The Pittsburgh Business Times reported that ModCloth, a Strip District based online indie clothing company, raised $19.8 million in the largest VC round of 2010. They plan to continue to seek funding until they raise over $30 million in funding.
I am really happy for these guys and there a shining example of what can come out of the Pittsburgh startup community. What started out in a dorm room is now a large company with offices three cities. I can no longer call ModCloth a startup but I am still going to follow these guys closely.
Very quickly they moved from startup, to small business, to an internationally known brand. I think my only concern is that as they gotten bigger, their quality has dropped. Still I don’t think that is enough to stop them from growing even larger. All the girls I know that complain about the quality, still buy over $100 worth of merchandise from them monthly (no joke).
Demo Day at AlphaLab featured recent program grads DeviceKnit, 80 Degrees West Interior Design, Inc., Black Locus, PhotoSynesi, and Shoefitr. Let’s go ahead with a description of each of the companies before I get into the nit and grit of who stood out (after all, you may want to judge for yourself).
DeviceKnit: “A consumer electronics content and community site focused on helping people discover new uses and connection options for their devices.” With so many newfangled gadgets out there, figuring out how to connect them all (or even what they all do for that matter) can be confusing. Here’s where DeviceKnit can help. “We are the neighborhood nerds,” CEO John Ganotis said. The site lets you pick what devices you would like to connect, then tells you what you need to connect them and where to get it. Pictures are provided in case, like me, you have no idea what different cables look like.
80 Degrees West Interior Design, Inc.: “An online design space providing a new and better way for do-it-yourself consumers to collect design inspiration, organize their decorating projects, and collaborate with professional interior designers.” Thinking of decorating? 80 Degrees West is a website that gives users the ability to organize design projects in an online notebook where they can store photos and ideas, get feedback from family and friends, and ask for professional input.
Black Locus: “A SASS cloud-computing platform that gives small and medium online retailers a similar level of analytical sophistication as larger e-tailers.” So you’re a small to medium web company with a need for market research. Welp, Black Locus is ready to give you the info you need for pricing, marketing, and inventory management. Users are able to implement recommendations with a click of a button and track the impact of each recommendation over time.
PhotoSynesi: “A premium online service delivering professional reviews and feedback to amateur photographers.” Digital cameras with auto focus lenses have led to an increased market of amateur photographers, many of whom spend money to attend workshops or similar events for professional critiques of their work. PhotoSynesi provides more readily available feedback at a lower cost.
Shoefitr: “Technology for online retailers to help customers find the correct size and best fitting shoe.” Not a lot of people buy shoes online. The reason? Shoes sizes are unreliable and the hassle of having to send a pair of shoes back that don’t fit outweighs the convenience of Internet shopping. Shoefitr wants to make the experience easier for the consumer and retailer by letting you choose a shoe size of what you want to buy based on what you already own. So, if you’re wearing a size 10 Nike and want to buy a New Balance, Shoefitr guides you through picking your exact shoe, then figures out what would be the best size of the new one. As one retailer said of Shoefitr “This is bitchin’.”
I was most impressed by DeviceKnit and Shoefitr. To start, I could see the utility of both without much effort. I don’t know what to do with half my electronics. I have returned shoes I bought online because they didn’t fit. I’m also a pushover for a good presentation. DeviceKnit and Shoefitr gave smart, interesting, and enjoyable overviews of their companies. The CEOs seemed generally enthusiastic about what they are doing, and they made me correspondingly excited.
Where the other companies fell short for me may have been because of consumer bias. I’m not a do-it-yourself type making 90K a year (80 Degrees West), I don’t have an online retail business (Black Locus), and even if I was an amateur photographer, I don’t think I’d pay for criticism unless I was trying to become a professional (PhotoSynesi). What I can say is they are certainly hitting niche markets and have the research to show that someone, somewhere is paying for these services. Whether they want to begin paying for online versions of those services is a consideration. I should also mention that 80 Degrees West and Black Locus both offer free accounts with limited, but useful options.
On a final, perhaps random note, I noticed that for whatever reason, smashing your company name together is all the rage with startups. DeviceKnit, PhotoSynesi, Shoefitr. Just saying.
AardarQ, a provider of a B2B AppStore framework for embeddable devices, just received $100k in funding from Innovation Works. Employing six people with plans to grow, AardarQ looks to build their customer base from two to three.
“The Innovation Works funding is a stamp of approval for our technology and our team’s ability to grow the business,”
- Pittsburgh, PA – February 10, 2010 AardvarQ™, LLC, provider of the industry’s first configurable, B2B AppStore™ Framework, today announced that it has been added as an Innovation Works portfolio company (http://www.innovationworks.org). Innovation Work’s resources will be used to expand AardvarQ’s AppStore Framework and to service initial customer demand.
AardvarQ’s AppStore Framework enables embedded device manufacturers to offer an innovative user experience for their B2B customers via a fully configurable online storefront. In addition to providing a steady flow of valuable productivity applications for their devices, AardvarQ enables device manufacturers to obtain detailed usage profiles for their installed base through its Web-based Device Dashboard.
“AardvarQ is a great addition to the Innovation Works portfolio,” said Richard Lunak, President and CEO for Innovation Works. “Their AppStore Framework provides a very innovative approach for embedded device manufacturers to stay connected with their installed base.”
Commercial devices are regularly purchased in bulk by large field service organizations with the assumption of a five- to ten-year usable life. Once shipped, manufacturers often lose track of these devices as they are assigned to a geographically dispersed mobile workforce. Whether a diagnostic, medical, point-of-sale or industrial control device, maintaining connectivity plays a crucial role in a manufacturer’s ability to manage a positive customer experience.
AardvarQ uniquely addresses this challenge by providing a virtual channel between a device manufacturer and their installed base of commercial devices. Device users are driven to the manufacturer’s branded AppStore to browse and install a steady stream of new/updated productivity applications. Upon accessing the AppStore, each device uploads a usage log that details the device’s location, usage and performance.
“The Innovation Works funding is a stamp of approval for our technology and our team’s ability to grow the business,” says Greg Quiggle, CEO of AardvarQ. “Our growing customer base needs to stay connected with their installed base of commercial devices. AardvarQ’s unique ability to log the usage of deployed devices enables manufacturers to (1) fine tune their feature sets, (2) proactively address performance issues in the field and (3) offer targeted on-the-job training aids.”
About AardvarQ
AardvarQ is the provider of the industry’s first configurable, B2B AppStore Framework. When licensed, AardvarQ provides a branded, hosted AppStore that can be offered in concert with an embedded device manufacturer’s product lines. Located in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, AardvarQ is a privately held corporation and both an Idea Foundry and an Innovation Works portfolio company. The AardvarQ team brings more than 20 years of experience defining, developing, launching and supporting successful embedded devices within a wide variety of B2B markets. For more information, visit www.aardvarq.net.
[via Pittsburgh Business Times]
BioEnterprise, the Cleveland-based biomedical business formation initiative published their Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report on Friday. The health care venture field is beginning to pick up. In terms of number of companies funded, Pittsburgh leads the pack with twenty-four totally almost $40 million in funding.
This high concentration stands out. In comparison the deals are smaller than the top city (in terms of amount funded) but the number of seed type funding provided is a good sign for Pittsburgh.
Comprising the report were mainly biopharmaceutical (48%) and medical device (38%). The larger Pittsburgh deals included Foundation Radiology Group, ALung Technologies, ClearCount and BodyMedia. The seed deals are hopefully companies to look for, including Almedtrac, Blacktown NC and Flexicath.
[via Pittsburgh Business Times]
Innovation Works needs your help in maintaining funding for promising technology companies. A current bill in the state Senate would cut funding 60% for the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the body that funds Innovation Works and its counterpart centers across the state (known collectively as the Ben Franklin Technology Partners or BFTP).
So, what can you do? We are asking all our readers to do the following before June 8, 2009:
1. Contact your legislators by going to: http://tinyurl.com/my4nu4. This link takes you to a page on the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s website, where you can automatically send a letter to your legislator.
2. Activate your own network of contacts who care about maintaining funding for start-up entrepreneurs. Send the URL (http://tinyurl.com/my4nu4) to others to write a letter, use Facebook or Twitter to create awareness about the need to reach legislators, post blog comments, whatever you can do to reach more people who can subsequently reach out to their legislators.
3. Give us your ideas and feedback about how to reach more people to communicate about this critical issue.
“We recognize it’s a difficult environment for the Legislature, but the 60 percent cut proposed… will have far-reaching effects. To really help drive the economy, in many ways we need (sustained funding levels) now more than ever (for) creating jobs, attracting investment and retaining key talent to our region for our future success.” – Rich Lunak, CEO of Innovation Works.
This isn’t about funding Innovation Works. It’s about funding entrepreneurs and growing technology companies. Please help us continue to support and assist our region’s promising start-ups and other innovative companies.
