 October 11, 2011
Live Blog [5:15]: They’re All Winners (Especially the Winners)
by Distilled Intelligence Blog Team (@fortifyvc)
First a shout-out to our awesome sponsors: Cooley, TIA, Open Path Products, Access National BAnk, DLA Piper, SpeakerBox Communications, CIT Gap Funds, SecureForce, Deloitte, Summit Financial Systems, PWC, Womble Carlyle, Bridgeport, Montgomery County, Loudoun Virginia USA, Heiden Group, Tech Cocktail, Proudly Made in DC, DC Tech Meetup, Foster.ly, DC Event Junkie, Dingman Center, DCEW, Startup Baltimore.org, and GeekEasy.
And now the moment of truth: Our final standings.
11th Place: Social Tables
10th Place: Venga
9th Place: ProConIt
8th Place: Job On
7th Place: Uppidy
6th Place: Bookstore Genie
5th Place: Ruck.us
4th Place: Grandstand
Second Runner Up: TRX Systems
First Runner Up: Troopswap
Congratulations to all 55 companies, and especially to Marz, which takes home an incredible $15,000 of no-strings-attached funding courtesy of Fortify.vc and our event sponsors.
What a great event, everyone. Thanks to everyone who made it possible.
October 11, 2011
Live Blog [4:29]: The Final Round
by Distilled Intelligence Blog Team (@fortifyvc)
Okay, here are our 11 finalists:
Bookstore Genie
Grandstand
Job On
Marz Industries
ProConIt
Ruck.us
Social Tables
Troopswap
TRX Systems
Uppidy
Venga
Now it’s onto the final round. Here are some of the key questions from each session:
Bookstore Genie:
Q: How will e-textbooks impact your service?
A: The transition to e-textbooks will be slow, and even if it gets to 50% in three years, that still leaves us with a $3.7 billion market.
Grandstand:
Q: What’s the revenue model?
A: Basic monthly licensing model. Scalable for bigger or more custom projects.
Q: What about competition?
A: Some competitors, but very static and stale. Nothing touching the concept of an actual game board. Physical manifestations are also something totally new.
Job On:
Q: Barriers to entry?
A: An enormous market: easy to enter but very difficult to scale. So now we’re building the strategic relationships (malls, school systems) that will help us defend our position over the long term. Video is a differentiator for us now, but there’s no doubt we’ll have company. But this is a new inflection point for the industry, and we intend to lead it.
Marz Industries:
Q: What do you do if a unit breaks?
A: Go to a certified location, ship it back to us, and we’ll ship a new one. No in-field maintenance.
Q: Competitors?
A: There are some. But we use newer technology. Ours lasts longer, produces better gas and at a higher volume.
Q: Will this impact the warranty?
A: No. The manufacturer would have to prove that our system caused damage. And in fact, our system will enhance performance.
ProConIt:
Q: Monetization?
A: Our widget is embeddable for free. But then people come back and want to customize it, re-skin it and brand it. After that, the data we can bring them is very valuable. So it’s premium accounts, then data mining, then targeted advertising.
Ruck.us:
Q: You raised $100 million. What did you do with it?
A: We raised that money for political campaigns of 2010, but that’s precisely the audience we want to sell this solution to. So it’s emblematic of fundraising we believe we can achieve.
Social Tables:
Q: What’s the value add.
A: This is a full suite of offerings (guest list, floor-plan, seating chart) including social features that many people are asking for.
Q: Is this an automated system?
A: People don’t want a rules-based system (because rules change). But you can tag guests with commonalities and sort them that way.
Troopswap:
Q: Competitors?
A: Military.com is very active in this space. But as we became a first-mover in key local markets, we differentiated ourselves quite a bit.
Q: Business to business capability?
A: Potentially, yes. With our ability to reach a very select audience, we believe there will be great potential there.
Q: Total size of possible membership?
A: Roughly 20 million.
TRX Systems:
Q: What does it cost?
A: $5,000 today and soon down to $2,500. There is also the potential for federal dollars to defray the cost for state and local law enforcement.
Q: Size?
A: 7 ounces, about the size of a smartphone. With our current Army contract, we’re reducing the depth by half. With money, we can reduce the size considerably.
Q: IP protected?
A: Yes, three patents pending and fourth soon to be filed.
Uppidy:
Q: Monetization?
A: Freemium service to start, with upsells in the mode of Linkedin. Also advertising on our site platform.
Q: Strategic investor?
A: Twitter, Facebook, Google, on the app side: chat clients.
Venga:
Q: Why will consumers pay for this?
A: Our loyalty programs reward consumers with much more value than the fee would indicate. The Palm charges $25 for its loyalty program, and it’s one of the most successful in the industry because the value is so great. So that’s the model.
 October 11, 2011
Fortify Ventures draws startup crowd at CIT
Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 3:54pm EDT
by Bill Flook - Staff Reporter - Washington Business Journal
It’s hard to imagine a shrewder way for a new VC fund to come on the scene. Fortify Ventures has put up $25,000 — no strings attached — for the last startup standing. And entrepreneurs have been climbing over each other for a shot at what amounts to a small seed investment.
Read more...
October 11, 2011
Live Blog [2:33]: Round of 23
by Distilled Intelligence Blog Team (@fortifyvc)
Okay, now things get interesting: Our top 23 presenters get 3 minutes each (plus the aid of PowerPoint) to try to propel themselves into the finals. Best of all, anyone going over the allotted three minutes will be hearing from an enormous metal gong in the corner of the room!
Here are some quick hits from each of the Round 2 presentations:
Blinkmatchapp: “Let’s talk about jobs. 2.4 million unemployed college graduates these days, yet corporate recruiters are still having trouble. So our service is a fast, easy way to match recruiters with graduates. We serve colleges/universities, recruiters, and students. We’ll be promoting our student profiles virally, in addition to direct sales. We’ve launched our beta earlier this year. Current revenue is $30,000+.”
Bookstore Genie: “Really low cost structure, lowest pricing in the industry because we never tough the inventory. Student rent the textbook, we purchase the textbook, we sell the textbook. Our cost structure is obscenely low since we own no warehouse. We can store $75,000 of inventory for $20. And we have no lame inventory. Bottom line is we have at minimum a 5x ROI in 2.5 years.”
CVcertify: “Online recruiting is horribly broken. You might get 5,000 resumes in your inbox for a handful of job posts. Horribly inefficient! But a “proofsheet” allows the really qualified candidates to prove they meet your requirements (both socially and through documentation). Now, you can look at the certified resumes first. It’s like getting references at the beginning of the process, not the end.”
EnviroDock: “$17 billion in diesel fuel is wasted every year by trucks idling. But we have a solution for delivering heating, cooling, and power to trucks without any wasted idling. It’s a complete line of portable, stationary, and shorepower idling alternatives. No competitors, and nobody has the ability to compete with us. Just need 500K.”
GameTime Concepts: “Flip Saunders of the Washington Wizards helped us develop our patent-pending system for the NBA. Coaches use an iPad during the game to input data about players and statistics. Then, the app feeds back suggestions for plays, substitutions, etc. Scouting reports are information overload. But our system answers specific questions you might have during the game. No competitors right now using statistical analysis tools like we are.”
Geostellar: “Imagine you’re the CIO of a solar company. Where do you direct your limited resources? 60% of your prospects won’t even qualify for solar. But our technology finds the precise solar value of any property on earth, giving you instant visibility into the market. Also shows you rates, incentives, and demographics to show you places with the best ROI. We’re pioneers in what we call ‘big-data geomatics.’ Scalable and flexible architecture for many applications. Connecting the whole solar value chain. Clients make more money with less cost.”
Grandstand: “A Web application that transforms social actions into gaming. Rewards consumers as they check-in, unlocking products and promotions from sponsors. Can integrate with Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook, or anything else. We want to go big right away. Also looking at the physical manifestations of social media (a check-in online enables an action in the physical world).”
Gryphn: “Users have zero control over how personal messages are used. But our product ArmorText lets you turn mobile privacy on, with the swipe of a finger. We make money of one-time app download fees, plus monthly subscriptions and licenses for enterprises and government entities. We’re building new security models for mobile devices, not just copying models from the PC.”
Job On: “Jobs are kind of a big deal. And for most people, it depends on filling out dozens of lengthy, generic applications, which make all candidates look alike. But it’s the interview that really matters. Employers end up with a mountain of applications and no way to differentiate candidates without conducting personal interviews. So our solution reproduces the personalization of a job fair in an automated tool -- by letting you record a video of yourself answering typical hiring questions, and putting that in the hands of employers.”
Marz Industries: “Every truck on the road today is a potential customer (11 million commercial trucks spending $150 billion in fuel). Our first product, the Marz Ranger Fuel Efficiency system produces pure hydrogen from water and helps the combustion process capture more energy. Water and electricity in, water and oxygen out. We can outfit trucks with this technology overnight. And you can recoup the cost of the investment in as few as 6 months just through fuel savings.
Mindful: “Work life and personal life used to be separated. But now you’re always on the job, especially if you’re a sales professional. Our solution meshes everything together -- helping you turn your prospects into clients and your clients into great friends. It’s all about deriving intelligent actions, suggestions, and leads from your social networks. We can also overlay the social networks of your friends and colleagues.”
Mogo Mobile (Fresh Air): “We’ve got a platform for augmented reality in two components: a browser-based editor and a web-based app. With the editor, you populate geographic locations with text, images, and other content. Then, your smartphone pushes that content to you when it encounters those specific locations. Essentially, it’s a new storytelling platform. This is a way to leverage stories to benefit consumers and businesses. Key markets include marketing, gaming, tourism, and training. Possibilities are limitless.”
Months of Me: “Videos and images and pieces of text are posted everywhere, scattered across all these disparate networks. So how do you find it all? And how do you keep it private? Our solution aggregates all this content, organizes it chronologically, and creates an easy permission system. We also help you create visual stories from your content. Monetization will happen through storage capacity, premium templates, and targeted advertisers. The market potential for this is huge.”
NewVision: “We help transform the hospital bedside experience. Right now there are financial pressures, nursing/doctor shortages, and malpractice lawsuits keeping hospitals from delivering the patient education they should be. We can reduce the cost of delivering that education by 80%. Our product can translate health information for non-English speakers, provide entertainment, and provide digital patient education. The market is fast-growing, and nobody owns it.”
Peer2Peer Tutors: “We’re a proven concept, a profitable business model, and a robust platform. The cost of education is too high, quality too low, and instructors too scarce. But our three-prong model (public, private, online) connects students to Peer2Peer M.O.M.s (Management Operational Mentors) who design just the right tutoring solutions. Best of all, we’re creating great part-time jobs for high schoolers. We gross 50% on every tutoring hour. So let’s make learning cool together.”
ProConIt: “Welcome to the world of social evaluation. The online model for discussing and debating is broken. An individual user’s voice is lost in a stream of endless comments. But we solve that problem by focusing on the pros and cons or two sides of the argument. And the result is real, actionable insight that’s never before been possible.”
Ruck.us: “No one likes the two-party system. So we built Ruckus to flip the system on its head. First, you sign in with Facebook or Twitter, answer a few user-submitted questions, and then we automatically match you with likeminded people. You never choose a party affiliation. And then best of all, we automatically recommend actions you can take on and offline to help the causes and issues you support. We’re not really a political company; we’re a data company. We’ve raised $500,000 and need $1.5 million more. Ruckus: No parties, just people.”
Social Table: “Seating charts are an absolute nightmare for anyone planning a social event. So if you’re an event planner, wouldn’t it be great to have an automated social tool to help you? The average event planner takes 5.5 hours to create a seating chart. We shave 4 hours off that. And we also open up the seating chart so it becomes a social device (people can see who’s near them, make connections, even keep in touch after the event). Free for brides, pay for event planners.”
Synkmonkey: “Calendar appointments, group texting, and Google mapping combined. We made it simple and intuitive to make it feel like a text message. It’s cross-platform. The most unique feature-set of any scheduling tool out there. Over 12,000 users already and a 5-star rating at the app store. Revenue through ads, in-app purchases, “freemium” model, and targeted ads.”
Troopswap: “Problem is, there’s no way to validate your military ID online. But we’ve integrated with USAA to provide a channel for businesses to reach the military community. Verticals markets: local deals, travel, and discounts. With scale, the potential to massively disrupt verticals like for-profit education.”
TRX Systems: “The problem is that GPS can’t work in-doors. But our product at its core is sensor and map fusion software (patent pending) that completely solves this issue. The tracking unit is sold as an enterprise bundle, with the software. Big market, demonstrated success. Experienced management team. Plan to raise 2.7 million.”
Uppidy: “Text/SMS is a locked platform, with 7 trillion texts to be sent in 2011. But you should be able to decide where your massive amounts of content goes: private box, groups, public forum, etc. Technology along with cost has created the ability to publish content faster, cheaper, and from more sources. Now, everyone can publish. No training needed. BNTER, Posterous, and other services all require three motions or more to text. We can text, store, and organize with one motion (just by using our hashtag).”
Venga: “Venga means “let’s go” in Italian, and it’s marketing made simple for restaurants and bars. Basically, we consolidate social channels into one easy to use social tools. So restauranteurs don’t have to bother with multiple channels. Unlike daily deal sites, restaurants stay in total control of their offers, information, and revenues. Loyalty programs is another huge aspect.”
October 10, 2011
Live Blog [12:25]: Meet the Semi-Finalists
by Distilled Intelligence Blog Team (@fortifyvc)
The top 22 companies (actually 23 because of a tie) were just announced:
Blinkmatchapp
Bookstore Genie
CVcertify
EnviroDock
GameTime Concepts
Geostellar
Grandstand
Gryphn
Job On
Marz Industries
Mindful
Mogo Mobile (Fresh Air)
Months of Me
NewVision
Peer2Peer Tutors
ProConIt
Ruck.us
Social Table
Synkmonkey
Troopswap
TRX Systems
Uppidy
Venga
Congrats to all!
,l
October 11, 2011
Live Blog [11:47]: Enter the Panel
by Distilled Intelligence Blog Team (@fortifyvc)
Next up, while the judges deliberate, is a panel discussion titled, “How to Improve Startup Funding in the Region,” moderated by Jonathon Perrelli of Fortify.vc and featuring:
Here are a few of the best insights:
Q: Where should you turn for funding?
ML: Friends and family, or surround yourself with connections to Angels.
DR: Prove what you can do with some smaller amounts of money. Then try to get more funding.
RF: There are local Angel networks around. But proof points are key: what can you do with your friends and family money. But knowing what metrics investors will need can be difficult.
JS: The price for acquiring first money has come down, and that’s good. Some individual members of a fund may even invest private money even if their fund does not.
BS: Our ideal investment is a company that doesn’t need any money. So I advocate bootstrapping as much as possible.
JR: Network with other CEOs, find out how they got their funding.
JP: Angel lists can be scary if you’re on there for too long. So make sure you strategize the use of angel lists and products like that.
Q: How accurate are your first gut instincts in investing?
JR: I put myself in the shoes of the consumer of the product or service. And if I can’t visualize that, I won’t invest. Gut instinct works.
RF: I’ve had some successes and some failures. Sometimes the idea is great, but the form factor is wrong.
ML: Gut instinct works for character and integrity evaluation, but it won’t really help you evaluate the business model. Due diligence is just as key. Sometimes a sick presentation doesn’t have a lot under the hood.
DR: Selection bias mistakes often relate to the presenters. I really on gut reactions, because there’s just so much incoming information. But the filters when I’m meeting someone are these: 1. Is this person trying to make money or change the world? (It’s the world changers that tend to succeed.) 2. Do they know what they really want to do? 3. Are they aware of their personal limitations?
JS: If you can address these questions during the initial presentation, it goes a long way to helping those gut instincts form in the investors.
BS: We don’t have the same volume, so I can be a bit more analytical. I’m also always thinking about the exit and want the entrepreneur to be thinking about that as well.
Q: What about syndication of deals?
BS: This is a necessity for us -- when Angels and VCs band together to complete a round. We like to spread the risk around throughout our friends. So we keep those connections close.
JS: Not all solutions are the same for every entrepreneur, and syndication doesn’t always work. But it’s good to have an educated consumer.
ML: Sometimes there isn’t room for a syndicated deal when the funding is amount is too small.
DR: Entrepreneurs look at pre-money; we look at post-money. So there can be great syndicate value, generally more good than bad.
Q: What advice do you have for founders for pricing and terms?
ML: Do you want to own 100% of a grape or 10% of a watermelon. If you’re a first-time entrepreneur, I wouldn’t worry too much about valuation. Investors will want a meaningful percentage.
BS: Take as little money as possible. The ideal investment has no risk, and it’s all about scaling your proven business model.
JR: Anticipate further funding and protect your first investors. Raise as little money as possible, yes, but raise more than you think you need. You don’t want to be cash-strapped after you’ve been funded. VCs will not be happy about that.
DR: Investment is the triumph of greed over fear. So incite greed and you’ll get a fair price (tongue in cheek).
Q: What sectors are ripe for new players?
DR: Location-based fourth-dimension technology (like augmented reality) is something we’d like to see more of.
BS: I’d like to see more social enterprise software. Enterprises need a lot of help utilizing social tools. They’re hungry for it. So that’s a huge opportunity.
RF: There are really a lot of exciting services built around location that can enable commerce.
Closing Comments:
ML: This market has a great advantage in the way it’s growing in its relationship with New York and Boston. More and more we see companies building teams or including money that includes DC because those three markets are converging to look more like Silicon Valley.
BS: It’s not a function of not enough money to invest, it’s a function of not enough great ideas. So we’re really trying to connect people with advisers and mentors so that their ideas can be nurtured and developed in advance of funding.
RF: I’d like to see lots more action along the lines of what Fortify.vc is doing. It really helps the start-ups rise up and develop themselves.
JS: We’re continually overshadowed by the Federal Governement, but it shouldn’t keep entrepreneurs in this area from really shining. And over the last couple years, we’ve seen a new groundswell of entrepreneur activity.
JR: Stick with it. You’re going to hear a lot of “no” answers. But keep going through the process. Good businesses get funded.
DR: Tax credits are key (no capital gains for successful start-ups). The tax burden on entrepreneurs and the people who fund them is just too heavy.
October 11, 2011
Live Blog [10:44]: Round of 55
by Distilled Intelligence Blog Team (@fortifyvc)
All right, here we go. Round #1 cuts the filed from 55 to 22 (with three groups of 18 and only a few seconds between presentations). We'll try to post a quick hit take-away from each presentation:
Group 1 --
Blinkmatchapp: "We propose a fast, simple method of matching students and corporate recruiters."
BookstoreGenie: "We're the most cost effective supplier of text books there is, and we have the largest inventory in the country without a single warehouse."
Chexout: "We're changing the way sexually transmitted diseases are prevented. We connect individuals with their test results so couples can feel safe and secure."
Contactually: "No one enjoys using a CRM. But we connect directly into your email and automatically track your email relationships. It's the benefits of a CRM without having to log in everyday."
Cvcertify: "Like Carfax for careers. Get hired faster and for free. Meanwhile, companies know the CVs are valid."
Dojitsu: "Helping organizations achieve their goals through games. Make a game out of any activity."
EnviroDock: "Truck idling is too expensive. We provide heating, cooling, and power solutions with a portable battery-based solution."
Exmovere: "Makes devices and software that detect and monitor fear, pain, anxiety, and fatigue."
Feastie: "Making it easier and more affordable to cook healthy meals at home, using a recipe search engine, intelligent grocery lists, and coupon matching."
Forensic Innovations: "Uncovering dark data that the rest of the field can't detect."
Gametime Concepts: "Proving that computers can help basketball coaches win games, helping you respond to real-time situations during the game."
Geostellar: "Collects data from public sources to find the solar value of any location. Spacial is going to be bigger than social."
Grandstand: "Web platform that transforms online actions into gaming data."
Gryphn: "Giving you back control over your mobile messaging privacy."
H2 as Fuel: "Hydrogen-on-demand devices that replace acetylene, propane, and natural gas.
InfraTrac: "Helps to combat drug counterfeiting and medical mistakes by verifying drugs and doses."
Instat Sports: "Mobile, crowd-sourced Q&A platform for getting sports fans instant access to sports answers."
Group 2 --
JobOn: "A system for recording video answers to common hiring questions instead of filling out endless job applications."
Klaggle: "Scoring, summarizing and synchronizing customer reviews as they're written."
Lemur Technologies: "Connecting retailers and consumers, creating personal relationships and driving revenues."
Marz Industries: "Immediate and viable solutions to the truck industry's emissions and consumption challenges."
Masking Networks: "Blocks cyber attackers and actively confuses them."
MetaLayer: "We build technologies for text and image search. We let you index your personal world online and offline."
Mindful: "Helps you build better relationships and habits, and helps connect business databases with social networks."
Mogo Mobile (Fresh Air): "A development platform for augmented reality."
Months of Me: "Tagging is hard. We're making it easier for people to chronologically organize photos."
NewVision Health: "Transforming the bed-side patient experience at hospitals -- increasing hospital revenues by increasing patient satisfaction."
Nexercise: "Using social media and gamification to make exercise fun."
NextGame: "A location-based social app that connects pick-up sports users."
Nomuda: "Pioneering story-driven episodic mobile gaming that retain players better than the traditional model."
ParkingPanda: "An easy way for parking space owners to earn extra money, and a way for drivers to find spaces in real-time."
Peer2Peer Tutors: "Making learning cool by connecting top high school students with younger peers."
ProConIt: "Making the world of online discussion and evaluation fun again."
ProQur: "Makes manufacturing procurement easier, more efficient, and more resilient."
Pure Bang Games: "Planning to have 24 million users by 2014 for Facebook games."
Group 3 --
Ruck.us: "Helping you engage in political issues without partisanship, and connecting you with likeminded users and making suggestions for actions you can take to get involved."
Saylo: "Allows users to create a digital chat layer over a hyper-local physical space. Creates shared interactive experiences everywhere."
SeqrPay: "Leveraging QR codes to create a purchasing mechanism on all your favorite products."Turns any product into a point of sale."
SheChooses: "Helping women make decisions in a personal AND social way.”
Shopsy: “Delivers shopping recommendations based on your individual style and preferences.”
SimpleTix: “Making e-ticketing simple for any event in the world.”
Synkmonkey: “Send one invite and reach all of your contacts.”
Tixelated: “Mobile, liquid, social ticketing platform.”
Troopswap: “The first e-commerce platform for military families. A new way to give back to the military through discounts and offers.”
TRX Systems: “Protecting soldiers, miners, and law enforcement by mapping and tracking their movements.”
Uppidy: “Share, store, and search your text messages for free.”
Venga: “Consolidates restaurant Web and social presences on one platform, including daily deals.”
Warrior: “An all-natural tea-based energy drink. It’s a tea, an energy drink, and a sports drink.”
WatchParty: “An online application that creates virtual viewing parties during live TV broadcasts.”
Whinot: “A website that lets business owners get advice and project help from a community of experts.”
WorldPipe.tv: “A true alternative to cable and satellite TV, delivering content over a virtual private network and reducing operating costs by 80%.”
YellowFlag: “A single platform for football fans to share, connect, and interact in real-time.”
SocialTables: “Social seating charts -- enhancing the guest experience with a social seating utility for event planners and brides.”
October 11, 2011
Live Blog [9:05]: Welcome to the Jungle
by Distilled Intelligence Blog Team (@fortifyvc)
Blogging to you live from the CIT building in Herndon (the upside-down hexahedron near Dulles where I think they filmed part of the movie "Tron") for the world's first Distilled Intelligence event.
Huge turnout for what's expected to be a fast and furious festival of financial fervor. In other words, a big day for mid-Atlantic entrepreneurs and investors.
Oh, and did we mention that they're vying for $25,000 in cash and prizes?
Here's how the contest works: 55 hot tech start-ups have 1 minute each to pitch their companies to our panel of judges (just announced):
The top 22 move on to Round 2 where they'll have 3 minutes each to expand on those pitches and show some cool slides. Then, the top 11 reach the final round where they'll take questions from the judges. Best ideas and best presentations reign supreme.
We'll be bringing you live blogging of the action all through the day right here, as well as live tweeting @fortifyvc (using the hashtag #di1). Also, if you're at a computer, check out the live stream of the event at http://www.tianow.org/distilled-intelligence-live.
October 10, 2011
Start-Up EgoEcosystem In DC - Empowering Founders!
by Jonathon Perrelli, Fortify.vc
Like many powerful cities throughout history, Washington DC has its fair share of egos that drive the actions of influential individuals. Egos (or the ‘Superego’ according to Freud) tend to praise one, and often hurt many. Egos have a way of shining bright briefly and fading out quickly. Egos often create and fuel competition that is not always positive for the masses (such as our up political system). So, what if egos had no place in the start-up community?
There is a shift occurring in the DC Metro area, unfortunately not in the political system, but in the start-up ecosystem. We are seeing organizations that are competitive, aligned for the good of many. We have recently seen some individuals with fairly healthy egos stepping aside where they use to only step up. The high ground is no longer the place to be, it is the fairgrounds where we are gathering.
Read more...
October 6, 2011
Fortify.vc DC Area Coming-out Party: Distilled Intelligence
by Glen Hellman (@glehel), Tech Cocktail
Fortify.vc isn’t your standard Venture Capital firm, at least not the type of firm we’ve become use to in the DC region. There’s just something different about the firm’s partners Jonathon Perrelli and Adam Fazackerley. They talk differently, they’re approachable and pragmatic where others are distant and theoretical. The most important difference to early stage entrepreneurs is that Fortify is actively investing in seed stage companies.
Read more...
October 4, 2011
And Then There Were 55
by Tania Anderson, Biznow
Last month, we wrote about a new upcoming VC event known as Distilled Intelligence 1.0. Event organizers and Fortify.vc general partners Adam Fazackerley and Jonathon Perrelli announced yesterday that 55 companies were selected to present their business plans on Oct. 11. The 55 will present in the first round and the best 22 will go to the next round. The last 11 will compete for cash and prizes until a winner is chosen, receiving a no-strings-attached pot of money. Some of the local presenting companies, which came from a pool of over 100, include Ruck.us, Forensic Innovations, Feastie, Troopswap, and ProConIt. (Looks like we're already winners in the zany names category.)
Read more...
October 3, 2011
Distilled Intelligence Selects 55 Companies to Compete for Cash and Prizes Exceeding $25K Start-up Pitch Contest Sets Out to Change How Companies are Funded in the Mid-Atlantic
Distilled Intelligence 1.0, the start-up competition created by Fortify.vc to energize DC’s startups and investors, today announced the companies selected to participate at the October 11, 2011 event.
The presenters represent a strong cross-section of technology including big data, cyber security, clean / green tech, critical infrastructure, disruptive technology, analytics, design, enterprise software, medical IT, mobile commerce, SaaS providers, and social platforms.
Read more... |
