OK, let’s cut to the chase here. We’re looking for The One. One more cool, young startup that could change the world. We’ve got 11 confirmed. We want an even dozen. Do you have what it takes?
The setting: It’s our third annual flagship conference, XSITE, at Babson College on June 16, and the startup “Xpo” goes from 4:00-5:00 pm. The format: Three-minute pitches from our lineup of dynamic entrepreneurs, emceed by Katie Rae of TechStars and Project 11 Ventures. What’s at stake: Exposure to our audience of several hundred investors, executives, entrepreneurs, students, faculty, and service providers; some nice prizes for audience favorites (more on that soon); and beer, lots of beer.
Here are the criteria (which, admittedly, are quite broad):
—Early-stage startup in information technology, healthcare/biotech, or cleantech/energy.
—Potentially transformative in its industry.
—Dynamic founder who will light up the room.
—Hasn’t taken much outside funding yet (seed round or small Series A at most).
—Hasn’t been written up extensively in the media (except Xconomy and maybe one or two others), and hasn’t demoed at a major conference yet.
Given the short notice, this will probably be a New England-based company/entrepreneur. But heck, if you can get here from Seattle, San Francisco, Wichita, Moscow, or Beijing, we want to hear from you too; this is a wild-card entry, after all.
If this sounds like you, drop us a note at [email protected] or write me personally at [email protected], and tell us about your company and why you want to present at XSITE. If you make our Top 5 list, we will provide a free pass to the whole conference. (And even if you think we already know you, you should write in, because in all the excitement we might have temporarily forgotten.)
Here are the 11 startups confirmed for the Xpo so far (most are based in Boston or New England), so you can see how the competition stacks up:
—Altaeros Energies (Alain Goubau)
High-altitude wind turbine. Yes, we’re talking about a tethered, helium-filled blimp that hangs out at 2,000 feet.
—CoolChip Technologies (William Sanchez)
Air-based heat sink for cooling CPUs, servers, and data centers in an efficient way.
—Ginger.io (Karan Singh)
Health and wellness monitoring via mobile phones, to help people analyze and visualize trends in their behavior.
—OsComp Systems (Pedro Santos or Jeremy Pitts)
A new kind of compressor to make natural gas cheaper and more efficient.
—PoKos (Timo Platt)
Point-and-chat social networking. As my colleague Erin puts it: Yes, that stranger across the bar can text you. No, it’s not as scary as it sounds.
—Proper Cloth (Seph Skerritt)
Online customized dress shirts for men. Based in New York City.
—REBIScan (Justin Shaka)
Handheld vision scanner to detect amblyopia or “lazy eye,” the leading cause of preventable blindness in children.
—Smarterer (Jennifer Fremont-Smith)
Online skills testing for jobseekers, recruiters, and human resources.
—STELLAService (Jordy Leiser)
Third-party rating service for online retailers. Based in New York City.
—Strohl Medical (Heather Keith)
Portable stroke detection device for emergency room doctors.
—WaySavvy (Michael Raybman)
Online travel site trying to make it incredibly easy to book a trip.
So let us know if you are a young, exciting startup and want in on the Xpo. We’re looking forward to seeing you all on the 16th.
