Six startups are graduating today from the NewMe Accelerator and the next step is to present their idea and product in front of investors, industry leaders, and members of the press. Companies in the biotech, human resource, personal style, design, mentorship, and finance space took part in the Fall 2013 class of companies and here’s a look at who they are and what they’ve done.
Annotree
Started by Brian Clark, Annotree is designed to help streamline and collaborate on the application development process from a mobile-first perspective. It utilizes a drag and drop interface and enables users to assign tasks to their designers and developers while also soliciting feedback from consumers right from the device without having to send an email.
It is competing against the likes of Rally, Trello, Jira, and Pivotal Tracker. In private beta, it is in talks with Tagged, Detroit Labs, General Electric, Salesforce, and Rackspace Hosting. Annotree charges $10 per user per month to use the service.
➤ Annotree
BioNanovations
Diagnosing bacterial infections quickly is the goal of BioNanovations. The company says that it’s impossible to track geophysical infection trends in real-time and takes 2 to 5 days to currently diagnose these infections.
With BioNanovations solution, fluid from the patient is dripped to scientific cassettes where by nano-particles pick up proteins from the fluid. It’s analyzed by a handheld device and you get instant diagnosis.
It’s competing against the likes of Nanosphere, but BioNanovations says that there’s a 3-hour delay in testing. It costs $75 per tests for cassettes and the reader for $10,000 each. It also has third-party development licensing and also its data repository, where it will sell “at a premium”. It’s targeting a $4.56 billion market in the US.
The company has closed $150,000 in seed funding a year ago and it has already 2 utility and 1 provisional patent filed. Interested users include hospitals like the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, Methodist Healthcare, Vanderbilt University, and others.
BioNanovations is asking for $3 million in funding to help develop its device, navigate its way through the FDA, and more.
MentorMe
There are 3 million kids in the United States that are matched with a mentor, something that has had a profound impact on their lives. However, there are 15 million kids that are in search of mentors, but are unreachable — it’s not scalable. MentorMe says that the current process is inefficient and as a result, 50 percent end within the first few months.
MentorMe focuses on matching using its intelligent algorithm to pair kids with mentors. The company has its own app to help the process. It is targeting a $2.5 billion market and is competing against the likes of MentorCore, iMentor, Innovation Mentoring, along with Salesforce and CRMs, but aren’t built specifically for mentoring.
It’s currently raising $475,000 in seed funding with $175,000 already committed. It’s looking to grow its user base and make other enhancements to its product.
➤ MentorMe
CollegeBread
CollegeBread is a service designed to help college students make money to pay for their education. It’s estimated that 21 million college students are in need of money. The service allows users to register, input their information and market themselves across any device. 15 percent is taken for commission and the service has 2900 registered students signed up.
It’s competing against oDesk, Fiverr, Zaarly, and TaskRabbit, but CollegeBread says that none of these services actually cater towards the college students.
The company is looking for advisors and is looking to raise $250,000.
Pavo
Pavo aims to address the various fashion styles and help consumers find their personal style. It allows users to sign up and join a specific community, look at what fashion outfits people are sharing, and post their own. Hosted communities are possible so that blogs can host their own networks as well. Its business model involves having brands use the content in native advertising, sponsored content, and in-app sales.
Currently, Pavo is looking to raise $500,000 to expand to more platforms and enrich its communities.
➤ Pavo
Make Paper
Make Paper looks to help disadvantaged youths become entrepreneurs by adjusting the distribution channels so that they’ll have the resources necessary without resorting to making money on the streets. It’s a mobile platform where teens create, compete, and make money. Using a social media profile, they can go through one of four categories to enter into a competition. When they win, they will get paid using a Make Paper debit card. Top performers will be able to start their business.
The company is targeting the 13.6 million youths and is competing against Junior Achievement and other similar services. Its business model is through sponsored competitions and other fees. So far, it has 2,000 youths waiting to participate in the program.
It’s looking to raise $500,000 to expand its sales team.
The NewMe Accelerator is a program that was set up with support from Google to help underrepresented minority entrepreneurs in the technology industry get started. It’s a residential program, meaning that startup members live in the same space and learn from one another as they work on building out their own respective companies. Each class lasts for 12 weeks and is based in Silicon Valley.
To date, the accelerator says that it has received more than 400 applications, of which 27 have been accepted and 17 percent graduated.
