Posts Tagged ‘mobilebeat2010’
EduPath, Micello take home top honors in MobileBeat Startup Competition
The two panels of judges for MobileBeat 2010’s Startup Competition have spoken: mobile test-prep application nabbed the top prize in the consumer-facing app category, while indoor mapping provider won the mobile infrastructure and services category.
The companies were selected from a field of 10 companies in each category, not to mention the more than 100 startups who applied to compete.
EduPath just launched in the Apple App Store today, . The application itself includes much of the content that can be found in test preparation books published by the Princeton Review, Barron’s and Kaplan. That’s a million dollar business every year that EduPath hopes to capitalize on.
The real value add of the application is that it is so portable. Students can practice math problems and memorize vocabulary words with flashcards while they are on the go — on the school bus for example, or waiting in line. The idea is to make studying and test prep a more organic part of life, which will in turn improve scores.
“We think it will fundamentally change education,” said EduPath founder Michael Weiler (pictured second from left above). “We hope you’ll follow us from here.” Certainly, this is a glowing debut for the company.
Micello, on the other hand, . Founder Ankit Agarwal made the point during his presentation earlier today that we’ve gotten so used to maps of our streets and external environments that we’ve totally neglected mapping interiors of important and public buildings like airports, shopping malls, convention centers and the like.
Initially, the judges questioned how accurate these maps could be, and how possible inaccuracies could hurt market share — but obviously these concerns didn’t outweigh Micello’s utility.
The company just snagged its first major customer: Singapore-based carrier Singtel. It says it has several other similar partnerships in the hopper. While Agarwal anticipates Micello coming into competition with Google Maps and Navteq, he says that these services may end up licensing his company’s technology before they attempt to build their own version. Winning the Tesla Award certainly puts it on the right track.
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MobileBeat Startup Competition: Infrastructure players try to shake up the way you use your phone
The Startup Competition, sponsored by Palm, wrapped up this afternoon with the introduction of five more infrastructure and services companies working to break down and rebuild the way we all use our mobile phones. Two winners at the end of the day — selected from a field of 20 consumer apps and infrastructure services — will receive prestigious Tesla Awards.
The panel of judges for the afternoon portion of today’s contest includes Peter Barry, head of venture capital and startups for Vodafone; Navin Chaddha, managing director at Mayfield Fund; Shai Goldman, director of SVB Accelerator for Silicon Valley Bank; and Brook Wessel of T-Mobile Ventures.
The judges are evaluating the startups based on three factors: presentation (each startup gets 4 minutes), innovation, and market opportunity. This second group of infrastructure and services startups presenting today includes:
Enole: facilitating mobile payments, keyless entry functionality, and more. Built on top of DNS, Enole’s cloud-based platform is compatible with a number of devices, including those using near-field communications technology like Bluetooth, RFID deployments, WiFi spectrum, and smart cards.
Judge response: “I think payments have been tried for many years and there have been many false starts, but I do think the ecosystem is coming together in the next two to three years, and some of the Catch-22’s of who goes first are being resolved, so I think the time is right,” said Barry. “I’m just wondering if there’s a secret sauce here that will keep the competitors at bay.”
POIdo: The . That way, it can target advertisements at users based on their exact locations, the context of them being there, and their recent behavior in other applications on their phones — without bombarding them with a spammy number of ads. The company announced today that it has signed a deal with Russia’s second largest web portal.
Judge response: “What looks compelling is the ability for an advertiser to go across multiple platforms, that is a unique value proposition for advertisers, so this looks very interesting,” said Wessel.
Thumbspeak: . This allows them to collect feedback and optimize the services and products they provide. Survey respondents receive compensation and rewards in exchange. The Thumbspeak application, launching officially today, is now available in the iTunes App Store.
Judge response: “Clearly there is a market need and an opportunity, but it is a very competitive space,” said Chaddha. “It’s unclear from the presentation why you think you are going to win, but you can only do so much in four minutes.”
Aava Mobile: — including hardware and software — that combines phones, laptops, televisions and music players into one. The company gives developers, equipment manufacturers and carriers alike the tools they need to build a variety of applications, extending the device’s capabilities.
Judge response: “Consumers love cool products regardless of whether they actually make calls — look at the iPhone or HTC — so if you have cool products someone will buy them,” said Goldman. “The team looks like they have a good background. Cool products and a good team can make a lot of money.”
Sentegra: . In addition to secure mobile payments, meWallet also includes authentication and certification functionality, as well as digital ticketing.
Judge response: “Clearly there’s a market for something like MeWallet and there are a lot of startups and companies trying to address it,” said Chaddha. “Some feedback: It would have been good if you could have talked about some use cases. You guys have built such a comprehensive system but who are the customers in the spaces where you are winning? There is room for someone to own this market.”
As emcee and VentureBeat Executive Editor Owen Thomas noted, the stakes are pretty high in the MobileBeat Startup Competition. The exposure of winning has successfully propelled previous recipients to the top of their fields.
In 2008, the, which went on to less that two years later. And both of last year’s winners, Aloqa and IQ Engines are and.
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MobileBeat: Enole provides a single sign-on solution for the real world
Enole is one of 20 promising startups included in the Startup Competition and is in the running for one of two coveted Tesla Awards.
Identity authentication startup provides a secure way for people to use the same login information to access the internet through a multitude of devices, and will be particularly useful as more and more connected devices come online in coming months.
Built on top of DNS, Enole’s cloud-based platform is compatible with a number of devices, including those using near-field communications technology like Bluetooth, RFID deployments, WiFi spectrum, and smart cards. The hardware involved can be a phone, a computer, a name badge or even a key fob.
“In order to enter a world of computing that brings about true convenience and security, a universal method of identification free of the now ubiquitous email address is a necessity,” the company says. “Luckily, the mobile world has given us methods to identify individuals that are now truly unique and indispensable: cell phones.”
As co-founder Kurt Collins puts it, “Regardless of the communication technology or the hardware, Enole’s task is to say ‘This really is Kurt,’ and pass that validation along to whatever application needs to know — retail, banking, social networking, security, healthcare, etc.”
Collins also provided several examples of Enole at work.
One payment application coming to iOS 4 called ZapCash can detect who is near you without having to physically touch phones (like you do with competing service ), facilitating monetary transactions. The Bump service is restricted to phones with accelerometers and GPS capabilities. But with Enole, Zapcash only requires a Bluetooth connection, compatible with more than a billion devices.
Another application that Enole just released today locks your computer when it detects that you and your mobile device are walking away from it. And an unnamed dating website uses Enole so that its members can identify each other in real life if they are nearby (could this be mobile dating service Skout?)
The company says its revenue model depends on the partnerships involved, but there will be three major channels: technology licensing fees, transactional fees and affiliate marketing fees.
Enole’s board of directors already includes representatives from Facebook, Visa, and an unnamed top security software firm and consumer information database company.
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MobileBeat: Sentegra’s meWallet makes secure mobile payments a reality
Sentegra is one of 20 promising startups included in the Startup Competition, and is in the running for one of two coveted Tesla Awards.
Mobile transaction startup has come up with an all-encompassing mobile wallet platform with its . In addition to secure mobile payments, meWallet also includes authentication and certification functionality, as well as digital ticketing.
The system is buoyed by Sentegra’s “idGadget” devices, and a web-based back end platform. The devices are each built for secure transaction and authentication (biometrics capabilities are built-in), and include a standalone electronic wallet media device, as well as a secure cellphone attachment that can turn any phone with Bluetooth into a secure wallet.
The company claims that its devices are the first near-field communication (NFC) products — devices that can communicate in close proximity to one another — that can both send and receive data with existing NFC products. They allow for the “holy grail” of NFC — interactive communication between consumers and merchants in real-time. The company is in discussions with cellphone manufacturers to embed meWallet hardware into upcoming devices.
Sentegra has spent seven years researching the needs of consumers and the variety of businesses and organizations that are looking for a trustworthy mobile payment platform. The company believes that its established relationships with customers and partners globally will put ahead of competitors like .
Based in Golden, Colo., Sentegra is one of several mobile startups launching this week at the . We’re still awaiting funding details from the company.
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MobileBeat: POIdo makes location-based advertisers compete for your attention
POIdo is one of 20 promising startups included in the Startup Competition and is in the running for one of two coveted Tesla Awards.
, one of a number of location-based advertising startups, is putting a new spin on the concept. The Moscow-based company is able to target advertisements at users based on their exact locations, the context of them being there, and their recent behavior in other applications on their phones.
A pay-per-action advertising platform, POIdo is able to deliver ads when mobile users happen to approach a certain virtual billboard, or when they search for specific addresses that happen to be nearby. Advertisers compete for a limited amount of ad slots for every given location in an auction-based model online so that mobile users don’t feel overwhelmed or spammed. According to POIdo, location-based ads can convert as many as 20 percent of people who see them into customers.
“POIdo is the world’s first location-based advertising platform that creates a competitive marketplace where the price of advertising is determined by the market,” the company says. “Advertisers compete for ad visibility.”
In addition to serving marketing messages, POIdo can also be used to send coupons, special offers and event information to users when they are near relevant locations. The billboards that prompt ads to pop up can be placed at optimal locations, not just at businesses. It has also released its API for publishers and advertisers to spur development of third-party apps built on top of the platform.
POIdo launched in March, and is currently available to local businesses and entrepreneurs in and around Moscow. It’s planning to come to the U.S. later this year.
The startup will compete with , the Japan-based developer of , as well as NAVTEQ LocalPoint, and Adenyo, now that it has acquired MoVoxx. , Ulocate and have also carved out niches in the location-based advertising arena, and may rival POIdo more directly as it scales.
The company brings in revenue by taking a percentage of all advertising revenue it helps generate.
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MobileBeat: Thumbspeak helps your company get feedback from people on the go
Thumbspeak is one of 20 promising startups included in the Startup Competition and is in the running for one of two coveted Tesla Awards.
The first opinion network made for mobile phones, gives companies and app developers a way to rapidly collect insights and feedback from their customers by asking them questions on their phones. The goal is to offer this type of service at a competitively low price.
Users who download the Thumbspeak mobile application are asked to answer quick questions on their iPhones (and soon other 3G phones), sent to them by companies. In exchange for their answers, they are eligible for all kinds of rewards. The questions are targeted at people based on their demographics and locations.
“Thumbspeak is able to gather feedback from traditionally difficult types of people who will just not take traditional online or offline surveys,” the company says, identifying men, professional women, business travelers and the affluent as members of this category.
To make its surveys less intrusive, the company always keeps them to less than 20 questions, and puts a dollar sign next to questions that could yield monetary rewards. The next release of the application will share and compare your answers with others.
The startup believes that, eventually, mobile application developers will drive millions of people to download the Thumbspeak application in order to share in the revenues generated by these companies, which in turn are willing to pay for more desirable audiences.
“We will charge businesses by the number of responses and value of the target,” says Founder Dean Wiltse. “For example, an 18 to 32-year-old with a college degree, smart phone and a job [who] travels on business once a month is worth more to target for an airline or hotel.”
The company says it plans to bring in $2 million in revenue in its first year and $8 million in its second. By year four, it expects to be pulling down $30 million.
In addition to adding sharing and comparing functionality, Thumbspeak will also be building on a feature that allows businesses to upload their customers to private groups so that they can compare the answers of current customers with non-customers. It will roll out to BlackBerry, Android and Windows Mobile phones soon too.
The company may compete with , , , Harris Survey, and other feedback panel-creation and market research firms.
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MobileBeat: Aava offers a truly open-source mobile device platform
Aava Mobile is one of 20 promising startups included in the Startup Competition and is in the running for one of two coveted Tesla Awards.
Now one year old, offers both open hardware and software, giving mobile developers enough leash to make truly creative designs and applications. It is this year’s People’s Choice winner for the MobileBeat Startup Competition.
Aava’s platform, geared toward original equipment manufacturers and mobile operators, lets customers brainstorm their own user interfaces, content and services. This makes its devices incredibly customizable — a feature that is increasingly sought after given the popularity of the malleable Android operating system.
The reference design of the Aava phone is based on Intel’s next generation Intel Atom platform, nicknamed Moorestown.
In fact, Aava offers a special software development kit that is compatible with current Android SDK software, allowing developers to test their creations on fully functioning handsets. The same technology will one day be extended to tablets and PCs the company has said.
Aava first launched its open mobile device in February at the Mobile World Congress.
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