Splash SF Sept 2012 People's Choice Award - Kismet

Kristin Karaoglu · October 10, 2012 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/2abf

Check out Kismet's pitch at the Splash SF Sept 2012 competition

Splash SF Sept 2012 People's Choice Award winner Kismet connects you to your existing friends in the real world by simplifying getting together face to face. Watch co-founders  Kevin Stephens and Michelle Norgan present.

Among the judges were  Noah Doyle (Javelin Venture Partners), Neal Hansch (Rustic Canyon Partners), Wes Selke (Hub Ventures), Rich Scudellari (DLA Piper), Jackson Gates  (Pandora), Thomas Korte (AngelPad), Andy Ross (Grant Thornton), Josh Stein (DFJ), Patrick Chung (NEA) and Doug Renert (Tandem Capital).

Do you want to present on stage in front of 350 high-tech influencers and try your shot at being Splash NY December? Splash is free to enter. And, it's great marketing and exposure, along with some fun prizes, like sit-down meetings with VCs, an Apple iPad, free legal and accounting consultations, and more.

Even though success is not defined by how much money a company has raised, past Vator winners, such as ThumbtackGetableGrovo, Astrid, Udemy, and Geeklist have gone on to raise millions of dollars collectively from venerable VCs, soon after presenting.

Here's some other testimonials: 

"The process of inviting everyone one we knew to vote for us, even before the event, was a fantastic way to build support for our company. Then presenting at Vator Splash was a blast. The short presentation style ensured the audience was engaged and the follow-up questions from the judges were on-point and constructive. At Vator Splash, I made great connections with a number of investors and had a number of follow-up meetings. We were able to raise our last round entirely from investors who discovered us from the publicity we generated from Vator Splash," said Jon Paris, CEO and founder of Astrid.

"Working with Vator, and Bambi, is a pleasure. She's really passionate about uniting great ideas with the right people. We actually tied for first in last years Vator Splash SF and as a direct result raised $150,000 from an investor who saw us pitch. TEEC Angels approached us right at the event and invested soon thereafter. Reuben Katz, CEO and founder of Geeklist.

"Vator has acted as a launchpad for my startup in terms of awareness and exposure. As a winner of a Vator competition, my startup enjoyed early traction and buzz. Vator has kept my business relevant in the minds of investors, entrepreneurs and potential employees. I've made many invaluable connections to the investor and entrepreneur community." Tim Hyer, founder and CEO, Getable

"DogVacay.com won Vator Splash LA in June 2012. The competition allowed us an opportunity to meet and pitch against some of the great Los Angeles startups and further foster our entrepreneurial community. There was such a positive energy with so many great minds providing insightful feedback throughout the night. Two paws up, Vator!"  Aaron Hirschhorn, founder & Top Dog, Dog Vacay 

"Events like Vator Splash are critical for startups to generate awareness. We were a top 10 finalist for Splash LA. It provided us with an amazing opportunity to network and gain exposure to a whole community of investors and VCs. Soon after, we raised $3M as a result of the momentum/exposure from the event and the platform in general," Peter Vogel, founder and CEO, Plink.

Join the Splash competition here.

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Kristin Karaoglu

Woman of many skills: Database System Engineer; SplashX event producer; Author of Startup Teams

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Kismet

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Kismet connects you to your existing friends in the real world by simplifying getting together face to face. We show you which of your friends are nearby or alert you when the app isn't open, then make it simple to invite them to meet you.


When you're planning to get together with a group of any size, Kismet makes the experience simpler and more social. Users can invite their friends whether or not they are Kismet users. Non-users can easily reply from the web or their phone without having to install the app.

No longer do you need to send hundreds of text messages or try to follow long email threads just to meet for Happy Hour. Users are also notified automatically when other users arrive and depart the event, meaning you’ll never have to ask “Are you here yet?” 

Kismet was one of the most talked about companies of SXSW 2012, in the hot "ambient location" and "social discovery" space. Founded in 2011, Kismet was part of AngelPad's Winter 2011 class of startups, and has been lauded as one of the most privacy and user conscious apps in the space.

 

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Michelle Norgan

Joined Vator on

Michelle Norgan (Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Kismet) was previously on the founding team of a social startup where she designed and launched the company's Consumer Mobile and Web products.
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Kevin Stephens

Joined Vator on

Co-founder and CEO of Blink, previously an early engineer at Google and YouTube. Also worked at Apple & Boxee. BS Computer Science, UCSD.