Startup Standouts: Runnable

RUNNABLE

Runnable is attempting to create a one stop, searchable library of full stack code for discovering, running, editing, embedding, and sharing code blocks -  in any language, for any developer.

Location: Palo Alto

Website: http://runnable.com/

Size: < 10 people

Funding: $2M Seed

Founders: Yash Kumar (CEO/Founder) 

Why it stands out: 

- attempts to make modular / plug and play programming much more accessible and prevalent
- an organized, searchable, testable environment potentially makes programming faster for professionals, hackers, and possibly  even amateurs
- seems ideal for helping intermediate level programmers move beyond the entry level skills taught on most educational programming sites
- founder's experience in collaborative software and extensive background in all sides of web development bodes well for user experience and core product

Startup Standouts: ZooZ

ZOOZ

ZooZ is a complete and secure in-app checkout solution that makes it easier for mobile application developers to accept payments.

Location: Israel
Website: http://www.zooz.com/
Size: < 10 people
Funding: $1.5M Seed
Founders: Oren Levy (CEO) / Ronen Morecki (CTO) / Eyal Kotler (Product) / Nir Zohar (R&D) 

Why it stands out: 

- ZooZ is a mobile first payments solution; no traditional online commerce focus here

- Product works/links payments across multiple mobile applications (in the ZooZ network)

- Platform is an open solution with broad range of payment options (credit cards, PayPal, Dwolla, Stripe)

- Very developer friendly: built for multiple languages and mobile operating systems (including HTML5) 

- One of the few payments startups with an international team, location and product

Startup Standouts: Startup Genome

STARTUP GENOME

Startup Genome makes software that allows startups to benchmark and compare themselves to others similar in progress and type. The tool collects data and helps startups identify key performance indicators and make data driven decisions.

Location: San Francisco
Website: https://www.startupcompass.co/
Size: < 10 people
Funding: Seed, N/A
Founders: Bjoern Lasse Herrmann (CEO) / Max Marmer (CSO) / Ertan Dogrultan (CTO)

Why it stands out:

- Quality industry and geographical research reports and frameworks based on data collected from a myriad of startups

- Takes the lead on building much needed risk and performance tools for entrepreneurs

- Historical combination of academics and practitioners involved, as founders, employees, and advisers
- Systemizing and synthesizing startup data across the globe is vital to the future of entrepreneurship

Startup Standouts: CB Insights

CB INSIGHTS

CB Insights is a financial services firm that collects private company information (including startups) to power data driven analytics, insights, tools, and statistics for those same companies and the general/investing public.

Location: New York, NY
Website: http://www.cbinsights.com/
Size: < 10 people
Funding: $650k in NSF grants
Founders: Anand Sanwal (CEO) / Jonathan Sherry

Why it stands out:

- Value proposition: aggregates often hard to find/get data on private and early stage companies 

- Provides simple, frequent, digestible data insights at the industry level

- The most consistent and comprehensive private company funding data flow that I've seen anywhere

- Hard won, slow built reputation topped by partnerships with Forbes and Silicon Valley Bank

Startup Standouts: CircleUp

CIRCLEUP

CircleUp is an equity based crowdfunding platform which connects individual and small institutional investors to private consumer product/retail companies with existing products that have national scope or potential. 

Location: San Francisco, CA
Website: https://circleup.com/
Size: < 10 people
Funding: $1.5M seed
Founders: Ryan Caldbeck (CEO) / Rory Eakin (COO)

Why it stands out:
- The highly industry-relevant backgrounds and complementary skills of the co-founders, plus team

- Smart, strategic direction focused on consumer products, accredited investors and revenue generating entities

- Quality of platform: screening by professional investors, revenue minimums, 2% acceptance rate

- Significant partnerships that extend its reach (e.g. SoMoLend [debt], General Mills [exits])

- Clayton Christensen, the voice of disruptive innovation himself, is notable as an early investor

Startup Standouts: Wallaby Financial

WALLABY FINANCIAL

The Wallaby Card lets you carry just one piece of plastic, through which it can maximize the cash back rebates, merchant discounts, frequent traveler rewards, etc on all your credit cards (based on your preferences) every time you swipe. It is as the company says - one card to rule them all.

Location: Pasadena, CA
Website: http://www.walla.by/
Size: < 10 people
Funding: $1.1M seed
Founders: Matthew Goldman (CEO) / Todd Zino (CTO)

Why it stands out:
- Steps towards consumers with a practical use case without significantly changing their current behavior
- Adds next level value by minimizing consumer data overload and simplifying financial decision making
- Great positioning to collect real time, transaction based spending data
- Founders Fund is notable as a seed stage investor

Startup Standouts: SmallKnot

SMALLKNOT

"Smallknot lets you invest in the small businesses in your community in exchange for goods, services, special perks and benefits."

Location: New York City
Website: http://smallknot.com/
Size: < 10 people
Funding: $118k incubation
Founders: Jay Lee (CEO) / Ben Rossen (COO) / Jason Punzalan (CTO)

Why it stands out:
- Fills a very specific and necessary crowdfunding niche by focusing on small businesses
- Really leverages the crowd by taking a geographically local approach to the crowdfunding model
- Beautifully designed product with a fluid user experience
- The quality (and coolness) of the small businesses actually using the platform
- Founding team dominated by lawyers, which should be very useful given crowdfunding's legally gray area
- Had the screening and future benefit of Tech Stars NYC incubation

A New Series on Startups

In a quest to find the next phase of my career that will merge passion with ambition, I have been doing research on a number of startups - mostly in the crowdfunding space but also more broadly in Fintech. Here and there on simmserely so far however, I have written of broader thoughts on the intersection of finance and technology. Today I thought I would add a series that takes a specific look at some of the more interesting startups that I have come across along the way - because why not? I am calling this new series: Startup Standouts. First one after the post, but stay tuned for more.