500 Startups announced their next class of 27 startups this morning from around the world. The 4th Annual Funding Games includes a few DC startups (go home team!), as well as a few we have covered before here at Tech Cocktail. Here’s a rundown on who’s who and what’s what: ActivityHero: Yelp for kids activities…
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After moving to Chicago from the West Coast, Kayne Grau took over as Chief Technology Officer at Cars.com and looked to raise the level of technology credibility at the company that started featuring automobile listings and media in 1997. Kayne did this by updating its overall technology approach and stack – while becoming more progressive in the process….
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When we first covered Belly last year, the Chicago-based startup was in the process of taking ownership as the Windy City’s go-to customer loyalty mobile app. Today not only has Belly announced expansion into the New York and Boston markets (for a total of 8 markets including Madison, Milwaukee, Miami, Austin, and Phoenix), but they’ve…
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Last month we kicked off our new speaker series, Sessions, in Washington, DC with a crowd of about 250 people. Speakers Shane Green, Co-founder and CEO of Personal, and Timothy Chi, Co-founder of Blackboard and Founder & CEO of WeddingWire, shared how they moved from ideas to action and answered a number of more tactical…
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Did you know that due to deregulation you can change your energy provider? Not all that many people in America do according to Power2Switch founder Seyi Fabode. When he moved to the U.S. he noticed this right away and took it upon himself to create a place for consumers to address this problem in Power2Switch. We’ve…
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Singapore’s Joyful Frog Digital Incubator held its inaugural demo day on Friday, with frog memorabilia in abundance. Part of the TechStars’ Global Accelerator Network, the 100-day program offered mentorship, office space, and around $12,000 in funding. It’s a success story for the Singapore government, which is incredibly supportive of startups: the incubator had grants from…
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Taking on a web business in 1997 was new frontier, especially in the Midwest. Based in Chicago, Cars.com was created to offer a rich online classified advertising experience around automobiles. Bill Swislow, the Senior Vice President of Product at Cars.com, was there from the beginning, from concept and startup phase to the point when Cars.com…
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Thirteen startups are making a grand entrance on the TechStars Boston stage today. As always, demo day marks the end of a 3-month program where startups received $118,000 in funding (upped in September), mentorship, and office space. This is the fourth annual TechStars class from Boston since 2009. But with only 1 percent of applications…
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Another day, another fresh new class of startups launching to the public. This time it’s demo day for Launch Pad Ignition, a tech accelerator based in New Orleans. The program offered coworking space, mentorship, and up to $20,000 (for startups not yet funded). “We really focused on companies that were going to be able to…
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In every startup’s tale there’s a plot twist: the critical point at which you figure out that while you may have hit on the right problem, it’s for the wrong customer. For instance, Groupon CEO Andrew Mason is often quoted as having tried to bring crowdsourcing to nonprofits before he offered it to businesses. My journey through…
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Early-stage financing is the lifeblood of every startup, but raising funds is a challenge for many entrepreneurs. According to Rick Ritter, the CEO of IdahoTechConnect, an articulate finance pitch can be the difference between receiving $10,000 or $1,000,000 in funding. IdahoTechConnect is a statewide entity that helps entrepreneurs attract investment dollars and commercialize their ideas….
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The details on Betamore, a new space in Baltimore, have been pretty sparse so far. But cofounder Greg Cangialosi shared a bit with Tech Cocktail this week. Yes, there will be coworking space and mentorship, emphasizing product-based startups (vs. services). No, they won’t be investing in companies. And perhaps most interestingly, in true Baltimore spirit,…
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Mallory Kievman, an eighth grader in Connecticut, is turning her science fair project into a business. Working with her father, Kievman has spent her free time in the kitchen concocting Hiccupops, lollipops with apple cider vinegar that aim to cure hiccups. As the New York Times reports, she won prizes for innovation and patentability (the…
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Anyone who has waited on a girlfriend to get ready for anything that involves being seen in public knows firsthand that no amount of clothes will ever solve the riddle that is leaving the house quickly. There is no closet big enough. That is, unless, there were an infinite closet. This is the female-utopia that Nikki Durkin, founder…
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This past Wednesday night, we hosted a new type of event: Tech Cocktail Sessions. Over 220 people joined us at an art gallery near the Potomac River to hear a couple of experienced entrepreneurs share their personal stories – how they took ideas they had at various points in their lives and turned them into companies….
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Regardless of how you feel about their politics, Invisible Children made Joseph Kony famous. Their heart-string tugging, albeit controversial, YouTube video has garnered more than 88 million views. Their goal was to build awareness. They succeeded. What was the secret behind their success? To pinpoint one element would be over-simplifying a brilliant marketing scheme. To achieve…
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Two months after the iPad 2 debuted in March, around 40% of users surveyed said their iPad was their primary computer, up from around 30%... Read More
There are a number of startup accelerator and incubator programs in the United States. We are fans of these programs (not to be confused with... Read More
We are excited to announce the participating startups for Tech Cocktail's South by Southwest (SXSW) event: #Startuplife Celebration presented by .CO. It was one of... Read More
With our Startup Mixology Conference coming up next week followed by our classic Tech Cocktail DC Summer mixer which will showcase a handful of early-stage... Read More