More Baltimore Please

UPDATE!

OFFICE HOURs in Baltimore with Wasabi Ventures has been rescheduled to December 4 because of Nasty Sandy!

As we posted earlier, the Baltimore tech scene is on fire!

Working with Wasabi Ventures, we have created a more focused WatchList that we would like your input on as we lead up to OFFICE HOURs in Baltimore on October 30th.

Please take a few minutes to offer input on any one or more of the following:

HD Scores

AdStaq

Parking Panda

BeerGivr

SameGrain

Common Curriculum

SickWeather

KnotFriends

Course Canary

Woofound

ToolSpinner

Pure Bang Games

410Labs

We estimate it takes about 10 minutes for a Cdling expert to develop an informed opinion on startups that are a fit for them.

Cdling’s Canadian WatchList

As we prepare to welcome Nikhil Khalghatgi from SoftBank’s NYC office to a Startup Grind Fireside Chat + OFFICE HOURS on October 25,  we have reached out to the most important players involved in the cross-border commercialization of technology in Canada.

Many thanks to our collaborators at MaRS Commons, the MaRS Mentor Network and top players from Waterloo, Silicon Valley, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto who responded.

If you see a startup below, it has been confidentially recommended by a top player for this WatchList.  Often by more than one player. Between now and October 20, we would be grateful for any further opinions about these startups that you may share via Cdling.

To say the least, this list is diverse. First impulse: many of these companies do not even belong on the same list for a variety of reasons.  However, I suppose the diversity is a function of the diversity of Canadian startups, top players’ perception of SoftBank’s investment profile (everyone was given the same criteria for recommendations) and SoftBank’s diverse interests.

Here is a reminder of Nikhil’s investment profile.  Cdling will prepare a report for him incorporating all input and he will make his final 5 selections for one on one meetings.

Remember: Cdling is a work in progress. This is an alpha stage experiment for us. Thank you again to everyone for their input and thanks in advance for your participation and understanding.

Startups:

Here is how to take advantage of the opportunity.

Here is what to do.

In no particular order, we would like input on the following startups:

Maluuba
Triggerfox
Hammeratti
Horizons
Chango
Creative D
Cream HR
ConnectedN
Enflick
Fixmo
SurfEasy

Uken Games
UNATA

Shiny Ads
VidYard
Pair
Interaxon
Viafoura
Engagio
Engrocer
XYZ Interactive

Uniiverse
Shopcaster
Privacy Analytics
Flixel
Weddingful
Granify
Lemonstand
Canopy Labs
Vantrix
Datacratic
In the Chat
Well.ca
Digital Journal
Notesolution
Massive Damage
Hovr
Picatic
Bunch
Keek
Locationary
Atomic Reach
EventHoller
GameDay Interactive
MyGoodNight
HitSend
Spenz
EatSleepRide
Syncapse
Komodo
KytePhone
Moonrider
Claystone
Shelflife
Kik

We are confident that there are errors and omissions on this list. If we have missed anyone who you think might be a fit, please email us at feedback at cdling dot com.

We look forward to your feedback.

Baltimore tech scene is on fire! Come quickly!

Thanks to Ben Decker for this meme.

Thanks to Ben Decker for this meme!

UPDATE!

OFFICE HOURs in Baltimore with Wasabi Ventures has been rescheduled to December 4 because of Nasty Sandy!

In 1904 the city of Baltimore was on fire. “Firefighters from nearby DC, New York, and Virginia all responded, but weren’t able to help because their hose couplings wouldn’t fit on the Baltimore hydrants – no standard had yet been set. The firefighters helplessly watched as the city burned.” (thanks Ben!).

Today, the Baltimore tech scene is on fire and trying to sort out the most promising fits for their investment profile can be like drinking from a fire hose for investors from D.C., New York, Boston, Silicon Valley and beyond. Cdling is grateful for the invitation from Wasabi Ventures to introduce our platform to help startups, investors and experts build trust and connect better.

It has been exciting to develop our perception of Baltimore as we have collected our first WatchList of 50 Baltimore startups. Thank you to the investors, Founders and community animators (bloggers, meet up organizers, etc) who have made this list possible.

Most of all thank you to TK Kuegler & the team at Wasabi Ventures who approached us to initiate coverage on the amazing Baltimore/D.C. scene and has donated his time to meet with 5 startups that he will select from a report that we will deliver to him on October 26.

check out Wasabi Ventures

Startups:

Here is the short term opportunity.

Here is how to take advantage of it.

Here is what to do.

In no particular order, we would like input on the following startups:

Offernbuy
E-SIG Asset Intelligence
Subject7
NewsUp
Pure Bang Games
Morphomix
BandHappy
410Labs
AdStaq
Apkudo
Authntk
BeerGivr
Sade Wellness

BetaNews
BetaPunch
Bizelo
BTS Software Solutions
Common Curriculum
Course Canary
Cowtrip
CrowdStitch
Curiosityville
Direct Dimensions
Echophi
Figure 53
GiveCorps
Hahler

Handteq
HDScores
JobOn
Kithly

KnotFriends
Localist
LocalUp
LookingGlass
Given.to
NV3 Technologies
Parking Panda
Point Click Switch
Procurely
SameGrain
Sickweather
SocialToaster
SpotCrime
StraighterLine
TeamGantt
ToolSpinner
Unbound Concepts
ViaPlace
Vigilant Medical
ViiNetwork
Woofound

We have reached out to all of the startups on this list and you should too.

We are confident that there are errors and omissions on this list.

We look forward to your feedback.

Hot Startup Profile: CompStak

Company CompStak CompStak
Location New York
Website compstak.com
Twitter CompStak
Sectors eCommerce, Real Estate, Social Media
Key Employees Michael Mandel, Vadim BelobrovkaDanny Schahar
Elevator Pitch “We create transparency in commercial real estate by gathering information that his hard to find, difficult to compile or unavailable.”

To anyone not familiar with the startup scene in New York, the three things most likely to come to their mind when you ask them about what they know about New York are probably: Wall Street, The Yankees and (expensive) Real Estate. I suppose with 9/11 being a few days ago, a few other things would come to mind as well, but those are the topics for other blogs.

As one of New York’s most well-known residents would put it, commercial real estate in the Big Apple is HUGE.

Where CompStak fits into this huge market is through their application of simple real estate metrics – specifically price per square foot – where easy exchange of commercial lease comparables can be done.

“Shouldn’t there be a database that tells you what others tenants are paying?”

Calling their metric Lease Comparables or “Comps”, CompStak provides a database of office space pricing, by the square foot. Open to all users, whether they be brokers, landlords, appraisers or researchers, the platform allows for easy comparison shopping when seeking office space. However, the true strength of CompStak lies in its use of crowdsourcing, giving power to anyone, whereas in the past it was solely in the hands of the brokerages such as CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle.

NYC Skyline
Users can submit “comps” on completed lease transactions to the database, allowing others the ability to price out their new space better. But as CompStak explains, users can submit the comps they have, to find the comps they want or need. When searching for comps, the database allows the user to do so by a variety of factors, such as market, building, tenant, price, square footage and more.

Nice Office...

Sitting down to take a look at what CompStak has been doing, Wall Street Journal has written a few articles about the startup, including Crowd-Sourcing the Details of the Deals and Start-Ups Shake Up Office-Leasing Space.  New York Real Estate E-zine Real Deal also covered CompStak with their article New technology bets on brokers’ loose lips. Assaying the startup, AGBeat posted their article CompStak crowd sources office lease comparables.

As mentioned in the WSJ articles, CompStak operates within the same market as CoStar but also faces competition from LoopNet.

In the huge market of New York real estate, it’s probably easy to get lost, but we think CompStak will stand out well if they draw more attention. Give CompStak your attention by giving your opinion and trading CD$ on Cdling.com.

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Hot Startup Profile: EventHoller

Company EventHoller
 EventHoller
Location Toronto
Website eventholler.com
Twitter @eventholler
Sectors eCommerce, Social Media
Key Employees Jamil Khan
Elevator Pitch “Promoter Powered Event Management”

While there are many event services available, EventHoller stands apart by taking a different approach. Through EventHoller, event promoters can network with each other, in addition to managing their own event.

Looking at existing event management systems, Founder Jamil Khan identified a couple of problems with how those systems work for promoters. First was that ticketing systems are expensive. Second was that event promotion is expensive and the results can be uncertain.
His solution involves combining an event management system with a social media network, while giving promoters access to control of ticket prices and consequently, ticket commission.

Through their platform, promoter’s events are posted to their social media outlet and users are directed to the ticket sales page. Signing up for and using the service is 100 per cent free and the promoter has complete control over the ticket prices. As an extension to ticket sales, through networking, a promoter can use affiliate promoters to help sell their tickets and the affiliate is given a portion of commission, after they help sell a ticket.

The old school way of doing things

Promotion through affiliates also brings the benefits of more cohesion within the promoting community, but more importantly to any promoter is the opportunity to reach larger audiences.

Event management being big business, EventHoller has a large market to work within. With the market of online ticket sales being $3.3 billion and growing, their platform is well positioned.

Receiving favourable attention already from BlogTO, iTWorldCanada and TechVibes, EventHoller is a startup on the rise.

Solid pitch in hand, EventHoller will be featured at [IN]cubes Demo Day on September 12.

If you have any comments or opinions that you think can help promote EventHoller, why not do so on EventHoller’s profile?

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Hot Startup Profile: StockGaming

Company StockGaming  StockGaming
Location Toronto
Website stockgaming.com
Twitter
Sectors Finance, Gaming, Entertainment
Key Employees Curt Wu, Will Farrell
Elevator Pitch “Invented 10 new games to satisfy needs in the Stock Market”

Taking the old phrase “playing the stock market” and giving it a new meaning, StockGaming has created games for those interested in stocks and trading.

Combining an understanding of stock markets with gaming, gambling and social networking, StockGaming is not just another entry in the booming sector of gamification.

In assembling their team, the founders have sourced expertise from banks, lottery corporations, law firms and technology companies.

After conducting primary market research, StockGaming was founded and the startup began to create its games based upon their research. Their research has also concluded that while they have indirect competition, they have no direct competition, making them truly unique among startups.

As gaming and gambling continue to grow as profitable markets, this startup will no doubt prove to be a Bull among Bears.

Markets

With founders who are no strangers to the world of investment, StockGaming will be active in New York for Ignite Fundraiser’s Demo Day, being presented by PeopleConnect on September 4.

Interested in StockGaming or have an opinion you want to share about them? Leave a comment on their profile at Cdling here. While you’re at it, you can even trade a few CD$s!

Hot Startup Profile: Buyou

Company Buyou (aka BuyouApp)  Buyou
Location New York
Website BuyouApp.com
Twitter BuyouApp
Sectors eCommerce, Mobile
Key Employees Krish Jayaram
Elevator Pitch “Imagine if Flipboard and Zite fell in love, had a baby, and that baby liked to shop”

On the Android Market and iOS AppStore, there are no shortage of apps for shopping. However, few of those apps offer the experience that Buyou gives the user. And that experience they offer isn’t like the others. Buyou takes the basic shopping app and makes it bigger, almost literally.

The best comparison we can give here that is better tailored to describe the difference between Buyou and other shopping apps is as follows:
Buyou is to the Mall, as other shopping apps are to the stores. And of course, it only makes sense that Buyou would be at home on the iPad.

Using the iPad for its platform, Buyou opens up the virtual retail world to customers and is creating a direct connection between them and their favourite retailers. The core idea behind the app is to make shopping easier by containing all the favourite retailers within one easy to access app. Buyou’s app doesn’t stop at making the shopping experience easier, but also makes the online experience retailers want to give to their customers an easier, cost-effective alternative to building their own app.

Happy Shoppers
For the customer, the Buyou experience allows them to interact directly with their favourite retailers through the inclusion of updates from Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

For the retailer, Buyou‘s cost-effective alternative provides measurement and metrics to them and provides them with demographics and purchasing behaviour information. Through access to these forms of data, the retailer can further their purchase conversions and yield stronger sales.

The virtual mall app has already received considerable coverage from both sites focusing on Fashion and Mobile/Technology. Some outlets that have covered Buyou and their app include FashInvest, DailyDealMedia, Mashable and TechCrunch.

Because so few apps of its kind exist for the iPad, it’s hard to nail down the competition. The closest we can think of is the online retail giant, Amazon. As it is only an iPad app for the time being, there’s an obvious direction for it to expand out to and that direction is towards the Android Tablet market.

On September 4, Buyou will be present at the IgniteFundraisers Demo Day on September 4, organized by PeopleConnect.

If you love the ideas here, why not give your opinion on Buyou at Cdling.com.

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Hot Startup Profile: Swaag.it

Company Swaag.It  Swaag.it
Location New York
Website Swaag.it
Twitter @swaagit
Sectors Social Media, eCommerce
Key Employees Peter Chun
Mark Bufalini
Alex Burgel
Elevator Pitch “Lifestyle community where users express and share their brand interests”

Merging the worlds of fashion, lifestyle and social media communities, Swaag lets users share photos, comments and experiences in fun new ways. While analogous to OpenSky, Pinterest and Instragram, the Swaag platform takes their user experience to the next level by adding new layers and bringing photos to life.

Focusing on fashion and lifestyle, Swaag’s app brings a new layer of discovery and engagement to its users. Participation and engagement in media sharing is expanded through a couple of unique features: photo annotation, vote casting, “Liking” and “Battling”.

Consumer Product Advocacy

As an expansion on the tagging idea, Swaag’s annotating lets users label the products and fashions within a photo. After using annotations, they can then share brands and styles with others in the community.

Continuing with the sharing of brands and styles, users can also decide to make a photo available to the community for everyone to cast votes on.

Swaag’s system for “likes” introduces sartorial badges. These badges let users apply what they think of what a person is wearing or displaying in their photo. Such badges can be as simple as “Nautical theme,” “Multiple hats” and even “Hipster.” And while there are existing badges and labels within its system, nothing is automatic. All tags and annotations are user declared making the experience organic.

Quite possibly the most interesting feature Swaag brings to the user experience with their app is “Battling.” An idea no longer exclusive to fashion magazines, users can choose pictures for the battle mode, comparing what they’re wearing to someone else. The battle mode isn’t restricted to just complete outfits and personal style; anything goes: shoes, hats, shirts, pants, etc.

Swaag.it

Swaag’s app is free for all iOS devices.

While Swaag is a lifestyle and fashion app, it already has a small percentage of items that are not fashion related, clearing the way for an easy expansion into other verticals like tech gadgets, cars and more.

As mentioned earlier, Swaag is analogous to OpenSky, Pinterest and Instagram, but faces competition from Go Try It On, The Sartorialist and Stylebook, just to name a few.

Launched two months ago, Swaag has already gained favourable attention in the media from outlets such as Refinery29, Digital Trends and BetaBeat.

In hopes of making a statement, Swaag will be at Ignite Fundraiser’s New York City September 4 Demo Day, fashioned by the folks at PeopleConnect.

Have any insights or opinions on Swaag and want to share them with us? You can do so on their profile on Cdling.com, by clicking here.

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Hot Startup Profile: Delve

Company Delve
 Delve News
Location New York
Website delvenews.com
Twitter @delvenews
Sectors Digital MediaSaaS, eCommerce
Key Employees Sandeep Ayyappan, Andrew Whalen
Elevator Pitch “The team news reader” or “Google Reader for Organizations”

Keeping up with and sharing news can be a time consuming and exhaustive effort for some people and businesses.

Delve sees this and has presented a solution: a curated database.

Through their curation platform, users can choose relevant stories and topics and share them with others on their team and within their organization. By turning news sharing into a collective activity, organizations can stay informed and maintain focus on matters relevant to their mission.

Delve wants you to think of them as a “Google Reader for your Organization”.

The platform’s method of curation allows users to share stories very easily through bookmarking and email. Through email, monitoring discussions is possible with both daily and weekly summaries of the stories shared within your team’s feed.

Delve’s curation system also enables users to personalize their news feeds based on their information needs. Because the topical coverage is wide and the site grabs from many sources, personalization is a quick and easy process.

On September 4, Delve will be one of the few companies featured in PeopleConnect’s IgniteFundraiser’s Demo Day.

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