Who is Chicago’s Hottest Showcasing Startup? [Poll]

Zach Davis Mar 21, 2013 Tweet

The Chicago startup scene is on the upswing.  Last year, 197 new Windy City startups launched- or one every 44 hours- with no sign slowing.  Contributing to the maturation of this ecosystem is the recent launch of 1871, a massive downtown co-working center, and unofficial startup headquarters to the city.  That’s why Tech Cocktail is beyond excited to bring the Mixer parade to 1871 early next month, showcasing a new batch of the Chicago’s hottest tech startups.

Join us on April 3rd at 1871 to check out some local startups, hang out with your fellow technophile, and of course enjoy a few cocktails.

< Register for the Mixer Here >

We’ll have a dozen up-and-coming startups on hand showcasing their goods, but before the Mixer kicks off, we want to know what you think - who is Chicago’s Hottest Showcasing Startup?   (Startups apply here)

Let us know your thoughts by answering the poll at the end of this post (ends at 6:00pm local time on the day of the event).  The winner will be announced live at the event and will receive a couple of minutes on stage to pitch their startup in front of all attendees.  Don’t miss out.

The Startups

• Brideside - Brideside re-imagines the bridal boutique experience for a bride and her geographically dispersed bridesmaids. We provide a streamlined “inspiration to purchase” platform for bridesmaid dresses and related group purchases.
• CentUp – CentUp encourages us all to donate to content creators and charities at the click of a button. Any artists, whether they’re a blogger, musician, or comedian can add the CentUp button on their site and start a powerful value exchange between creator and fan.
• eateria - Eateria is a must have for restaurants, food and hospitality businesses who want to build meaningful and sustaining relationships with customers based on their on-the-go digital lifestyle. It is an online platform for sending / scheduling emails & text messages & posts to Facebook and Twitter. Email templates are provided to speed up the creation as well as a comprehensive subscriber (customer) management and website integration through custom webforms.
• Express Pigeon - ExpressPigeon is the next generation email marketing service. We give users powerful, yet easy to use tools so they can drastically reduce amount of time designing, sending and tracking campaigns.
• G2 Crowd - G2 Crowd is a trusted site for business software reviews. G2 Crowd aims to help anyone, from end-users to CIOs, compare and select the best software based on authentic peer reviews and ratings.
• Only A Date -  Online dating should not be done behind a computer screen. OnlyADate.com was designed to make it really simple, efficient, confidential and fun to get offline and meet real people on real dates in the real world.
• SafelyFiled - SafelyFiled is a cloud-based storage and organizing system for the average computer user. It combines the storage systems for both digital and paper documents. It is easy to use, with drag and drop and mobile applications and a “single glance” design that enable users to instantly see a quick image of their stored document, its name, notes, the person to whom it refers, who else has access to it, other metadata and most importantly, the location of a paper original.
• Toast - Toast is membership service for the bars and the nightlife industry that will allow customers to save money at bars they already visit and to discover new bars around them.
• TransitChatter - TransitChatter makes commuting an interactive experience that’s informative, entertaining, and tailored to each individual rider. Currently this means riders are provided with a stream of highly-relevant social media content and local news, deals and events at nearby businesses, important alerts or bulletins, and much more. In addition, users can share and socialize with fellow riders, without sacrificing their anonymity or personal safety.
• UrbanBuddy - UrbanBuddy has developed a network of vetted local experts in cities around the world that provide immediate answers for travelers. Travelers access this live network through an innovative web and mobile platform that can support any type of traveler, with any request. Travelers are encouraged to tip their UrbanBuddy for their support.
• Vinyl Me, Please - Vinly Me, Please helps people find amazing music, and they do that in two ways. The first is by sending them one incredible, hand-wrapped vinyl record in the mail every month. The second is by linking them up with a personal music consultant who spends time on the phone with them talking music and sends them a personalized, digital playlist of great new stuff every month.