There is much that we will cover in the coming days, but the "Lightning Round" quick pitches were excellent, and a great place to start. Here is the winning pitch, and some of the most promising startups on display at CEDTVC
The North Carolina Council for Entrepreneurial Development, or CED, is kicking off their Tech Venture Conference tomorrow. This conference is set to focus on uniting technology entrepreneurs, businesses, and capital. The CED has been wildly influential to the growth of the STEM companies within the Research Triangle region of North Carolina.
Pinnatta, as their new Facebook Cover Photo captures, just announce that it has raised a $1.5M Series A round. The round, led by Odyssey Venture Partners and PJ Tech Catalyst, brings their total to-date funding to $2.2M
Yesterday, the Kaplan EdTech Accelerator, powered by TechStars, held their inaugural demo day. Demo day, the culmination of the three-month intensive mentoring process, was by all accounts a great success. As a whole, the entire first batch shows great potential, but a few startups really stand out.
UK-based Buyapowa announced today that it has closed a $4.6M round, led by Bright Station Ventures. The funding round will be use primarily to bring their unique social commerce platform to the US.
Wipit, a mobile payments platform partnered with Boost Mobile, announced today that it has closed a Series A venture round from Core Innovation Capital. The funding, of an undisclosed amount, will be used primarily to increase adoption of the payment platform. If you have seen the commercials or ads for the "Boost Mobile Wallet," then you are familiar with Wipit.
If the name Kim Taylor sounds familiar to you that's because she appeared on the recent Bravo reality tv show called "Startups: Silicon Valley". The show received critical reviews from both sides of the fence. Many were intrigued by seeing what the producers interpreted startup life as while others thought it was greatly over exaggerated. [...]
Balihoo, provider of local marketing automation technology, announced last Friday that they have secured an additional $5 million in venture funding from OpenView Venture Partners. The new funding will be use primarily to fuel the continued growth of both the company itself, and the expansion of the marketing platform.
The Experiment Fund is already breaking down some of the traditional barriers between venture capital and the university system. In a little more than a year and a half of operation, the startups in Xfund's portfolio have raised a total of more than $10 million. It is hard to imagine that this trend from a University in Boston, well outside of Boston, does anything but continue to build momentum.
While the economy is inching along in its recovery, once a month the "Employment Situation" spells its impending doom. The talking heads and economic pundits will have you believe that each successive report is the worst yet, and the economy will certainly collapse as a result. However, this sentiment is not in the least bit shared by startup founders.
