After three months of intense work on their companies and collaboration with mentors, it was time for the ten startups in this year’s Boulder Techstars class to showcase their hard work in front of a sold-out audience. Founders, investors, mentors and many others in the startup community gathered yesterday at the Boulder Theater for Techstars Demo Day 2013.
Some surprise announcements added to the Demo Day excitement and energy in the theater. First, when investor and entrepreneur Dave Carlson introduced a startup called Shopventory, he concluded by unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a t-shirt with the company logo--explaining that he liked Shopventory so much, he decided to become the CEO.
Later, Techstars CEO and co-founder David Cohen announced that another co-founder, David Brown, is officially the new president of Techstars. Brown, who was previously a founder and president of ZOLL Data Systems, said he is excited about the the future of Techstars and the opportunity to “leverage the power of the network.”
Perhaps the biggest Demo Day surprise of all was the announcement that one of the companies, GoodApril, had already been acquired by Intuit, the makers of TurboTax. This marked the first time in history that a Techstars company was acquired before the end of the program.
Midway through the presentations, the four Techstars co-founders--Cohen, Brown, Brad Feld and Jared Polis--sat on stage together and talked about the origins and the future of the accelerator. What began in 2006 as an experiment to create a mentor-driven accelerator is now a thriving program that has expanded to six more cities, including London. “The idea really took off,” Cohen said, noting that there are now 1,000 programs around the world modeled after Techstars.
The ten companies pitched to an enthusiastic and supportive crowd. Here’s a rundown of each startup and the problems they set out to solve:
The problem: You forgot your wallet. Also, your company’s loyalty program could do so much more.
The solution: SnowShoe stamp is a piece of plastic that, when paired with the SnowShoe platform, interacts with the sensors on mobile devices to prove a user is interacting with a real-world place, person or embedded system.
CEO and co-founder Claus Moberg describes the stamp--which costs just pennies to make--as deceptively simple, but impactful. When pressed against the touchscreen of a smartphone or tablet, the patented SnowShoe Stamp imparts a unique set of points, and that pattern is then matched against a database of valid results.
Besides the convenience of using your phone to check into yoga class or getting your loyalty reward at the coffee shop, the SnowShoe stamp could allow companies to more accurately track coupon use and loyalty rewards redemption, not to mention collect more meaningful data.
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The problem: Inventory mismanagement is one of the leading causes of failure for retailers.
The solution: Shopventory takes Square to the next level, providing simple, easy to use inventory management and sales analytics for Square and PayPal Here. The application tracks data and provides inventory management to let business owners know what’s in stock. Shopventory also analyzes sales patterns to provide useful in-depth information about what to order in the future.
Co-founder and CEO Bach Le, who started the company in response to the trouble his wife was having with inventory issues at her retail store, also announced an official partnership between Shopventory and PayPal Here.
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The problem: Many wonderful, innovative products never actually get manufactured.
The solution: Elihuu connects trusted manufacturers with the right designers so that innovative ideas can become tangible products. Founder and CEO Dorian Ferlauto describes it as “match.com for designers and manufacturers.”
As Ferlauto explained, most designs never make it to market because the designer can’t find a manufacturer and eventually just gives up. Elihuu connects designers to a community of the best manufacturers so they don’t have to spend time validating credibility. On the flip side, manufacturers can spend less time searching for excellent designers.
The problem: Developers spend too much time building social features.
The solution: Hull is an open platform for social apps, with out-of-the-box interactive features so that nothing new needs to be built. Developers can stop spending time building social features and focus on working on their core product. With a simple line of code, companies can more effectively track data while they interact and connect with their users.
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The problem: April can bring unpleasant tax surprises--and untapped potential savings.
The solution: GoodApril acts as a year-round tax guide that connects all of your financial accounts and provides a running tax bill. Besides eliminating those April surprises, it helps you make decisions in the present that will lower your bill in the future.
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The problem: You want to buy products that give back, but they’re hard to find.
The solution: Every product offered on Given Goods makes a tangible social impact, and you can see exactly what that impact is. The company acts as a curator of products that give back.
Co-founder Cammy Houser pointed out that 88 percent of Americans say they will buy something because it’s associated with a cause. Given Goods makes it easier for people to find those kinds of products.
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The problem: Fantasy sports has a lot of potential, but it’s too complicated for most people.
The solution: Prediculous is building the next generation of social games with something any sports fan can enjoy. Companies large and small can create their own fantasy sports games that are fun, social and easy to play. Meanwhile companies can incorporate their brand in a way they choose while building relationships with the customers who are playing the games.
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The problem: Email is crushing your soul.
The solution: Kato is a messaging platform that provides real time communication between all the members of your team. It pulls together all the different types of communication you receive and puts it into a usable format. Then you can search and analyze your entire conversational history whether it’s in text, voice or video format. Kato also makes it possible to easily see who’s online and talk to people directly whenever you need to.
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The problem: Despite the surge in mobile use, companies aren’t adequately monetizing mobile traffic.
The solution: AdsNative provides a way to monetize mobile traffic with native ads. Native ads are visually integrated and relevant to the content, such as the ads that appear on mobile apps like Twitter and Facebook. Users can access these ads without leaving your site. AdsNative provides a tool for all publishers to create and use native ads, and get detailed reporting on performance metrics.
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The problem: You’ve lost control of your company’s brand.
The solution: Brandfolder lets you stay in charge by making it easy to accurately present and share your brand online. Collect your company’s official headshots, up-to-date information and current logos all in one easily accessible location, with usage guidelines right there for anyone who needs them.
Businesses realize that a strong brand is extremely valuable. As co-founder and CEO Brian Parks pointed out, companies are willing to spend lots of money on branding firms, agencies and consultants to create and maintain their brand. But what happens when you’re a victim of a “brand gone wild?” Brandfolder is designed to prevent that from happening, and instead naturally lead marketing teams, agencies, partners and media to the right content--the content you control.