IBM is coaching a new group of entrepreneurs who will compete next week in the New York City IBM Global Entrepreneur SmartCamp competition. The five finalists have developed software that helps people and businesses better manage energy consumption, monitor environmental hazards, understand mobile device usage patterns and track brand sentiment.
IBM SmartCamp brings together innovative entrepreneurs with venture capitalists, academics and other industry leaders to provide coaching and critical industry support and advice. These events are part of IBM’s commitment to the Obama administration StartUp America initiative.
Five startups whose technology and business model capitalizes on this trend will meet with IBM and the venture capital community at the New York competition June 28 and 29. By pushing the boundaries of what is possible with analytics, cloud and mobile computing, these entrepreneurs are creating new business opportunities and driving economic growth.
The finalists at SmartCamp New York include:
- EnvEve: A wireless sensor network and tailored analytics solution that gives organizations real time information on the environment and physical infrastructures. For example, using sensors and analytics, the solution can help city officials understand the likelihood of a mudslide, the level of toxins in a river, the nitrates in farmland soil or the road conditions of a highway.
- Envirolytics: A combination of analytics software and mobile devices that puts homeowners in control of their energy usage. Using basic measurements, camera and video functions as well as applications for tests such as light intensity on mobile devices, homeowners can capture the data for a home energy audit without the need for sensors in the home. Based on this input and criteria such as geographic location, local weather patterns and home type, the Envirolytics software analyzes current home energy performance and recommends more energy efficient products and services.
- Localytics: A real-time analytics service that helps the makers of mobile phone and tablet applications better understand their clients. By analyzing data on user preferences and tendencies such as the amount of time spent in an application, errors and crashes, businesses can build more successful mobile applications.
- MediaFunnel: A social media firewall and dashboard that helps organizations analyze and monitor brand sentiment, protect their brand, and engage with their customers, prospects or members in real-time. It ensures that no brand-damaging statements are going out to the public, and monitors social media and the web for conversations that need immediate attention, alerting the team so they can jump into the conversation right away.
- Examville: A global web-based educational content and services platform that enables collaboration for students, educators and content providers, including publishers. The service leverages the collective knowledge of many with collaborative learning tools, peer review, recommendations and educator inputs into a single comprehensive platform where users can customize their learning experiences.