We Have Liftoff: The Web 2.0 Expo Launch Pad

Earlier this afternoon, six startups had five minutes each to present their wares onstage to a panel of VCs and an audience at the Web 2.0 Expo Launch Pad. Panelists gave feedback to the companies in real-time, and depending on how well they did, had the option to “offer these applicants non-binding term sheets for financing”.

In the end, Triggit was named as the people’s choice for best startup of Launch Pad.

You can read about each contender below.

Acquia – Acquia intends to provide products that improve on the open source Drupal social publishing system. Projects in development include Spokes, a notification system, and Caliper, a spam and content monitoring service.

Chirp – Chirp’s flagship product, chirpscreen, streams media and information from top social networking and media sites to your desktop. Information can be presented as part of either a desktop application or a screensaver, and content is aggregated from top sites including Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and eBay.

Oortle – We covered Oortle’s upcoming new product videophlow earlier today, but here’s a recap: Oortle provides products that bring the community aspect back to sharing media. Their current release is photophlow (currently in invite-only beta), which provides an interactive flickr experience.

JobScore – The job hunt can be just as tough on employers as it is on prospective applicants. JobScore aims to provide a comprehensive solution to help facilitate the process. Employers can easily publish ads to all of the top career sites, and JobScore rates candidates by relevant criteria. Employers can also refer candidates to other members of the site (for a price, if they wish), further expediting the process.

TradeVibes – This site provides a community for people interested in startups, allowing users to share opinions, ratings, and discussions about them. Its profiles include brief overviews and other relevant information about companies. (Disclaimer: This site is a direct rip-off of CrunchBase).

Triggit – With a single line of JavaScript, Triggit lets website publishers easily add advertising to their sites with a simple WYSIWYG editor. Ads can be pulled from sites including Shopping.com and the Amazon affiliate program. Users can also easily add content from YouTube and Flickr. The software is especially appealing to publishers in the long tail who might not otherwise have the savvy to monetize their sites. Today Trigit announced support for integration with Google AdSense to widespread applause.