The finalists are in and they’ve all just showcased what they want to
bring to the world at the May 2010 Vator Splash event in San Francisco, Ca.
These companies were chosen mainly based on peer voting held on the Vator
Splash competition page where more than 100 companies participated
and well over 2,000 people voted were cast.
Serving as Internet marketing software, Arkayne helps businesses get found online. The startup’s technology scans through millions of Webpages to find relationships within pages and build links, in what it describes as a ‘very short period of time.’ Say for example, a blogger integrates Arkayne’s technology into their post, at the end of their blog post you’ll see relevant links to other sites or posts within their blog—those are powered by Arkayne.
Real-time matching is what this startup is all about. YouHaveIWant is an alternative platform for buying and selling items from user to user. The company uses P2P, location-based technology that matches people based on their ‘Wants’ and ‘Haves.’ For example, say I’m looking for a new Fender guitar, I submit a 140 character message to YHIW, and if there is a match, YHIW lets me communicate with whoever may have what I want. Simple as that.
I wrote about this startup, which recently raised $500,000. DormNoise has built a platform which functions as a student-calendaring tool. The startup partners with colleges and universities to provide a centralized calendar where students can find out and share everything that’s going-on on campus. The company makes money by either charging the campus per student, or an incremental revenue-sharing sponsorship model with the university.
Mindbloom has built what it calls a “Life Game.” It’s an online game which aims to help its users maintain a healthier life. The whole objective is to complete daily actions in your life for your tree to grow healthier and earn seeds to purchase more leaves. Some of the daily actions are things like, “drink eight glasses of water,” or “clean one room in the house.” Recently, the startup blogged on Vator that it’s seen traffic rise 92%. Users can play alone or take advantage of the games social elements.
Panama offers a mobile broadcast platform that integrates SMS, IM and voice all together. It’s main product is a voice messenger which can be downloaded as an app for the iPhone. Users can basically send little audio bytes to one another instead of the usual text message we are all familiar with. The company said Android and Blackberry versions are on the way.
Hey! You Up There! – The company is building an online video network geared towards children who love sports. It’s a half hour weekly sports variety show that features studio hosts and reporters on location at arenas and sporting events. Beyond the show, Hey! You Up There! also has a Website which serves as a hub for user generated content, contests, the official TV show, and extra behind the scenes footage. The company said it presents an investment opportunity in a venture that will tap the $200 billion tween market and is three months away from its public launch.
“Baduku.com is to review Websites, as what Twitter was to blogs…” is how the startup describes itself in short. Basically, it’s an opinion engine for anything you can think of. Most of the active topics on its site have to do with pop culture, like, the goods vs the bads of American Idol or Facebok, but it has a bunch of others as well, you just have to search for them or browse through categories. The company differentiates itself from other opinion engines because instead of being a collection of disconnected opinions, it shows the overall public opinion (statistical relevancy). Baduku also has an open API so developers can integrate its micro-opinion system into their own sites.
Udemy‘s tagline, “academy of you,” describes it perfectly. The startup has built an open platform which lets users teach or learn online from one another. All the technology is Web-based so instructors don’t need to deal with any complications in setting up their virtual classes. For example, Udemy offers a live virtual conferencing and classroom tool, which can all be used simply on the site. The company says it will focus on a specific niche: Poker education, and then move onto additional markets where it seems consumers paying.
iChange offers a platform through which individuals can receive professional counseling and support from other individuals. As it’s title says, it’s all about change. Right now, it’s focus is on nutrition and weight loss where it helps connect users with other dietitians and support groups. The company lets users sign up for free limited access, and upgrade to several professionally-supervised programs which range from $19-$99 per month.
This startup opened announced what it’s all about tonight at Vator Splash. Envolve provides Website chat that can be embedded into your site with two lines of JavaScript. The goal is to get visitors talking among each other about your content.
And lastly, Mytoopi. This company made the final top ten startups for Splash, but unfortunately couldn’t make it out to the event. The company attempted to make it over to San Francisco all the way from India but sadly, hit delayed flights due to bad weather. This is a testament to the true passion of the entrepreneurs in our community. The company said it aims to be a virtual market world for Web designers to showcase, promote and sell their templates by garnering a unique community of Web designers, buyers and advertisers around the world.
