Following the lead of metro-targeted startups like Uber, ParkMe and SeatMe, UrbanSitter is now offering an online payment feature. With this new feature, the site that connects parents with babysitters through people they know should continue on its path of stellar growth, especially with the infusion of $1.75M in seed funding they closed on this…
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“We’ll figure it out later.” That’s how some startups, who might be breaking laws or regulations, decide to deal with it. We’re so tiny that no one will care, right? If you want to err on the side of caution, take a few minutes to sign up for TrakBill. Designed for lobbyists, this new service…
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This huge number should probably come as no surprise, but it’s still rather unnerving: Nearly 12 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2011. With so many of us storing proprietary information on not only our laptops, which we lug through cities and airports, but also our mobile devices, which we bring everywhere, we…
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When you see a delicious looking picture of a meal, you probably begin craving something to munch on. Once you launch mor.sl, expect that effect – times one hundred. The landing page of this recipe-discovery site is full of neatly organized pictures of all sorts of meals, with recipes one click away. Not to overwhelm…
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No matter how fancy your marketing campaign, hungry your sales team, or useful your app or product, you won’t achieve the growth you need unless you have a full understanding of your customers’ behavior – especially where they might be getting stuck in the sales funnel. One of the showcased startups at our Tech Cocktail…
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The team at GroupToast believes that when you want to party with your friends, you shouldn’t have to call a gazillion places, wait for call backs, negotiate drink fees, and then have to coordinate everything. I’d have to say that I agree. This Chicago-based startup gives people the ability to have venues compete for their…
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If you’re interested in both giving and getting, Chicago-based Toodalu can help you rack up cash for yourself and your favorite charity – all by simply going about your daily shopping routine. Toodalu is a new breed of loyalty rewards that generates charitable giving to the causes you choose, each time you spend at a…
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Thinking about producing an explainer video for your website? Finding video producers is easy, which you know if you’ve started a search. What’s difficult and ultimately time-consuming is finding the right video producer at the right price. You can spend weeks doing research, contacting producers, getting estimates and then narrowing down the proposals and picking…
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Depending on where you live, you’ve already played several rounds of golf this year or are just now getting out the golf clubs, all eager to tee up. If you live in the Chicago area, you’re going to want to start using Back9Booking, a new interactive website that lets you search, compare and book tee…
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How would you like to earn money towards your college tuition and for charity – while gaming? At the non-profit/for-profit gaming and tuition relief startup that is Grantoo, you can do all three at once. Co-founder Dimitri Sillam used a story to demonstrate how well this platform works: “The first winner of a Grantoo contest…
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Found in Town is a free, online lost and found recovery service that helps reunite misplaced items such as keys, mobile phones, and wallets, with their rightful owners. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? But there’s more to the company and concept than meets the eye. Founded in Chicago by Zach Haller, he jokingly said that he…
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Imagine being a first-time startup founder in a non-tech-hub city going up against a well-established and ubiquitous service. Quite a challenge – but PasteLink.me founder Bret Michaelsen is working away in Salt Lake City, undaunted. His startup is a drag and drop interface for simple file sharing without the subscription fees, software, or jumping through…
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Since launching nearly a year ago, DC-based TroopSwap has been growing by leaps and bounds, raising nearly $1M from angel investors and then raising $2.5M in equity financing and partnering with Lego. The ecommerce platform exclusively for active service members and veterans now offers access to military and veteran discounts, most of which are sourced…
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Geeks and creative types are constantly thinking up ways to get hired: from creative designs to fake Facebook profiles to movie posters, we’ll do anything to escape the boringness of a black-and-white resume. Resume woes were also the inspiration for recent Y Combinator grad Coderwall, which helps engineers build portfolios: “Resumes are fundamentally broken for…
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For my recent vacation in Hawaii (yes, it was awesome – yes, I suck), I carted along 5 books and 1 magazine the size of a phone book (and yes, I read them all). I am a tactile person. I like to hold stuff, write with pen and paper, dog ear pages in books, clip…
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NetHound is online network monitoring service launching today – that is based in the Czech Republic (more on the tech scene there in a bit). Not only does this SaaS solve a major problem, the small 4 person team added a bit of humor to the service: NetHound barks as soon as it finds a…
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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