9 Free Product and Startup Discovery Sites

Tech startups do amazing things – they provide us with new ways to approach everyday problems, whether such problems are associated with productivity in the workplace or handling our personal health. Sometimes, though, people don't even know that there are companies out there who are providing these innovative solutions. Thankfully, there are several startup discovery sites and resources on the Internet where we can easily find some of the greatest things getting created by startups.

Nowadays, startups are everywhere – look down on your phone, and you'll find apps designed by startups from around the country (or even from across the globe); look up, and you'll find yourself surrounded by people wearing shirts with catchy and almost-too-hip company titles. In an age where technology has become one of the most pronounced aspects of our lives, startups have become influential mainstays of our time, leading the way into a generation of innovation using our incessantly-developing technology and digital tools. It could be argued, though, that there are simply too many startups out there, and that finding that diamond in a pile of coal has become too difficult. With the following 9 free startup discovery (or product discovery) sites, you can find some of the best startups or products out there that are helping to make our lives a little better.

Check out these 9 free product and startup discovery sites:

AngelList

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Initially created as a way for startups to get connected to investors and vice-versa, AngelList has developed to become a top resource for discovering some of the best startups. You can create an account on AngelList and list whether you are or have been involved with startups in the past (with your corresponding roles), and that enables other people on AngelList to connect with you. Under the “Startups” tab of the website, you can access a list of the most recently trending startups or even sort through AngelList's entire database of startups by various categories (such as location of the companies, their funding stage, and what industry they fall under).

Beta List

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Beta List keeps you updated on the newest Internet startups. Their website gives you an overview on the latest trending startups, as well as the trending markets in the startup space. If you sign up for their newsletter, you get a daily email featuring a handful of cool Internet startups. What's great about the newsletter, in particular, is that you'll often be provided with the ability to register as a beta user for some of the featured startups.

Erli Bird

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Erli Bird is a great place for consumer to find cool, new products, while the creators and startups behind those products can get validation on whether their product works or not. The site basically allows you to preview things that people are working on, with a chance at getting a private beta invite to try out their product once they're developed. You'll also get a chance to participate in focus groups that can earn you actual cash and stuff. If you get someone else to sign up for an account, you get upgraded to a pro account, which “guarantee[s] 10 private beta invites per year.”

Kicktraq

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Great products and startups have originated from Kickstarter. Kicktraq is a site that looks at the recently trending Kickstarter campaigns. You can sort by categories, or you can simply get an overview of all the campaigns that are getting a lot of traction through Kicktraq's “hot list”. It lists how much time is left in each campaign, how far along they are in achieving their Kickstarter goal, and whether there's been a decrease or increase in the amount of online buzz the campaign has had recently.

Product Hunt

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We also put Product Hunt on our list of free online tools to help you find trending online content – and that's simply because Product Hunt is pure magic. The site has become a great resource to discover the best new things that startups and individual people are creating. Whether it's hardware or software, everyone in the tech and startup space has increasingly turned to the website for the next big thing. Remember Ship Your Enemies Glitter? Yup – Product Hunt.

Reddit

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Reddit's a great resource for basically anything, and that includes cool new products or startups. Reddit users are often ahead of the curve when it comes to discovering cool things – I mean, many of the Internet's most popular memes has its origins in the site. It's also a great place to offer or receive feedback on whatever you or other people are working on. Need a place to start? Try the r/technology or r/startups subreddits.

Springwise

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Springwise offers a daily newsletter that tells you open some of the coolest things people from around the world are creating. And I think that's really what makes it so unique: many of the products or startups it highlights are from outside the United States. If you go into their Idea Database, you can take a look at every one of the products or companies they've covered, sorted by industry.

StartupLi.st

A very bare-bones, no-nonsense site that simply lists startups. It gives you a basic summary on what each startup is or does, an option to follow them on StartupLi.st for future updates, links to their various social media accounts, points out the stage at which the company is presently (e.g. whether it's in alpha, public beta, etc.), and a sign-up button that automatically takes you to the company's sign-up page. You can also access a directory of other current members on StartupLi.st and choose to follow them.

Startups List

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Not to be confused with StartupLi.st, Startups List takes a different approach by breaking down the overall startup ecosystem by regions across the world (from Atlanta, GA and Austin, TX, to Tokyo, Japan and Vancouver, Canada). From there, you have the ability to look at the various startups in a particular startup scene, as well as influential people, upcoming events, and venues.

 

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Written by:
Ronald Barba was the previous managing editor of Tech.Co. His primary story interests include industry trends, consumer-facing apps/products, the startup lifestyle, business ethics, diversity in tech, and what-is-this-bullsh*t things. Aside from writing about startups and entrepreneurship, Ronald is interested in 'Doctor Who', Murakami, 'The Mindy Project', and fried chicken. He is currently based in New York because he mistakenly studied philosophy in college and is now a "writer". Tweet @RonaldPBarba.
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