Parenthoods is a social network for moms and dads.
What it is:
Parenthoods cofounder Jeni Axline got the idea for her startup when she became a mom. “Being home alone all day, you kind of want to pull your hair out,” she told TechCrunch. Being a new parent is as lonely as it is exciting and draining. Axline cofounded Parenthoods to provide a mobile community for parents. Parenthoods, the only female-founded startups in its 2014 Y Combinator class, offers stories and advice from real parents.
And since it's localized, Parenthoods lets parents orchestrate meetups and buy or sell things like children's clothing on its app. It's an on-the-go version of mommy blogs and parenting forums.
Founders:
Jeni Axline, Siobhan Quinn
Funding:
$1.3 million from Eugen Miropolski, David Breger, Oliver Jung, Paul Buchheit, Justin Kan, 500 Startups, Liberty City Ventures, Lowercase Capital, Y Combinator, Clara Shih, Slow Ventures
Launch date:
August 2014
Website:
http://parenthoods.co/
Product Hunt will help you find the next big thing in tech.
What it is:
Some of the most tech prolific investment firms in New York and Silicon Valley — including Greylock Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Raptor Ventures, betaworks, SV Angel, Y Combinator, and Techstars — use Product Hunt to find the next big thing.
Product Hunt, which started in November 2013 as an email list, has since come into its own as a website that looks sort of like Reddit. Product Hunt similarly relies on user upvotes to show you which new products, startups, apps, and websites are the most popular that day. Product Hunt features between 20 and 40 new products daily that are curated by a small number of its users. Each product gets one line to explain what it is and to provide a link to its website. Founders and other users participate in the comments, which ultimately help the founders decide whether to fix their prototype or seek out investors.
Founders:
Ryan Hoover
Funding:
$7.5 million from Kevin Colleran, Alexis Ohanian, Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, Vayner/RSE, Tradecraft, SV Angel, Slow Ventures, Nir Eyal, Ludlow Ventures, Naval Ravikant, Jack Altman, Google Ventures, CrunchFund, Cowboy Ventures, Brenden Mulligan, betaworks, Abdur Chowdhury, A-Grade Investments
Launch date:
November 2013
Website:
http://www.producthunt.com/
Use Bannerman to order a private bouncer for your events, on demand.
What it is:
When it comes to hiring private security for parties and events, the process can be confusing. Bannerman has stepped in to provide on-demand security guards. You just type in the date and address of your event and the number of guards you need (Bannerman suggests one guard per every 75 guests), and Bannerman will set it up for you within half an hour.
For a rate of $35 an hour per security guard, you'll get individuals — many of whom are former military guys and gals, according to Bannerman's website — who will keep the right people in and out of your events. Bannerman also provides guards for building security and home protection. Each of Bannerman's security guards have valid licenses and have passed background checks administered by the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Founders:
Craig Martin, Curtis Lee
Funding:
$120,000 from Slow Ventures, Kevin Colleran, Fresh VC, Y Combinator
Launch date:
June 2014
Website:
http://getbannerman.com/
Shyp brings the delivery guy to you, so that you never have to step foot in a post office again.
What it is:
Shyp takes all the hassle out of shipping packages. Instead of taking a package to UPS or the post office, all you have to do with Shyp is simply take a picture of whatever it is you want to send. A driver will then pick up the package within minutes, and you're done.
You can track your package's progress and see when it arrives at its destination. Shyp comparison-shops across carriers and charges you the lowest price for shipping, adding on $5 plus the cost of shipping. Unlike Postmates, which delivers packages locally, Shyp delivers your packages anywhere in the world.
Founders:
Jack Smith, Joshua Scott, Kevin Gibbon
Funding:
$12.1 million from Shervin Pishevar, Fresh VC, Winklevoss Capital, SherpaVentures, Homebrew, Brian McClendon, David Marcus, Daymond John, Antonio J. Gracias, Kamal Ravikant, Beth Ellyn McClendon, David Spector, Pascal Levy-Garboua, Kintan Brahmbhatt, Shri Ganeshram, Jason Johnson, Aaron Batalion, Dan Rose, Naval Ravikant, Scott Belsky, Joshua Schachter, Timothy Ferriss, Hunter Walk, Osama Bedier, XG Ventures
Launch date:
March 2014
Website:
http://www.shyp.com/
HackerOne pays "bad" hackers to be good hackers.
What it is:
No software is perfectly secure. Before a hacker finds your company's vulnerabilities — Sony's devastating hack in December is a perfect example — you can hire a "good" hacker, someone who knows the ins and outs of computer software, to help you find and fix them. That's the thesis behind HackerOne, a marketplace for bug bounty programs.
“The general problem is that vulnerabilities are inevitable. No matter what your security system, you are going to find issues," said HackerOne cofounder and CTO Alex Rice. "The current state of the world is pretty terrible. A researcher that finds [a bug] in the wild doesn’t know what to expect." HackerOne lets users share security information about software. HackerOne's researchers communicate with your company's response team, and you pay them for helping you find and repair weaknesses on your website or in your software. HackerOne gets 20 percent of these "bounty" payments.
Founders:
Jobert Abma, Michiel Prins, Alex Rice, Merijn Terheggen
Funding:
$9 million from Benchmark
Launch date:
Early 2013
Website:
https://hackerone.com/
Juicero wants to deliver the world's freshest juice.
What it is:
Juicero, which has been stealthily raising money for the past year and a half, is on a mission to produce freshly pressed juice in a way that will turn today's fresh fruit and vegetable delivery on its head.
Sources told us that Juicero uses a device that's kind of like a Keurig to juice its fresh fruit, which is hand-picked and sent in a pouch. And unlike normal juicers, there's no messy cleanup. It's like freshly pressed juice, but it's better. Based on sources we talked to last month, Juicero could potentially own its own farms and pick the fruit fresh before delivering it.
Founders:
Doug Evans
Funding:
$120 million from Kleiner Perkins, Campbell's Soup, Google Ventures, Double Bottom Line Ventures, Artis Ventures, Thrive Capital, Vast Ventures
Launch date:
Juicero has not launched yet.
Website:
http://signup.juicero.com/
Lumoid is a try-before-you-buy program for wearables and electronics.
What it is:
In the market for a new wearable or piece of camera equipment, but wary about sinking a few hundred dollars into something you might not like using? Lumoid's try-before-you-buy service for wearables, drones, cameras, and more is like the Warby Parker for electronics. Lumoid also provides information about the products on its website.
Users can rent or buy cameras, 3D printers, fitness trackers, drones, and more. The company also offers a rent-to-own service, and lets customers convert the amount they've spent on rentals into credits towards a purchase. In November, Lumoid announced it would start a program called Lumoid Locals, which lets users rent out their devices to make some money.
Founders:
Eric Schoonover, Aarthi Ramamurthy
Funding:
Undisclosed amount from Rick Marini, Melo7 Tech Partners, Pejman Mar Ventures, Y Combinator
Launch date:
January 2014
Website:
https://lumoid.com/
Slack is a fast-growing workplace communication tool that's making email irrelevant.
What it is:
Slack is a workplace communication app that's taken the business world by storm. Slack gives users a group chat room and lets them share files and work collaboratively, in addition to setting up private groups and sending direct messages to other individual users. Slack was originally an internal tool used by CEO Stewart Butterfield's team at Tiny Speck, the company that made the multiplayer game Glitch, but Butterfield decided to spin it out into its own product and company.
Slack's growth as an enterprise communication tool has been completely organic — Slack hasn't spent any money on marketing. It's one of the fastest-growing enterprise apps of all time.
Founders:
Serguei Mourachov, Eric Costello, Cal Henderson, Stewart Butterfield
Funding:
$180 million from Slow Ventures, The Social+Capital Partnership, Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, SV Angel, Jeff Weiner, Marc Andreessen, Bradley Horowitz, Rob Solomon
Launch date:
February 2014
Website:
https://slack.com/
Mattermark helps investors keep tabs on upcoming startups.
What it is:
Mattermark is a data platform that helps VC firms stay up to date on up-and-coming startups, so that investors can find the next big thing in tech without having to spend a lot of time doing so. It describes itself as the "B2B Google," and its software lets investors look at information about startups based on news stories, Twitter, SEC filings, AngelList, CrunchBase, and more.
“We don’t believe we can replace investors’ ability to build relationships with entrepreneurs, but we do think we can help them source opportunities more efficiently and reduce the chances of missing a whale,” Mattermark cofounder Danielle Morrill said.
Founders:
Danielle Morrill, Kevin Morrill, Andy Sparks
Funding:
$9.9 million from Great Oaks Venture Capital, Foundry Group, Kevin Colleran, Naveen Selvadurai, Pejman Mar Ventures, Arnold Capital, SierraMaya360, Enrico Pandian, Steve Loughlin, Trent Gegax, Greg Arrese, Armando Biondi, The Gramercy Fund, Slow Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Felicis Ventures, Version One Ventures, Ullas Naik, New Enterprise Associates, Max Niederhofer, Eric Ries, Data Collective, Andreessen Horowitz, 500 Startups, Jeff Lawson, Ignition Partners, Eileen Burbidge, Dave McClure, Elliot Loh, Carter Rabasa, Matt Monahan, Damien Tanner, Michael Liou, Raju Indukuri, Y Combinator, Start Fund
Launch date:
June 2013
Website:
http://mattermark.com/
You'll never spend time looking for a parking spot again with Luxe Valet.
What it is:
Luxe Valet is an app that promises to help you with the annoying task of parking in cities. It works similar to other on-demand mobile apps: before you leave your house, you plug in the address you're going to. The app tracks you as you make your way to your destination, and about 10 minutes before you get there, it matches you with a Luxe valet attendant.
Dressed in a bright blue jacket, your attendant meets you at your destination, hops into your car, and asks when you'll need it back and if you want them to run your car through a car wash or to fill your tank up with gas. Then they take your car to one of several lots in the city that Luxe has struck up deals with.
The most surprising thing about the app is that it costs $5 an hour, or $15 a day. That's much less expensive than other services. A competitor in this same space, ValetAnywhere, charges $6 an hour, and up to $42 a day.
Founders:
Craig Martin, Curtis Lee
Funding:
$25.5 million from Kevin Colleran, Rick Marini, Rothenberg Ventures, Eniac Ventures, Data Collective, Slow Ventures, Foundation Capital, BoxGroup, Upfront Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, SherpaVentures, Google Ventures
Launch date:
October 2014
Website:
http://luxevalet.com/
Casetext wants to be the Rap Genius for legal documents.
What it is:
Legal documents are often written in a way that makes them inaccessible and hard to understand. It's Casetext's mission to let anyone read the full text of any legal case in a way that's both understandable and free. Casetext's website lets you search using keywords or citations.
Other users — including professors and attorneys — can read over and annotate legal documents and court cases, making them easier to understand for people researching them. “We’re developing technology similar to that of Quora or Reddit, where incentives to contribute are paired with intelligent data science to determine which contributions to highlight,” cofounder Jake Heller said.
Founders:
Joanna Huey, Jake Heller
Funding:
$8.8 million from Tom Glocer, Ilya Sukhar, BoxGroup, Red Sea Ventures, Susa Ventures, Formation 8, Union Square Ventures, Darian Shirazi, Techammer, Rob Emrich, Charlie Cheever, Paul Buchheit, Crosslink Capital, A-Grade Investments, SV Angel, Wefunder, Y Combinator
Launch date:
July 2013
Website:
https://casetext.com/
Send beautiful flowers fast with BloomThat.
What it is:
BloomThat is a two-year-old startup that lets you send flowers within a 90-minute window. The company's claim to fame is its "ridiculously fast" flower delivery service, which it operates in and around San Francisco and Los Angeles. If you're looking for something thoughtful to give your boo, BloomThat's got you covered: Flowers start at $35 with free delivery.
BloomThat's mobile app is super simple, so even bouquet-inept boyfriends can send beautiful flowers with a few taps.
Founders:
Matthew Schwab, Chad Powell, David Bladow
Funding:
$2.4 million from Guy Oseary, Gary Vaynerchuk, First Round, SherpaVentures, Charles Cheever, Ashton Kutcher, Y Combinator, David Sacks, FundersClub, Baron Davis, Oliver Jung, Ron Rofe, Garry Tan, Alexis Ohanian, Joe Montana, A-Grade Investments, SV Angel, Vaizra Investments
Launch date:
February 2013
Website:
http://www.bloomthat.com
Gogoro is building the "Tesla of scooters."
What it is:
Gogoro, which raised $150 million in January after working in stealth mode since its launch in 2011, debuted its first product at this year's Consumer Electronics Show: a smart, plug-free electric scooter. The scooter is powered by a portable battery that you will be able to swap out at Gogoro stations across major cities, according to the company.
Gogoro's scooter is not unlike other electric scooters. It's best for commuting and short trips: its scooters go up to 60 miles per hour and you can get about 100 miles out of a charge. The Gogoro system connects to the cloud via a cellular network and provides onboard diagnostics through a connected smartphone app.
Founders:
Matt Taylor, Horace Luke
Funding:
$300 million; investors include Dr. Yin and Cher Wang of HTC
Launch date:
January 2015
Website:
http://gogoro.com
Eero has a solution for your WiFi woes.
What it is:
There's nothing worse than having choppy WiFi throughout your apartment. That's the problem Eero is trying to solve. Eero's devices are little white pods that use Bluetooth and mesh networking to connect and extend the WiFi in your home. When you buy three — that's how many Eero says a typical home needs — you'll connect the first to your modem, and the others get plugged into power outlets. The devices connect to one another through internal radios.
Eero's devices are available for preorder now — you can get one for $125 or three for $299. Its devices will ship this summer.
Founders:
Amos Schallich, Nick Weaver, Nate Hardison
Funding:
$5 million from AME Cloud Ventures, Initialized Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Homebrew, Menlo Ventures, First Round
Launch date:
February 2015
Website:
https://www.eero.com/
Zen99 gives a hand to freelancers and independent contractors.
What it is:
More and more service firms are powered by independent contractors — Uber, Instacart, Lyft, Handy, and Postmates among them. Now, there's a startup to help that new workforce. Zen99 provides support in the form of finance and insurance tools for independent contractors. On one platform, users can track their earnings, estimate their taxes and expenses, and sign up for health insurance.
Zen99 University offers a set of advice guides for independent contractors. For now, Zen99 is targeting freelancers, such as artists, and independent contractors who work for delivery or driving startups. Looking ahead, the startup would like to offer its services to people who sell wares online — like Etsy vendors.
Founders:
Yan Lhert, Tristan Zier
Funding:
$2.6 million from Y Combinator, Upside Partnership, SV Angel, CrunchFund, Collaborative Fund
Launch date:
August 2014
Website:
https://www.tryzen99.com/
AltSchool is reinventing primary school.
What it is:
Founded by ex-Googler Max Ventilla in 2013, AltSchool creates a network of schools for kids in kindergarten through eighth grade. Each school, called a "microschool," has about 100 students who learn in multi-age groups. The multipurpose classrooms are also larger than in a typical school.
AltSchool feels the vast majority of young adults today did not receive an education that would prepare them to be happy and successful. To solve that problem, AltSchool has created a proprietary technology platform for child-centered learning. AltSchool uses something called "playlists," which consist of a weekly mix of 20 to 25 activities per student per week, including individual projects, small-group projects, or whole-class projects.
Founders:
Max Ventilla
Funding:
$33 million from Rick Marini, Red Swan Ventures, Baseline Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Kortschak Investments, L.P., Matrix Partners, Harrison Metal, Omidyar Network, John Doerr, Eric Kagan, Jonathan Sackler, Learn Capital, Barry Nalebuff, Sherpa Ventures, Founders Fund, First Round, Andreessen Horowitz
Launch date:
April 2013
Website:
http://www.altschool.com#sthash.tGck0M7a.dpuf
Guardant Health has a real-time blood test to replace some cancer biopsies.
What it is:
Guardant Health is a personalized health startup with the potential to vastly simplify the cancer diagnostic process. It has developed a simple blood test called Guardant360, the first product that can test for colorectal, skin, lung, breast, or prostate cancer using a blood sample instead of a biopsy, and it does it in real time.
Typically, biopsies take a while because they have to be sent to a lab for processing. Guarant Health's test aims to make risky, expensive and invasive biopsies a thing of the past.
Founders:
AmirAli Talasaz, Helmy Eltoukhy
Funding:
$90 million from Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Formation 8, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Signatures Capital, Bobby Yazdani, Pejman Mar Ventures
Launch date:
Emerged from stealth mode in February 2014
Website:
http://guardanthealth.com/
The Happy Home Company is like having an on-demand landlord who also cleans and does small repairs.
What it is:
If you are a renter, you probably have a landlord who will help if something breaks in your apartment. But if you're a homeowner or anyone in need of on-demand home-repair services, one option for you could be the Happy Home Company.
The Happy Home Company provides you with a "home manager," someone whom you can call 24/7. That person will connect you with a qualified, quality service provider who can get the job done for you, whether it be plumbing, cleaning, electrical work, roofing, landscaping, or remodeling. The Happy Home Company charges $9.99 a month for this referral service; that doesn't include the cost of the work it outsources to third parties.
Founders:
Doug Ludlow, Matthew Mengerink
Funding:
None announced
Launch date:
December 2014
Website:
https://www.thehappyhome.co/
Clara Labs is an automated personal assistant.
What it is:
Clara Labs is an automated system that acts like a virtual assistant by planning your meetings, managing your schedule, and helping you manage your inbox. While the company, which participated in the 2014 Y Combinator batch, hasn't raised any money yet, founder Maran Nelson has confirmed a funding round is in the works.
Your first month with Clara is free, but prices range from $200 to $600 per month after that. While Clara Labs currently serves as AI software, Nelson has indicated that the company could expand beyond that in the future.
Founders:
Maran Nelson
Funding:
None announced, though Sequoia is rumored to be investing in Clara Labs.
Launch date:
2014
Website:
https://claralabs.com/
Teespring lets anyone design high-quality t-shirts.
What it is:
Buying shirts for a group of people is always an uncoordinated effort. “Previously, if you wanted to print t-shirts, you had two choices,” cofounder Walker Williams said. “Either you had to suck it up and pay the $1,000 bill, guesstimate the number of shirts you need, and go through all that hassle with a screen printer or with CustomInk, or you could go to CafePress and there would be no upfront cost.”
Teespring is fixing that by letting you crowdfund and sell customized t-shirts. It's a pretty simple process for the user: you design the shirt, add a price, and start selling. You can gauge demand before the first shirt ever gets printed. Once you reach your goal number of backers, the shirts get printed and sent to people who put in their pre-orders. Teespring takes a flat fee on every shirt, and you keep the rest. The company ships the shirts directly to the people who bought them, so there's no hassle for you.
Founders:
Evan Stites-Clayton, Walker Williams
Funding:
$56.9 million from Y Combinator, Fritz Lanman, Fuel Capital, FundersClub, Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures
Launch date:
2012
Website:
http://teespring.com/
Even offers credit to help make ends meet between paychecks.
What it is:
Even is a smartphone app that's meant to help low-income employees with uneven income streams manage from paycheck to paycheck. While a lot of Silicon Valley tech startups target the rich, Even caters to people with bad credit, or people who have an hourly job and unpredictable hours, by giving them credit to help them when they're having a rough week. They pay a flat fee rather than interest.
Even works with a user's bank account, charging $5 a week to give users a steady paycheck for the same amount of money every week — even if they get a lot of hours one week and fewer the next. Users can take advantage of features including emergency expenses and automatic budgeting. There's also a pause button, which stops payments, for users who are facing financial difficulty. “[Even is] kind of like insurance,” founder Jon Schlossberg said. “You pay a flat monthly fee for coverage.”
Founders:
Jon Schlossberg
Funding:
$1.5 million from Andrew Kortina, Joe Ziemer, Red Swan Ventures, Slow Ventures, Sam Lessin, Adam Rothenberg, David Tisch, L. Michelle Wilson, Mike Krieger, Kevin Systrom, Homebrew, Keith Rabois
Launch date:
January 2015
Website:
https://whatiseven.com/
Checkr completes background checks in a snap.
What it is:
More companies are providing on-demand services carried out by independent contractors, who drop off your deliveries and drive you from place to place. These workers are typically given background checks before they can start working, and Checkr is looking to take advantage of that market by offering the same background checks offered by traditional firms, but quicker.
Checkr's background reports can be ready anywhere between a few hours and a couple of days, though most are ready within 24 hours. Its background checks include address history, sex offender searches, social security number verification, in addition to checking applicants' names against terrorist watch lists and crime databases. If a company is hiring drivers, Checkr can also do a driving record check.
Founders:
Jonathan Perichon, Daniel Yanisse
Funding:
$9.1 million from Signatures Capital, Alexei Chemenda, Tikhon Bernstam, Ilya Sukhar, Qasar Younis, Kevin Hale, Paul Buchheit, David Spector, Joshua Schachter, Scott Banister, Wesley Chan, Elad Gil, Bobby Yazdani, Google Ventures, Data Collective, SV Angel, Khosla Ventures, Accel Partners
Launch date:
April 2014
Website:
https://checkr.io/
Move Loot is a marketplace for buying and selling used furniture.
What it is:
When you have furniture in good condition that you're trying to get rid of, your options are limited. You can take some pictures and put it up on Craigslist or eBay, tell friends to spread the word, or give up and stick it out on the curb at a loss. Move Loot, a marketplace for buying and selling used furniture, looks to solve that problem.
Move Loot is a full-service marketplace, offering pickup, delivery, listings, and storage. It has its own warehousing in the cities where it's open for business (currently San Francisco and parts of North Carolina) as well as a logistics platform that provides a window for customers to move furniture either in or out of their homes.
Founders:
Ryan Smith, Jenny Karin Morrill, Bill Bobbitt, Shruti Shah
Funding:
$11.8 million from First Round, SherpaVentures, IDG Capital Partners, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Metamorphic Ventures, Jesse Draper, FundersClub, Elad Gil, Susa Ventures, BoxGroup, Alexis Ohanian, Garry Tan, Y Combinator, SV Angel, Google Ventures, Index Ventures
Launch date:
January 2013
Website:
http://moveloot.com/
Sendbloom provides tailored, outbound enterprise messaging for sales.
What it is:
Sendbloom simplifies companies' outbound sales processes. It can create hyper-targeted email campaigns, and its sales automation platform saves your company time and resources by mimicking what salespeople do: make deals and cultivate relationships.
The enterprise startup, which raised a $1.5 million seed round in January, launched in private beta last year. Its mission is to give companies a better sales experience, and it serves both small companies and bigger, more established companies in the healthcare and tech industries.
Founders:
Ross Epstein, Marty Banerjee, Nick Lau
Funding:
$1.3 million from Alireza Masrour, Vince Vannelli, Bryan Johnson, Mark Britto, Scott Faber, Philippe Suchet, Michael Baker, Michael Birch, Russell Fradin, Julia Popowitz, Jeff Epstein, Christopher Michael, Auden Hoffman, Sam Lessin, Brad Garlinghouse, Charlie Songhurst, SV Angel, Founders Fund, Slow Ventures, Kevin Colleran, Plug & Play Ventures
Launch date:
May 2013
Website:
https://sendbloom.co/
Le Tote lets you rent new clothes and accessories each month, so you never wear the same thing twice
What it is:
The best way to think about Le Tote is a Netflix-esque subscription service for clothes and accessories. When you sign up for Le Tote, you fill out a survey with your style preferences. Then a stylist picks out a few articles of clothing and accessories tailored to your preferences and ships them to you. You can keep your "tote" full of clothes as long as you want and wear the items as many times as you'd like. You can also opt to purchase any of the pieces.
The startup provides a pre-paid box that you fill with your worn clothes and pop back in the mail when you're done. Then the process starts again, with a new tote full of goodies sent to you. Le Tote's service costs $49 a month.
Founders:
Brett Northart, Rakesh Tondon
Funding:
$10.6 million from Basset Investment Group, FundersClub, Arsenal Venture Partners, EPIC Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, AITV, Humble Beginnings, Inc., Anthony Saleh, 500 Startups, Y Combinator, SherpaVentures, Azure Capital Partners, Justin Kan, Sam Altman, Tikhon Bernstam, Joanne Wilson, Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, Paul Buchheit, Geoff Ralston, Scrum Ventures, Simon Venture Group
Launch date:
August 2012
Website:
http://www.letote.com/
