How about over 40 exhibitors split up between health care and IT, six semi-finalists asked to present and pitch, a panel of savvy judges, and two startups that walked away with boasting rights?
While some may be surprised that this startup competition took place at NJIT’s Newark campus, those of us in the NJ startup community know there’s an excess of talent and entrepreneurial energy on this side of the Hudson.
I was a little relieved not to have to hop a train into Manhattan, instead a quick drive down Bloomfield Avenue into Newark brought me to my evening’s entertainment: mingling with a pool of talented entrepreneurs, developers, investors, engineers, pharma executives, and medical device mavens.
This being Jersey, there was a higher concentration of health care startups than in an equivalent Manhattan petri dish. As I walked into the exhibition space at the NJIT Campus Center, I found myself facing Epion’s Health Tablet and chatting with Joe Hogan, Epion’s President.
Hogan, an executive with 20-years in pharma, explained the value prop: you’re in a doctor’s waiting area and while w a i t i n g, you pick up a tablet loaded with medically-related apps along with magazine-style content contributed from the Mayo Clinic and HealthiNation, and ultimately enter the physician’s office better informed.
I like the concept behind Epion. I’m a bit of a softie when it comes to content startups, and was also recently excited by Daily Secret, which emails interesting factoids about your favorite city. Anyway, the revenue model is, not surprisingly, ad based. If they can provide great medical-related articles–and that’s an enormous conditional–and clear editorial demarcation from the ads, I think they may have something.
The judges ultimately agreed. Epion walked away as a winner in the Health category. By the way, Hogan and his team are seeking $1 million in financing to finish their pilot and produce the first 5000 Android-based tablet units. Any takers?
I was also intrigued by one of the other Health finalists, Assistive Dynamics. They make a robotic arm that can be easily manipulated by those with upper body disabilities. I don’t see that many robotics companies presenting at demos and pitchathons, but when I do–say Willow Garage at NYTM last year–I am stunned by what may be our future masters’ abilities.
On the software side of the aisle, I stopped by Qrio.us‘s (pronounced curious) desk and chatted with co-founder John Federico. Qrio.us is a networking service that matches professionals at events. I’ll almost repeating myself by saying that this is anything but original.
On the plus side, they’ve sort of solved the cold-start problem by working directly with event organizers, who promote the Qrio.us app. They do this by integrations with Meetup and Eventbrite thereby making Qrio.us available as part of the registration process. Qrio.us won over the judges, and took away first place in the IT category.
I was getting impressed with my ability to randomly walk around the exhibition area and chat with eventual winners!
There was one startup I thought deserved more attention. The didn’t received any prizes–hey Startupalooza people, how about an honorable mention category next time?–but at least had the chance to present to the judges.
I had serendipitously spotted MyVenueMenu in my wanderings and talked with this startup’s hyper-sharp co-founder, Richard Pantini. MyVenueMenu, I learned, creates a unique marketplace for small to mid-size venues to book bands without having to deal with promoters. (Note to developers:this is another project done with Google’s scalable App Engine.)
In a brilliant move, MyVenueMenu taps into the band and their fan base’s Shirkian cognitive surplus, letting them do the marketing and sales. As Pantini explained it to the judges, venues list their openings, and bands, knowing the have a loyal following, then bid for the opening, pledging a certain number of tickets. Fans get involved by buying tickets–they submit an e-payment authorization–with the goal of winning what is effectively a ticket sales contest.
Kind of a battle of the band’s fans.
MyVenueMenue takes $1 per ticket plus 5%. With the new online auction markets that are popping up–Tred for the new car space is another example–there is a risk transfer going on: in this one, the venue transfers the risk of filling the club space to the band and fans.
Pantini says the closest competitor is ReverbNation, but–and this is key to its appeal–the fans will know they’ve helped produced the event. I assume they have some kind of marketing arrangement with the venue that says “brought to you by MyVenueMenue”.
Pantini is seeking $400,000 to finish the site.