500 Startups picks up a new batch of 33 startups, 36% companies outside the US
500 Startups is a US based accelerator founded by Dave McClure and has been known for funding a huge number of companies and across geographies. In its most recent batch announced yesterday, the company has picked up 33 companies to undergo acceleration. 12 of these companies are outside of the US and the number of Indian companies has come down to 2 this time around (SilverPush and Anyadir Education).This year's batch has the first biotech startup- uBiome, the first direct to consumer microbiome sequencing company. The batch also has a hardware company zBoard that sells a weight-sensing electric skateboard. The percentage of companies having women as the founding members has got down this time around with 5 of the 33 companies.
Here is the complete list of startups:
- 3Sourcing – a search engine to find and hire technical talent
- AdEspresso – a SaaS platform to manage and optimize Facebook ads for SMBs and media agencies
- Anyadir Education – a platform for universities to recruit socially
- Bounty Hunter – a contest platform for brands to run creative contests
- Buzzstarter – a platform that takes any content and creates a value reward for sharing to make it go viral
- BTCJam – the first global peer-to-peer bitcoin lending platform
- Builk – a Saas platform that digitizes the construction industry for small and medium contractors
- Carreira Beauty – a destination site for beauty professionals to provide career development and boost online distribution
- Cityblis – an e-commerce platform to discover unique fashion brands
- EquityZen – a stock market for private companies to give small investors access investments in large private firms
- Goods – a platform for wholesaler that enables them to accept B2B transactions, manage inventory, and create digital catalogs
- Grata – a live, on-demand travel concierge on your smartphone
- LaunchTrack – an intelligent ticketing platform that provides simple communication tools, analytics, and reporting
- MailLift – Twilio for handwritten letters, providing real letters that are automated for enterprises
- OLSET – a proactive virtual travel agent that saves travelers time by finding them the best hotels based on their preferences
- Partender – an app that brings bars into the 21st century and reduces the time it takes managers to do bar inventory
- PlateJoy – a platform that creates personalized weekly menus based on health goals, lifestyle, and dietary preferences
- Popbasic – startup that designs and manufactures limited edition micro collections for women
- Populr – a micro-publishing platform that helps business people easily deliver information through single web pages
- RealtyShares – an online investment platform that uses crowdfunding to pool investors into private real estate investments
- Sales Beach – provides technology to send personalized emails to hundreds or thousands of contacts in your target industry
- Shopeando – the largest online retailer for unbranded products in Latin America
- Shopseen – a platform to simplify running a retail business and help merchants reach more customers
- Sidelines – crowdsources and delivers awesome comments to improve the quality and engagement potential of comment sections
- Silverpush – a platform for mobile advertisers to retarget existing users over mobile and social ad ecosystems
- uBiome – a direct-to-consumer microbiome sequencing company to teach you about your bacteria
- ViralGains – a platform to measures how consumers watch, share, and talk about video content
- WePlann – a new way to discover and book unique vacation experiences
- WishPlz – a web and mobile shopping app that lets you bookmark any product and get alerts when the price drops
- ZBoard – a weight-sensing electric skateboard that you lean forward to go and lean back to stop
And a new video for the batch: