Tech Cocktail is headed back to DC. Why? Because we’re a fan of good ideas. On June 5th, Tech Cocktail will be Mixing things up at Crystal Tech Fund to showcase a fresh batch of local startups.
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We’ll have up-and-coming startups on hand showcasing their goods, but before the Mixer kicks off, we want to know what you think – who is DC’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 – get the official rules here). The winner will be announced live at the event and will receive recognition in the editor’s note of the weekly newsletter and added press recognizing the honor of being elected DC’s Hottest Showcasing Startup, as well as a chance for a spot at this year’s national competition, Tech Cocktail Celebrate. Don’t miss out.
WHO IS DC HOTTEST SHOWCASING STARTUP?
- ARMCOACH, Inc. – Coaches want a way to create a playbook that their players will want to pick up and learn. Coaches also want to be able to track how well players progress in learning these playbooks. By properly addressing these concerns, ARMCOACH will give coaches more time at practice for coaching on the field due to their players learning the new plays at home the night before. Players will come to practice more prepared than ever before which in turn will create a smarter football team.
- Disrupt Fitness – We have created Disrupt Fitness to literally disrupt the fitness industry. Trainers currently have limited access to business resources, outside of gyms and studios, to help them build their business. We allow trainers to take control of their business and free themselves from the restrictions studios and gyms often place on them. While at the same time we are simplifying the fitness process for clients by giving them an easy to use platform to find the best trainers and courses in their area!
- EasyPaint – EasyPaint saves 90% of the time and hassle of getting your house painted. From hiring a verified painter– to managing the job– to payment, EasyPaint makes sure your job gets done right. You post your request on EasyPaint, and receive 3 bids submitted by their network of verified painters, without ever scheduling an in-home estimate. EasyPaint also a payment and job satisfaction guarantee on all projects, so you can have confidence that your work will be done the way you want.
- Encore Alert – We help marketers: -Increase their Twitter following and reach, as well as engagement level on their posts -Manage their reputation and grow their brand loyalty by acting with speed on priority issues -Prioritize their time each day, especially given how busy they are and how many hats they have to wear.
- Georgetown Automation Systems, Inc.– While travel arrives in the digital era, parking management is still stuck in the dark ages. Standing in the way of progress are obsolete access control and mechanical revenue systems. Businesses and institutions must hire vendors to build this costly infrastructure and then hire staff to maintain it and provide enforcement. These solutions are grossly inefficient and still frustrating for many commuters. Most small businesses can’t afford them anyway. Small businesses end up forgoing revenue because they have no way to monetize a need for anyone driving a car. And institutions must reinvest ever larger portions of parking revenue into physical infrastructure upgrades.
- GreaterPlaces – Community solutions are now fractured and locked behind expensive professional association pay walls. Companies must pay thousands of dollars per vertical (transportation, water, economic development) to get in front of decision makers. Civic groups seeking innovation in lighting, transportation, landscaping and water/energy efficiency, have no one place to go and no influence on purchasing. Procurement rules tend to reinforce old practices and incumbents, placing barriers to start-ups and new products. GreaterPlaces brings all community topics and all stakeholders under one digital roof, providing a cost-effective storytelling platform for sharing ideas, products and services that help create great communities.
- KlickOrder – KlickOrder is a food and convenience app that helps users browse restaurants, view reviews, get directions and store hours, see restaurant menus, and order food and convenience items for pick up and delivery. Our app is picture-based making it the easiest and most intuitive food ordering app out there. Download our app at: www.klickorder.com and use promo code “tech” to receive your first meal for free ($10 value) in the DC area!
- Kovue – Kovue solves the perennial problem of having so many channels on TV but not knowing what to watch and who to watch with. Since its creation, TV has been largely a one-on-one experience between the viewer and the TV. Viewing with friends meant they had to physically be in the same room to watch together. Kovue turns television into a real-time social viewing experience with friends unrestricted by physical barriers or location. Sometimes one doesn’t want to pick up the phone to call someone to talk or catch up. Kovue provides a personal yet informal way to catch up with friends and family via voice chat over a TV show or sports match.
- Riide – We seek not to revolutionize the bicycle industry, but to fundamentally change what it means to travel in a city. The average DC resident spends approximately 70 hours a year in traffic, starting and ending their day in a bad mood from a terrible commute. We provide a quicker, less expensive and more enjoyable way to travel within cities. We are passionate about urban transportation and hate wasting our time in traffic or waiting for the metro. We are building a solution to this problem. Additionally, we see climate change as the number one threat to civilization in the next 100 years and we believe Riide is part of the solution. This is not a message that will be prominent in our marketing, but it personally drives us. It is the higher calling of the business.
- SafeLife, LLC – The 21st Century has begun as an era of uncertainty, with a heightened focus on security and public safety – especially for the 35M families with children under 18. People don’t have the time to sort through the chaos of information overload. SafeLife meets a very pressing need for relevant, consistent and actionable personal, family and community safety information in an increasingly complex ecosystem. There is a desire for localized and personalized safety information, push notifications and alerts. A nationwide independent survey and personal interviews of over 800 persons validated the market and the top three requested features as: better visibility of registered sex offenders (89%); more daily local crime/safety news (86%) and; suspicious activity reporting (84%). Half of those interviewed said they would pay monthly for this timely information. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, half of violent crime and two-thirds of property never gets reported!
- VirtualU– There is currently no cost-effective, intuitive, and standard way to get biometric data. Skin calipers, BMI tests, scales and water submergence tanks all either take a considerable amount of time, have margins of error of up to 15% or cost up to hundreds of dollars. With VirtualU’s technolog, we give height, weight, BMI, lean muscle mass, body fat percentage, resting heart rate as well as circumferences of any body part all in a 10 second scan that has a margin of error of .5%. This is the first time people will be able to see themselves in 3D to this level of accuracy on their mobile device, we are taking some 24 million data points on the human body. This means that every half a millimeter is taken accounted for. We are looking to eventually enter the fashion market for clothes fitting as well as other medical uses like detecting skin cancer.
- Wealthminder – There are 118 million US households and 70% are not on-track to achieve their long-term financial goals. – Financial advisors cater to a small segment of the overall population, are perceived to not offer great value for what you pay and score very poorly on consumer trust. – Self-service firms on the other hand are basically research and trading platforms. They do little to nothing to help the consumer achieve their underlying goals. – Investing feels complex and intimidating to most people – The result is 70% of American families are not currently on-track to meet their long-term financial goals. – Coincidentally (or not), 70% of families do not have a written financial plan. – 84% on the other hand believe having one is very important.
- Whyttle – Whyttle addresses several flaws in existing interest-based social networks. Current sites typically fragment communities among numerous overlapping groups, and they make it difficult for users to identify groups that are local to where they live. Existing interest-based networking platforms generally limit the types of content that users may post or search, and they often provide only limited ability for members to communicate with each other on the site.
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