Microsoft Accelerator Graduates 9 Startups, Here is What’s Interesting About ThemNextBigWhat | 9 startups said good bye to the Microsoft Accelerator after four months at the program. Here’s a quick look at the outgoing batch. 1. explara Explara is an event ticketing platform (rebranded version of Ayojak). One can use the platform to showcase, sell, promote and manage events. Interesting bit: The company recently crossed $1 mn in revenues. 2. deck Deck lets you create great presentations with ease. Interesting bit: The app has crossed 100,000 downloads four weeks ago. 3.
The ed-technology startup is transofrming learning experiences in K-12, higher education and private tutoring space. Interesting bit: The companies founders have amazing pedigree. 4. i7 Networks This Bangalore based company plays in the fast growing security market. Interesting bit: Manjunath Gowda, the founder and CEO is a serial entrepreneur. 5. iDOS The software for enterprises helps companies cut down on errors and improve accounting compliance. 6. 7.
Think MakeMyTrip for restaurants. 8. 9. INSANE LABS. Senseforth - stop searching, start sensing. These young European startups show you the best things to do when you travel. MOSCOW — Travel startups are some of the most fun and easy-to-relate-to businesses for consumers because the desire to see new parts of the world is nearly universal. Recent big activity in this space includes $25 million in funding for Russian travel site Ostrovok, $11 million in funding for Russian travel startup Oktogo, GetYourGuide’s acquisition of Gidsy, and the launch of clever flight-search site GetGoing. Today at DEMO Europe in Moscow, two relatively young European travel-focused startups pitched to a room full of investors, technology players, and press about their products. And as you might expect, both of the companies have grand plans to make your travel experiences better. Excursiopedia First up is Munich-based Excursiopedia, a curated marketplace for events and things to do when you go on a trip.
This reminds of us a bit of another startup we’ve covered, New York City’s SideTour. Onstage, Excursiopedia CEO Kirill Sermyagin (pictured, above) talked about the company’s vision. Just 75 days after launch, MessageMe says it now has 5 million users. While messaging app MessageMe just raised $10 million in funding, that announcement was missing key info about the app’s growth.
Now the company has come forth with some new stats that are impressive including that the service now has 5 million users just 75 days after launch. Competing with popular apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, MessageMe offers iOS and Android applications that let you share rich messages and content with family and friends. On top of standard text, you can also send images, YouTube videos, iTunes tracks, voice recordings, and more. Ten days after launch, MessageMe users were uploading two images per second. Today, they are uploading eight images per second. More than 1,500 notifications are sent to Message users each second. “At MessageMe, our ambition lies in the goal to change the way people communicate around the world, and the mediums through which they connect,” the company said in a blog post today. Photo via MessageMe. #StartupLab. PayrollHero Gets $1 Million In Seed Funding For Dev Efforts In Asia. When we first met PayrollHero.com, it was aiming to change the way small-business timekeeping is done in Asia.
With a $1 million seed round from 500Startups, LX Ventures, Futura, and others, it looks like they may do just that. The app allows businesses to manage scheduling, attendance, and payroll using a cloud-based solution. It’s headquartered in Manila and Whistler, Canada, and, not unlike other services, is offering subscription-based controls for employers to manage worker clock-in and clock-out as well as GPS-based confirmation that the worker isn’t fibbing. Founded by Michael Stephenson and Stephen Jagger (no relation), the company has focused its efforts on Southeast Asia. What differentiates them from the other players in the space?
They are also planning further regionalization, including Indonesia. Although they’re not naming names, the company is also seeing traction in Canada and the United States, recently adding Taskus.com in LA to their roster of clients. RedBus Continues To Dominate In India, But That’s Not What Makes Them Special. As I start my trip in India along with Dave McClure’s “Geeks On A Plane,” I am reading about all of the startups in India that are used to proving that the country is making inroads and is relevant. It’s a story that I’m very familiar with in emerging markets: a group of VCs and entrepreneurs that want to prove that India is worthy of time, effort and, more importantly, investment. One of the companies that I had heard quite a bit about is called RedBus.in, a service that has standardized and centralized India’s bus system. Having been to India before, I kind of laughed at the notion of that being possible, even after having read Sarah Lacy’s fantastic piece about them from two years ago.
This was supposed to be one of the “ones,” the company that is supposed to make the investment world make the pilgrimage to Bangalore, India, which is about 18 hours worth of flights away from Silicon Valley. All aboard Buses in India are a lifeline, along with manual and motorized rickshaws. AppMobi. Is not available. Do you cash out or stick to your guns?
Twitter co-founder Ev Williams says you should only sell your company if the offer captures the upside, there’s an imminent threat, or you personally want to. “Any of them will suffice,” but Twitter didn’t have any, says Williams. In the Medium post, Williams discusses how in 2008, one of the tech giants was interested in acquiring Twitter. He didn’t reveal who it was, but around that time, Fortune and others reported that Twitter was in talks with Microsoft, Facebook and Google.
In an email to Twitter investors, Williams explained his three reasons companies should sell, and why Twitter didn’t have to. The first and most obvious reason to sell is if the financials of the offer capture the upside of your company’s potential. If the offer significantly exceeds the eventual value of your company, then sell. Second, is there an imminent threat to your company?
Finally, the companies should sell if the founders really want to. Is not available. Here at The Next Web, we like to bring you the newest, most exciting startups, but what about those that are yet to launch? We’ve teamed up with Beta List to bring you five startups that are yet to launch but have us excited about their potential.
Beta List is a site that helps you discover and get access to the latest Internet startups. We spoke to five of the startups they picked for glory in 2013 to find out what we can expect. Human Currently in closed beta testing We spoke to Human’s Renato Valdés Olmos. What is Human? “Human runs in the background of your phone and tracks all your activities automatically. “Human has begun testing the first version of the app with a limited number of testers, and will continue to add new testers to each batch: you can sign up for the beta at human.co.” Why it’s different to what’s already available “With Human, there’s no need for additional hardware or “smart” pedometers.
Who’s behind it? ➤ Human SoundGap Plans to launch in spring 2013 What is SoundGap? Tray.