Here is a preview of AngelPad's Demo Day

Steven Loeb · May 22, 2013 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/2f9b

We highlight four of the 12 companies that will be presenting for angels and investors on Wednesday

AngelPad, a mentorship program founded by ex-Googler Thomas Korte, is set to host its sixth ever Demo Day on Wednesday.

After receiving a few thousand applications, and interviewing 120 companies, it has come down to 12 startups whp will be presenting their companies to angels and investors, in the hopes of attracting a seed round of funding. 

I got to stop by the AngelPad offices on Tuesday, and was able to talk to four of the exciting companies who will be presenting tomorrow:

  • Boxbee:

Founded in October 2012, Boxbee is, as CEO and founder Kristoph Matthews calls it, "the Dropbox of the physical world," by offering fast pickup, storage and on-demand retreival.

Here's how it works: a customer orders a standard 24x20x12 box from the servicem boxes, which will be delivered to their doorstep. The customer packs the box, and Boxbee will then schedule a pickup and store the box for the customer. Once the customer needs something from that box, Boxbee will deliver it back to them within two hours. Customers simply pay $6 per box per month for the service.

The company only offers one size box for two reasons, Matthews said: first, to make it simpler for customers. And, second, for logistical reasons, including how they are stored.

The self-storage space brings in $22 billion annually, while mobile storage brings in $7 billion and document storage is $5 billion. Altogether that is a $34 billion industry, and Boxbee can carve out a part of the space by being simpler and easier to use than other storage facilities, said Matthews.

'The storage industry right now, I think, is very static. It's almost like there's this place where you go to put your stuff and then they babysit it for a while, and nothing really happens. In fact, when stuff happens its usually bad," said Matthews. "Using technology I intend to turn storage into something that's more of a dynamic industry." 

The company has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-round financing. It was also named Best Overall Startup at the Launch Festival, joining previous winners that include Mint, Dropbox and Yammer.

Pogoseat is an an enterprise seat upgrade solution that allows ticketholders to upgrade their seat while they are attending an event.

Here's how it works: Pogoseat has its own mobile app, and it can also be embedded into existing apps (for example, on the website for the Golden State Warriors). The user will open the app and see a map view of the venue and see where there are possible seats to upgrade to. The user can pay for the upgrade with either PayPal or their credit card.  The new ticket is then digitally sent to the phone.

Pogoseat partners with sports teams and concert venues, including Ticketmaster, Live Nation, the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons and Stanford University, who also control the pricing of the seats, CEO Evan Owens told me.

Pogoseat also runs promotions for upgraded seats. For example at a Warriors game this season it ran a promotion asking fans to take photos with the hastag #Ineedanupgrade. The best photos were selected at halftime and those fans were given free upgrades.

Down the road Pogoseat will offer more than just seat upgrades, Owens said, and that could include access to the post-game interview, allowing fans to go onto the field or selling signed memorabila. Those can either be included in a VIP package or as stand-alone items without a seat upgrade.

What separates the company from its competitors, he said, is that it is an enterprise solution, and not just a mobile app for upgrades. And, worldwide, with the number of events being held every single day, this is a space that could net billions of dollars. 

The company has raised a small friends and family round, and is looking to raise a "large seed round" at Demo Day on Wednesday. 

Audience.fm collects passive data streams to identify users' musical preferences and help music brand snad marketers reach the right fans.

It does this by looking at what music a user listens to on applications like Spotify, or videos that they watch on YouTube. By finding out what the user's favorite artists are, it can then go to the artist and have them target their fans directly with promotions.

For example, Audience.fm CEO and co-founder Jules Terrien told me, "if you are in San Francisco, and you listen to the Black Keys a lot, we can go see the Black Keys, or their label, and be like, "Hey, we know Steve is a huge fan of yours in San Francisco, and when you come play here you should let him know.'"

The company works with enterprise, meaning promoters such as LiveNation, and major and indie labels, and it allows them to send more relevant promotions and e-mails to customers.

Audience.fm does not have any partnerships with the social media or music streaming service, so fans have to opt in, via Facebook, so that it can access the information from those apps, like Spotify, that are connected to Facebook. Eventually the company plans to expand to other social networks, specifically Twitter, which just launched its own #Music app this month.

The company wants users to have to opt in because it "allows us to know more about them and provide them with more value," said Terrien.

A big part of the business down the road, Terrien said, will be matching the brands with the right artists by being able to show them what their fans enjoy based on their social media data. 

The company was incoporated in January. It was the winner of the 2013 MidemLab Award. It was co-founded by Terrien, along with Hedi Smida and Tarek Ibrahim.

DroneDeploy, which was founded in February, is a smart drone management platform. The company is not involved with the hardware of drones, instead running a software package that allows users to control multiple drones, from anywhere, on any device. 

All that a user has to do is describe their mission, and DroneDeploy will build a dynamic flight path that avoids other aircraft, airports, and even urban areas while respecting local laws.

"It's hard to imagine all of the possibilities," DroneDeploy CEO Mike Winn told me. This could be an $82 billion market over the next decade, he said, as drones have, literally, thousands of possible uses.

For example, it can have a "massive impact" on farming. The Japanese have been using remote control helicopters for crop dusting since the 1990s, he said, where the drones can have cameras that show what parts of the field need more care. The speed and precision of the drones has cut costs by 25% and made the process more effecient.

The company, which is going into private beta, has 250 sign-ups so far. It will be working with two countries in Africa, where Winn says that it is "legal to operate a drone," unlike in the United States, where it is legal but more legally complicated. 

The ultimate goal of DroneDeploy, he said, is to make it easy to use drones, so that they just become another tool that can be used in daily life.

We will present you with the full list of a 12 presenters after the event ends on Wednesday.

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Related Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs

AngelPad

Angel group/VC

Joined Vator on

AngelPad is a mentorship program founded by a team of ex-Googlers to help web-technology startups build better products, attract additional funding and ultimately grow more successful businesses.

Pogoseat

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Pogoseat is an enterprise seat upgrade solution. We give sports teams and concert venues the ability to enable their fans to upgrade seats and purchase unique experiences during events.

Current partners and clients include Ticketmaster, Live Nation, the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons and Stanford University.

DroneDeploy

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

DroneDeploy makes Drone Operations Simple.


DroneDeploy.com is a smart drone management platform that helps you get stuff done with drones. It's built to be simple, safe and powerful, controlling multiple drones, from anywhere, on any device.


Making flight plans has never been easier -  just describe your mission, and DroneDeploy will build a dynamic flight path that avoids other aircraft, airports, and even urban areas while respecting local laws.


DroneDeploy also makes it easy to fulfil the purpose of missions, with a growing selection of Apps that enable a number of operations, including seamless photo-stitching and object identification. Our APIs are simple and open to developers.


Signup for the beta at dronedeploy.com

Audience.fm

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Audience.fm collects passive data streams to identify users' musical preferences and match marketers with the right fans. Founders are Yale alumni, MsCS and repeat entrepreneurs with deep knowledge of music industry & big data experience.

Customers are brand and music marketers who seek to sell tickets, merchandising, premium content and products.

Promotions are highly targeted because we know fans' consumption habits & brand affinities across streaming, video and social APIs; and can track them using a unique identifier.

AWARDS & NOTABLE MENTIONS

- 2013 MidemLab Award (past winners include Songkick & Soundcloud). 
- 'Notable Startup' at SF Music Tech Summit 
- Featured + interviewed in Wired

 

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Thomas Korte

Joined Vator on

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Jules Terrien

Joined Vator on

Co-founder/CEO | Audience.fm Co-founder/Advisor | Moonkeys Music BA | Yale
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Evan Owens

Joined Vator on

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Mike Winn

Joined Vator on

Founder of Drone Deploy, drone hobbyist and ex googler, living in his 9th city - awesome SF.