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Puppies, runners, and widgets win big at Portland Startup Weekend

This last weekend, over 100 developers, designers, and marketing/biz dev folks skipped a rare slice of sun to hunker down in the bowels of the PSU Business Accelerator and see what they were capable of creating in a 54-hour marathon.

To the participants, it was a small sacrifice on the road to entrepreneurship merit badges, battle scars, and wisdom gained. From 47 initial ideas pitched on Friday night, 11 made the cut. The teams then spent the rest of the weekend working to build, launch, and present their startup to a panel of judges Sunday night.

The teams that walked away with prizes were:

Livfly

Overall Winner: LivFly
A match.com for runners. Tell them where, when, how fast, and how far you run and they’ll match you with a run buddy. They’ve already started matching local runners from their website. @LivFlyCo

Winner for both Best Execution and Best Customer Validation: Freezepup
Maker of frozen treats you can share with your canine friends. Expect to see Freezepup bicycle carts around local dog parks this summer. @Freezepup

Winner for Best Business Opportunity: Wijly
Easy internet connectivity for your hardware widgets. Imagine being able to control a light in your house by visiting a website. This is the fun working demo Wijly shared during their presentation. @Wijly

The other awesome teams that presented are:

Downtheline: A goal achievement service uses crowdsourcing to help you accomplish your goals more quickly. @downthelineme

Scoutabout: Crowdsourced travel advice from locals in a web/mobile app with a Pinterest-style display. @ScoutaboutUSA

YouV8: For the health conscious, YouV8 measures your UV exposure in real time so you know how much vitamin D you’re getting. @YouV8

FixerFlow: A web-based service that notifies you of car maintenance deadlines and makes scheduling easier than ever. @FixerFlow

Give Daka: Crowdsouced gifting so people can pitch in and purchase a joint gift. @GiveDaka

DreamPath: An online subscription service generates a customized action plan to help you meet your next employer and land your dream job. @ondreampath

NeighboorFood: Neighborhood cuisine from the “chef” next door from homecooks to trained, but underemployed chefs. @neighborfoodpdx

SpotSwapMe: An app that hooks you up with your favorite table every time you go out to a restaurant. @SpotSwapMe

Congrats to all the startups!

Want to get in on the action? Registration is open for upcoming local niche Startup Weekend events: OSU Startup Weekend focused on athletics, and Tech4Change, a partnership with Mercy Corps focused on tackling some of the world’s toughest problems through technology and entrepreneurship.

Guest post is by Arwa “Arrs” Jumkawala, Startup Weekend organizer & Marketing Viz at Vizify.

(Image courtesy of Dawn Marks Photography. Used with permission.)

  1. […] which should ultimately find their way into our collection. We simply love the way our icons and widgets seem to stand out from the blurred and beautiful […]

  2. Also, Bend Startup Weekend (http://bend.startupweekend.org/) is in a few days, starting on May 3. 😉

  3. Was a great event, the most competitive I’ve ever seen at a Startup Weekend! Congrats to all…now start applying to those incubators!

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