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Showing posts with label MICROSOFT VENTURES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MICROSOFT VENTURES. Show all posts
Monday, April 27, 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
1871 AND MICROSOFT VENTURES ANNOUNCE THE PARTICIPATION OF 1871 MEMBER COMPANIES IN THE SEATTLE MICROSOFT VENTURES ACCELERATOR PROGRAM
1871 AND MICROSOFT VENTURES ANNOUNCE THE PARTICIPATION OF 1871 MEMBER COMPANIES IN THE SEATTLE MICROSOFT VENTURES ACCELERATOR PROGRAM
1871 Member Companies
ClearContact and ParkNav will Benefit from the Mentor-Driven
Four-Month Program
Focused on Digital Works
CHICAGO
(March 24, 2015)—1871,
Chicago’s entrepreneurial
hub for digital startups, and Microsoft Ventures are proud to announce the
selection of 1871 member companies ClearContract and ParkNav to participate in
the digital work-themed Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in Seattle, Washington
this spring.
The
Microsoft Ventures team hosted open houses around the country with the purpose
of attracting digital startups to apply for the four-month accelerator program.
Leveraging the extensive partnership between 1871 and Microsoft Ventures, they
hosted a Chicago open house at the digital startup incubator in The Merchandise
Mart. During this open house, seven local startups had the opportunity to pitch
their businesses to a sold-out crowd of investors, entrepreneurs, and the
Microsoft Ventures team. This, according to the team, was the best-attended
event nation wide, with a greater outcome than all other open houses combined.
“Our primary goal at 1871 is to
help Chicago’s best digital designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs succeed in
creating sustainable businesses,”
said 1871 CEO, Howard A. Tullman. “With partners like Microsoft Ventures, we are able to
provide exciting opportunities that deliver meaningful, long-term benefits to
our members as well as the larger Chicago tech community.”
“The focus of our accelerator program
is to help entrepreneurs build great companies,” said Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in
Seattle Director, Mukund Mohan. “Leveraging
our partnerships, we are able to
provide direct support to the best
entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country, and the world. As a startup hub,
1871 embodies Chicago’s natural drive to innovate in the
digital age and Microsoft Ventures’ determination to foster great technology in
business.”
The
Seattle Microsoft Ventures accelerator program kicked off on March 16, and will
end on July 16 with a demo day. With a digital works theme, the accelerator
will focus on enterprise solutions, productivity, and B2B solutions while
implementing Microsoft technology to the participating businesses. Besides
Chicago-based ClearContract and ParkNav, companies from Michigan, New York,
California, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and Canada are also part of the
program.
"We could not ask for a
better partner in growing and scaling our business than Microsoft Ventures,” said ClearContract COO,
Kyle Cushing. “We’re extremely excited to collaborate with the other fantastic
companies in the program, and also to leverage the breadth of talent within the
Microsoft ecosystem to help us bring ClearContract to businesses across the
globe."
“Being selected for the program means
not only that we are able to work together with other amazing companies and
talented people, but also receiving tutelage from the folks at Microsoft to
help us take ParkNav to the next level,” said ParkNav VP of Business
Development, Gerhard Boiciuc.
ClearContract
is a technology that makes it painless to distribute, negotiate, sign, file,
and manage contractual agreements so that dealmakers can eliminate risk and
spend more time closing.
ParkNav is a technology that helps drivers reduce the time they spend searching for available street parking. The technology is predictive and uses big data, crowdsourcing, and machine learning to help drivers save 50 percent of their search time and reduce pollution in our cities.
About 1871
1871 is the home of more than 325
early-stage, high-growth digital startups. Located in The Merchandise Mart,
this 75,000 square foot facility is also the headquarters of nationally
recognized accelerators, Techstars Chicago and Impact Engine; half a dozen
industry-specific incubators in key areas such as real estate, education
technology, food and financial technology; several emerging tech talent schools
(The Starter League, CodeFellows, Flatiron, The Fullbridge Program,
Designation, and the Startup Institute), and the state's leading technology
advocate, the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition. It is the second home
to Chicago-based VCs, Pritzker Group, MATH Ventures, Hyde Park Angels, OCA
Ventures, OurCrowd and Chicago Ventures, as well as satellite offices for
Northwestern University, University of Illinois, University of Chicago, Loyola
University, Illinois Institute of Technology, and DeVry. 1871 has fast become
recognized as the hub for the city’s
entrepreneurial/technology ecosystem and has been featured in TechCrunch, Wall
Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business among other top media. 1871 is the flagship project
of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center.
About
Microsoft Ventures
Microsoft Ventures is a global initiative to help
entrepreneurs build great companies. We work with startups at every stage of
maturity to provide the tools, resources, and expertise they need to succeed.
The initiative is broad-based, and includes a community program, accelerators,
and a seed fund. Our approach helps startups scale their business, bring
innovative services to market and reach new customers.
Monday, January 26, 2015
MICROSOFT VENTURES DIRECTOR HANAN LAVY TO VISIT 1871 AND HOST WEEK-LONG CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
MICROSOFT
VENTURES DIRECTOR HANAN LAVY TO VISIT 1871 AND HOST WEEK-LONG CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Twelve Companies will Benefit from Direct Tutelage and
Immersive Experience with Microsoft Ventures Accelerator Director
CHICAGO (January ##, 2015)—1871 will welcome Microsoft Ventures Accelerator
Director Hanan Lavy this week to conduct a four-day workshop on customer
development for twelve startup companies working
out of 1871. Lavy’s workshop
will focus on operational
and strategic management and marketing plans for
customer acquisition.
1871 and Microsoft Ventures launched their partnership in early 2014 to provide
development opportunities for 1871 member
startups. Funding, technology, mentorship, and programming such as the upcoming
customer development workshop are some of the resources Microsoft Ventures
provides to early-stage entrepreneurs to help them
build strong businesses and improve their prospects for success.
“The primary goal of
1871 is to help Chicago’s top digital entrepreneurs succeed in creating
sustainable businesses that have a strong impact on Chicago and the world,” said 1871 CEO, Howard A. Tullman. “By collaborating with industry experts like Hanan Lavy, we are able to
provide specialized programming opportunities that deliver meaningful long-term
benefits to our member companies. We are thrilled that he’s coming to 1871 to work with our companies.”
“Our focus is to help
entrepreneurs build great companies,” said
Microsoft Ventures Accelerator Director Hanan Lavy. “1871 is a startup hub that embodies Chicago’s natural drive to innovate in the digital age.
Leveraging partnerships like this, we are able to provide
direct support to the best entrepreneurial ecosystems across the
world.”
1871 additionally worked closely with the accelerators housed at its facility to select the final
group of startups.
• Carzell, an online car auction service that provides
sellers with the highest offer for the purchase of their vehicles
• Kahoots, a phone app that helps build stronger networks
without more social networking
• Quick2Launch, a software that helps corporations develop
visually compelling presentations
• Digital Ground Up, an interactive technology platform that
teaches digital marketing through short online experiential courses
• ParkNav, a technology for street parking which helps
drivers reduce the time spent searching for available parking spots
• Breaking Voices, a social news broadcasting engine that
socially aggregates real-time
breaking news in your immediate area
• Double
Helix Group, a
platform for convenient and affordable access to online medical treatment and
self-managed wellness programs
• Pangea Universal Holdings Inc., a money transfer platform and mobile
application that enables transfers from the US to Mexico for fees up to 75%
less than traditional services
• Starchup, a web and mobile application that enables
laundry businesses to operate an efficient delivery service
•
Web Force 1, a
Microsoft Cloud Partner that specializes in delivering cloud solutions to small
businesses, entrepreneurs, and government agencies
• RideScout, a mobile application that helps its users get
from point A to point B faster and smarter
• CondoGrade, a software that supports smaller condominium
associations at reasonable fees
In addition to the boot camp, Microsoft has also been an active
sponsor of events at 1871. Most recently, they hosted an open house for their
Microsoft Ventures Accelerator program focused on digital work, where some 1871
companies, as well as others, had the
opportunity to pitch their business concepts. The hugely successful event was
not only their first open house of 2015 but also the first one hosted in
Chicago. Microsoft is also a leading partner of 1871 in working toward
fostering diversity at the digital business incubator.
About 1871
1871 is the home of more than 325 early-stage, high-growth startups.
Located in The Merchandise Mart, this 75,000 square foot facility is also the
headquarters of nationally recognized accelerators, Techstars Chicago and
Impact Engine; half a dozen industry-specific incubators in key areas such as
real estate, education technology and the Internet of Everything; several
emerging tech talent schools (The Starter League and the Startup Institute),
and the state's leading technology advocate, the Illinois Science and
Technology Coalition. It is the second home to Chicago-based VCs, Pritzker
Group, MATH Ventures, Hyde Park Angels, OurCrowd and Chicago Ventures, as well
as satellite offices for Northwestern University, University of Illinois,
University of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, and DeVry. 1871 has
fast become recognized as the hub for the city’s entrepreneurial/technology ecosystem and has
been featured in TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago
Tribune and Crain’s
Chicago Business among other top media.
About Microsoft Ventures
Microsoft Ventures is a global initiative to help entrepreneurs build
great companies. We work with startups at every stage of maturity to provide
the tools, resources, and expertise they need to succeed. The initiative is
broad-based, and includes a community program, accelerators, and a seed fund.
Our approach helps startups scale their business, bring innovative services to
market and reach new customers.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Sunday, January 18, 2015
1871 - Microsoft Ventures Seeks Cloud and Digital Work Startups
Microsoft Ventures Seeks Cloud and Digital Work Startups
We are proud to partner with Microsoft Ventures to promote their Digital Work Accelerator in Seattle and the information sessions they have scheduled for the month of January!
Seattle is a hub for Cloud and Digital Work.
For a great valuation at low costs, Seattle has a lot to offer a consumer focused startup in this space. The great talent from Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco, Nordstrom and Amazon make Seattle a rich breeding ground for top technology talent in these upcoming markets. This has led to creations of companies like Expedia, Blue Nile, Zulily and many other consumer startups. With several of the biggest data centers in the world based in Washington, powered by the Columbia River, and connections with Microsoft and Amazon, cloud startups are also on the rise in Seattle. Microsoft, with its focus on Digital Work, is also building a massive platform that contains data across email, calendar, photos, and more to power personal productivity across devices transitioning between work and life.
Digital Work Accelerator is seeking startups who change the way we work.
In the last Seattle cohort of the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator class, the startups were focused on consumer-based technology and home automation. Currently, the accelerator is accepting applications for its next cohort which will shift the focus toward Enterprise solutions and B2B services. Startups who are creating next-generation messaging solutions, advanced enterprise search-indexing, redefined email solutions, cloud-centric ERP solutions, open-source big data visualization, and basically, changing the way we work, are encouraged to apply. That’s why this accelerator class is named Digital Work.
Startups who are creating solutions in the following categories are encouraged to apply to the accelerator:
- online shopping and online payment processing
- interactive product catalogue
- automated billing systems
- security
- enterprise content management
- IT service management
- customer relationship management
- enterprise resource planning
- business intelligence
- project management
- collaboration
- human resource management
- manufacturing
- enterprise application integration
- enterprise forms automation
- next generation messaging solution
- advanced enterprise search-indexing
- redefined emailing solution
- cloud-centric ERP solution
- open-source Big-Data visualization platform
Digital Work has much to offer the modern Enterprise.
The Internet of Things can certainly exist in today’s business environment. Wearables and iBeacons can support different roles within the company. The way that teams collaborate and communicate with each other, especially at the enterprise level, is ripe for an update.
Microsoft is the best positioned Digital Work provider across enterprise software, productivity, and cloud services. These startups often hit challenges with painfully long sales cycles and lack of customer access. While working on the Microsoft campus and amid the tech ecosystem in Seattle, Microsoft Ventures will be able to provide these startups with access to the support they need across these pain points.
Accelerators are positioned to guide growth of Digital Work startups.
What is it like for a small startup looking to infiltrate the enterprise market? We reached out to Ray Gillenwater, CEO of SpeakUp, for insight into the process of scaling for enterprise and the sales cycle in this sector.
“The SpeakUp business model depends on “B2C2B” acquisition – meaning we attract individual users from companies as a wedge into the organization. They can sign up for free and start inviting others in an ‘embed and spread’ style deployment. We have automated mechanisms built-in to prompt users to subscribe to a paid account after they become ‘successful’ customers – meaning they are using all of the features to help them create positive change at work.
“Our current plan is to sell to groups/teams within the Enterprise – which is more like an SMB sale based on our current level of product maturity. We need to build additional features before we can support enterprise wide deployments. The great part about being embedded into these companies during the early days is that when we are enterprise ready, we have a warm list of sales leads to help us navigate the organization, contact the corporate decision maker and sell company-wide deployments. But for now, the focus is simple: bring on new users, get them to invite others and help them achieve success. Enterprise features and sales will come later.”
The Microsoft Digital Work Accelerator is on tour to host information sessions in major cities across the U.S. Applications close on January 30, and the class begins in Seattle on March 16 with Demo Day scheduled for July 16. Next week’s information sessions include Austin on Monday, January 19; New York City on Tuesday, January 20; Silicon Valley on Wednesday, January 21; and Chicago on Friday, January 23. For more dates, check here.
Thursday, July 03, 2014
MICROSOFT VENTURES - 5 City Accelerator Meetups Announced
5 City Accelerator Meetups Announced
Posted on: June 27, 2014
On June 17th we announced our newest Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in Partnership with American Family Insurance. We're happy to share that the interest level has been high with a number of quality applications submitted. After strong momentum in our global accelerators, we are now looking for companies in the US that we can grow using the resources from Microsoft and American Family Insurance. We would like to tap into local startup ecosystems and meet promising startups in person.
Starting July 2nd, Microsoft Ventures will hit the road to meet entrepreneurs and startups in the US that are interested in applying to the program or who might have questions. We will host meetups in five cities across the US to connect with startups. We will talk about how Microsoft and American Family Insurance are committed to working with top entrepreneurs and startups to innovate the homes of tomorrow. We’ll share our learnings in IoT and Microsoft’s vision in this area. You will also learn about the upcoming Seattle accelerator and lessons learned from our global startup accelerators. The teams on the tour will include senior executives from Microsoft Ventures and American Family Insurance.
In addition, the event will provide an opportunity for five startups to pitch in front of the startup community, Microsoft Ventures and American Family Ventures teams.
We are focused on finding great teams with big visions who can benefit from the unique combination of workspace, tools, insights and mentorship that only Microsoft and American Family Insurance can provide. We look forward to meeting startups in the local ecosystems across the US that are innovating in the IoT space!
| City | Date | Time | Venue | Registration |
| Chicago | July 2nd | 6pm to 9pm | 1871 | Register here |
| Austin | July 7th | 6pm to 9pm | Capital Factory | Register here |
| San Francisco | July 9th | 4pm to 8pm | RocketSpace | Register here |
| Los Angeles | July 10th | 6pm to 9pm | CoLoft | Register here |
| New York | July 17th | 6pm to 9pm | The Invisible Dog | Register here |
To register for these events, please follow #MVMeetup to learn more about an event happening in your area. Please see our FAQ section for more information. To apply to the accelerator, please apply by visiting http://www.microsoftventures.com/accelerators/seattle. We are accepting applications now. Applications close on July 21st, 2014 for batch 1. The first class will start in August.
- See more at: https://www.microsoftventures.com/blog/tabid/233/ID/69/5-City-Accelerator-Meetups-Announced.aspx#sthash.oBRA0VPp.dpuf
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