When Vibease pitched at a startup competition earlier this year, the audience failed to stifle their giggles – and one of the judges thought it was a joke. Vibease is an Android app, made in Singapore, that lets your partner control your vibrator from afar (say, on a business trip). He can switch between five…
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If you’re scheduled to have a conference call with Forkly and are put on hold, you get to listen to Weird Al’s “Just Eat It.” And, that’s exactly what the Denver-based startup wants its users to do. Forkly cofounder Brady Becker is looking to connect with food fans from all walks of life. His company…
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Starting a company when you’re young is becoming increasingly popular. But it’s not for everyone – nor is getting a regular, 9-5 job after college. Startup Generation wants to offer a third option to students: working at startup jobs. “I think more entrepreneurs should do that,” says cofounder Danny Beckett Jr., who leads Startup California….
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Two days after Veterans Day, DC startup TroopID launches to bring benefits to veterans online with a simple identity check. Many companies want to offer online discounts to veterans, but they worry about non-military customers lying to save money. TroopID verifies military affiliation (with information like Social Security number and birthday), and participating websites can…
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DogVacay, the Los Angeles-based dog-care marketplace (think, Airbnb for Dogs) announced this morning closing their Series A of $6 million from Benchmark Capital. Bill Gurley, general partner at Benchmark and a board member at Zillow, OpenTable, and Uber will be joining the board of directors at Dog Vacay. Like other Science Inc. operations, including Uncovet and Eventup, DogVacay hopes to…
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Today, enterprise software company DoubleDutch announced $4 million in Series B funding led by FLOODGATE and including Bullpen Capital and Lightbank. The San Francisco startup will use the funding to expand internationally and open an office in Amsterdam. DoubleDutch already has customers in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. DoubleDutch makes mobile engagement apps for…
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TaeWoo Kim, the CEO and founder of Moglue, speaks with a thick Korean accent. But it seems to have gotten better since last year, when I met him in Korea. It’s probably because he’s been doing so much practicing. With a team of 12, Kim is trying to reach an international audience from Korea. And…
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Venio, a food app with meal recommendations, launched an update earlier this month to make eating healthy easier. To start, you enter your height and weight and whether you want to lose weight or just stay healthy. Then, it recommends breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, tailored to your size and goals – like banana nut…
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It’s dinner party night. You’ve been talking up your Shepherd’s Pie recipe around the office all week, and now is your time to shine. You’re wrist deep in ground beef before realizing you forgot to add the Worcestershire sauce. Frustrated, you go back to wash your hands before handling your new Windows Surface to pull…
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Kansas City’s startup scene just got a huge boost in the form of a four-bedroom house, the first property in a project called Homes for Hackers. Run by web developer Benjamin Barreth, Homes for Hackers plans to offer three months of rent-free housing to startups who move to Kansas City. And the city will soon…
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Bundshop’s tagline is “the new made in China.” Many Westerners associate China with lower-level, assembly-line factory work. But a group of American-born Chinese, who saw tons of creativity on their trips back East, wanted to change this. So they took a roadtrip across China. They went to fashion shows and exhibitions in Hong Kong and…
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Today, Hinge won the DCWEEK Pitch Jam competition with their groovy one-minute pitch. Hinge is a dating site that connects you with friends of friends. Their pitch featured “slow jam” music in the background, backup singing about the perils of online dating (like “axe murderers”), and a smidgen of judge flattery. Second place was captured…
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Queue the doorbell. For decades, Papa John’s and your favorite Chinese takeout place held a permanent spot on your speed dial as your go-to carry-out places. Times have changed since Plated entered the scene last month as the new dinner delivery and subscription service. Yes, many of us would rather cook. But the thought of…
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It’s not every day a company aims to change the way we all live, but that’s exactly what SmartThings has set out to do. Their goal is to simplify our world, by connecting things we use every day to the web and allowing access and control of them with SmartApps. When I say everyday things,…
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Curious what life is like inside of a startup accelerator? Look no further than The Founders, a documentary web series that follows Birdbox, ROXIMITY and Ubooly from TechStars Boulder (ranked the #2 startup accelerator in the US). This week’s episode focuses on the importance of community- both in terms of having a strong entrepreneurial and advising network, as demonstrated by Tech Stars’…
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Charlie Firestone will be a panelist at DCWEEK for “The New Economy: Technology for Social Impact.” He is the executive director of the Communications & Society Program at the Aspen Institute. DCWEEK is a week-long festival co-produced by Tech Cocktail and iStrategyLabs. Get your tickets here. Tech Cocktail: What is the Aspen Institute’s Communications & Society…
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Tech Cocktail is headed back to DC. Why? Because we're a fan of good... Read More
Locating quality startups in San Francisco is like spotting bees in a hive.... Read More
Today, we’re excited to announce that Tech Cocktail has taken a $2.5M... Read More
Two months after the iPad 2 debuted in March, around 40% of users surveyed said... Read More
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