Company name: Zync, Inc.
Company URL: www.zync.com
Citation URL: http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/071228/0343741.html
Formation Date: September, 2006
Funding status: Seed Stage
Investors: Launchpad Ventures
Founders past companies: PureSpeech, Ucentric Systems, Cognio, Sapient
Industry: Consumer web, local events, social networking
Description: Social recommendation system that helps people find relevant local activities based on user psychographics and people with similar interests.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Lookery
Company Name: Lookery
Company URL: http://www.lookery.com/signup/
Citation URL: http://venturebeat.com/2007/07/26/lookery-the-facebook-advertising-networkwith-lots-of-data/
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Seed Stage
Investors:
Founders or Execs past companies: Compete, MyBlogLog
Industry: Consumer Web, Advertising
Offering Description: Lookery provides demographic marketing services in and around social networks. We’re working to fix the the basic economic problem that social networks face: great user profiling but unpredictable ad inventory.
Company URL: http://www.lookery.com/signup/
Citation URL: http://venturebeat.com/2007/07/26/lookery-the-facebook-advertising-networkwith-lots-of-data/
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Seed Stage
Investors:
Founders or Execs past companies: Compete, MyBlogLog
Industry: Consumer Web, Advertising
Offering Description: Lookery provides demographic marketing services in and around social networks. We’re working to fix the the basic economic problem that social networks face: great user profiling but unpredictable ad inventory.
Sonian Networks
Company Name: Sonian Networks
Company URL: http://soniannetworks.com/
Citation URL:
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Seed Round
Investors: Private Investors
Founders or Execs past companies: Dialogic, Intellireach
Industry: web infrastrucure
Offering Description: The latest innovation for hosted email archiving and e-discovery is here. Sonian removes the burden of compliance and storage management for all electronic communication.
Company URL: http://soniannetworks.com/
Citation URL:
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Seed Round
Investors: Private Investors
Founders or Execs past companies: Dialogic, Intellireach
Industry: web infrastrucure
Offering Description: The latest innovation for hosted email archiving and e-discovery is here. Sonian removes the burden of compliance and storage management for all electronic communication.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Grrasp.com
Company Name: Grrasp.com
Company URL: http://www.grrasp.com/
Citation URL:
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: seed
Investors: ?
Founders or Execs past companies: Markem
Industry: Consumer Web, Wireless
Offering Description: Wireless oriented web site.
Company URL: http://www.grrasp.com/
Citation URL:
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: seed
Investors: ?
Founders or Execs past companies: Markem
Industry: Consumer Web, Wireless
Offering Description: Wireless oriented web site.
SecondRotation
Company Name: SecondRotation
Company URL: http://www.secondrotation.com/
Citation URL: http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/clean-break-second-rotation.ars
Formation Date: 2006
Funding Status: Seed
Investors: ?
Founders or Execs past companies: Pay Pal, Cambridge Information Systems, Boston Compliance Systems
Industry: Consumer Web
Offering Description: By making it easier to get cash out of old consumer electronics, we magnify the impact of sustainability by helping folks participate in the mission whether they care about it or not, (i.e. if you care only about the cash, fine, here's the cash - if you care about the mission too, fabulous - here's cash and a mission! :) ) and thus, just like Ben & Jerry's, The Body Shop and others, we put the power of business to work in making a social difference.
Company URL: http://www.secondrotation.com/
Citation URL: http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/clean-break-second-rotation.ars
Formation Date: 2006
Funding Status: Seed
Investors: ?
Founders or Execs past companies: Pay Pal, Cambridge Information Systems, Boston Compliance Systems
Industry: Consumer Web
Offering Description: By making it easier to get cash out of old consumer electronics, we magnify the impact of sustainability by helping folks participate in the mission whether they care about it or not, (i.e. if you care only about the cash, fine, here's the cash - if you care about the mission too, fabulous - here's cash and a mission! :) ) and thus, just like Ben & Jerry's, The Body Shop and others, we put the power of business to work in making a social difference.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sharing the Seed Corn in 2008
Being from the Midwest, I am all for agricultural analogies. So to continue with the Seed Corn theme and adding to the meme, I offer the following:
Reading an a blog focused on Start-up Ventures in India I came upon this excerpt about a " farmer whose corn won top awards year after year. When a reporter asked about the secret of his success, the farmer attributed it to the fact that he shared his corn with his neighbors. Why, the reporter wondered, would the farmer want to share his seed when those neighbors also competed with him for the prize? The farmer’s reply was, “The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grew inferior corn, cross-pollination would steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors do the same.”
Boston has not been known as a place where the start-up community 'shares the seed corn'. However that is changing and anyone involved will attest to an increased energy and camaraderie within the early stage venture populace.
One important issue that directly relates to cross pollination (non Compete agreements) is being Championed by Bijan Sabet a VC with the Newbury St. venture firm Spark Capital.
Evidence of entrepreneur community is all around us: BetaHouse PodCamp WebInno OpenCoffee Andala TechCocktail Boston Boston Media Makers Techcrunch Boston Meetup
Social Media Breakfast Cambridge Enterprise WEb 2.0 Meetup and many more.
More sharing, communication, cooperation and networking will strengthen our start-up DNA and propagate future companies. So I look forward to 2008 and seeing the results of the rising energy and cross pollination taking place in the early stage community here in theHub. Get out there and rub some anthers! Happy Holidays to All
ts
Reading an a blog focused on Start-up Ventures in India I came upon this excerpt about a " farmer whose corn won top awards year after year. When a reporter asked about the secret of his success, the farmer attributed it to the fact that he shared his corn with his neighbors. Why, the reporter wondered, would the farmer want to share his seed when those neighbors also competed with him for the prize? The farmer’s reply was, “The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grew inferior corn, cross-pollination would steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors do the same.”
Boston has not been known as a place where the start-up community 'shares the seed corn'. However that is changing and anyone involved will attest to an increased energy and camaraderie within the early stage venture populace.
One important issue that directly relates to cross pollination (non Compete agreements) is being Championed by Bijan Sabet a VC with the Newbury St. venture firm Spark Capital.
Evidence of entrepreneur community is all around us: BetaHouse PodCamp WebInno OpenCoffee Andala TechCocktail Boston Boston Media Makers Techcrunch Boston Meetup
Social Media Breakfast Cambridge Enterprise WEb 2.0 Meetup and many more.
More sharing, communication, cooperation and networking will strengthen our start-up DNA and propagate future companies. So I look forward to 2008 and seeing the results of the rising energy and cross pollination taking place in the early stage community here in theHub. Get out there and rub some anthers! Happy Holidays to All
ts
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Genotrope Launches: Boston area jobs in Emerging Technology and Startups
We are excited about the Boston launch of Genotrope. Keep in tune with what is happening with Boston early stage companies. The site is fully functional and ready for you to submit your resume to the hundreds of companies hiring for thousands of jobs here in the Boston area. So as we move into the holiday season, after you Elf Yourself , check out Genotrope and let us know what you think.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
RightsAgent
Company Name: RightsAgent
Company URL: http://www.rightsagent.com/
Citation URL: http://www.xconomy.com/2007/12/14/all-user-generated-content-doesnt-want-to-be-free-a-qa-with-cambridge-startup-rightsagent-about-its-new-approach-to-copyrighting/
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Series A
Investors: Venrock, Highland Capital Partners
Founders or Execs past companies:
Industry: Web Publishing
Offering Description: RightsAgent is a provider of copyright management solutions for user-generated content. The initial release of our platform allows publishers to register where they publish online, consolidate their work into a personal feed for their readers to subscribe to, and perform copyright transactions with those who wish to license their work.
Company URL: http://www.rightsagent.com/
Citation URL: http://www.xconomy.com/2007/12/14/all-user-generated-content-doesnt-want-to-be-free-a-qa-with-cambridge-startup-rightsagent-about-its-new-approach-to-copyrighting/
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Series A
Investors: Venrock, Highland Capital Partners
Founders or Execs past companies:
Industry: Web Publishing
Offering Description: RightsAgent is a provider of copyright management solutions for user-generated content. The initial release of our platform allows publishers to register where they publish online, consolidate their work into a personal feed for their readers to subscribe to, and perform copyright transactions with those who wish to license their work.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Zingdom/Convoq/Applied Messaging shutters doors
Sorry to see a company bite the dust. Read the founders post here. The current project Spark, a conversation oriented application that is based on the idea that extended interactions take place at varying tempos. Seems like it has potential and the architect is hoping to keep it alive. Anyone that is interested should contact Mark Waks.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Twitter might not exist without help from a Boston Software Icon
I was browsing through the blog of Dan Bricklin when I came across an interesting post about his involvement with Blogger. It is a great story and an indication of what a nice guy Dan is. The rest is history as Blogger was eventually acquired by Google and Evan Williams has gone on to his next ground breaking communications application, Twitter.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Alluvial Labs
Company Name: Alluvial Labs
Company URL: http://www.alluviallabs.com/home.html
Citation URL:
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Bootstrapped?
Investors:
Founders or Execs past companies: CombinatoRx, SAS Institute
Industry: Web Infrastructure, Software
Offering Description: Alluvial Labs builds software to help manage the flow and analysis of knowledge across networks of researchers, investors, and markets.
Company URL: http://www.alluviallabs.com/home.html
Citation URL:
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Bootstrapped?
Investors:
Founders or Execs past companies: CombinatoRx, SAS Institute
Industry: Web Infrastructure, Software
Offering Description: Alluvial Labs builds software to help manage the flow and analysis of knowledge across networks of researchers, investors, and markets.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Matchmine
Genotrope Record: MatchMine
Citation URL: http://gigaom.com/2007/12/05/matchmine-made-for-the-multidimensional-you/
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Series A
Investors: The Kraft Group
Founders or Execs past companies: m-Qube, eCredit.com, Predictive Networks, Dimensional Insight, Kraft Group Sports Properties
Industry: Consumer Web
Offering Description: matchmine lets you discover a whole new world of music, movies, video and other cool stuff that match the tastes of the one-of-kind inner you. How? Your MatchKey™ lets you capture your personal interests and media preferences and take them with you to get what you want across a growing list of partner websites and applications.
Citation URL: http://gigaom.com/2007/12/05/matchmine-made-for-the-multidimensional-you/
Formation Date: 2007
Funding Status: Series A
Investors: The Kraft Group
Founders or Execs past companies: m-Qube, eCredit.com, Predictive Networks, Dimensional Insight, Kraft Group Sports Properties
Industry: Consumer Web
Offering Description: matchmine lets you discover a whole new world of music, movies, video and other cool stuff that match the tastes of the one-of-kind inner you. How? Your MatchKey™ lets you capture your personal interests and media preferences and take them with you to get what you want across a growing list of partner websites and applications.
the Tech hiring Crunch
It is probably no surprise to you all, that there are a lot of career opportunities available for anyone in the emerging technology industry here in Boston. A recent Xconomy article regarding the Talent War here in the Boston area, did a good job of pointing this out.
The key point for hiring companies was, once you have identified the right candidate, you have to move fast to bring them on board . Also, good companies find a great candidate first and do not try to fit them into a job description. And lastly, candidates from start ups are very valuable, yet hard to attract to the larger companies.
The key point for hiring companies was, once you have identified the right candidate, you have to move fast to bring them on board . Also, good companies find a great candidate first and do not try to fit them into a job description. And lastly, candidates from start ups are very valuable, yet hard to attract to the larger companies.
The Bubble did not Burst, it leaked.
According to SVB Analytics, bubble era companies make up one third of the current private technology companies.
This information paints a much different picture than the horrible nuclear winter we all remember with crashing paper values and losses of jobs.
My take away is that the underlying trends were sound and increased communication, personalization, disintermediation etc... would have a lasting effect, but the gold rush mentality overcame reality and it crashed to a halt.
Another interesting point is that 70% of those firms have received funding within the last 3 years and are significant in the current mergers and acquisition activity. Please read the linked article for the details.
This information paints a much different picture than the horrible nuclear winter we all remember with crashing paper values and losses of jobs.
My take away is that the underlying trends were sound and increased communication, personalization, disintermediation etc... would have a lasting effect, but the gold rush mentality overcame reality and it crashed to a halt.
Another interesting point is that 70% of those firms have received funding within the last 3 years and are significant in the current mergers and acquisition activity. Please read the linked article for the details.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Treedia Labs
Company Name: Treedia Labs
Company URL: http://www.treedia.com/index.html
Citation URL: http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail.jsp?globalObjectId=8149_8078_23
Formation Date:
Funding Status: Seed?
Investors: ?
Founders or Execs past companies: Pro CD, Pulvermedia, BBC News Interactive
Industry:Internet Infrastructure
Offering Description: home of Treedia, a Web service platform that powers services such as Podcast.com. Treedia enables consumers to find, enjoy and share digital entertainment delivered via RSS feeds such as podcasts, videocasts, photos, blogs, music, news and more.
Company URL: http://www.treedia.com/index.html
Citation URL: http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail.jsp?globalObjectId=8149_8078_23
Formation Date:
Funding Status: Seed?
Investors: ?
Founders or Execs past companies: Pro CD, Pulvermedia, BBC News Interactive
Industry:Internet Infrastructure
Offering Description: home of Treedia, a Web service platform that powers services such as Podcast.com. Treedia enables consumers to find, enjoy and share digital entertainment delivered via RSS feeds such as podcasts, videocasts, photos, blogs, music, news and more.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Foneshow
Company Name: Foneshow
Company URL: http://www.foneshow.com/
Citation URL: http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9685025-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware
Formation Date: 2006
Funding Status: Series A
Investors: Masthead, CEI community Ventures and the Small Enterprise Growth Fund of Maine
Founders or Execs past companies: Yahoo, Angel Networks
Industry: Mobile Application
Offering Description: Foneshow delivers audio content directly to your cell phone. With automatic notification, the content is always fresh; it's great for news, finance, and sports programming. Foneshow doesn't require a data plan or a smart phone.
Company URL: http://www.foneshow.com/
Citation URL: http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9685025-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware
Formation Date: 2006
Funding Status: Series A
Investors: Masthead, CEI community Ventures and the Small Enterprise Growth Fund of Maine
Founders or Execs past companies: Yahoo, Angel Networks
Industry: Mobile Application
Offering Description: Foneshow delivers audio content directly to your cell phone. With automatic notification, the content is always fresh; it's great for news, finance, and sports programming. Foneshow doesn't require a data plan or a smart phone.
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