Center City : Innovation + Job News

A different State of Young Philly aims to create tangible outcomes

Monday, October 01, 2012

Young Involved Philadelphia (YIP) kicked off its third annual State of Young Philly on Thursday with a standing-room only crowd at the Kimmel Center’s Innovation Studio and full-fledged ambition.

“State of Young Philly, for all intents and purposes, is totally redone from the previous two installments,” says Jason Wolfson, YIP's Programing Committee Chair. “The first two have been very positive in terms of getting people excited, getting people to want to do more, getting people more involved in their community. What we really want to do now is make that tangible.”

Drawing support from over 50 participating change-making organizations, this year’s catalogue offers 12 total events from “key issue” areas: Economy, Education and Sustainability.

Instead of simply listening and networking, participants are guided by action-oriented questions. Sophie Hwang, YIP's Outreach Coordinator, offers an example from the Education Track: “Not everyone has a computer but most everyone has a mobile device. So how can we use mobile technology to better inform parents?”

Last year’s State Of Young Philly gave birth to the educational nonprofit, Philly Core Leaders. This year’s installment encourages similar results, offering $1,000 in seed money to winners of the YIP Challenge.

“People can get inspired by attending the first couple of events, meet new people, build teams and submit a proposal,” Hwang explains.

It’s passion and drive balanced with fun. One night, City Councilman Bill Green’s office hosts a pitch competition for educational entrepreneurs. The next, DIY experts give how-tos on composting, making all natural cosmetics, and altering refrigerator coils to save energy.

“We’re going to have events for everybody, regardless of how knowledgeable you are in a particular field.” Wolfson maintains.

When else can you visit the home of an internationally-renound orchestra and leave with your very own homemade deodorant?

Source: Jason Wolfson, Sophie Hwang, Young Involved Philadelphia
Writer: Dana Henry

Philly Startup Weekend 4.0 delivers new promise

Monday, October 01, 2012

A new crop of startups emerged from Philly Startup Weekend 4.0, held at University Of The Arts this past weekend, with some refreshingly accessible concepts. The winner, Voxx.io, founded by visiting entrepreneur, Josh Hudnall, will use mobile technology to customize the music heard in bars, restaurants and coffee shops to the specific taste of their patrons. In second place, Feed Me, founded by Philly native and Startup Weekend newcomer, Jiate Zhang, proposes an AirBnB-type web platform that connects pizza-wary strangers with people who love to cook. Third place went to Dreamit Ventures alum Michael Raber, for Boxly, a spread-sheet based mobile app that will allow complex on-the-go data collection for both individual and group uses.

Forty-seven pitches, ranging from crowd sourced dental care to street parking aps, were narrowed down to 12 finalists, including a team of local high school students. Startup Weekend had fewer finalists than past startup weekends, but each team was larger with more diversified talent.

“Best bit of feedback I got was ‘This was the most communal startup weekend I’ve been to.’” says event organizer Chris Baglieri says. “I think that’s pretty rad.”

Of all the gifted teams, what determined the winners?

“You can connect with them, maybe a little more so than some of the others," says Baglieri. “Like Voxx.io. I mean you walk into the bars and you see these old jukebox CD things. Those are just kind of antiquated so you can see the appeal.”

In the final day, Feed Me pulled together it’s winning presentation without a programmer or designer and no workable demo. “I’ve worked for a couple of startups doing financial strategy so I’ve seen the full scope of ‘this is awesome, things are going well’ to ‘Oh my God, I think we might not exist anymore.’” Zhang says. “The thing about Sartup Weekend is it’s really effective at simulating those experiences within a day.”

Hot off the recent acquisition of his first start-up, UXFlip, by appRenaissance, Raber delivered again. He’s looking forward to building Boxly and bringing it to the app market. “I have this tablet and I have this Iphone and I’m carrying them everywhere and I’d rather carry that than my laptop,” Raber explains. “Yet it’s so difficult to get information into those devices. I probably have two dozen aps that deal with to-do list or organizing information. I started thinking how can we build a platform that enables people to do what you do on a spreadsheet? ”

Raber was accompanied by his 13 year-old partner and son, Zachary.

“It’s an interesting time to have kids. There’s so much going on in the world and things are changing so quickly, specifically in the technology area.” Raber says. “I like to joke around and say in another 10 years I’ll be working for his startup.”

As for Hudnall, Voxx.io is set to move forward after developing a solid team of six and making some vital connections. “We proved our concept,” Hudnall says. “The biggest thing we needed to know was that we could see a check-in, in real-time and that we could match it up with a musical profile.”

So will Hudnall, who is principal developer and founder of fastPXL, move from Denver, Col., to Philly to realize his latest dream?

“I’m not ruling anything out.” Hudnall concedes. “Philly’s awesome.”

Source: Chris Baglieri, Philly Startup Weekend; Michael Raber, Voxx.io; Josh Hudnall, fastPXL
Writer: Dana Henry

Comcast Internet Essentials, for low-income residents, enters year two with expanded program

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Comcast celebrates the first anniversary of its Internet Essentials Program, declaring it a great success, and is now moving into year two. "In less than a year we've signed up over 100,000 families," says Comcast Corporation Executive Vice President David L. Cohen, who multiplies that number to estimate the number of individuals accessing the low cost service at 400,000.

The average family pays upwards of $150 per month for Comcast's Triple Play package, making home internet access a luxury that's out of reach for the region's many low-income households. But Cohen notes that getting on the web is increasingly vital for employment, services and information. In sheer numbers, adoption for avagerage income Americans is somewhere around 75 to 80%, but for low-income families, the number drops dramatically to under 25%.

Comcast calls Internet Essentials the largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program anywhere in America, providing low-cost broadband service for $9.95 a month, the option to purchase a full-service, Internet ready computer for under $150 and options for digital literacy training in print, online or in-person for eligible families.

New this year are expanded benefits for children enrolled in reduced school lunch programs. Also, says Cohen, Comcast is looking to create an echo chamber effect, getting out information through word of mouth at churches and schools, though neighbors, and via increased reliance on nonprofit partners like OIC.

Cohen adds that it's even easier to sign up this year, and Comcast will follow up with potential customers. "As a public policy matter, it's inconceivable that the ability to access internet should be determined by where you live or your parents' income. This program is designed to level access the playing field."

Interested families can call 855-8-INTERNET, or 855-846-8376, to get started.

Source: David L. Cohen, Comcast
Writer: Sue Spolan

Coming round the mountain: Philly Startup Weekend 4.0

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Here comes the one of the Philly tech community's favorite events: Startup Weekend Philadelphia. Version 4.0 is back at the Univeristy of the Arts, and is being organized by tech twins Melissa Morris-Ivone and Chris Baglieri, who take the reins from Brad Oyler. "UArts has always been incredibly supportive of Startup Weekend," says Baglieri. "The space encourages collaboration, offers teams plenty of space to work, and is in the center of town, with ample nearby parking, so convenient to all."

Morris-Ivone looks forward to standouts from April's event, which hatched Yagglo, Tubelr and SeedInvest. Those companies, among others, are still moving forward. And taking a cue from the concept of leaving a good thing alone to flourish. Morris-Ivone reports there will not be any dramatic changes. "It's a recipe that works," she says.

Adds Baglieri, "Every Startup Weekend is different in terms of the backgrounds it attracts, that's part of what makes every event unique. 4.0 has reached capacity on non-technical tickets. We're strong on the designer front too. While there's a good showing of developers, that's the area that probably needs the greatest promotion. I met Melissa at Startup Weekend 2.0 and that pairing has made a world of difference for me. As a developer, there's nothing quite like finding a partner in crime designer that you can work with. If there was ever a Startup Weekend in this city where a developer can find their designer match, 4.0 seems to be the best so far."

As far as judges, Baglieri and Morris-Ivone say Chris Fralic of First Round Capital returns. "We set out to further diversify the judges panel a bit this time around, involving individuals outside the investor community." New faces on the panel are largely conversions from previous Startup Weekend coaches and include Bob Moul and Ted Mann, as well as Morris-Ivone's colleague Apu Gupta, CEO/Co-founder of Curalate.

You can register for Startup Weekend through Eventbrite.

Source: Chris Baglieri, Melissa Morris-Ivone, Startup Weekend Philly
Writer: Sue Spolan

Computer security startup Carbon Black moving HQ to Philadelphia

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, September 11, 2012

"We've broken into countless networks, all for the right purposes," says Mike Viscuso, CEO of computer security startup Carbon Black. The hackers for good are moving headquarters to Philadelphia. "We think we are building a foundation to change the internet."

Viscuso was born in the Philadelphia area and attended Villanova University, but moved to Virginia and co-founded Kyrus, a computer security company that specializes in discovering vulnerability to attacks. "We never once failed to break a network," says Viscuso, who breached computer systems of both government and commercial clients to discover and fix virtual unlocked doors and windows.

After doing a huge amount of forensics work following an attack, a flash of inspiration struck. "We needed the digital equivalent of a surveillance camera for your computer. We decided to build one. If there is an incident, you can roll back the tape."

Building on the success of Kyrus, which began with $50,000 in funding and reported $3 million in revenue last year, Carbon Black is seeking a Series A round of funding.

Carbon Black partner and CTO Ben Johnson is now based in Chicago. Viscuso cites several reasons for the move to Philadelphia. He's got family in the area, it's convenient to both DC and New York, and unlike Kyrus, which has a focus on government contracts, Carbon Black seeks to target large enterprises.

The white-hat hackers stumble upon untoward stuff all the time, reports Viscuso, but maintains an integrity that clients can trust. "It's been a fun job. It's easy for me to wake up. I'm excited every day. Hacking is so in vogue now. People who hack for fun tend to publicize their crimes," says Viscuso, who prefers to remain silent, but deadly against the black hats of the world.

Source: Mike Viscuso, Carbon Black
Writer: Sue Spolan

Yellow Pages on steroids: Seva Call launches in Philadelphia

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Seva Call's Manpreet Singh is a prodigy. After founding a dot com in high school called Desi Vibes, a south Asian social network, he went on to work with Profit Investment Management, a DC based investment management firm, growing assets from $20 million to 2 billion. He got his MBA from Wharton in 2009, and now he and his brother Gurpreet have launched Seva Call, which went live two months ago in the DC area and is expanding to Philadelphia. Singh calls it "a free virtual concierge service for people in need of service assistance. It’s like the Yellow Pages on steroids."

When Gurpreet Singh came up with the idea a few years ago, Manpreet says he didn't take it seriously. Gurpreet was running a small IT repair business, and spent a lot on advertising. But in about 40% of incoming calls, Gupreet found he could not help the consumer. He was too far away, or already booked. He wondered why there couldn't be a system to address a specific problem at a specific time, and Seva Call was born.

Say you have a clogged toilet and you want it fixed Wednesday morning. You plug in your request and the Seva Call algorithm connects you to a contractor.

Ranking of contractors has two components: Seva Call scrapes sites like Yelp, Google reviews, Facebook and Twitter to get consumer ratings, and contractors bid on a pay per call basis, which runs anywhere from $8 to 42 per placement. The system is also reactive, and will change the priority based on customer feedback, so a contractor's higher bid is not a guarantee of top placement in the queue.

"Generating revenue is not our main focus," says Manpreet Singh, who raised a $1.3 million Series A angel and VC funding round last fall.

Seva Call is launching in Philadelphia with more than 12,000 local professionals in 50 different industry categories, including computer repair, plumbing, roofing, maid service, and auto glass repair.

Seva means service in a number of South Asian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi and Punjabi.

Source: Manpreet Singh, Seva Call
Writer: Sue Spolan

Philly Geek Awards 2012: Girls, tears and robot-on-robot action

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Philadelphia loves its geeky girls, as evidenced by the preponderance of female award winners at the 2012 Philadelphia Geek Awards. Geek of the Year went to Tristin Hightower, cofounder of Girl Geek Dinners, and Event of the Year went to Women in Tech Summit.

"Girls, if you are a little bit tech or geek curious, Philly is a good place to be," remarked Hightower. When CloudMine's Brendan McCorkle posted her quote on twitter, Nick Robalik quipped, "Maybe even binary-curious."

Geekadelphia's Eric Smith, co-organizer of the sold-out, black tie event with Tim Quirino, reports that an overflow audience of 500 attended at the Academy of Natural Sciences. "The museum was sold out last year, and was sold out again this year in record time," says Quirino. "It's incredible to see a packed house dressed to the nines just to support the local Geek community."

A sci-fi inspired, LED-enhanced podium glowed in an ever changing rainbow of color and video. The awards themselves, created by NextFab Studio, also glowed. The podium and visuals were created by Klip Collective. Quirino says of the awards, "NextFab took my robot illustration to a whole new level. Robotic lasers cut the form of the robot out of clear, thick, acrylic and etched the details in. Imagine that. A robot creating a robot! Then they built the base out of wood, which housed a simple electronic circuit that contained three LED lights that lit up the acrylic robot making it look like a hologram from afar."

"The passionate speeches by some of the winners were really quite moving. Scientist of the Year, Youngmoo Kim from Drexel University, and Geek of the Year, Tristin Hightower, gave particularly lovely speeches," says Smith. Adds Quirino, "Eric doesn't want to admit that he teared up a little bit. It's ok, Eric. I did too."

Kim says, "I was honored to be nominated alongside my Drexel colleague Andy Hicks, who does amazing things with light and mirrors using mathematics. And Paul Ehrlich is a giant in the field of population biology. Hopefully this award highlights the incredible work being done by scientists and researchers throughout the region.

"I met a bunch of people doing very cool things spanning all kinds of 'geek-doms.' I mentioned this during my acceptance speech, but I absolutely believe that within the auditorium, there's the collective intelligence, passion, and experience, in short the 'geekiness,' to address some really tough problems (education, unemployment, digital literacy) and transform Philadelphia. And I look forward to working together with everyone to make that happen. And whoever put together the podium (very cool trapezoidal obelisk with video projections on the surfaces) should receive a special award. That was awesome!"

Accepting the award for Startup of the Year, Curalate's Apu Gupta said, "We have to thank all the 13-year-old girls out there. Because they use Pinterest. Also, Brendan likes them."

Other winners included Zoe Strauss, for her Foursquare campaign associated with the citywide photography exhibit earlier this year; BlueCadet Interactive won for Web Development Team of the Year; the Viral Project of the Year went to the Opera Company of Philadelphia's Random Acts of Culture, and Hacker of the Year was Georgia Guthrie. A complete list of winners can be found here, and you can see pics of attendees taken by Photobot 3000 here.

How drunk did Smith get at the afterparty that went for hours at National Mechanics? "No comment. Though if anyone found a size 10 shoe (right) at National Mechanics, please email me at [email protected]." We heard you had a big shoe, Eric.

Source: Eric Smith, Tim Quirino, Youngmoo Kim, Apu Gupta, Tristin Hightower, Phillly Geek Awards
Writer: Sue Spolan

Center City's HigherNext gets an A for funding; hiring marketer, developer

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, August 07, 2012

You come out of school, a whole lot of money spent on that degree, and the next thing you know it's nearly impossible to get a job. "We help students and recent college grads make a less painful and more efficient entry into the job market," says John J. Brady, COO of HigherNext. "It's a very tough market right now for those folks." Consider a confounded 22 year old, fortified with a college degree, playing by the rules, and emerging into a very tight market.

HigherNext revealed late last week that it is about to close its second round of funding led by Next Stage Capital, with 83% already spoken for, and the remainder just about in the bag. The Center City based startup, with offices at Venturef0rth, began life in May 2011.

HigherNext administers a Certified Business Laureate skills test which rates aptitude in a variety of employer friendly areas: marketing, accounting, finance, Microsoft Office skills and writing.

For just $79, the test taker answers HigherNext's questions at any computer, with proctoring via webcam. Brady calls the process super secure, and it comes with a money back guarantee at the laureate level. Test results, says Brady, likening them to Advanced Placement exams prior to college, provide prospective employers with a very detailed analysis of a candidate's skill set.

"The higher ed community has been getting a lot of pressure from several presidential administrations about outcomes based assessment," says Brady. "There's a lot of discourse on the cost of higher education. We believe it is worth it. We feel it is our place to help those students who wish to stand out, regardless of where they went to school."

HigherNext now has 5 employees, with two more open positions for a marketing account manager and a web developer. Brady says that while he is not at liberty to disclose specific numbers, registrants for the Certified Business Laureate test are now in the thousands. HigherNext also runs a blog filled with tips for job seekers, and offers a free crash course in business skills.

Source: John J. Brady, HigherNext
Writer: Sue Spolan

United By Blue's do-good approach to apparel working well, hiring 'several' in coming months

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 31, 2012

They do the work of a non-profit, but United By Blue is a for profit company. Started by Temple University grad Brian Linton, the clothing company, guided by a deep sense of social entrepreneurship, aims to clean up the world's waterways.

Linton, an American by birth who grew up in Asia, founded the eco-entrepreneurial venture in 2010. He says, "We sell sustainable apparel that leverages technology, social media and environmental activism."

Now 200 stores in the US and 60 stores in Japan carry the United by Blue clothing line, in addition to online sales. The company headquarters is at 12th and Callowhill, where seven are employed full-time and Linton says there are plans to hire several more staffers in the next few months. United By Blue is set to hire a full-time developer within the next few weeks, bringing a job that was previously outsourced in house. UBB also hosts up to eight interns per semester in the spring, summer and fall.

For every product sold, UBB removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways through company organized and hosted cleanups. "We've done 85 cleanups in 17 US states, removing 138,000 pounds of trash, working with about 1,900 volunteers," says Linton.

UBB also has two major corporate partnerships. Subaru of America donated two new Outbacks in April 2012, and a co-branded line of apparel sells on the Subaru website as well as in dealerships. "We wouldn't have expected it from a car company, but they can move a significant amount of apparel. The Subaru customer is the United By Blue customer." UBB also partnered with Sperry, known best for its sailing shoes and apparel.

The concept behind the company name is that we are all united by blue. We all need water to live. Its not a theory; it's a fact.

"Life does not exist without water," says Linton, a seasoned world traveler. "Water on the streets of Philadelphia could be on streets of Beijing years later. If we mistreat water, the implications are for the whole world."

To date, UBB has been bootstrapped and is self-sustaining, and Linton says that the company will be looking to raise a round of funding this fall to pursue more retail outlets as well as bolster its online presence.

Source: Brian Linton, United By Blue
Writer: Sue Spolan

Growth by shrinkage: DocDep moving to Logan Circle, expanding offerings

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Farid Naib founded Document Depository Corporation to solve a problem in his own business, and gambled that the organization of documents was a pain point for many venture capital and private equity companies. With the disappearance of physical file cabinets, DocDep, as it's better known, steps in to provide organized storage of business paperwork.

"When I sold my company to a publicly traded French firm, we were doing due diligence. We needed tax returns from Singapore from 4 or 5 years ago. We were running a pretty global operation," says Farid of his previous company FNX Limited. "We moved offices several times. Some things got misplaced; some things were in Japanese. We took a million dollar valuation hit because corporate governance didn't appear to be in place. GL TRADE, the company that acquired FNX, required a $3.5M warrant escrow. They held onto it for 3 years. For a little bit of software we could have avoided that pain."

The escrow was subsequently returned, but Naib saw a clear need.

The company, founded in 2009, is moving to new quarters at 2 Logan Circle in Center City, but rather than expanding physical space, it's contracting a bit, even as it grows in other ways. It is a fitting move for DocDep, which is all about efficiency and shrinking a business footprint to manageable size with two main revenue-generating products: Radar, for document management, and Sonar, specifically aimed at investment management for VC and PE companies and increasingly relevant in light of reforms brought about by the Dodd-Frank Act.

In 2010, DocDep received $100,000 in funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA, and in 2011 raised a seed round led by Robin Hood Ventures.

"The DocDep plan for growth, now and in the future, is to continue expanding sales by consistently adding functionality and developing our products," says Naib, who is busy at work planning the company's next release to follow SmartCap, the free online cap table tool released in February of this year. "It will be a variation of the products we already offer; we will be developing an app that will cater to the High Net Worth Individual. Just the like our apps we are currently offering, it will assist in the organization and management of critical information. This High Net Worth Individual app will focus on managing personal investments and real estate, and organizing important information such as wills, trusts, and financials. "

Naib is also spending less time at DocDep HQ since he became an operating partner at LLR Partners, a growth private equity firm based at the Cira Center. He says has no plans at this point to sell DocDep.

Source: Farid Naib, DocDep
Writer: Sue Spolan

Free and Open Source Software Convention coming to Philly next month

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The creators and supporters of free and open source software have always bucked the current of commercialization. It's events like FOSSCON, the Free and Open Source Software Convention, that allow developers to gather and gain strength in numbers. FOSSCON 2012 takes place Saturday, Aug. 11, at Venturef0rth at 8th and Callowhill.

Organizers are looking for free software enthusiasts, user group members, coders and users to join them at the grassroots event, aimed at creating a common meeting place for people all over the Northeast US.

"We've been doing FOSSCON for 3 years now," says Jonathan Simpson, event coordinator. "The first year was actually in upstate New York, but we moved to Philly. I live outside Philly myself so it's personally a lot easier running an event an hour away instead of several." Plus, he adds, Philly is a pretty FOSS-friendly city.

The event features six general-interest talks, and workshops on topics including development, community building, hackerspace activities, and more. Ubuntu PA and Hive76 will be on hand for demonstrations and workshops.

The community will have a chance to explore topics from 3D printing to privacy. Keynote is Bradley M. Kuhn, Executive Director of the Software Freedom Conservancy.

"There are other FOSS events around the world and in the US," says Simpson, who mentions CPOSC in Harrisburg, and SELF, which serves the Southeasterm US. "This is the only one that goes by the FOSSCON name, but there is a longer term plan to spawn others."

FOSS tends to put control in the hands of users, says Simpson, and that represents a threat to the control of media companies, as well as to most of corporate America. "FOSS, as well as the culture it encourages, endangers that control." Simpson also cites Linode, which has been a conference sponsor for years, as a great example of a successful services based FOSS company.

"The temptation to close the source of software is real, especially in the startup world where competition is really aggressive. FOSS are beneficial in the long run, but those benefits are often ignored to protect short term gains. Reminding computer scientists and entrepreneurs of the benefits of FOSS, and that their latest project is 90% dependent of those FOSS softwares, is important work," says Simpson.

Basic admission to FOSSCON is free, but organizers encourage attendees to level up to paid admission of $25 to help keep the event open to as many people as possible.

Source: Jonathan Simpson, FOSSCON
Writer: Sue Spolan

Next month's Geek Awards will be ladies night

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

After the Philadelphia Geek Awards organizers finalized the nominees for next month's big bash at the Academy of Natural Sciences, something else had changed besides the categories for the second installment of what organizers have lovingly described as the Daytime Emmys version of the Webbys.

"It wasn't until after we finished going through nominations that we realized there were more women this year," says Tim Quirino, cofounder of Geekadelphia, the all-things-geeky blog and community that continues to grow.

Make no mistake, this year's Geek Awards -- already sold out for Aug. 17 (but overflow tickets have just been released) - are indicative of Philadelphia's feminine firepower. No fewer than nine lady nominees dominate the event's 14 categories, which moved away from the "new" theme to include more static categories (like Indie Game Developer of the Year) that will have more staying power.

Most notably, three women are up for Geek of the Year, including Tristin Hightower (Girl Geek Dinners), Gerri Trooskin (Franklin Institute) and Roz Duffy (TEDxPhilly).

Last year, only five women were represented individually among all the nominees. While the influx of women in the program might not have been entirely deliberate, it is clearly a product of Geekadelphia opening up the nomination process, receiving upward of 100 pages of nominations from across the region.

"Thanks to cool events like the Women in Tech conference and cool organizations like TechGirlz and Girl Develop It, I'm constantly hearing about the interesting things (local women in tech) are up to," says Geekadelphia cofounder Eric Smith. "The increase in nominations reflect them being passionate about making themselves heard."

Says Quirino: "There are more women doing things in the Philadelphia tech scene than before."

And next month, one of them will be called Geek of the Year.

Source: Eric Smith, Tim Quirino, Geekadelphia
Writer: Joe Petrucci

Need funding? Challenge a billionaire to a chess match for $1M in Series A funding like this guy did

Flying Kite Media Thursday, July 19, 2012

How to get the attention of a billionaire? Challenge him to a game of chess. AJ Steigman came up with the idea to play a high stakes chess match with Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, venture capitalist, and top ranked player.

Steigman, who recently relocated his company Soletron to Philadelphia, is looking to win a million dollars in series A funding if he can checkmate Thiel.

"Peter and I have very similar backgrounds in chess," says Steigman, who is ranked 2,274 internationally and 2,283 in the US, compared to Thiel, who ranks 2,199 internationally and 2,287 in the US. "In today's economic climate, a lot of people don't have the resources to go after their dreams. This match would signal something to the market, and to entrepreneurs, that unconventional tactics pay off."

Steigman, a chess prodigy who's been getting media coverage for his game since age 5, is no stranger to the big leagues. After co-founding Soletron in 2010 with Shane Robinson, he has already created strategic partnerships with top names: Bruce Chizen, former CEO of Adobe and Oracle board member; AND1's Tom Austin; Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes; and VCs John Friedman, founder of Easton Capital, and Bob Rice from Tangent Capital. Soletron's legal counsel is Baer Crossey, located here in Philadelphia.

Steigman describes Soletron as Etsy for street wear, and Spotify for retail. "Soletron is a social networking e-commerce platform in lifestyle retail verticals." Holding no inventory of its own, Soletron provides a platform for up and coming designers in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Philly.

The social aspect of Soletron is blowing up, with enormous growth, from 1,000 followers in February to 82,000 today. The company blog boasts 5,000 articles, and Steigman says a patent-pending social networking technology is the driving force moving forward.

Steigman is currently participating in a summer internship program at Wharton, and plans to make Philadelphia his permanent home, after living in over seven cities in the past year. "I really want to relocate and centralize," says the South Florida native.

The chess match concept appeals to an international audience, and is beginning to get worldwide press. Steigman awaits Thiel's response. "I don't know any sport or activity where someone has challenged someone else for an investment."

Source: AJ Steigman, Soletron
Writer: Sue Spolan

DreamIt's new managing director eyes 'high-impact' expansion

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Bringing Karen Griffith Gryga on board as Managing Director at Dreamit Ventures last month has a whole lot of strategic advantage. The co-founder of FashInvest and Executive Director at MidAtlantic Investors Group, Gryga provides the five-year plan for Dreamit's growth. DreamIt has cachet in the startup world.

Continuing to grow an international presence, Gryga joins Managing Partner Kerry Rupp overseeing day to day operations. Rather than see the accelerator as discrete cycles, Gryga's vision extends to overall growth down the line. "Kerry and I are joined at the hip these days," says Gryga, who holds a dual Wharton MBA and Masters in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Gryga is a multitasker. Her background in computer systems dovetails with her interest in fashion and design, and her venture capital chops will facilitate oversight of DreamIt operations in both geographic and fiscal progress. "The idea is an expansion of resources," she says of her dual experience in raising and managing funds. "I started in the industry in the early 90s. The Dreamit model is so compelling. You have very successful entrepreneurs in both the founders and the companies. It's almost harking back to the original days of VC."

Gryga cautions that Dreamit's accelerator model is not infinitely scalable. "The power in the model is the intensive hands on process between mentors and entrepreneurs. The focus is on expanding in a way that's high impact, not that's everywhere."

Now in its New York/Israel cycle for summer 2012, Gryga is putting her many talents to use as a mentor for Israeli Dreamit startup Bazaart. "They really had a good tech foundation in terms of proprietary technology. It's very early in the development of their product. We put in a lot of brainstorming into focus, direction and approach. Within a matter of weeks to arriving in the US, they met with the CEO of Free People and the Hearst Media CEO. They're having conversations you would never expect anyone in a pre-beta state to have."

Gryga reports that the Dreamit managing team is now sifting through around 400 applications received by the July 6 deadline for Philly's fall 2012 program. Participating companies will be announced in late July or early August and once again will be in residence at the University City Science Center.

Source: Karen Griffith Gryga, DreamIt Ventures
Writer: Sue Spolan

Uber riding steady in Philly, eyes growth here and beyond

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Being a baller is not gender specific. Uber, the new black car service in Philadelphia, is a heck of a guy magnet (it works wonders on chicks, too). Launched here last month, Uber takes taxicabs to task, providing concierge level service for just a few dollars more. Most rides within Center City cost the $15 minimum. And it's hella sexy to pick up your date in a chauffeur driven limo.

Uber just announced tiered service here, following the lead of New York and San Francisco, two other Uber-serviced cities. If you want a standard town car, it's $15, and a swanky SUV goes for $25. In the first weeks of the service, it was the luck of the draw. Sometimes a celebrity style whip showed up, and other times it was the sedan. Now it's possible to choose.

Uber relies on a smartphone app, available for Android and iOS. Launch Uber to get a map of currently available drivers, click to order, and you'll be set for pickup. Along the way, you receive SMS updates about the location of your driver. You can set pickup for another location. One customer, according to Adria Hou, Philadelphia General Manager for Uber, sets his Uber pickup from 30th Street Station while on the Amtrak coming down from New York. Credit card information is already stored, so no cash changes hands.

Hou says Uber marketing relies solely on word of mouth, and that week over week growth here is in line with total company growth. Based in San Francisco, with a total of 60 employees and $44.5 million in venture funding, Uber provides on demand car service in 13 cities internationally, with plans to expand next to Atlanta, Denver and Dallas. Expansion in Washington, D.C., however, has proved dicey.

The main challenge is growing the customer base, says Hou. "Our core users are the tech community." From there, word spreads. Once you experience an Uber ride, it's a challenge to go back to the standard taxi experience. While the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which is in charge of the city's taxicab medallion service, may grumble, Hou says Uber is in compliance with the rules. "It's about places where it's hard to get a cab," says Hou. Locations like Fishtown and South Philly are pain points where Uber works most efficiently.

The lean three person Philadelphia team is headquartered at SeedPhilly at 1650 Arch, and will grow over time, says Hou. Uber currently operates between 50 to 100 cars, working in partnership with a variety of already existing limo services here in the city.

Source: Adria Hou, Uber
Writer: Sue Spolan