NextWeb live blog: Here are live blog notes form the first round of startups pitches. (Apologies for typos, I’ll add more links shortly). [All were looking for funding of some sort except IntroNiche].
CoComment
Their pitch: Very hard to track conversations, but CoComment makes this possible. Comments are the dark matter of the web . You can use tools like feed readers, but quickly you are drowning under a mass of info. CoComment is a simple way to track conversation across the web, classify them. Since Feb 2007, 1 mill users, 14 million conversations tracked, across 240,000 sites. 1400 are using CC directly. Currently raising series B funding. (This was a slightly flat presentation).
eBuddy
Their pitch: Around since 2003. Instant messaging through the Web 12m users. 1.8 m on the mobile, 75k new users a day. Strong in Europe and Americas. One third of Brunei! 1 billion banner impressions a month. IM for everyone. Simple, seamless web and mobile environment. No mashup. Which mobile front end? Mobile browsers don’t support javascript much. Mobile apps have to be downloaded etc. What to do? Do both. eBuddy lite via the browser and also a java app. (Good presentation)
Favorit
Their pitch: Brings social news to the masses. Not via “RSS” (although that underlies the site). The reason is its too techie. The solution is that Fav allows people to find content by categories and tags. You don’t need to understand RSS. [In some respects they compete with Wikio and Twingly]. Integrated commenting into the reader and sends the comments back to the blog. Simple text entry, no need for captcha. Social news portal advertising attention, data dales, branded channels, API infrastructure. Looking for Series A round at some point but not in a hurry. [This was a good pitch ]
Wauw
Their pitch: Launching new product today, a mobile which which is a cross between Twitter Flickr and Slide. Engages users on mobile for social networks and blogs. Upload photos etc from mobile. Integrates in 20 online social nets out there. Browser based, so most handsets will reach it. Mobile User interface. Audio streaming is integrated in the desktop player and video streaming launches later this year. [OK pitch but seems like there is a lot to this service – poss too much?]
IntroNiche
Their pitch: Online classifieds platform for cross promotion. The basics of cross promotion are about a similar niche. The challenges are to find the right partners. So IntroNiche is a platform to allow sites to find other companies that can cross promote between themselves. You place and ad, or browse ,or contact sites direct. Granular platform. (Slightly flat, unexciting presentation, the idea seems “ok”).
Empressr
Their pitch: All your good stuff (pictures, MP3s etc) are stuck on your hard drive, so
Empressr’s drag and drop interface lets you uploads and share your rich media, tag it etc. (Slow pitch, started late, ran over time, felt like style over substance, nice slides though).