elements to its curation tools. “We will be busting out of our quiet beta,” Singel said, “with a loud launch in early March.”
The other startups in the class took the stage with mutual gusto for changing the media world. Here is a rundown of their ideas:
Beatroot— Beatroot is a platform that helps journalists better understand which stories resonate best with their readership. It strives to do away with the usual click-fest often seen when navigating the menus on other Web analytics trackers. The platform distills the information journalists need to measure about their stories into such areas as reach, conversation, and impact. Beatroot can also collect citations and record real world events that can be traced back to a story. They are looking to raise $300,000.
Butler— Aimed at marketers and product managers who are not tech-savvy, Butler tracks user activity on websites. By copying and pasting in some code into a website, Butler reveals which links and buttons people click, as well as the online forms they submit. It can also show how many people view a product page but do not follow-through and place an order. This way, marketers can see if users are having an enjoyable experience with the website.
Connu— As e-books gain more traction, more writers have a chance to connect digitally with readers. However, the team behind Connu believes there is a fundamental disconnect between readers and writers. The Connu platform curates original short stories from emerging writers and will let readers choose to pay what they believe each story is worth. Up to three stories get published weekly on the platform; there is also an archive of stories that can be perused. Connu wants to raise $500,000 to scale up.
The Creative Action Network— When artists get involved in a cause, event, or political action, they can increase attention on an issue. Yet, these efforts may be diffuse and scattered, risk losing some impact. The Creative Action Network is a platform that organizes artists to create works for specific causes and then gathers that material into collections. Those collections can be sold through retail and distribution partners to customers. The founders of The Creative Action Network want to raise $500,000 in a seed round to hire more sales and marketing staff and to promote more campaigns.
Made— Freelance creative-types are always on the hunt for their next project, so the team behind Made created a marketplace to alleviate the hassle of finding such work. The invite-only platform gathers the career details of creative professionals from LinkedIn and other sources and puts together an online portfolio of their creations. Users then indicate the type of work they are interested in. Made’s matchmaking algorithm runs in the background to pair them with potential projects and invites creators to reach out with proposals for the jobs. The team is looking to raise $500,000 (of which $100,000 is already committed) to expand sales staff, refine the algorithm, and then launch the next version of the platform.
Woopie— The name may sound a little silly but the co-founders said it means Write Only Once, Publish It Everywhere. The startup’s software makes digital content more aesthetically pleasing to read on any platform or device. Putting content in different e-reader formats can be time-consuming and costly, according to the founders. Woopie’s team said its competitors tend to either produce PDF-based replicas of content or build content specifically for the iPad. Web-based Woopie takes a different approach and, for example, can format content from a blog to be read on any device. Woopie is looking to raise a seed round of $750,000 for new hires and to expand its reach.
