The New Orleans-based Idea Village is finishing up their Entrepreneur Challenge 2011 over the next few weeks. The program started in November and culminates this week with New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. The program is an intensive startup accelerator, where companies get access to strategic consulting, capital, communications, marketing, and other mentorship and consulting.
So, while there will be a lot more coverage coming, we thought we would start up by giving everyone a run down on this years fourteen companies:
Axon Calc, LLC: Providing calculators that help engineers work smarter!Axon Calc creates web and mobile calculator applications for all branches of science and engineering. We make complex computing easy and error free.
Bideo, Inc: Bideo.com (bid + video) is an online auction house where users can protect and sell the exclusive rights of newsworthy images to publications in a bidding system. The platform leverages free market dynamics, DRM, transparency and immediacy to provide creators of rare, high-demand video and photos with the market framework and tools needed to maximize the value of their shot.
The Durationator(r) Company: The Durationator(r) organizes copyright information in a cost-effective, efficient and accurate form to help the world determine the copyright status of all of its cultural works–from great literature to indigenous songs to your grandmother’s diary–all around the world.
GTC NOLA: GTC NOLA provides safe, professional, affordable, convenient and environmentally-responsible transportation solutions that make New Orleans a more appealing place to live, visit and do business.
Life City: Life City is a free software platform that will empower individuals, organizations, neighborhoods, and government leaders to make more sustainable choices and track their community’s success.
Liveset: Liveset is the world’s premiere platform for live concerts on the web. Big, beautiful HD video + high quality digital audio. Exclusive live events + behind the scenes. Web + Mobile + Living room. We bring the concerts to you.
SensPack, LLC: SensPack, is an innovative mobile diagnostic system for preventative care. The system contains five key medical diagnostics in a backpack. A trailblazer in the mHealh sector, SensPacks are designed to monitor health care in difficult to reach locations, emergency situations and are ideally suited for patients with chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease. All components including the cellphone are rechargeable and relay their information via bluetooth to a cellphone.
NOLA Brewing Company: NOLA Brewing Company is the only production brewery in the city of New Orleans, making craft brewed beers by hand with four year-round beers: NOLA Blonde Ale, NOLA Brown Ale, Hopitoulas IPA and 7th Street Wheat. NOLA also produces a seasonal line of beers including Hurricane Saison and Irish Channel Stout.
The Occasional Wife: The Occasional Wife was developed as a consulting firm for the modern person, family and/or business. We are the modern solution to everyone’s busy life. We provide the following services but are not limited to: Organizing one’s home, office, projects, events and ever day life.
PollBob: PollBob is a social polling network and go-to resource for mobile opinion polls . Users can survey their friends, get feedback in real-time, and earn rewards. Our iPhone app and website provide a platform to create, take, and share short opinion polls, generating a new way to quickly discover how people feel about any given topic. We provide a targeted and affordable way for small businesses to conduct market research on-the-go.
Rare Cuts: Rare Cuts provides the same superior quality cuts of meat you enjoy in a 5-star restaurant for patrons to prepare at home. We strive for superior customer relationships and work to educate consumers about cuts and cooking techniques, so not only are the premiere products available, but the intimidation factor is eliminated and a customer gains the confidence they deserve.
Rebirth Financial: Rebirth Financial, Inc. is the first peer-to-business (P2B) online lending platform and marketplace in the United States. Rebirth Financial promotes small business growth and development in Louisiana, with anticipated scalability to all 50 states. Individual and institutional investors are connected directly with the businesses that need their loans the most to finance growth in the small business sector- a process that we call peer-to-business lending. As a finalist in the Federal Reserve’s “Investor Idol” competition, Rebirth Financial has been identified as one of the top four companies with the potential to change the United States’ financial system.
Refresh Environmental: Refresh Environmental is a vertically integrated biofuels company that collects, processes, and markets commodities derived from liquid waste. Our mission is to refresh the waste-cooking oil and grease recycling ecosystem in Louisiana. Refresh picks up waste-cooking oil and grease with our internally manufactured patent pending theft-prevention containers located on-site at supplier’s locations. Then we process the waste-cooking oil and grease into saleable commodities, blend, and market the commodities. Suppliers share in the profits and efficiency of Refresh’s operations without performing any of the work. Refresh increases waste-cooking oil transparency, provides reliable pickup service, trap cleaning, eliminates grease theft, and generates additional revenues for waste-cooking oil and grease suppliers. Refresh ExchangeTM adds value by providing cash or premium services and items at lower rates than retail due to shared resource advantages. Refresh EnvironmentalTM members actively participate in an environmentally sound and profitable recycling ecosystem that is good for Louisiana’s environment, community, workforce, education, and local business.
Spa Workshop: Spa Workshop promotes health and well-being by bringing the latest technologies to spa treatments from around the world. Products are inspired by traditional hydrotherapy with the integrated technology elevating the effectiveness, providing wider access, and bringing consistency to the experience.