On April 28th Technori celebrated its 43rd event at the Chase Auditorium in Chicago. Technori Co-Founder Seth Kravitz opened the event, announcing plans for the event in 10 more cities during 2015, including NYC and Istanbul. “Technori In a Box”, essentially a kit that enables Technori to be executed in other cities, was used to describe Kravitz’s expansion vision. Matt Maloney, GrubHub CEO, then gave the evening’s keynote presentation. Maloney presented about Chicago’s contextual advantages for startups over Silicon Valley and the importance of innovation in organizational culture. After Maloney’s presentation, five startups took the stage.
Clicktivated
Clicktivated is an interactive video platform that creates a dynamic, non-intrusive, and engaging e-commerce experience. Currently in use by the fashion industry, Clicktivated allows a business to enable consumers with the ability to click on various elements of a video, which essentially builds a Pinterest-like bookmark list. For the products in the list, Clicktivated connects to a corresponding e-commerce site, where the consumer can consider purchasing the product(s). Co-Founder and CEO Chris Roebuck has co-founded two other companies, Enlightened Technologies and Sky Apps.
Parche
Parche allows a user to request his/her car and pay for valet parking, all from a mobile device. Users simply scan or enter a ticket number into the app when ready to leave an establishment, then the total valet cost (along with tip and Parche service charge) is charged to a credit card. Once the request is confirmed, the user’s car is on its way. Parche currently works with Chicago bar and restaurant establishments such as Momotaro and Girl & The Goat. Pavel Peneff, Parche Co-Founder and CEO, also co-founded Merx Global.
KiSS
KiSS, dating app currently aimed at teenagers, allows a user to find out their romantic chances with a guy or gal within their social circle in an anonymous manner. Leveraging social media connections, a user can send a request containing their name to a potential mate along with two others contacts. When the potential mate views the request, he/she is presented with the three choices, then given the opportunity to rate. As a result, the user initiating the request can then be informed whether the potential mate is interested in an advance, but if rejected, can continue a normal relationship with the person. The founder of KiSS is the youngest person to present at Technori thus far, Sam Lurye, at age 17.
Nusiki
Nusiki is a content aggregator for music listeners who use social media platforms. During the presentation, Co-Founder Ben Hewitt mentioned Nusiki is a combination of Instagram and Spotify. Nusiki is a single pane of glass to share music in one place, which allows users to listen to any song regardless of library and socialize with connections that have similar musical tastes. Three goals for Nusiki include user acquisition, product development, and implementation of a revenue model. At this time, Nusiki provides data to entities such as bands/artists, record labels, and booking agencies in order to maximize tour efforts.
Brand Amper
Brand Amper, a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, engages employees as partners in the employer branding process. It’s a tool that provides the ability for professionals to create their online personal branding entities by using existing corporate brands. In turn, companies can use Brand Amper to connect brand advocates while enabling processional the ability to strengthen their online presence. The data collected by Brand Amper can offer organizations insights to improve HR/recruiting efforts. Jason Seiden, Co-Founder and CEO, received his MBA from Northwestern University.
