“We started out by building an Exchange Server app for the 1G iPhone. Then iPhone came out with theirs and we became instantly obsolete…overnight.”
Thus was the humbled beginnings of Precognitive Research, the two-man team in Minnetonka that has since pivoted and — starting with pooled funds of $2,000 — churned out 3 iPhone apps, is working on a blockbuster of a 4th, and currently manages AppleJuicr.com.
“Card.ly, a Web service that allows anyone to create sweet-looking online business cards (see my personal site robinwauters.com for an example) has been acquired by Workface, the company behind digital business card creation tool BusinessCard2. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.”
Moments ago, judges announced GeaCom as winner of the 2010 Minnesota Cup High Tech division.
“GeaCom is committed to breaking the language barrier in critical communication. To improve service, reduce costs and to save lives we are developing an innovative new solution…Phrazer.”
Beating out Inveni (formerly known as Open Preferences) & Curation Station, GeaCom nabs $20k cash + services as the company proceeds compete against the winners of five other divisions for The Cup on Sept 13 (and an additional $20,000).
“Honestly, when it’s down to three companies like it was, out of so many, you know there’s lots good things that can emerge from a contest like this. We’re pleased to make it this far,” said GeaCom CEO Mat Johnson in response to the achievement.
Although Chad Halvorson had the original idea in the late 90’s (while working in a grocery store), he finally had the resources lined up to go forward with WhenIWork.com in July 2009.
A product of thisCLICKS, When I Work was created to solve the problem of irregular shift scheduling for employees and managers in retail chains, coffee shops, restaurants, student work study jobs, etc. . The software as a service is able to notify employees of work schedules and shift changes via the mobile web, email and even text message. For example, an employee can remotely request a shift change, alerting other employees automatically rather than having to contact each employee and/or manager separately.
Via Minnov8
“Our Startup Spotlight guest this week is Matthew Foust from Audiofile Engineering in Minneapolis.
Matt and Evan Olcott (his co-founder) established Integral Studio in 2000 and Audiofile Engineering in 2004 to concentrate on Mac-based audio tools for the audio industry as well as awesome iPhone/iPad/iPod-Touch tools like FiRe (Field Recorder).”
By Dan Haugen, The Line
“Minneapolis-based enStratus helps companies manage their cloud-computing activities. Cloud computing is a term for using data or applications that are stored online rather than on a desktop computer’s hard drive.
“In 2010, what we’ve done is managed to become a global business,” says George Reese, the company’s founder and chief technology officer. And he has numbers to back it up. As of mid-August, 80 percent of the company’s new customers this year have been from outside of the United States. A year ago, enStratus didn’t have any non-domestic customers.”
Via News Release
“enStratus announced today that two leading cloud computing thought leaders have joined its Board of Advisors – James Urquhart and Simon Wardley. The enStratus Board of Advisors provides industry and customer perspectives to assist in the development of new cloud management solutions, partnerships and go-to-market strategies.”
What began as a Minnesota startup company with two products and five partners has since evolved into a diversified startup consulting agency with one mission: get more Minnesota tech to market…faster.
Formerly known as Mxapp, Prodality is the combined result of two successful internal technologies (Lunchbox & Waitmaster) and collaborative experiences between fellow developers, tech entrepreneurs and local software companies.
“There’s plenty of people in Minnesota who can produce great technology, but if there no real-world business strategy, what happens?” questions the President of Prodality, Parag Shah. “Clearly, some tech entrepreneurs excel at both areas while others fail. We’re here for the those who know they can’t do it all.”
By Leena Rao, TechCrunch
“When Google acquired video compression technology company On2 for $106 million last year, the search giant also got encoding SaaS Flix Cloud as part of the deal. Now it looks like Google is shuttering Flix Cloud in November (and will stop accepting new customers as of tomorrow), and encouraging users to move to newly launching encoding startup Zencoder.”
Three Minnesota tech startups are one step closer to validation, cash money and a host of professional services as the Minnesota Cup announced today the 2010 High Tech division finalists.
Over the past two months, ten judges have reviewed the detailed plans of ten semifinalists and trimmed the list down to the three that will advance to the next stage — pitching the review board.
In no particular order, the 2010 Minnesota Cup High Tech division finalists are:
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