Week in Review: February 4, 2013

The Silicon Bayou has been buzzing with tech and entrepreneurial news. Here are the most popular stories published on Silicon Bayou News in the past seven days:

 

Ten Companies Will Pitch as Part of First Ever Whale Tank Competition

Travis Laurendine is hosting a super event today from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. The event, Whale Tank, is an opportunity for early stage companies to pitch for five minutes each in front of an elite audience, many of whom would not normally be in town if it weren’t for the Super Bowl on Sunday. Laurendine and co-host Julie Hamm created the event to bridge the gap between this weekend’s investors, celebrities, and business innovators to the startups to, “give the weekend an entrepreneurial silver lining.”

Connect for a Cause Launches Nationally, Signs up Big Names in Entrepreneurship

Last Tuesday, Louisiana native Jason Nicosia launched his social fundraising platform, Connect for a Cause nationally. The site provides the opportunity for users throughout the country to create a profile, bid on the meetings they want with various entrepreneurs, executives, and VIPs, and have proceeds go to the charity or nonprofit chosen by the campaign creator. Notable Connect for a Cause users include Brad FeldJonah Lupton, and Dave McClure.

Haystack EDU Seeks to Change Future of Ed Tech

Tom Hayes has experienced first hand the shortcomings in the school system and come up with a way to make them better. He founded Haystack EDU to connect educators to learning institutions. Think of it like Match.com for education purposes. Tom founded the company with the idea that it can be the talent hub for the 21st century teachers and schools. This past summer, he participated in a month long 4.0 schools program which helped launch the company.

4.0 Lab Cohort Alums Sweep Startup Weekend EDU

For the second year in the row, members of the 4.0 Schools community swept Startup Weekend EDU Orlando, taking first, second, and third places. The winning were CampusCompass in third, Square 2 in second, and ScholarSort in first place. Want to get in on the action? Join 4.0 at Startup Weekend this spring in San Francisco, New York or New Orleans.

Mardi Brah Now Available in the App Store

he street-style punt, pass and kick competition, Mardi Brah, is now available for download in the app store. The game is meant to be fun and casual, while showing off the technology and street style art New Orleans has to offer as the city gears up for Super Bowl weekend. It was designed by Lionel Milton, Chris Schultz, and the rest of the Flatstack team.

ArcMail Recognized as ‘Vendor to Watch’ for Excellence in Email Archiving Technology

Email and information archiving pioneer ArcMail was recognized late last week as a “Vendor to Watch” in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Information Archiving (EIA). The report, published in December, says the market will, “continue to see strong growth, experiencing a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8% through 2016, from a baseline of $1.58 billion in 2011.”

GNO, Inc. Shares Valuable Resource: Why New Orleans is Great Place to Live and Work

document with a number of Statistics, Testimonials, Awards, and Rankings, or STARs, was released this morning from GNO, Inc. The memorandum provides over 25 reasons why New Orleans is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. Much of it stems from the business climate, including entrepreneurial activity, and the brain gain we are experiencing now.