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:
Recap: 2014 Tulane Business Model Competition Final Round Pitches
Last Friday (April 11) Tulane Entrepreneurs Association (TEA) hosted the final round of the completely redesigned Business Model Competition, formerly the Business Plan Competition. After a 13-year-run, the contest was redesigned to better reward the practical aspects of what make startups successful – the ability to rapidly adapt to customers’ needs. Finalists Million Dollar Scholar, Tympanogen and InVision Biomedical competed for a chance at $25,000 and entrance to the International Business Model Competition as a semi finalist. Runner up gets $10,000. Tympanogen took home the top prize and InVision came in second.
Eighteen Women Accidentally Attend Local Hack Day
The New Orleans Women in Technology (WIT) group, in conjunction with Get Online Nola, hosted a WordPress workshop over the weekend aimed at teaching small business owners how to build their own websites. The 18 participants stumbled upon a hack day, with a main focus on building and collaborating to end the day with a working product. The workshop, which was held on April 5th at the Propeller social entrepreneurship incubator, was host to participants with varying levels of experience and, ultimately, various levels of idea-to-website completion at the end of the day.
10 Semi Finalists Announced for PitchNOLA: Living Well, Focusing on City’s Public Health Issues
Ten semi finalists have been selected to pitch their solutions for a healthier New Orleans atPitchNOLA 2014: Living Well on April 24, 2014. Hosted by Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation, it is the third installment of the PitchNOLA series, and the first to focus on the city’s public health issues. The 10 semi finalists, in alphabetical order, include: BarceNola Social Aid and Pleasure Club, Coordinated Care for the Whole Child, Just Bee Cause, Lower 9th Ward Market, Move It Nola, NOLA Birth Center, NOLA-Movement, RD Note, ReHabbit and Your Nutrition Anytime.
Federated Sample Launches Fulcrum Bid Manager
Federated Sample is the global technology firm delivering efficiency, transparency and automation to the sample industry through its flagship product Fulcrum. The firm has recently launched the Fulcrum Bid Manager to bring to benefits of advance enterprise management software to the bidding process. The Fulcrum Bid Manager enables clients to bid on one, centralized platform, while integrating sample sales with survey setup and fielding processes and acquiring comprehensive analytics.
365 Connect Reaches New Heights After Bringing Home a Total of 16 Technology Awards
365 Connect, the New Orleans-based online technology platform provider for the multifamily housing industry, is celebrating their “Sweet 16” after being awarded a total of 16 technology awards. The company most recently announced that their Mobile Leasing and Resident Platform has received an IAC Award. The award, produced by the Web Marketing Association, is considered highly coveted, honoring the organizations responsible for driving excellence in online advertising in a range of formats, including mobile. The company continues to dominate the multifamily housing industry in mobile technology, the fastest growing segment in the market.
Algiers Tech Wins First Student-Centered inNOLAvation Challenge
inNOLAvation was created to facilitate innovation within the minority community in New Orleans. It started as a tech meetup back in October 2012 and quickly escalated into including a pitch competition for local entrepreneurs in the spring of 2013. This past New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, the group geared the inNOLAvation Challenge toward high school students. Participating students were tasked with developing a mobile application concept to solve a problem that they are intimately familiar with. Over the course of six weeks working with volunteer entrepreneurs, the students refined their ideas that were presented at the challenge. The team from Algiers Tech won 1st place with their career counseling application for high school students.
Legal Corner: What Business Entity Is Best for My New Company?
Legal Corner is a recurring column in Silicon Bayou News, featuring a discussion of legal issues relevant to entrepreneurs and start-ups. Legal Corner is authored and edited by Michael Balascio, Jimmy Michaels, and Michelle Rutherford, three associates at the New Orleans-based law firm Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C. The three attorneys have significant experience advising small companies and start-ups with strategic and legal decisions. Click here to read the first installment.