Chicago’s local incubator, Excelerate Labs, held its demo day yesterday, with the program’s ten startups set to graduate. Excelerate, which offers startups $50,000 in convertible debt from New World Ventures (similar to The Start Fund model), counts Lightbank, New World, DFJ Mercury, OCA Ventures, Draper Associates, Sam Yagan and Troy Henikoff as limited partners.
Here’s a brief look at the startups that are graduating from the incubator.
71lbs: 71lbs is a “set-and-forget” system that allows SMBs to easily collect refunds from FedEx and UPS shipments delivered late – even by 60 seconds.
Whimseybox: Whimseybox is a subscription commerce startup that offers a monthly subscription box for crafts. The box also includes online DIY tips, techniques and full project tutorials.
Cureeo: Cureeo helps you find artwork online. The startup will learn your preferences and find the perfect original or limited edition artwork that suits your tastes.
Fibroblast: Fibroblast closes the loop in healthcare by automating the patient referral process. The startup help patients get the follow up care they need and doctors get referral revenue.
frintit: frintit lets you print and mail your photos for free.
Lasso: Lasso is a communication platform for coordinating plans with friends.
MoxieJean: Moxie Jean is an online consignment sale that makes it easy for moms to buy and sell high-quality, brand-name kids’ clothes.
Orbeus: Orbeus provides an all-in-one solution for cloud-based image processing, including facial, scene, and object recognition, to make visual content searchable and interpretable like text.
Pictarine: Pictarine lets you view the latest photos of people you follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, and Tumblr.
SpotHero: SpotHero removes the hassle of getting a parking spot by allowing drivers to compare and reserve spots from their mobile phone and the web.