September 13, 2012 at 16:03Review of 7 finalists of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2012
An event called Disrupt SF, a startup competition organized by TechCrunch, ended in San Francisco yesterday, with a grand prize of $ 50,000.
After three days and a lot of pitches, the list of 30 hungry startups was abruptly cut, and towards the end of the conference there only the most persistent remained.
Some information about these lucky ones:
Expert Labs is creating a new platform called the Anticipatory Computing Engine, designed to create applications that constantly strive to meet the needs of the user. The first demonstration of this technology was the MindMeld iPad app. This application is a client for voice and video calls, which understands what the user is saying and, based on the conversation, helps to find the necessary information.
Gyft is a revolutionary new application that allows users to buy, store and redeem gift certificates directly from their mobile phone. So now users can manage plastic cards and use gift certificates right from their phone!
Lit Motors' self-balancing commuter vehicle is a super ambitious startup that is set to shake up the auto industry with its C-1 electric car. This is the first of its kind fully electronic self-balancing motorcycle, which may be the first of many such devices that can travel up to 200 miles on a single charge. Its other difference from other similar devices is the simplicity of design.
Prior Knowledge launches Veritable, an intelligent database that can not only store, but also predict information. The “predictable” database from Veritable goes beyond the modern approach to analyzing large amounts of information. It analyzes the deep data structure and, based on this analysis, predicts the data structure and the relationship between them.
WhatsApp has become a leading cross-platform messaging application between smartphone users, reaching 10 billion messages a day a couple of weeks ago. But speaking of providing cheap messaging services to billions of simple mobile phone users all over the world (who, quite possibly, are trying to get the most out of their low-cost gadget), WhatsApp still has work to do.
Saya Mobile targets emerging markets (e.g. Africa).
This project is aimed at simplifying repairs or obtaining other types of services for your car without leaving your home. Using only the YourMechanic website or a mobile application, users can quickly describe their problem (even before they smell like a car), find a mechanic in their vicinity, and specify payment details.
Ultimately, this leads to lower prices for customers (saving on average from 30% to 50%) who use their services, and more money goes into the pocket of mechanics who actually perform this work. The service has already created quite a bit of resonance, in addition, they received $ 1.8 million in investments from Y Combinator, Yuri Milner, Andreessen Horowitz, Lerer Ventures, CrunchFund (CrunchFund CEO is Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch), SV Angel (David Lee - Managing Partner of SV Angel, by the way he was on the jury), Paige Craig, A-Grade Investments, Jawed Karim, Justin Waldron, Joshua Schachter and Kevin Friedman ( Kevin Freedman).
Zumper - a new platform that helps in finding housing. Unlike many other similar sites, Zumper works directly with apartment owners, brokers and real estate managers to ensure the accuracy and legitimacy of their listings.
The winner, of course, is already known, and if you still do not know, here is the link .
Surely, similar projects will appear in Russia soon. In your opinion, do they have a future in our country?
After three days and a lot of pitches, the list of 30 hungry startups was abruptly cut, and towards the end of the conference there only the most persistent remained.
Some information about these lucky ones:
Expect Labs
Expert Labs is creating a new platform called the Anticipatory Computing Engine, designed to create applications that constantly strive to meet the needs of the user. The first demonstration of this technology was the MindMeld iPad app. This application is a client for voice and video calls, which understands what the user is saying and, based on the conversation, helps to find the necessary information.Gyft
Gyft is a revolutionary new application that allows users to buy, store and redeem gift certificates directly from their mobile phone. So now users can manage plastic cards and use gift certificates right from their phone!
Lit motors
Lit Motors' self-balancing commuter vehicle is a super ambitious startup that is set to shake up the auto industry with its C-1 electric car. This is the first of its kind fully electronic self-balancing motorcycle, which may be the first of many such devices that can travel up to 200 miles on a single charge. Its other difference from other similar devices is the simplicity of design.
Priority knowledge
Prior Knowledge launches Veritable, an intelligent database that can not only store, but also predict information. The “predictable” database from Veritable goes beyond the modern approach to analyzing large amounts of information. It analyzes the deep data structure and, based on this analysis, predicts the data structure and the relationship between them.
Saya mobile
WhatsApp has become a leading cross-platform messaging application between smartphone users, reaching 10 billion messages a day a couple of weeks ago. But speaking of providing cheap messaging services to billions of simple mobile phone users all over the world (who, quite possibly, are trying to get the most out of their low-cost gadget), WhatsApp still has work to do. Saya Mobile targets emerging markets (e.g. Africa).
Yourmechanic
This project is aimed at simplifying repairs or obtaining other types of services for your car without leaving your home. Using only the YourMechanic website or a mobile application, users can quickly describe their problem (even before they smell like a car), find a mechanic in their vicinity, and specify payment details.
Ultimately, this leads to lower prices for customers (saving on average from 30% to 50%) who use their services, and more money goes into the pocket of mechanics who actually perform this work. The service has already created quite a bit of resonance, in addition, they received $ 1.8 million in investments from Y Combinator, Yuri Milner, Andreessen Horowitz, Lerer Ventures, CrunchFund (CrunchFund CEO is Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch), SV Angel (David Lee - Managing Partner of SV Angel, by the way he was on the jury), Paige Craig, A-Grade Investments, Jawed Karim, Justin Waldron, Joshua Schachter and Kevin Friedman ( Kevin Freedman).
Zumper
Zumper - a new platform that helps in finding housing. Unlike many other similar sites, Zumper works directly with apartment owners, brokers and real estate managers to ensure the accuracy and legitimacy of their listings.
The winner, of course, is already known, and if you still do not know, here is the link .
Surely, similar projects will appear in Russia soon. In your opinion, do they have a future in our country?
