Blog
Nov 09

NYC’s hottest startups: InSITE Fellows at NYVCA’s Ingenuity Conference

4 InSITE fellows (David Lerman, Yusuf Roso, Zachary Schwarzman and Lila Pla Alemany) attended the conference ‘INGENUITY 2012’, one of the most important startup events in NYC run by the New York Venture Capital Association (NYVCA).

It was truly an inspiring occasion. As Yusuf commented, “I’ve been to a lot of events like this in NY, but this has been by far the best. This is the first time in NY I feel I’ve seen truly innovative stuff”.

The conference drew more than 500 people and 75 pitching startups, culled from the most important investment firms (early stage VCs to mid-, late- and mezz-/pre-IPO funds) and featured some of the hottest emerging growth companies at the moment.

I’ll share some of the companies we found most interesting there.

David Lerman’s favorite startups were Brewster (personalized address book) and Jibe (recruiting best talent). As he said: “I’ve a strong thesis in enterprise software and believe that traction that this company has displayed thus far suggests a high likelyhood of future success”

Yusuf Roso’s top picks were Cloud Confidence (cloud management and analytics), Synerscope (visualization of big data) and Daily Muse (visually engaging job search and related career resources).

My preferred startup pitches were bMobilized (technology that converts websites into HTML5 sites adapted for mobile devices), Pickie (customizable Ipad magazine) and Routehappy (social review site for travel, helping flyers find best quality flights).

I also really liked Terry Kawaja (Founder and CEO of Luma Partners) presentation on the Strategic Buyer Lumascape. You can download it here.

The panel of NYC’s hottest startups featured:

Voxy, (Mobile tecnology to teach English all over the world), with Paul Gollash, Founder and CEO.

Totsy, (Daily deals for Moms and Kids) with Guillaume Gauthereau, Co-founder and CEO.

Sulia, (Subject-based social network), with Jonathan Glick, CEO.

Evidon (Global privacy and data control for businesses and individuals), Scott Meyer, Founder

Smartling (translation management for websites and mobile apps), Jack Welde, Founder

I really encourage all InSITE fellows and anyone interested in entrepreneurship and VC to attend the many great events that take place in the city every week. As David said: “Today further reinforced a truism of the NY startup scene. It is a small world and inroads into this community can pay great dividends”.

Post written by Lila Pla Alemany (Columbia Business School 2013)

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