Alltopstartups » Non-profit organization

CampusBookRentals.com(Online Textbook Rentals) Scores $20 Million In Funding

Thomas Oppong — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:01:19 +0000

CampusBookRentals.com, a provider of online textbook rentals has announced a round of growth financing with total equity and credit facilities raised of over $20 million. Lead investors included Level Equity, Five Elms Capital and Cherokee & Walker.

“While we have built a capital efficient business that has been profitable since shortly after we founded it, we chose to bring on an equity partner and further develop our financing relationships to meet the incredible demand we are seeing in our market. We are well capitalized to execute on the significant growth opportunities we see in this expanding market,” said CampusBookRentals.com CEO Alan Martin, who launched CampusBookRentals.com from his basement in 2007.

CampusBookRentals.com serves a growing number of customers on nearly 5,600 college campuses. Students simply search for textbooks by ISBN, title, author or keyword; select their books and appropriate rental period (semester, quarter, summer, etc.); and take advantage of free shipping to and from their home or college dorm.

For every book rented, CampusBookRentals.com donates a portion of its proceeds to Operation Smile, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing cleft lip correction surgeries for children in need.

VerticalResponse To Mentor Startup Weekend Entrepreneurs

Thomas Oppong — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:19:52 +0000

VerticalResponse, a provider of self-service email marketing, online survey, social media and direct mail marketing solutions for small businesses, has partnered with non-profit Startup Weekend to help arm entrepreneurs with the marketing technologies and advice needed to launch their ideas.

Startup Weekend is a global community and series of events fostered by technology-minded entrepreneurs, business mentors and influential movers and shakers. Each Startup Weekend event provides entrepreneurs a hands-on opportunity to see if their startup ideas are viable; they pitch their ideas, form teams, develop product prototypes, present to a panel of judges, get feedback and declare one standout idea – all within 54 hours. Startup Weekends are planned in multiple cities in more than 65 countries nearly every weekend.

VerticalResponse will be present at several Startup Weekend events as an on-site mentor. VerticalResponse representatives will be on hand to help participants refine their presentations, advise on any developer questions or issues, and integrate custom email marketing and/or online survey functionality into their product prototype. Participants who integrate VerticalResponse into their final product prototype will receive a free VerticalResponse email partner account, valued at US$2,000.

Additionally, VerticalResponse will offer teams at every Startup Weekend 1,000 free email credits, with the winner receiving 10,000 credits.

eBay Has Acquired MissionFish For eBay’s Giving Works Program

Thomas Oppong — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:46:07 +0000

eBay has acquired MissionFish – the technology and team that powers the eBay Giving Works program – from the Points of Light Institute.

Since 2003, MissionFish has provided eBay with the back-end tech to power the eBay Giving Works program in the US (they’ve powered eBay for Charity – the same program in the UK – since 2005). Since becoming an eBay partner in 2003, MissionFish has helped raise some $250 million in the U.S. and the UK by connecting customers with nonprofit causes.

Donations were up 7% in 2010, according to eBay, raising a total $54.8 million in the U.S. and the UK for the year. Approximately one donation is made every 24 seconds through eBay Giving Works, raising $91 every minute, with $4.01 being the average amount donated.

The company raises funds by allowing sellers on eBay to donate some of the proceeds from their sales to a nonprofit of their choice, while nonprofits can raise funds by selling directly on eBay as well.

eBay will begin the process of creating a separate nonprofit organization that will eventually be directly responsible for the collection and distribution of funds.

TakeLessons.com Wins PitchFest Biz Plan Competition

Thomas Oppong — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:51:07 +0000

TakeLessons has been declared the winner of the 11th Annual PitchFest Biz Plan Competition. The The San Diego Venture Group, a non-profit business organization declared them winners among other 11 companies who were chosen as semi-finalists. Three final companies – Aonori Aquafarms, Inc., CortiCare and TakeLessons – were then selected to present business plans and visions at an awards dinner, where the audience voted for the company they felt had the most promising business plan, the most traction, and the vision to win the final prize.

Headquartered in San Diego, CA, TakeLessons is America’s full-service music and voice lessons provider. With lessons taught by TakeLessons Certified? instructors in over 2,800 cities nationwide, it is easy for students to start living their dreams through music. Founded in 2006 to help people discover their creativity and pursue their passions, TakeLessons also offers turnkey music programs for schools and community centers, as well as at-work lessons programs for corporate clients and their employees.

TiE Midwest 20 Startup Awards 2010

Thomas Oppong — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:04:53 +0000

TiE is a global, not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurs across its international network sponsored by top Venture Capital Firms, and Fortune 500 corporations; spread across 53 chapters in 12 countries comprising 1800 experienced entrepreneurs and business executives as charter members, 12000 aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals as members.

TiECon Midwest is one of Michigan’s largest Conference on entrepreneurship, designed for the Innovative Entrepreneur who thinks creatively, innovatively and resourcefully to create their own future.

TiECon Midwest 2010 is an entrepreneurial conference, attracting hundreds of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other professionals. TiE Midwest 20 Awards acknowledges excellence among 20 Early Stage Startups within four industry verticals: Internet, Software, Mobile, and Media. TiE20 finalists will be selected by a combination of evaluations, screenings and judging by successful Entrepreneurs, Venture Capitalists, Domain Experts; and Public Polling. Voting is open to the public.
Visit the site and Nominate a startup to be the next recipient of the elite TiE Midwest 20 Startup Awards before September 23, 2010. The TiE Midwest 20 Startup Awards 2010 will be held at The Henry Dearborn, October 28 and 29, 2010.

eVenues Wins The Funded’s Founder Showcase

Thomas Oppong — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:33:57 +0000

eVenues, a service to book meeting rooms online, has won the top spot at the Founder Showcase, an open start-up pitch competition and networking event held by TheFunded.

TheFunded.com is an online community of entrepreneurs to research, rate, and review funding sources worldwide. In addition, TheFunded.com allows entrepreneurs to view and share term sheets, to assist one another finding good investors, and to discuss the many facets of operating a business.

eVenues aggregates, searches, and rents meeting event space by the hour or day. It’s sort of like Expedia but for meeting spaces. The service is designed to also help small businesses and organizations like art galleries, city and county governments, and non-profits rent their distressed space for consumers and professionals looking for affordable space.