius’ (via TechCrunch)

Just-Eat closes $48m funding to scale globally (via TechCrunch)

GreenTech

Harvest Power Raises $51.7 Million To Turn Yard Scraps, Food Waste Into Energy (via TechCrunch)

Advertising/Social Media

BLiNQ Media Buys Ruby on Rails Shop Calculated Combustion, Names CTO (via TechCrunch)

Mobile

Intermec Acquires Mobile Lifecycle Services Company Enterprise Mobile (via TechCrunch)

Education

2tor Raises $32.5 Million Series C To Make Online Education Great (via TechCrunch)

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Company: Stoke
Website: www.stoke.com
Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.
Year Founded: 2004
Founder: Vikash Varma
Investors: Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, NTT Docomo
Employees: 80

Company Description (in 140 characters or less): “Using Stoke’s breakthrough mobile broadband infrastructure technology, operators can transform their offerings for the new generation of connected device user.”

By Vikash Varma, Co-Founder, President & CEO

Product Overview

The introduction of the iPhone and similar ‘superphones’ has changed the mobile broadband world dramatically. Mobile network operators are competing more fiercely with Internet properties and each other for consumer attention, but meanwhile the avalanche of data is overwhelming their infrastructure and destroying profitability. Operators can’t go on simply buying more and more traditional, high cost core network equipment to fulfill this need. There is an urgent requirement for innovation in the mobile broadband network.

In response to this market need, Stoke has custom-designed its SSX platform and application suite. The offering addresses the explosive growth in mobile data usage in multiple ways, based on a unique architectural approach that delivers exponential improvements in efficiency, flexibility and cost. It is expressly built for 4G/LTE and future mobile networks, but today is also deployed to improve the performance and ROI of 3G networks. For this reason, Stoke describes its offering as a ‘transformation platform’

At the core of Stoke’s product offering is the Stoke Session Exchange (SSX). The SSX is a compact, modular, purpose-built IP session management node that includes a range of line rate packet processing functions. The capacity of the SSX in both throughput and subscriber sessions offers the lowest cost per subscriber and cost per bit in the industry.

Stoke’s solutions are focused in two principal areas: mobile data offload and Stoke Security Gateway solution for LTE (Long Term Evolution).

Offload solutions from Stoke 3G networks offers operators a way out of the spiraling data service delivery costs associated with rising traffic volumes. It breaks out, or offloads, traffic destined for the Internet, that does not need to traverse the operator’s RAN or core network, depending on the solution. The design objective is to reduce as much load as possible on the backhaul network and on existing network elements without interfering with voice traffic or operator hosted data services traffic.

Stoke Security Gateway solution for LTE meets the user and control plane security requirements set by standards body 3GPP and improves the scalability of the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Promising speeds beyond many fixed line service offerings, LTE / EPC represents a significant departure for mobile operator networks. For example, IP is the common end-to-end communications protocol, mobile network operators will have new security challenges, but should also have access to a wider range of suppliers from which to select the best solutions. The Stoke SSX-3000 Mobile Broadband Gateway with its programmable control plane and line rate packet processing capabilities was designed with the dimensions of scale required for LTE networks. Stoke is already helping NTT Docomo with its eNodeB deployments and backhaul strategy using Stoke's eNodeBs Aggregation application.

Founders’ Story

Today’s most commonly used mobile applications are so different from ten years ago that the original structures created for this function are no longer applicable when planning for long-term service delivery. This creates a highly conducive environment for a fresh approach, where ingenuity, non-linear strategic planning and a refusal to let the problem dictate the strategy create opportunities to seize significant business advantages. We call this approach Business-Crossover Thinking.

Stoke helps mobile network operators break free from the self-imposed limitations of legacy-thinking and planning. Instead, through Business-Crossover Thinking, Stoke finds new ways to solve the new problems now emerging as a result of the unprecedented adoption of mobile broadband and the always-connected lifestyle.

Stoke’s objective is to combine its transformation platform with innovative thinking, breaking through the barriers of legacy thinking and equipment designed for a voice-only era that prevent operators from maximizing the business value of their service offerings and their networks.

The Stoke team includes engineering and leadership experience from virtually every meaningful networking company in recent history. Its investors have backed some of the world's most successful companies. Stoke has been guided throughout its genesis by core investors Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia, with participation by other key players including NTT Docomo and Focus Ventures, through five funding rounds culminating in the final, Series E, in January 2011.

Stoke is unique in the mobile broadband industry in that it is one of very few telecom infrastructure startups in its space. The industry is highly specialized and doesn’t attract many entrepreneurs. The sales environment is challenging and long term, the customers are demanding, and the engineering requirements are constantly changing. The advantage is that the rewards are even bigger than the challenges.

Stoke is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with an engineering facility in Bangalore and sales offices in Japan and the UK. Stoke is aggressively expanding its workforce - looking to double headcount in 2011.

Business Model

Stoke solutions address the most pressing problems for LTE and 3G networks: high density secure session management, and mobile data offload to name just two. Stoke sells directly to mobile network operators and fulfills through channel partners. The smartphone industry continues to develop a stronghold over our computing lives and companies that alleviate some of the burden on carriers are increasingly in demand. Recent industry estimates suggest that the number of connected devices worldwide will reach 50 billion by 2015.

The company operates under the principles that: it should be possible for users to access mobile data over the best wireless connection available there and then;
operators should be able to satisfy the explosive demand for mobile broadband data without crippling infrastructure costs or disastrous service failures; innovative mobile offload solutions enable mobile operators to regain control of their network, and compete by generating user loyalty and profitability in the telecommunications value chain.

Stoke’s best-known customer is Japan’s NTT Docomo, where the SSX is deployed as the eNodeB aggregation gateway in the carrier’s newly-introduced LTE network. The company is also engaged in multiple commercial trials with operators in Europe, the US and Asia, and recently shipped its 200th system.

Current Needs

Stoke plans on using its Series E funding to double the number of employees in 2011. Stoke closed 2010 with revenues four times greater than those of 2009 and we expect triple digit growth in the following year.

Stoke – www.stoke.com

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Mobile

UpNext Scores $500,000 From Chris Sacca And Others For 3D Mobile Mapping (via TechCrunch)

Web Content

SignNow Raises $500,000 For Upcoming E-Signature Service (via TechCrunch)

Sponto Lands $200,000 For Realtime Party Sharing Service For Students (via TechCrunch)

Advertising

AdGent Digital Acquires Video Ad Technology Startup ShortTail Media (via TechCrunch)

IT/Business Intelligence

Warburg Pincus Invests Another $10M In Idea Management Platform Spigit (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Mobile

AltoBridge lands $12 million to bring mobile to emerging markets (via VentureBeat)

Neomobile Acquires Mobile Payments Startup Onebip (via TechCrunch)

Web Content

The Demand Media of Search Engine Marketing, BoostCTR, Raises $1.6 Million (via TechCrunch

Wikio rumored to be closing an 8-figure investment round, on its way to becoming Euro internet champ (via TechCrunch Europe)

eCommerce/Social Media

LivingSocial Gains Wealth Of Ruby on Rails Expertise With InfoEther Acquisition (via TechCrunch)

Cloud

SuccessFactors looks to social learning with Jambok buy (via DealsBeat)  

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news (and rumors) roundup from across the web:

Web Content

Unconfirmed reports that Yahoo has sold Delicious for $5 Million+ (via TNW)

GreenTech

BP expands in Brazilian biofuels with $680 mln buy (via Reuters)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Gaming

Skype founder, others catapult $42M to Angry Birds (via DealsBeat)

Web Content

Topsy raises another $15M for real-time search (via SocialBeat)

FastCall411 Gets Funding (via SoCalTech)

SnagAJob.com Snags $27 Million Series C From August Capital, Others (via TechCrunch)

eCommerce

Clovr media lucks into $8.3M for next-gen loyalty programs (via DealsBeat)

IT/Telephony

Bandwidth.com Raises $20.5M On The Heels Of Dash Carrier Services Purchase (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Web Content

Exclusive: Food Delivery Search Engine GrubHub Raises $20 Million (via TechCrunch)

Group-buying startup Offermatic pulls in $4.5M (via DealsBeat)

Personal finance tool CreditSesame nabs $6.15M in new funding (via VentureBeat)

Stack Overflow Raises $12M, Now Called Stack Exchange (via gigaom)

Tier 3 Lands $8.5 Million For Its ‘Enterprise Platform As A Service’ (via TechCrunch)

GreenTech

Green Buildings Software Startup, Retroficiency, Closes $800,000 Seed Financing (via TechCrunch)

IT/Infrastructure

Tier 3 Lands $8.5 Million For Its ‘Enterprise Platform As A Service’ (via TechCrunch)

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HeyKiki is a crowd-sourced local activities site focused on connection instructors and motivated learners in specialized activities. The New York City-based company was founded in 2009.

SUB: How would you describe your service in one or two sentences?

Vadakkekara: HeyKiki.com is a simple, user-friendly site that's designed to connect users with trusted local instructors and practice partners for a wide variety of activities.

SUB: What is the value proposition you are bringing to market?

Vadakkekara: HeyKiki is setting out to help people lead more active and interesting lives. In a city as big and fast-paced as New York, there's so much to do that it can be overwhelming at times. People want to do more with their time but they often don't know where to start. That's where HeyKiki comes in.  The mantra is simple - You know nothing - Learn. You know a little bit - practice. You know something - teach. So it really draws people in from a multifaceted approach to crowd-sourcing. From participants to instructors alike. All through a location-based platform designed to foster a community of like-minded activity enthusiasts.

SUB: What is the user experience like on HeyKiki?

Vadakkekara: HeyKiki members enjoy the simple, user-friendly design of our site to connect online with instructors/practice partners/students and then meet face-to-face to participate in their activities of choice.  Most social media connections only revolve around online connectivity which is more of the same thing...tech-bound, virtual encounters.  We specifically wanted to provide a social platform where people connect online to actually meet off-line, to become more active and social in real life, rather than virtual time. There’s something to be said about personal interaction, and with everything going digital/mobile these days, we are quickly losing face to face contact.

SUB: How did the idea come about?

Vadakkekara: It was a Sunday afternoon at Sheep's Meadow in Central Park. We saw activity all around us…running, walking, cycling, blading, frisbee, etc. People were genuinely happy to be enjoying activities they liked with people they liked.  We realized then that people would be more active if they had a credible source to find trusted instructors to learn new hobbies or someone nearby with whom to practice an existing one. At the same time, we realized there must also be many people with a special skillset (who may or may not be professional instructors or trainers) that could find new students in their neighborhood and make some extra money.  We wanted to build a platform where people could get out of their ordinary routines, meet like-minded people and make life more exciting by participating in their activity of choice.

SUB: And what’s the origin of the name?

Vadakkekara: We geared our site towards people who love life and live it to the fullest. Someone that gets a kick out of life. So "Kiki" just became a playful twist on getting a kick out of life.

Our mascot is a fun-loving activity monster who embodies the spirit of life, enthusiasm, and curiosity that we promote on the site. Kiki acts as a motivator and represents the side of us that wonders "What else is out there? What haven’t I tried? What can I improve upon? What can I teach?" We think everyone has a bit of Kiki in them and we ask them to embrace that side and Say Hey to Kiki!

SUB: What were the first steps you took to launching the service (for example, did you beta test some versions of the site or technology first, or did you assemble a team first, etc.?)

Vadakkekara: Initially we did some market research around the industry and spoke to industry participants (instructors and activity enthusiasts) to get a sense of what would be helpful in the market.  After confirming that our idea had the potential to be successful, we formed a team with expertise in web development as well as experience in web startup, business and capital raising.  We went through several iterations before launching an alpha version of our site last year and have recently launched our beta version last month incorporating additional site enhancements.

SUB: How many registered users do you currently have?

Vadakkekara: We have seen significant interest and member registrations during our alpha period and that momentum has carried into our recently launched beta version.  At this time we are not revealing specific company metrics.

SUB: How are you marketing the service?

Vadakkekara: Although the site is functional nationwide and globally, we are focusing our initial marketing efforts in one market-NYC metro area-to establish a footprint and then expand city by city from there.  We are looking to attract local instructors and practice partners to build a trusted community through targeted channels-social media, public relations, partnerships, etc.

SUB: How has the company been funded to this point?

Vadakkekara: To date, we are self-funded by the founders.

SUB: Do you plan to seek outside funding in the near future?

Vadakkekara: We do plan to accept outside funding this year and are in the early stages of that process.

SUB: What have some of the challenges been to building the business so far?

Vadakkekara: The greatest challenge, as is with many startups, is increasing brand awareness while moving forward in a timely and cost efficient manner with limited capacity and capital.

SUB: Where do you see HeyKiki in roughly a year from now?

Vadakkekara: We plan to have an established footprint in the NYC market and expand into additional cities. In the process, we plan to add key members to our team while increasing site traffic and membership.

SUB: Finally, a question I always ask: as an entrepreneur who has weathered the down economy, what advice do you have for those just starting out—especially in an economy that remains less than dynamic?

My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to be patient and persistent. There will be many challenges along the way both internally and externally. It’s important to keep your goals in mind and keep moving toward them in an efficient manner.

HeyKiki – www.heykiki.com

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Online Video

YouTube buys video production startup Next New Networks (via MediaBeat)

Web Content

Car-sharing service RelayRides raises $5.1M from Google Ventures (via DealsBeat)

OneFineStay Gets $3.7M for Posh Peer-to-Peer Vacations (via gigaom)

HomePipe Raises $1.1 Million For Cross-Platform Content Streaming Service (via TechCrunch)

EduLender Raises $1 Million For Student Loan Comparison Search Engine (via TechCrunch)

Baidu Leads $50 Million Funding Round For Chinese Real Estate Marketplace Anjuke (via TechCrunch)

Mobile

Breezy raises $750K for easy mobile printing (via VentureBeat)

Vringo To Acquire Mobile Content Solutions Provider m-Wise (via TechCrunch)

Mobile/Advertising

Local Mobile Ad Network xAD Buys Mobile Search And Ad Assets Of Go2 Media (via TechCrunch)

GreenTech

Grid2Home Raises $2.6 Million To Help Smart Devices And Power Suppliers Communicate (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Web Content

Google Acquires BeatThatQuote for $61.5 Million (via Mashable)

Need storage? Find it with SpareFoot — which just raised $1.5M (via DealsBeat)

Mobile

Why messaging app Kik just got $8M: “It’s so frickin’ fast” (via MobileBeat)

Qriously raises $1.6m to let brands replace mobile ads with questions (via TechCrunch Europe)

ZoomSafer Raises $1.1 Million, Seeks To Prevent ‘Distracted Driving’ (via TechCrunch)

IT/Storage

Western Digital To Acquire Hitachi for $4.3 Billion (via Mashable)

Social Media

Kiwibox.com Acquires German Photo Blog Community Pixunity (via TechCrunch)

Advertising

AdGrok Raises $470K To Be The TurboTax For Search Engine Marketing (via TechCrunch)

Privalia Raises $123.4 Million, Buys German Online Fashion Retailer ‘Dress for Less’ (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Advertising

Vurve Raises Another $4.5 Million To Give Businesses “Advertising On Autopilot” (via TechCrunch

Web Content/Advertising

ContextLogic Gets $1.7M From Conway, Rabois And Others To Better Target Ads, Content (via TechCrunch)

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Eventbrite is an online event planning and ticketing service. The San Francisco-based company was founded in 2006.

SUB: How many tickets have been sold through Eventbrite to this point?

Hartz: We’ve sold over 22.5m tickets.

SUB: What is the story behind the Eventbrite idea? Was there an “aha” moment of inspiration behind the company?

Hartz: We fundamentally believe in the power of the "Live Experience" - we love the notion of bringing people together around shared passions, pursuits and interests. We saw an opportunity to gather people offline through an online service. For example, we’re all familiar with the seismic shift in music. The Internet commoditized recorded music, but the live concert industry is thriving. That is because you can’t simply copy or duplicate the experience of a gathering. This is a universal truth across all events, whether music, art, education, sports, festivals, or conferences. Eventbrite plays a key role in facilitating this.

The need for transformation and change in ticketing - Ticketing hasn’t changed very much or kept pace with the innovation we see around us in commerce, social media, data analysis, and service. We strive to bring this Silicon Valley “magic” to a broken and fragmented industry. In addition, Eventbrite is much broader than the merely ticketing. We support an enormous community of organizers—some full time at it and some part time—who make money from their interest and expertise. In the same way that eBay, Airbnb or Etsy do, Eventbrite makes it easy for people to turn a passion into profit.

SUB: What is your business model? How do you make money?

Hartz: Eventbrite is completely free to use for free events. If an event host isn’t charging for ticket sales, we’re not charging them—and they get the full functionality of the product. For events that do charge a ticket price, we charge a small percentage of the cost of the ticket, plus a $.99 per-ticket fee.

SUB: Who do you see as your primary competition?

Hartz: We feel that Eventbrite is the only solution catering to such a wide variety of events—we are working with hosts who manage events of all sizes and types. It’s a really flexible tool.

SUB: What differentiates Eventbrite from the competition?

Hartz: Attending events is an inherently social thing, so people want their friends to join them. Eventbrite makes it really easy for people to share ticket purchases across multiple social media networks, so that attendees can get their friends to join them. This also means that event hosts enjoy organic, viral promotion through their attendees’ shares. The other thing that makes us stand out is the way in which we build data collection into the ticketing process. If it’s important for an event host to collect information from his or her attendees, we make it easy to do so. We also offer hosts customizable tracking links that help them better understand the ways in which their attendees learned about the event.

SUB: How much outside funding have you raised to this point?

Hartz: We have the funding support of Sequoia Capital, Tenaya Capital and DAG Ventures.

SUB: Where do you see Eventbrite in roughly a year from now?

Hartz: In a year, we will have doubled headcount from 100 to 200 Britelings. We’ll be enjoying our brand-new office in SOMA, and we’ll be ticketing larger and more complex events.

SUB: Finally, a question I always ask: as an entrepreneur who has weathered the down economy and built a growing business, what advice do you have for those just starting out—especially in an economy that remains less than dynamic?

Hartz: Find a large, underserved market and build something people want. Often times it doesn’t take a huge amount of capital to get started, especially with the open source resources and platforms out there today. The best, most innovative products are born out of leaner times – use this to your advantage.

Eventbrite – www.eventbrite.com

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Gaming

Disney acquires gaming engine startup to build HTML5 games outside of App stores (via TechCrunch)

IT/Storage

Big Pay Day For Big Data. Teradata Buys Aster Data For $263 Million (via TechCrunch)

Web Content

Visibli Raises $500K To Give Brands And Companies A Way To Personalize Links (via TechCrunch)

Cloud Computing

yaM Labs Secures $500K To Take Meeting Management To The Cloud (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Web Content

Deals & More: Napster founder grabs $250K more for Supyo (via DealsBeat)

Foundry Group Puts $500,000 Into Attachments.me (via TechCrunch)

RentJuice Buys East Coast Rival Kahoots, Cuts Brokerage Prices (via TechCrunch)

DailyWorth Raises $850K To Become The Daily Candy For Personal Finance (via TechCrunch)

Deals & More: Napster founder grabs $250K more for Supyo (via DealsBeat)

Mobile

Opinionaided’s Mobile Q&A App Snags $1M in Funding (via gigaom)

Cloud Computing

yaM Labs Secures $500K To Take Meeting Management To The Cloud (via TechCrunch)

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Today’s funding and acquisitions news roundup from across the web:

Social Media

Facebook Acquires Group Messaging Startup Beluga (via Mashable)

Finance

Big Appetite: Greylock Sends Entrepreneurs a Message with Expanded $1 Billion Fund (via TechCrunch)

Cloud Computing

Mobile Cloud Startup Blaast Raises Seed Money (via gigaom)

Advertising

MaxPoint Interactive Lands $8M For Neighborhood-level Targeting Technology (via TechCrunch)

Click Forensics Acquires, Becomes Adometry And Launches Ad Analytics Suite (via TechCrunch)

Finance

Kleiner Perkins Leads $10M Round In Cloud Storage And Syncing Platform Egnyte (via TechCrunch)

IT/Security

Guardian Analytics raises $11M to ferret out cyber fraud (via VentureBeat)

Web Content

Internet-on-your-TV startup Boxee raises $16.5M (via MediaBeat)

Qype acquires Germany’s Cooledeals to go after Groupon, Dailydeal and Facebook Deals (via TechCrunch Europe)

GreenTech

Nexus EnergyHomes Raises $1.5 Million To Build Luxury, Net Zero Energy Houses (via TechCrunch)

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