At last month's inaugural Vator Splash Oakland, 15 companies competed against each other for the top spot. In the end it was Oakland-based OppSites that won the global Splash competition!
OppSites empowers municipalities and professional planners to identify sites where increased economic opportunity exists, and broadcast that information to the investment community.
The company allows Investors and Developers to find investment opportunities that may not be publicly listed, and learn about development priorities and incentives.
Watch Founder and CEO Ian Ross make his pitch to judges Jed Katz of Javelin Venture Partners, Ben Ling of Khosla Ventures and Josh Stein of DFJ.
Thank you to our video sponsor: Oakland Forward and Bryan Parker, Oakland mayoral candidate.
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Sponsored Story
Lucinda Stawel
Angel group/VC
Joined Vator on
Invests in early-stage tech companies with incredible potential, managed by teams of energetic, trustworthy and capable leaders. Key focus areas include digital media, Internet commerce, mobile and healthcare IT. Javelin looks for advanced bleeding-edge innovations, where the addressable market size is substantial and strong competitive advantages exist. A typical investment is between $1 to $4 million, with reserves for follow-on investments. In addition, Javelin also considers smaller seed investments for unique companies just getting started. Located in downtown San Francisco, while invests throughout the world. Javelin is a very active investor with a long-term outlook and the objective of creating substantial value.
Angel group/VC
Joined Vator on
Khosla Ventures offers venture assistance, strategic advice and capital to entrepreneurs. The firm helps entrepreneurs extend the potential of their ideas in both traditional venture areas like the Internet, computing, mobile, and silicon technology arenas but also supports breakthrough scientific work in clean technology areas such as bio-refineries for energy and bioplastics, solar, battery and other environmentally friendly technologies. Vinod was formerly a General Partner at Kleiner Perkins and founder of Sun Microsystems. Vinod has been labeled the #1 VC by Forbes and Fortune recently labeled him as one the nation's most influential ethanol advocates, noting "there are venture capitalists, and there's Vinod Khosla." Vinod Khosla founded the firm in 2004.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
OppSites connect the government and real estate sectors in a $250 billion annual marketplace. OppSites provide the real estate sector with valuable insight into real estate development opportunities aligned with community goals.
OppSites promotes strategically important, commercially valuable, yet underexposed markets with standardized municipal data, to enhance transparency and efficiency while maximizing investment and revenue. Investors find underexposed opportunities, reduce risk, and get an edge on their competition.
Our product:
Maximizes economic development priorities with speed and efficiency
Implements economic, political and community planning goals
Increases revenue and the value of the tax base
Saves staff time and money with a cloud based software that is easy to update
Increases government transparency by providing data in a familiar searchable map interface
Leverages local assets and investments for greater ROI
Enhances services of planners and economic development organizations
Generates leads
Builds professional networks
Enhances marketing efforts by promoting opportunities directly to an international investor network
Cities & Municipalities
Cities maximize economic development by sharing local knowledge, and promoting development priorities on a national scale. With the click of a button, cities can share valuable information that investors need to know about what they would like to see built, and where. This national exposure helps cities attract partners to development priorities that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Investment Community
For investors, brokers, and developers, OppSites is like having a personal relationship with every city. Investors use OppSites to find underexposed development opportunities and follow preferred cities to learn about opportunities before they hit the market. To reduce risk, OppSites delivers real time civic and market intelligence about strategic opportunities, community goals, priorities, and incentives.
The OppSites team of specialized urban design, real estate, and technology professionals is passionate about solving the economic development challenges facing cities and real estate investors. Our expertise drives the innovation and power of OppSites.
Joined Vator on
Since 1999 Ian has provided services to assist cities to envision, enable, and realize their desired future. My background in economics and urban design has positioned OppSites at the intersection of city planning and private sector investment.
Joined Vator on
Joined Vator on
Jed Katz is the Managing Director of Javelin Venture Partners. One of the pioneers of online commerce, Jed has spent his 20 year career developing, advising & investing in early stage tech ventures.
