The startup world would be nothing without a little competition. After all, innovation is bred from the entrepreneurial desire to outmatch, outwit, and generally outperform other companies within your industry. If you want to make an impact, you’re going to have to show the world that you’re better than the founder standing next to you. And TechCo’s Startup of the Year competition is the perfect place to start.
For five years, TechCo has scoured the planet in search of the most innovative companies to compete at the Startup of the Year competition. This year, we’ve recruited startups from 24 states and 9 countries to guarantee a diverse and innovative lineup. Companies from the West, the East, the Midwest, the South, and the World will aim to woo our panel of tech titan judges for a chance at prizes, recognition, and bragging rights for a full year. Plus with 36 percent of companies headed by women founders and 45 percent led by minority founders, our commitment to diversity will be undeniably palpable at Innovate Celebrate 2017.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the 100 semifinalists competing at the Startup of the Year competition, make sure to read their descriptions, check out their websites, and vote for who you think will go home with the crown.
West
Not only do states like California, Colorado, Washington, and New Mexico enjoy enough sunshine to make sunscreen a necessity, they also house some of the most inventive and ingenious companies around the world in tech hubs like Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, and Albuquerque. Check out the semifinalists that call the West Coast home.
California
Airspace Technologies (Carlsbad, CA)
Airspace Technologies offers end-to-end logistics solutions: we take a modern approach to time critical shipments by enabling technology.
Baarb (Los Angeles, CA)
Baarb delivers AI-powered Search Engine Personalization (SEP)™ to travel booking sites to connect their customers with personalized hotel recommendations, and to increase their conversion rates.
BenjiLock (Los Angeles, CA)
BenjiLock’s purpose is to redefine the personal security experience, using hybrid technology with the consumer in mind.
Brilliant (San Mateo, CA)
You don’t need a smartphone to manage your smart home. Brilliant’s Control lets you control your smart home devices directly from any room.
Chui (San Francisco, CA)
Chui is an intelligent access control company that utilizes machine learning and facial recognition to provide seamless access control and analytics.
Cnote (San Francisco, CA)
CNote Savings helps celebrate good savers by earning them 2.5 percent, that’s 40x more than a traditional savings account. CNote does this by working with a government-backed program, CDFI, to create what the public rarely hears about in finance.
Context AI (Santa Clara, CA)
Context AI harvests novel sound, vibration and bioelectric impulse data using bespoke wearable sensor arrays attuned for machine learning to discover digital biomarker fingerprints of health and disease
Court Buddy (San Francisco, CA)
Court Buddy is a legal tech platform that instantly matches people with vetted solo attorneys based on the client’s budget.
EVmatch (Santa Barbara, CA)
EVmatch brings electric vehicles mainstream with a peer-to-peer network of reservable charging stations available anywhere.
fAds (Los Angeles, CA)
fAds replaces ads with what you follow on Instagram so you can see what you want to see instead of what they want you to see.
FriendlyData (San Francisco, CA)
FriendlyData helps businesses make data accessible for non-technical people by providing a natural language interface to databases
Golden (San Francisco, CA)
Golden is an easy-to-use and secure financial assistant that helps assure the health and financial security of our loved ones as they get older.
JOY (San Francisco, CA)
JOY builds technology for families with the first icon based schedule watch known as the Octopus. The watch empowers kids by teaching them good habits and the concept of time.
Laugh.ly (San Francisco, CA)
Laugh.ly is the first of its kind, on-demand up streaming comedy service. They have the largest catalog of company representing over 650 comedians—from Aziz Ansari to Weird Al Yanjovic.
Lifelique (San Francisco, CA)
Lifeliqe is the world’s first visual publishing platform presenting complete interactive 3D middle school science curriculum. Students, teachers and homeschoolers can access more than 1000 premium, ready-to-use 3D & augmented reality models and lesson plans for learning, creating and sharing their own content.
Markett (Venice, CA)
Markett is a performance based platform that systematizes word of mouth marketing by providing ambassadors with all the tools they need to acquire new customers for their favorite brands.
Nimb (Los Altos, CA)
Nimb – security platform and a stylish ring to send an alert signal to any chosen and available response team member in case of an emergency
OpenInvest (San Francisco, CA)
OpenInvest is a social impact investing platform for retail investors. It uses proprietary technology to empower a user’s values and lets them take action, while their investments stay diversified and broadly tracking the performance of the market.
Oska Wellness (Carlsbad, CA)
Oska Wellness is a new health-tech, wearable pain relief device that can help areas of the body prone to injury and degeneration.
Pawprint (San Francisco, CA)
Pawprint is the official medical record for pets. Their platform handles all the paperwork needed to connect pet parents with veterinarians and service providers (groomers, daycares, boarders).
Pilotly (Oakland, CA)
Pilotly, the consumer insights platform that enables content creators to get feedback from target audiences anywhere in the world.
RentTrack (Santa Barbara, CA)
Build credit and pay rent. RentTrack is the only online payment portal that reports monthly rental payments to all three major credit bureaus.
Senstone (San Francisco, CA)
Senstone is a sensitive voice tracker that lets creative people capture their thoughts and document life experiences on the go in just a finger snap.
Sentio (San Francisco, CA)
The Superbook by Sentio is empowering the next billion students and knowledge workers by giving “laptop superpowers” to smartphones.
SmartBeings (San Francisco, CA)
Smart Beings is combining device intelligence, cloud connectivity and feature-rich applications to solve real-world problems for intelligent security, facility awareness and virtual collaboration.
SnapCheck (San Francisco, CA)
SnapCheck is on a mission to eliminate paper checks and empower businesses to cross the digital divide in payments and save $50B annually.
SolarGaps (Redwood, CA)
The world’s first solar smart blinds.
Swiftmile (San Mateo, CA)
Swiftmile is a solar powered electric bike-sharing system for commuters. They have a 40 mile range and can travel up to 20 Mph. Just “Tap, rent and Roll” on their app to get going.
Up Sonder (Los Angeles, CA)
Up Sonder is an on-demand drone and service rental marketplace powered by UberRUSH. Drone pilots and drone owners earn extra money by listing their drone or service on their website for rent.
VaGenie (Los Angeles, CA)
VaGenie is a combination device and app Kegel trainer that helps women strengthen their pelvic floor. It’s a FitBit for lady bits!
Visabot (San Francisco, CA)
Visabot is an immigration robot powered by artificial intelligence, which aims to ease the visa application process for individuals looking to enter the United States of America.
Weavy (Los Angeles, CA)
Weavy is a framework that adds collaboration and enhanced communication to any web application. Instant messaging, video calls, document collaboration, file sharing, task management, integrations with Office 365, Dropbox, and more.
ZenSports (San Francisco, CA)
ZenSports lets anyone find and connect with friends and others to play sports. Download the app now and get on the field!
Colorado
informu (Denver, CO)
Informu eliminates the stress, expense, and wasted time associated with losing valuables. They have created an intelligent flexible chip (Mu tag) integrated within an easy-to-use app to keep belongings safe.
Kitables (Boulder, CO)
Kitables gives people the confidence to build by selling approachable, project-based DIY kits in the fields of science, engineering, and beyond through a multi-channel direct to consumer ecommerce platform.
Washington
Booqu (Seattle, WA)
Booqu is the first online concierge that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to find and book local services.
New Mexico
Babierge (Albuquerque, NM)
Babierge is a baby equipment rental marketplace business that aims to delight vacationing families by providing trusted baby gear while providing their partners with a reliable and rewarding income.
MyTap Inc. (Albuquerque, NM)
Their product WhichCraft is changing the way people shop for craft beer by providing rich product details that teach users more about their beer palate.
East
The East Coast startup ecosystem is a force to be reckoned with. Between Washington DC, New England and Silicon Alley, cities and states on the East Coast have shown the world that innovative ideas grow best when sprinkled with a little salt from the Atlantic Ocean. Meet the startups competing in this year’s competition that hail from the East Coast.
New York
Bignay (New York, NY)
Bignay Inc. combines software and hardware to solve issues within urban areas. Their first product is Gi Fly, a smart, electric, maintenance-free bicycle that folds in one second and in one motion.
Dropel (New York, NY)
Dropel makes clothing lifeproof. They develop and produce performance-enhanced natural fabrics and fibers for apparel companies.
GoBaby (Brooklyn, NY)
GoBaby, the Airbnb for baby gear on the go, is trying to change stressful travel by providing baby equipment rental marketplace (and app). The app offers mothers and fathers, as well as grandparents and caregivers, an easy way to rent strollers, car seats, and other items they need for their children during trips.
Gooroo (New York, NY)
The Gooroo app instantly connects students of all ages with the best tutors for in-person sessions.
OweYaa (New York, NY)
OweYaa tailor-matches employers to high-caliber military talent that complete outsource internship projects.
Roam Coliving (New York, NY)
Roam is a network of global coliving spaces that provide everything you need to feel at home and be productive the moment you arrive. Private living space, onsite coworking, and community events. Flexible housing as a service. The future of living and working, connecting the world.
Unbound (New York, NY)
Unbound is the empowering sexual wellness brand for women by women. As an ecommerce company, Unbound is changing the shopping experience for women in this deeply personal category. The company is differentiated by focusing on product curation, engaging content, and an exceptional customer experience, all delivered in the guise of a contemporary beauty brand driven by feminist ethos.
Washington DC
Event Nation (Washington, D.C.)
Event Nation, is a ticketing and event management platform that allows users to create and manage events through an easy integrated platform.
Smart Alto (Washington, D.C.)
Smart Alto created Ethan, a self-learning algorithm that has text message conversations with real estate lead to book home tours.
Yosi (New York, NY)
Yosi’s SaaS platform for doctors is an end-to-end workflow management solution designed to improve efficiencies, reduce wasteful expenditures and increase revenue.
Maryland
Fixt Inc (Baltimore, MD)
Did you know that the Apple Store could be brought to you? Fixt is Uber for broken phones and tablets.
Connecticut
GeniCan (Newtown, CT)
GeniCan is a first-of-its-kind product allowing users to make grocery lists easily and automatically by turning any trash can or recycle bin into a smart one.
Massachusetts
LetsAllDoGood (Boston, MA)
LetsAllDoGood enable any cause to reach any supporter on any smartphone. It’s remarkably simple and completely free.
GreenSight Agronomics (Boston, MA)
The automated turf grass and agricultural intelligence service. We provide drone-enabled water and chemical management technology to golf courses and farms.
invisaWear Technologies (Nashua, MA)
invisaWear creates smart jewelry that allow users to instantly contact friends, family and police in the event of an emergency.
Maine
Chimani (Portland, ME)
Chimani helps visitors to national parks save time and money, and improve their overall experience.
Pennsylvania
ANGLR (Pittsburgh, PA)
ANGLR is pioneering the connection between digital and physical worlds in fishing.
Module (Pittsburgh, PA)
At Module they reimagine what a home is for the 21st century. With their modular design and patent-pending structural system, it’s easy to convert a one bedroom starter unit into a three bedroom house without the headache associated with traditional renovations.
Orai (Philadelphia, PA)
Orai fills in all the gaps between sales reps and customers, givings managers, marketers and product leaders the insights they would get from sitting in on every important call.
South
The South is home to a bevy of innovative startups and hungry entrepreneurs. From Texas hubs like Austin and Dallas to burgeoning ecosystems like Charleston and Memphis, the startups that hail from the South are all about getting the job done and doing it right the first time. Meet the startups from the South that are always committed to innovation and convenience.
Texas
flux (Dallas, TX)
Flux created Eddy, an AI based robot that grows hyper-sustainable plants and cannabis.
Knocki (Houston, TX)
Knocki is a small WiFi-enabled device that instantly transforms ordinary surfaces into powerful remote controls for a connected world.
Panamplify (Dallas, TX)
Panamplify automates and eliminates all the grunt work for marketing agencies who build reports for their brand clients. They use Intelligent Systems (AI) to assemble and represent meaningful reports providing massive cost savings. Panamplify is the reporting easy button.
Partake (Austin, TX)
Partake connects every golf course with their customers to provide an on-demand purchasing experience.
Virginia
MajorClarity (Richmond, VA)
MajorClarity let’s students try out any career online through career simulations and creates educational plans of study for them to follow.
NS8 (Herndon, VA)
NS8 protects companies conducting business online from fraud and abuse. It helps them create a secure and trusted environment for their customers.
Park & Diamond (Blacksburg, VA)
Park & Diamond is improving cycling safety with helmets that rolls up into the shape of a water bottle and can be conveniently carried.
RUB A DUB (McLean, VA)
Car care for smart cities powered by sustainable technology.
Tennessee
Homey (Memphis, TN)
Homey is a mobile app that teaches kids financial literacy, the value of work through chores and enables parents to transfer money directly to the kids bank account.
ProxBox (Memphis, TN)
ProxBox is a communication and collaboration app for real estate agents with integrated beacon technology to give your property for sale its own voice.
North Carolina
Envested (Raleigh-Durham, NC)
Envested is an enterprise software company that created a next generation workplace and employee engagement software.
South Carolina
ENGAGE Talent (Charleston, SC)
ENGAGE Talent enables recruiters to identify talent pools, targeting and building a pipeline of passive candidates who are more likely to engage in a job change discussion.
Praxis (Charleston, SC)
Praxis is a 12-month startup apprenticeship program for young people who want more than college. Participants complete a 6-month professional bootcamp and a 6-month paid apprenticeship at a startup.
Georgia
EasyVote Solutions (Woodstock, GA)
EasyVote is making the elections process more transparent, efficient and easier to manage.
Florida
Appocalypse (Miami Beach, FL)
BOTY, made by Appocalypse, uses technology to enhance the bar experience. They believe the bar is the center of connectivity and encourages face-to-face interactions.
Midwest
The Midwest is home to more than friendly faces, great sports teams, and frigid weather. This part of the country is filled with startups and entrepreneurs that are more than happy to show the coasts where innovation really comes from.
Illinois
BallotReady (Chicago, IL)
BallotReady is the nonpartisan online voter guide to every race and referendum. From the top of the ticket to the very bottom, BallotReady helps voters compare candidates based on stances on issues, biography, and endorsements.
BeyondTag (Chicago, IL)
Users wish a price on every product and instantly know whether they got the deal! Never pay full price again and always have a say.
ChangEd (Chicago, IL)
ChangEd is an iOS app that helps student loan borrowers pay down their debt more effectively using spare change from everyday purchases. Get out of debt years sooner without any budgeting.
The LISA App (Chicago, IL)
The LISA App brings together thousands of service providers (i.e., artists) through technology. LISA’s independent artists determine the services that they will provide, where they want to provide those services, and the price that they want to charge. LISA is an artist’s storefront, and that artist can manage his or her entire clientele from our platform.
Luna Lights (Chicago, IL)
Luna Lights is an automated lighting system that utilizes behavior analysis to keep older adults safer at night.
PhenixP2P (Chicago, IL)
PhenixP2P is revolutionizing content delivery with the world’s only real-time video streaming platform enabling unprecedented low latency video at massive scale.
Ohio
GoSun Stove (Cincinnati, OH)
Breakthrough solar technology that cooks like an oven. GoSun is making outdoor cooking easier, cleaner and more accessible around the world.
Juggle (Columbus, OH)
Juggle helps families by connecting them with mom-approved college students for on-demand childcare, pet sitting, and party assistance via a mobile app that allows them to look, book and pay sitters their friends have used and reviewed.
Spatial.AI (Cincinnati, OH)
With Spatial, navigate the world like a local with a dynamic, human-driven layer of social intelligence for maps.
Michigan
SPLT (Detroit, MI)
SPLT is a proven carpooling platform for enterprise reinventing the commute, partnered with Lyft for on-demand non-emergency medical transport.
Wisconsin
Allergy Amulet (Madison, WI)
The Allergy Amulet is a rapid, portable, point-of-consumption food allergen and ingredient detection device that connects to a patent-pending disposable test strip.
Indiana
JuniorTube (Lafayette, IN)
JuniorTube is a collection of curated educational videos for kids and students in K-12 schools.
Missouri
PerfectCube (Kansas City, MO)
PerfectCube gives retail business owners easy, timely and affordable access to information they need to make better decisions faster.
North Dakota
PHR Plus (Fargo, ND)
PHR Plus is a SaaS platform that powers population health programs and puts individuals in control over their health information.
International
Whether you’re innovating fintech in Africa or tackling smart energy in Europe, the international startup community needs to recognize that startups are changing business for the better all around the world. Meet the startups from countries outside the US that are competing in this year’s competition.
United Kingdom
AssetVault (London, UK)
AssetVault makes customers aware if they are adequately protected through current product warranties and insurance policies.
Fing (London, UK)
Domotz develops network scanning, network security and Wi-Fi troubleshooting tools built for the Internet of Things.
We Love Work (London, UK)
We Love Work is a hiring app that predicts culture fit and values alignment between individuals and teams making the world of work a better place.
Canada
Obie (Hamilton, Canada)
Obie is a chatbot that helps teams access their company knowledge without leaving Slack.
India
Saathi Eco Innovations (Ahmedabad, India)
Saathi makes biodegradable pads from banana fibre. Saathi pads degrade in six months and eliminates 60 kg of waste. Proudly based and made in India.
Estonia
Deekit (Tallinn, Estonia)
This company developed the world’s most collaborative online whiteboard for remote teams.
France
IN&MOTION (Chavanod – Annecy, France)
In&motion develops smart wearable airbag systems that reduce injuries in case of fall for every situation such as riding horse, bikes or skis.
SPARTAN (Paris, France)
SPARTAN is a stylish high-tech boxer brief that protects your health and fertility.
Nigeria
Stutern (Lagos Island, Nigeria)
Stutern is building the largest community for both young talent looking for their first job and employers looking to hire them in Africa.
Singapore
igloohome (Singapore)
The Igloohome Smart Lock & Keybox allows property owners to grant access to visitors remotely, via mobile app. These products work offline.
United Arab Emirates
Karavan (Dubai UAE)
Karavan is a mobile app that facilitates skill and service exchanges between refugees and citizens using a non-monetary points system in order to regain their autonomy and agency by using a points system.
Register Now to Attend Innovate Celebrate 2017
Come join us at the Innovate Celebrate conference in San Francisco, CA. The event will take place October 9-11, and is held in partnership with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).