Ann Arbor Startup Weekend

As I’ve said, we had a wonderful weekend. So much energy, so much talent.

On Sunday night, we got everyone together and each group did a presentation. I’m going to list the groups here, some of them by team number only, because they aren’t quite ready to go public. I’ll be posting updates as I get information from these teams in the upcoming weeks.

We numbered the teams for practicality’s sake, but it was a totally random process. So here they are in team number order (Team 7 folded):

Team #1 - TagRoad

TagRoad’s product is called Vagabondoo - “a million local experts in your pocket.” It’s a GPS enabled iPhone 3G application, with accompanying website. The idea is that users can tell stories about the places they’ve visited and can read other user’s stories to help them find someplace new to visit, using GPS to create a map of interesting spots near their actual location. Vagabondoo is in private beta.

Team #2 - Exploded View

Exploded View is a not-for-profit project exploring how to take apart and catalog old components and machines so that users can determine if there are valuable, reusable and/or recyclable parts inside. They will be creating a visual database which will be populated and annotated by users. Exploded View is in beta.

Team #3 - The Brand YU Life

Brand YU Life is a personal branding project and will be rolled out at a later date.

Team #4

Team #4 came to SWA2 with an idea and company already formed. They came along to network and get some feedback on their ideas. The product they’re working on will be rolled out in coming months and is under wraps right now.

Team #5 - Global Invention Solutions and Services

Team #5 is working to launch a large-scale R&D center here in Michigan. They enjoyed the weekend and made good contacts and connections.

Team #6

Team #6 is working on enterprise database optimization tools, with a multi-faceted approach to increasing database efficiency and performance. They are in beta and will be signing formal organizational paperwork in upcoming weeks.

Team #8

Team #8 is planning to create a site where customers can create custom handbags by specifying shapes, colors, trims and so on. They are in a research phase and will be exploring the ideas generated at SWA2.

Team #9 - Nudge

Nudge is a text message appointment-reminder service for small business. Small businesses will be able to send reminders via text message so that their clients/customers don’t miss their appointments. Nudge will provide a low-cost, easy to use system to help mitigate revenue loss due to missed appointments. Nudge has launched in a private beta and will be completing their corporate organizational paperwork this week.

Team #10

Team #10 is almost ready to launch and wants to keep things under the radar for a few more weeks. They came to SWA2 with an already formed idea and used the weekend to flesh out many aspects of the project and prepare for launch.

Team #11 - Magnetic Devices

Team #11 is in a research phase, looking at how magnets can be used in artificial joints.

Team #12 - Market Monitor

Market Monitor is a tool for consultants, designers, and other service providers whose customers want to optimize their website ranking on major search engines based on keyword analytics. It is an affordable but robust tool which produces real-time reports. Market Monitor is in beta.

Team #13 - Storybridge & Jade

Storybridge aims to connect readers with short stories and other literature that they would like to read, based on recommendations. Jade is a companion system to Storybridge, and will allow for the aggregation of micro-payments to authors of short works. Team #13 plans to launch Storybridge in an alpha release in October, and to launch Jade in September.