The second ever Startup Weekend (SW) New Orleans took place this past weekend. The 54-hour event attracted 77 participants, all of whom were there to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch companies.
Ethan Rosenberg, one of the Startup Weekend New Orleans organizers and Co-founder of Marquee, said the weekend drew a much better ratio of developers, designers and non-technical participants than the first event in April. “It was interesting to see how that shaped the event differently – much more got built this time around! Additionally, we had a significantly larger crowd of college student participants.”
Following the second SW New Orleans, organizers are already planning a third, likely to happen next April.
“I think everyone involved learned a great deal about what Startup life is truly like, and how important it is to validate your idea, and focus on building a sustainable company,” said Rosenberg. “I think we’re going to see the buzz from this event carry over to the next Startup Weekend, and I look forward to an even bigger turnout next time around!”
BeneFIT, a service that helps people lose weight by giving the calories you aren’t eating to someone else in the world who is hungry, came in first place at SW. Rosenberg previously met Andrew Ryan, who pitched the idea for the company, and was told that he had a concern his idea wasn’t far enough along. “I told him that was perfect, and was exactly the purpose of Startup Weekend – to have a rough idea, validate it, and flesh it out with a team throughout the weekend! Low and behold, he showed up on Friday night, pitched the idea, formed a team, and it now sounds like their team will be continuing to work on BeneFIT!”
“It is a win-win situation,” said Ryan. “The corporation saves money on their wellness program, has a healthier employee base which leads to lower health insurance premiums, and they look great in the public eye by funding global nutrition projects.”
Second place went to Steeming, a mobile dating app that connects young professionals over a cup of coffee. GeoTones, an app that changes your ringtone based on your cellphones GPS, “so you never have another awkward moment at work again,” came in third. The audience favorite vote went to BountyTaco, a web service which connects people who want tacos to people who will deliver tacos.
The other six ventures are below:
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Sustainable Land Lab Exchange – an exchange that allows owners of abandoned lots to connect with those who have projects for the property
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Congressional Accountability – a service that simplifies the way we find out information about what our politicians are up to
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GigLines – a service which simplifies the way military personnel prepare for uniform inspection
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YouChews – an app which lets users sort restaurants based on menu items
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Project Tic-Toc – a service which connects people with fixed incomes to ways of keeping more of their earned money
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Spacious Thoughts – a company that provides Smart Board technology to the world for a lower cost
More information about SW can be found at neworleans.startupweekend.org.