Crowds rocked the House of Blues yesterday, but not for the reason you think. Entrepreneurs, investors, members of the business community, friends and family packed the venue to witness the first Demo Day since Excelerate Labs became TechStars Chicago. Hosted by Managing Director Troy Henikoff and co-founder Sam Yagan, the event demonstrated the strength of this cohort’s 10 companies, and paid homage to successes from the past.
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I spoke with Henikoff before the pitches began, who said joining forces with TechStars did not fundamentally change the core of his accelerator. Rather, it opened the door to some opportunities that may not have arisen before.
“It hasn’t been significantly different in that it’s the same people running the same program doing the same basic stuff,” Henikoff says. “We’ve just amped up a whole bunch of little things.” Those little things include an increase in mentorship locally and nationwide, greater interest from investors, support from the TechStars Boulder team, double the number of applicants and more money for the entrepreneurs.
With 904 applicants — and 1.1 percent acceptance rate — this year’s class reflected a diversity of businesses as well as people. One company came from as far away as Russia. For Henikoff, this is a huge win, one that should allow him to attract even more and better companies next year. Yesterday, however, he noted Excelerate’s achievements, leading off with the fact that the accelerator’s 30 graduates have raised a collective $35 million. Yesterday, he added another 10 alumni who were seeking even more capital.
Here’s a rundown of the companies in presenting order:
- TradingView is an online portal for stock investors who are too sophisticated for Yahoo! Finance but not on the level of Bloomberg. By offering chart-building and data-tracking capabilities alongside social elements, TradingView appeals to the experienced investor.
- Pathful helps companies track conversions on their sites, figuring out how visitors interact with site elements and suggesting improvements. Unlike other analytics tools, Pathful also compares conversions to direct competitors’ sites.
- Project Fixup offers great dates for less work, offering pre-planned dates based on interests and availability. The company eliminates profiles in lieu of setting couples up and only gets paid based on performance — but “not that kind of performance,” CEO Sarah Press quipped.
- Sqord (pronounced “scored”) is a sort of FitBit for kids, producing a waterproof watch-like device that tracks a child’s level of play and rewards him or her with points in an online portal. This social activity tracker aims to draw kids off the couch and onto their feet.
- FindIt is a mobile app that applies the power of search to an individual’s information. Using FindIt, one can search across Gmail, DropBox and Drive, with support for enterprise-level accounts coming soon. See my review of the app here.
- Nexercise is a mature app that came into TechStars with a large userbase and revenue. Offering motivation and alerts from social contacts, the app encourages people to engage in healthy eating and exercise habits, with rewards supported by major brands.
- SocialCrunch is part addictive survey game, part data trove. The app asks simple questions like “Do you prefer Coke or Diet Coke?” and “Have you driven over 100 mph?” Using the answers, SocialCrunch creates psychographic profiles to inform ad campaigns.
- Captureproof offers the only study-supported, HIPAA-compliant platform for doctors to manage photos and videos from their patients. The secure portal allows more efficient diagnoses with fewer doctors visits without the risk of exposure or mismanagement.
- WebCurfew gives parents the power of off by connecting with their routers and offering the ability to turn Internet access on or off at the source. Since we last spoke with CEO Rod da Silva, he’s partnered with OpenDNS to add content controls as well.
- SimpleRelevance takes email marketing to the next level by allowing brands to segment their email messaging based on a subscriber’s time preference and demographic profile. CEO Erik Severinghaus says targeting this way means more conversions and more revenue for brands.
For these 10 companies, presenting at TechStars Demo Day was a rite of passage, and one only a few entrepreneurs get to experience. To Yagan, it’s an experience as much as an opportunity.
“It’s my hope that all 10 companies have a handful of investors who are like, ‘You’re the one I want to bet on,’” he said before the pitches.
To see the pitches and decide for yourself which companies deserve a bet, come to TechStars Chicago’s Community Demo Day on September 9. For details and to buy tickets, click here.
