Tech Cocktail has traveled the country, from Dallas to DC, Boise to Boston, uncovering the hottest startups in more than 20 cities. Now, the word is out: winning startups from each city will go onto the next round and get the chance to qualify for Tech Cocktail Celebrate, our new national startup competition held in Downtown Vegas on October 23 – 25.
Chicago, here’s your chance to show us what ya got! Join us at 1871 for an evening of Chicago’s hottest early-stage startups and cocktails with your neighbors and technophile friends. Also, before the startup showcase, we’ll be joined by Harper Reed, former CTO at Obama for America and Threadless, for another edition of Tech Cocktail Sessions. Don’t miss out.
We’ll have a gaggle of startups on hand showcasing their goods, but before the event kicks off, we want to know what you think: Who is Chicago’s Hottest Showcasing Startup? 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).
– Register for the Event Here –
The winner will be announced live at the event and will receive the following: Invitation to Tech Cocktail Celebrate, additional time on stage to share what’s new with their startup, invitation to an upcoming Tech Cocktail Week, as well as the honor of being recognized as Chicago’s Hottest Showcasing Startup.
The Startups
(Startups: apply for the event)
- 8th Stage – 8th Stage is a “LinkedIn” for independent music artists with built-in talent development. It’s mission is to help artists better facilitate the creation of their music experiences, monetize their craft and network with other professionals. 8th Stage is “GPS” for your music aspirations. It it monetized with a Freemium model wherein basic features are provided free of charge and professional features start at $8/month. A 2nd revenue model will monetize will focus on affiliate sales i.e. connecting songwriters with copyright services they may need. Lastly, we will seek to generate further income from earning a percentage of royalties by helping artists publish their music. As an insight, 70%-80% of all music revenue generated by iTunes, Spotify and Pandora is paid to cover music publishing royalties. We would like a portion of those proceeds; globally.
- Amazing Lunch Club – Amazing Lunch Club is an organic lunch delivery service that provides one amazing meal each day. Members pay one monthly price for 5 lunches per month. Healthy, tasty, no hassle and reasonably priced!
- eMazeMe – Create lists, engage with friends, and share recommendations on the businesses and providers you love. Think Pinterest meets Yelp.
- ENFLUX – 4M challenges the status quo. 4M challenges the status quo by uncovering the unknown. 4M is a 3D motion sensing device which integrates seamlessly into your prototype project, uses mobile technology, and harnesses the power of open source platforms to allow hobbyists and makers, alike, to experience moments of eureka.
- Furywing – Furywing is revolutionizing gambling entertainment for players that grew up with Nintendo controllers. We create and license games you are familiar with playing but add a gambling element of chance to them. It’s like Angry Birds with gambling.
- LinkUP – LinkUP leverages LinkedIn to allow you to see who is attending your networking events, before, during or after the event. Quickly browse through attendee pictures and titles. If you want to LinkUP with a fellow attendee, make a connection or view a full LinkedIn profile directly from the app.
- MobileX Labs – MobileX Labs allows anyone to build stunning apps for iOS and Android. No coding required.
- Occasion – Occasion makes it easy for customers to purchase services on local/ small merchant websites. Business owners insert two lines of code into their website to enable purchases.
- Pressbox – Uber for Dry Cleaning. Come to any location 24/7, put your clothes in a locker, and then text us the locker number. We’ll deliver back the dry cleaning and your secure access code, and you can on-board, pay, and input starch, detergent, and even dryer sheet preferences on line.
- Reppio – Reppio is an online marketplace that brings together the best, most unique local shops and independent designers in one platform to explore, browse and purchase. We aim to be the premier guide and shopping destination for locals and tourists alike to shop and explore hyper-local culture, unique style, and talented local designers. Currently in Chicago, but moving to New York City and Los Angeles, we are helping shoppers get out of the mainstream and into the unique.
- Semester Planner – Semester Planner is a online planner that allows students to keep track of their semester classes, assignments, notes, and documents.
- Stash – Stash is a peer-to-peer physical storage network. People often have empty space in their homes or apartments. Why waste that space (that you’re already paying for) when it can be generating additional income? Stash connects people with unused space in their home or building with those looking to store their items. Stash promotes community cohesiveness through the peer-to-peer interaction between the stasher (people with extra stuff) and stashee (people with extra space).
- VideoJuice – VideoJuice is a social fundraising platform, where we ask and you answer the question, “What would you do to raise money for your favorite cause?” Creative deeds to help you fundraise for your personal or charitable needs.
- WindyCitySDR – Traditionally, we as Human beings have interacted with the Electromagnetic Spectrum utilizing dedicated “Hardware Radios” where Digital Signal Processing Algorithms were embedded within the hardware, (ASICS Chip), determining which radio frequencies / radio waveforms one can interact with. As of September 11, 2013 WindyCitySDR commenced manufacturing Wideband Software Defined Radio devices within the Chicagoland area that represents 71% of the Electromagnetic Spectrum human beings will ever interact with on planet earth.