This article was published on August 9, 2012

It’s TechStars Boulder Demo Day – Here are the 11 companies dashing for cash


It’s TechStars Boulder Demo Day – Here are the 11 companies dashing for cash

It’s year number 6 for TechStars in Boulder, and each year the teams just seem to get better. Today the world’s most exclusive accelerator holds another Demo Day, where its teams will have the chance to pitch their products to a room that is stuffed to the rafters with investors, hackers and other interested parties. Here’s the lineup:

27 Perry

Think of 27 Perry as your favorite consignment shop, but accessible no matter where you are. That’s exactly what this scrappy startup has managed to do. But instead of just selling off whatever old crap people may find, every single item in 27 Perry’s inventory is hand-picked, curated and held to the highest of standards?

Birdbox

We all have photo and video memories. Chances are that you’ve used 2 or 3 or maybe even 10 different services for them over the years. Birdbox wants you to continue to use the services that you love, but it will sit as a layer of organization on top of all of them, pulling all of your photos and videos into a beautiful display that you can show off via any device.

DealAngel

Take a couple of guys who worked for the hospitality industry then shift their focus on helping the customer instead of the hotels. You’ll have DealAngel. It’s a site that scans hotel pricing across loads of different sites, looking for rooms that are priced well below where they should be. In my demo, I found a 4-star hotel in downtown Nashville for around 65% less than normal. Yep, DealAngel works.

DigitalOcean

If you’ve ever tried dealing with cloud hosting pricing schemes then you know the frustration that DigitalOcean is looking to solve. It’s a cloud hosting company with a singular focus of providing mid-size customers with straightforward pricing and incredible value.

MobiPlug

Home automation is one of those things that we’ve probably all drooled over, only to quickly have our dreams crushed by its outrageous pricing. But MobiPlug takes a different approach to home automation by using a gateway-controlled system that leverages smartphones, cloud services and more. It’s a smart system, able to learn such commands as “if it rained today, don’t water the lawn”. Brilliant.

PivotDesk

A startup to help startups? How meta! But PivotDesk knows that every single startup will deal with the hassle of finding a workspace that’s got the right features and size for their needs. The team is seeing magnificent traction with startups and property owners alike, helping both sides of the renter equation to stay happy.

RollSale

While car buying startups are nothing new, RollSale‘s focus on getting you the best price for your used car is a different approach. The company lets dealers and individuals alike compete to buy your car, all the while making the entire process supremely simple for you. With 100,000 used car transactions per day, it’s a $3.6 billion annual market.

Roximity

What if you could hop in your car, take off driving and never see another advertisement that you didn’t like? What if you were hungry, you could push a button and then you’d immediately be told about a hookup deal that was close to your location? That’s exactly what Roximity does. It’s a location-based platform, integrated directly with your car, serving you deals only when you request them. Ford is already on board, with Honda and Subaru coming soon and the team is already in talks with other manufacturers as well.

SalesLoft

If context is king then SalesLoft is the throne upon which it sits. It’s a platform that integrates with your existing CRM, delivering news, information and alerts on the people and companies to whom your team sells.

Ubooly

It’s a toy! But it’s also an app. Or rather it’s a suite of engaging, entertaining games that your kids will positively love. I know this because my own daughter has been addicted to her Ubooly since I reviewed an extremely early beta of the product. The team is launching today with 35,000 pre-sales already secured, a massive update to the software and more games than ever before. Christmas? Get ready.

Verbalize It

It’s every traveler’s worst fear – being abroad, in a country whose language is different than your own, and facing an emergency. Most translation systems cost thousands of dollars, but Verbalize It turns your smartphone into a human-based translation system for only a fraction of the cost, on demand.

The system can even be used with Skype, allowing drag & drop of translators into a Skype conversation. Developers can code phone numbers in via Twilio to allow conference calling with integrated Verbalize It translators. The company’s also partnered with RosettaStone, Desk.com and many more.

So there you have it – the 11 teams who are pitching their work at Demo Day. Check back later as we update this post to our coverage for the individual companies.

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