Excelerate Labs, a startup incubator has released its newest batch of startups for its summer class program. All 10 startups in this year’s class will receive $25,000 seed investment, office space, legal assistance and mentorship from Chicago entrepreneurs.
Excelerate Labs is an intensive summer accelerator for startups driven by proven entrepreneurs and investors. Led by world class entrepreneurs Sam Yagan (OKCupid, Sparknotes) and Troy Henikoff (SurePayroll), the program is unique in attracting dozens of mentors from around the country to work with the teams in direct 1-on-1 meetings.
The 10 startups in Excelerate Labs’ newest class include:
A Space Apart: A mobile app attempting to create local experiences and communities around specific places or events.
BabbaCo: Creates functional and “super cute” products for parents and their children.
Beyond Credentials: Helps students create digital resumes (“pitch pages”). One of its unique factors: it only allows students and alumni from a top 300 U.S. university.
Buzz Referrals: A server that creates custom referral programs based on social media.
CookItFor.Us: A website for sharing recipes, CookItFor.Us is an attempt to connect fine diners (“cravers”) with amateur and professional chefs (“makers”).
Exchangery: Helps create regulator and technology-friendly commodities exchanges.
Food Genius: A mobile app that provides ddish suggestions and matching coupons.
Joystickers: Focuses on creating products that help people interact with their touchscreens. Its big product is “Flow,” a paintbrush for touchscreens that already has some momentum on Kickstarter.
MapDing: A location-based marketplace only for smartphones. Users can set notifications for when items they’re looking for become available.
Power2Switch: A portal and dashboard that helps people manage their energy costs. It also finds users cheaper alternatives to their current electricity supplier by analyzing billing info and other data.
