Red Rocket gets introduced to a couple hundred startups each year, in the normal course of doing business, or via our involvement with FireStarter Fund, TechStars, Techweek, VentureShot, Founder Institute or other startup groups or events. We wanted to honor the best of these startups that we met, or got reacquainted with, in 2013, in Red Rocket's 2nd annual "Best Startups of the Year". This list is not intended to be an all-encompassing best startups list, as there are many additional great startups that we are not personally exposed to each year. And, this list is not intended to be only for businesses that launched in 2013, it is open to startups of any age, that they or their advisors had some personal interaction with us in the last 12 months. The business simply needed to have a good idea, good team or good traction, that caught our attention. Congrats to you all!!
THE BEST STARTUPS OF 2013 (in alphabetical order):
AppGravity (CEO Christopher Jereb)--B2C Android app search engine
AudioMack (CEO Dave Macli)--B2C music discovery site
Belly (CEO Logan LaHive)--B2B and B2C loyalty rewards program
Blitsy (CEO Ross Peterson)--B2C arts and crafts e-commerce site
Brad's Deals (CEO Brad Wilson)--B2C curated deals & coupons site
BrightTag (CEO Mike Sands)--B2B tag management and analytics
Catalyze.io (CEO Travis Good)--B2B HIPAA compliant data platform for healthcare
Distractify (CEO Yakun Hu)--B2C humor entertainment site
Food Genius (CEO Justin Massa)--B2B big data for the food/restaurant industry
Freebie (CEO Ben Rosenfield)--B2B and B2C social influencer rewards app
G2Crowd (CEO Godard Abel)--B2B business software reviews site
JumpRope (CEO Peter Braxton)--B2B and B2C pay to skip lines at key venues
Nexercise (CEO Benjamin Young)--B2C app to gamify and track exercising
MarkITx (CEO Frank Muscarello)--B2B exchange marketplace for enterprise technology
Pangea (CEO Rahier Rahman)--B2C international money transfer mobile platform
Pathful (CEO Campbell Macdonald)--B2B website/marketing analytics to drive conversions
Premier Guitar (CEO Peter Sprague)--B2C publisher/portal for guitar/music enthusiasts
PrettyQuick (CEO Coco Meers)--B2C salon and spa booking engine
Project Fixup (CEO Sarah Press)--B2C dating/matchmaking service
Reserve Bar (President Lindsay Held)--B2C liquor/spirits e-commerce site
Savvo Digital Sommelier (CEO Joseph Sheahan)--B2B wine recommendations kiosk in store aisles
SceneTap (CEO Cole Harper)--B2C real-time bar crowd analytics app (know before you go)
Simple Relevance (CEO Erik Severinghaus)--B2B personalized email marketing platform
Smart Gardener (CEO Carl Alguire)--B2C personalized garden planner and e-commerce
Shapsheet (CEO Brad Weisberg)--B2B mobile insurance claims
Sqord (CEO Coleman Greene)--B2C gamified wearable technology to help kids exercise
TradingView (COO Stan Bokov)--B2C stock charts and financial social network
Vipeline (CEO Andrew Bosin)--B2B video based user reviews platform
Y Charts (CEO Shawn Carpenter)--B2B financial charts terminal and big data for securities
And, don't forget to check out last year's winners, many of whom continue to be doing great things.
Congratulations to you all!! Keep up the good work.
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