After a year of touring around the nation, polling communities around the globe, and hearing from hundreds of startups, today we’re announcing our five finalists in the Startup of the Year competition. Yesterday our judges met with more than 50 of the hottest growing startups, learned about their unique stories, and have arrived at just a handful to go on to our final around of pitching this afternoon.
All five startups will compete the for the official title of Startup of the Year, more than 250K in prizes, and support from Tech Wildcatters, 500Startups, Consumer Electronics Association, Crowdfunder, Techstars, American Airlines, and more!
Startup of the Year Finalists
Blendoor (New York): Blendoor is a mobile job matching app that helps connect tech companies to qualified women, veteran, and underrepresented minority candidates. With one swipe recruiters can screen potential candidates and job seekers can vet relevant opportunities. Recruiters and candidates will then be able to communicate in-app to move forward in the recruiting process. They also integrate with LinkedIn and Facebook so setup is simple and seamless.
Hedgechatter (Dallas): Hedgechatter is a software service that brings forward the social chatter online for investors to use as an indicator for stock options. Before Hedgechatter, no one placed the vast pool of information found online in one place. There also wasn’t an application that analyzed these social cues in order to give the user real-time insight into the general consensus about a particular stock.
LiveAnswer (Miami): LiveAnswer is the next evolution of customer communication. With just one snippet of code, LiveAnswer unifies every communication channel seamlessly into one multi-channel inbox enabling businesses to have intelligent, channel-agnostic conversation with their customers.
SunPort (Albuquerque): SunPort is a small plug adaptor that lets you plug into solar power everywhere you go. No panels required. This “wearable tech for power cords” measures the electricity you take from any outlet and automatically upgrades it to solar using solar credits, similar to how big companies have been upgrading to clean energy for years.
TurboAppeal (Chicago): TurboAppeal uses its technology to give property owners a simple and cost effective solution to reduce property tax costs and increase the chances of a successful property tax appeal. They charge 30% of the first year’s savings for Single Family Homes, with other pricing on other property types. Property taxes are the largest single tax in Illinois and everyone is affected by property taxes. Currently they only cater to Chicago area residents.
On October 4-6, Tech Cocktail Celebrate Conference is gathering hundreds of attendees, industry leaders, and inspiring speakers in downtown Vegas to meet the hottest startups and investors from around the country, learn and collaborate with others turning their communities into startup cities, and enjoy music, parties, and llama spotting. Check out more Tech Cocktail Celebrate Conference coverage here.