Dogpatch Labs Unveils New Brood

Dogpatch Labs, the self-described “frathouse for geeks” has revealed the new class of start-ups that will inhabit its San Francisco location for the next six months. Starting this Saturday, the residents will have access to free office space, internet, coffee, lunch and other perks like visiting advisers, conferences and workshops. The program, backed by Polaris Venture Partners, features a mix of new and former residents, some of which are pretty notable, including Formspring, Burbn, JibJab, StickyBits, and Animoto. Full list with descriptions (Dogpatch Labs’ descriptions are in italics) below:

New San Francisco Residents:

TaskRabbit (formerly runmyerrand.com)
Helps individuals and small businesses in a community outsource their tasks and deliveries, leveraging the latest technology and the social networking paradigm.
According to the site, you can sign up for free or just post a task. You put a price tag on the task and a runner will select the job (average response time is 30 minutes). When the task is complete you pay and then score the runner based on his or her performance. Most tasks will pay $10 to $15, but runners can make counteroffers or bid on the task.

Wild Pockets
Is an end to end solution that supports creators throughout the life cycle of 3D game development.
Currently in open beta, Wild Pockets was spun off from the Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (it was originally named Sim Ops Studio). The service, which is free, describes itself as an “easier way to make 3D games and media for the web-browser.” Wild Pockets features a browser-based 3D game engine, file hosting, and a library of game assets.

AdCru
Is a pay-per-follower ad network for Twitter founded in September 2009.
Calling itself a “self-service” online marketplace, AdCru brings advertisers and developers together and helps advertisers target users based on keywords or location. Developers can integrate AdCru on their site through a javascript widget and revenues are split with AdCru.

Burbn
Is a new way to communicate + share in the real world.
Still in stealth mode, Burbn is a location-based web app that uses HTML5. Founded by former Google employee, Kevin Systrom, the company received a $550,000 round of seed funding in March from Andreessen Horowitz and Baseline Ventures. See previous coverage.

Recurly
Makes subscription billing easy for developers and organizations of all sizes
Recurly tries to help other companies simplify the billing process for subscription based payment systems. The company recently expanded international support and introduced a tiered fee structure to make their pricing model more flexible. Recurly recently received an undisclosed amount of angel funding from investor Dave McClure. See previous coverage.

FanPop
Is a network of user-generated fan clubs for different topics of interest created and maintained by the community of fans.
FanPop, founded in 2006, allows users to share thoughts, video, photos with other fans. There’s a wide variety of fan clubs on the site but many of the most popular topics are centered on music and entertainment. See previous coverage.

JibJab
Headquartered in Santa Monica and founded by Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, and backed by Polaris, JibJab is a leading e-Card business.
The company behind many of the web’s more humorous customizable videos, like ElfYourself. The site has also made some interesting partnerships with the likes of Weird Al and Soul Train. JibJab has received a total of $16.9 million in funding over three rounds. See previous coverage.

StickyBits
Brings the physical and digital worlds together with barcode stickers which trigger audio, video, photo, and text messages when scanned.
Stickybits, which has $300,000 in funding from Polaris, was founded by Billy Chasen, the original programmer of Chartbeat, and Seth Goldstein, founder of SocialMedia. It is a mobile app that lets you scan a barcode and attach a message, video, photo or voice note to that code. The app itself is free, and you can use any barcode, but you can also purchase barcode stickers from Stickybits (a pack of 20 is $10). See previous coverage.

Animoto
Generates custom, professional-looking slideshows from user-uploaded music and photos. Their “patent-pending Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology and high-end motion design” drives the web app.
Using a freemium model, Animoto lets users submit photos and music to creates sleek slideshows. Rivals include Slide and RockYou. The company, which turned cash flow positive in 2009, has so far raised $5 million in funding. See previous coverage.

LearnBoost
Is an education platform for secondary schools.
LearnBoost provides web-based software for students, parents, teachers and admins of grades K-12. For example, there are tools for real time collaboration, online gradebooks for teachers and parents can quickly access grades and track their child’s performance across classes and years.

Millenial Media
Delivers the largest reach – 83% of the US mobile audience – through the largest mobile advertising network in the US.
With access to a large mobile media audience in the US, Millenial Media works with advertisers trying to reach mobile consumers and publishers trying to maximize ad revenues. The company recently released an iPad specific SDK. Founded in Baltimore, Millennial has enjoyed robust growth, acquiring TapMetrics in February and raising $37.3 million since its 2006 launch.
See previous coverage.

Current Residents:

Formspring
Ask questions, give answers and learn more about your friends.
Formspring tries to simplify the creation, management and sharing of online data and forms. One of the company’s more popular services, Formspring.me, helps users create quick online Q&As. It’s a very simple process: you invite people to ask questions which you can then answer. People can post questions anonymously or identify themselves, and you can pick and choose which questions you want to answer.
See previous coverage.

Hollrr
Want to help your friends discover a great new product? A quick Hollrr is the easiest way to let them know what deserves a shout out.
Hollrr combines a social network and user-based product reviews. The company, which was founded by former Microsoft employee David Hegarty, merges social recommendation and game mechanics (Hollrr features a badge system). See previous coverage.

FanPulse
Welcomes you to your world of sports. FanPulse is a new sports-service that lets you easily follow the sports you love and talk about them with your real friends.
FanPulse, founded in 2009, includes features like custom feeds, game check-ins and personalized scoreboards.

Trazzler
Helps you answer one question, “Where should I go?” by recommending trips unique to your location and Travel Personality.
Trazzler facilitates the trip planning process, helping users discover interesting trips based on their preferences and location. The company, which was founded in 2008, has raised a total of $1.15 million.

Mr. Tweet
Looks through your extended network to help you find effective relationships and information most relevant to yourself.
Mr.Tweet, founded in 2008, combs your Twitter stream and extended network and helps you identify the key influencers that you should be following. The company has made 12 million new connections since its launch.

Egghaus
Is an interactive agency. We help our clients create and deploy engaging branded experiences on every consumer platform.
The social marketing firm was founded by Rob Abbott (eBay, Ribbit) in 2008. Clients have included Condé Nast, Macy’s, Cisco and eBay.

startupSQUARE
Is a marketplace where entrepreneurs can meet one another and brainstorm their next big business idea.
The mission of StartupSquare is to provide a support service for startups and entrepreneurs. Its a place where people can find co-founders, collaborate on ideas and access tools to help their startup get going and find funding.

Formative Labs
Working on ideas that solve problems and change consumer behaviors.
This company is still in stealth mode but intersects with the green living market.

Twylah
Personal assistant on Twitter.
This company is still in stealth mode and there is no available homepage yet.

Thumbgear
This company is still in stealth mode but focuses on mobile gaming.