Why are accelerators so hot right now here in NYC?
The simple answer is "time compression". Accelerators speed up the entire process of startup incubation by offering "mentors" who can school the young entrepreneurs, based on their own expertise and wisdom.
The best accelerator around, in my opinion, is Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator. Tomorrow, ERA 2, the second class to "graduate" will demo at the ERA Demo Day. BRUNI PR, a mentor for last year's ERA 1 class, will be on hand.
I'll be keeping on eye on STYLYT, which has already received some nice coverage in AdAge. Basically, it's way for young female shoppers to create their own "collections" in collaboration with designers/brands.
LocalBonus and Dibsie are also interesting and could disrupt shopping. And, Appy Couple is founded by a couple vets of Web development and offers a do-it-yourself app kit.
Here's an overview of the ERA 2 class (from TNW News):
ERA’s new class includes startups from a diverse cross-section of
industries, ranging from mobile and payments to fashion tech and
e-commerce. But regardless of genre, all of these startups are looking
to create disruptive companies in New York. Here’s the full 2012 winter
class that will greatly benefit from the accelerator’s
mentorship, $25,000 investment, free co-working space and more:
Appy Couple
Appy Couple lets you quickly,
easily, and affordably create a gorgeous mobile app to share all the
excitement of your wedding with invited guests. The Appy platform
populates a mobile app in real-time, and includes features like picture
uploads, virtual champagne, countdown, and geolocation.
Cinchifieds
Cinchifieds is the world’s
simplest marketplace. Users catalog what they’re interested in buying or
selling, and Cinchifieds does all the work, delivering matches directly
to you. Cinchifieds makes buying and selling a cinch.
Dibsie
Dibsie makes it easy to find,
organize and discover products online by integrating social networking
with powerful search capability. Dibsie streamlines the process for
discovering and sharing products by allowing users to search thousands
of retailers and brands, then bookmark favorites for sharing through a
mutually-curated catalog.
LocalBonus
LocalBonus allows consumers
to use their existing credit and debit cards as their loyalty card at
local merchants and gives merchants an easy way to deploy a rewards
program to build customer loyalty.
Pictorious
Pictorious is a photo-sharing
game that creates a fun way to explore the world, meet new people and
earn awesome rewards and prizes. Pictorious also helps brands and
merchants engage with and attract customers.
ShareRebate
ShareRebate is a referral
tool that helps mobile app developers get more downloads. The referral
tool seamlessly integrates into any mobile app and starts to offer users
of the app rewards for recommending the app to friends and family.
Stray Boots
Stray Boots turns the walking
tour on its head through its cell phone-guided, interactive urban games
in cities throughout the U.S. Stray Boots curates the games and
delivers them to customers’ phones via its proprietary software, taking
urban explorers on an adventure that’s more fun, engaging and flexible
than other ways to explore the city.
STYLYT
STYLYT is redefining the way
fashion brands acquire loyal fans. Partnering with contemporary and
boutique brands, Stylyt launches collaborative fashion design campaigns
that allow any user to customize an item in a collection, vote on user
entries and even choose the winning design entry to be manufactured and
sold.
Wizpert
Wizpert is a real-time platform
that instantly matches people who need advice with experts who are
qualified to provide it on a wide range of topics from parenting to
relationships and nutrition. Wizpert offers immediate access to a
simple, helpful form of human communication. Talking.
WowWombat
WowWombat is an event
sponsorship marketplace that provides an easy way for businesses to find
and interact with their target audience. A business selects events to
sponsor based on the demographics they want to reach and scale they can
afford – while event organizers post event details to receive
sponsorship.
