New Tech Boulder was back to standing room only for October’s meeting. First up was Tuggl presenting its business listing, which allows consumers to find businesses that are giving back to their communities. Each business is given a tuggl score which combines consumer ratings of service, quality and price with recognition from non-profits for community support (e.g. pro bono work). Since presenting in Denver a couple of months ago, the company has added a feature that allows users to earn money to be donated to various non-profits by providing reviews and engaging with the site.
Micah Baldwin was next on hand in his new role as CEO of TakeComics. TakeComics seeks to become the iTunes of the comic book world, allowing consumers to download digital versions of comic books and read them on a computer or mobile device. The company’s reading technology is impressive in providing picture-perfect views on any screen size along with a variety of views and options (e.g. full page or panel by panel, enlarging of text bubbles or subtitles). The digital versions also allow readers to select a particular character to get more information about or purchase merchandise or other comics featuring the same character. The company has also added some other cool features including allowing publishers to add bonus content such as video and enabling users to wipe away the color to see the underlying art on devices running Windows 7. TakeComics is currently working to form partnerships with comic publishers.
Net Results, a company which previously presented at New Tech Denver, makes marketing automation software. The software allows users to set up automated follow-up for website visitors based both on characteristics (e.g. zip code) and behavior (e.g. time on site, specific pages visited). Potential responses to the segmented users can range from sending a particular email message to notifying the sales department to follow-up. Net Results subscriptions start at $99 per month, which is substantially less than many competing options where prices begin in the thousands.
SimpleGeo is the rebranding and redirection of CrashCorp founded by Matt Galligan, formerly of SocialThing, and Joe Stump, formerly of Digg. SimpleGeo provides ready to use infrastructure for developers seeking to create location-aware applications. Commenting on the company’s shift from its original focus in the mobile gaming space, Galligan noted “if the money’s not there, we’re not going after it.” SimpleGeo’s product offers three main features: a storage engine, context information for specific locations, and a SDK for the iPhone (other devices will be available in the future). The company is currently in private beta. Galligan also demonstrated the company’s augmented reality display which allows users to see on screen the digital activity going on around them on video (e.g. where nearby tweets are coming from). The company expects to generate revenue by charging a small transactional fee to programers that use its service.
Backflip Studios, a Boulder-based casual game development shop for the iPhone, was the last presenting company of the evening. Backflip has made four games to date and boasts impressive stats including 11.5M installs, $1M in sales, and $100K per month in revenue from mobile ad sales within its games. The company has created both free and paid games like Ragdoll Blaster and Paper Toss and plans to soon submit another game to the app store, Harbor Havoc 3D. CEO Julian Farrior commented on his experience in iPhone app development, focusing on the need for short development cycles and the potential value of giving games away. The company’s original Paper Toss game is free and provided a big boost in sales to its paid Ragdoll Blaster game.
The next edition of New Tech Meetup will be a “Meetup of Meetups” including members of a variety of different Colorado technology-related meetups, hosted on October 20 at 6:30 at the Tivoli Turnhalle in Denver.
