Super Bowl App Wins Big at Whale Tank 2013

Screen shot 2013-02-01 at 3.37.21 PMDigital Tip Jar won more than once today at Whale Tank 2013 in New Orleans. Travis Laurendine from Codemkrs dubbed the startup company with the Traction Award from the hackathon. The company also walked away with the funding from theWhale Tank competition.

The competition was an opportunity for early stage companies to pitch for five minutes each in front of an elite audience. Digital Tip Jar pitched the company’s idea: local artists and performers sign up, get assigned a QR code for free, and then fans can tip digitally through their smartphone.

Along with the others, Digital Tip Jar’s Patrick Crilly pitched in front of a packed house at the Little Gem Saloon. Representatives from Idea Village, GNO, Inc., Springboard, and Voodoo Ventures filled the seats. $50,000 was up for grabs (but up to $250,000 is available) thanks to Baton Rouge’s Springboard Capital Regions Venture Partners Fund.

Additional prizes include in kind services from the following: Carver Darden, FSC Interactive, Carrollton Group, Propellor, Second Line, Trumpet, Forbes.com, and Dojo.

Although no awards were given, the second and third place companies were announced as Tutti Dynamics and Connect for a Cause, respectively.

The rest of the companies that pitched include: Enriched, Unawkward, Gentology, 2-cent, Education Everytime, Traverst, budtobud, and Mio 3D.

Crilly told Silicon Bayou News winning “was a real surprise. It feels really good because it’s something we have been working hard on and scraping by, inch by inch.”

As of today, over 80 musicians have signed on for Digital Tip Jar. The company is also working with SXSW and an organization in London to expand into new markets.

More information can be found at whaletank.org and digitaltipjar.com.