Thursday, November 9, 2017

Startupalooza Makes a Porno? Results from the September Startupalooza



Startupalooza Makes a Porno? Not exactly but we had some fun!
Thanks to pointed questions from our panel of Angles, what started out as a presentation for nice-looking, if pricey laptop chair, turned into a risqué romp
 This spring-loaded recliner is more that a stationary rocking chair that lets you work in added comfort, it is a piece of furniture that, shall we say, takes your laptop to another level.
Make that two laptops.
Just to be sure, one of our panelists, Investor, Sandy Wollman from Westchester Angels,  put it to the test with a little help from the co-founder, Lisa Kaczmarek.
Guess – who turned out to be a winner?



 Winner of the National Business Investment Forum Prize worth $3,500
Archer Bowchair
Lisa Kaczmarekladykaz@bowchair.com412-944-6555Leveraging over 30 years of custom "one off" fabrication experience, Kaczmarek Composites was formed in late 2016.  Our passion is the combining of dissimilar materials into cohesive works of functional art.  Whether joining carbon fiber with aluminum or wood with steel, each component brings unique strengths and weaknesses which must be respected in order to create a lasting piece of luxury furniture.  We are a small, rapidly growing custom furniture maker located in Pittsburgh, PA.  
All of our products are American made from environmentally responsible, locally sourced raw materials whenever possible.   
Comment: A show stopping demo that turned this profitable custom furniture maker with a pricey chair into a potential mass market darling.

Runner Up – Winner of the Nessa Group Consulting Prize worth $1,000
Medsender
Zain Qayyum, zain@medsender.com            
Medsender enables Doctors to digitally send and receive health records from ANY EMR system. Individual practitioners can have Medsender setup within 2 minutes and instantly begin HIPAA compliant communications.        
Comment: This simple solution to a big problem is making inroads. It seems almost too good to be true and given the highly regulated space just needs a little more buy-in to tip the investor balance.    
                                                                                                             
Special Mentions
Gooroo 
Scott Lee scott@gooroo.com 917-868-2947 
Gooroo is the Airbnb for tutors where students can easily look through 1000+ certified tutor profiles and book instantly. Check the tutor╒s schedule, read a blurb about their educational background, look through student reviews, and view their hourly rate. It's personalized education for the masses - done digitally.
Comment: A well executed delivery about a company with revenues. The competitive environment and the customer churn gave some investors pause.

Vtry Inc. 
Comment: Very interesting technology for virtual tryout in 3D. The competitive environment, concern over the business model and need for additional applications were the concerns. 

Deepak Agarwal dagarwal@desiclik.com516-495-3374 
A vertical e-commerce marketplace meet the demand of 3m Indians in the US and others with unique products of India. 
Comment: Well executive business in a niche market. It needs to point to a bigger universe in order to be fundable past the strategic players and stakeholders in this community.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Startupalooza Startup, Kubient gets $250,000

AdTech startup Kubient's Paul Roberts stops by our booth to show off his $250,000 check from our Startupalooza judge Ben Jen of Ben Jen Holdings.

Startupalooza opens in L.A. at Expert Dojo in Santa Monica, Dec. 4th and Silicon Valley, Dec. 5th.