DreamIt Ventures announced its roster of 15 companies for its fifth accelerator program. The startups getting funding include five under the minority entrepreneur program that DreamIt formed with Comcast Ventures in May.
According to DreamIt, the companies getting funding represent the best and brightest entrepreneurial talent in the Internet space. They include students and alumni from top academic institutions, including the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Duke, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and MIT. The founding teams also bring tremendous work experience, with Founders having past work experience at companies including Google, Yahoo!, Intel, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan.
The five selected as part of the Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program (MEAP) with Comcast Ventures include owners who are African American, Asian, Hispanic and Indian. MEAP is the first investment initiative from the $20 million fund created by Comcast as part of the NBCUniversal transaction that is committed to expanding opportunities for minority entrepreneurs.
“We are eager to see these five innovative startups prosper through their participation in the Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program, and look forward to providing our resources and mentorship to these entrepreneurs,” said David Horowitz, Comcast Ventures’ Managing Director.
For the fourth year, the DreamIt program will be located at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, where they will work out of 6,000 square feet of shared office space.
The companies selected for DreamIt Philadelphia 2011 are:
Cloudmine, Philadelphia, PA. The world’s simplest mobile backend-as-a-service provider.
ClrTouch, Brooklyn, NY: Enabling consumers and publishers to port web content into a custom tablet interface.
ElectNext, Philadelphia, PA: It works like a dating site, for your elections. Compare candidates and find the perfect fit. (MEAP company)
FeedbackTrail, West Chester, PA: Building a better app experience through feedback.
Grassroots Unwired, Philadelphia, PA: Mobile applications that provide the accountability and efficiency of real time tracking and reporting for political campaigns and non-profits that capture data in the field.
Kwelia, New York, NY: Quantitatively-derived analytical tools that will facilitate decision-making for residential real estate. (MEAP company)
Metalayer, Washington, DC: A visual search company that turns the real world into sortable data. Turn your pictures into 1,000 words. (MEAP company)
Nopone, Chatanooga, TN: Bringing together contractors, builders, project managers, DIYers, and building material suppliers. List it. Supply it. Build it.
Oneaway, Philadelphia, PA and Palo Alto, CA: An app that introduces you to new people.
Polin8, Philadelphia, PA and New York, NY: Mobile platform media studio specializing in pioneering Apps that engage users with high-concept visual, sound and touch interactions.
Qwite, Los Gatos, CA: A location-based service, taking you where you want to go – from intent, to experience and memories. (MEAP company)
SnipSnap, Philadelphia, PA: The first app to scan and save coupons to your mobile phone.
Spling, Summit, NJ: A social broadcasting network that allows you and your friends to easily share, discover, and experience media on the internet.
Technology Startup (Name Being Finalized), Washington, DC: A platform that will help friends make their plans more easily. (MEAP company)
TraRoma, Taiwan and New York, NY: A dating site with a female point of view.
“We’re excited to run our second program this year, coming hot off the heels of a very successful Demo Day in New York City in August. The caliber of this class is equally impressive,” said Kerry Rupp, Managing Partner of DreamIt Ventures. “Additionally, we’re excited about the diversity of this group. In addition to the Comcast Minority Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, this batch includes an Olympic medalist, an Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran and a TED Senior Fellow, as well as several people from Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.”
