AlwaysOn Innovation Summit Presents Promising Startups of 2015

by Chris Preimesberger

Founded in 2013, Immerss is a global online marketplace designed to help discover a variety of talent and deliver the best in live instructions and performance experiences. It does this through live presentations that connect talent with the audience. It provides an immersive video platform that empowers users to engage an audience as a presenter, or immerse themself as a consumer, by connecting with the world’s most gifted individuals. For example, users can obtain immersive lessons from a tango instructor in Buenos Aires, a guitar teacher in Madrid, yogi in Mumbai, make-up artist in Hollywood or enjoy a black-box theatre performance in New York.

Founded in 1999, Intacct provides Web- or cloud-based financial management and accounting applications for businesses and CPA firms. Intacct provides small and midsize businesses with a cloud-based alternative to on-premises and desktop accounting solutions like QuickBooks, Microsoft Dynamics and Sage. The company’s financial management and accounting applications—in use by more than 8,500 organizations, from startups to public companies—are designed to improve business performance and make finance more productive.

Founded in 2010, Saule Technologies is working on the commercial application of perovskites by creating a new generation of photovoltaic cells for solar energy capture. Perovskite is a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate, with the chemical formula CaTiO3. These cells can be used in places where heavy glass-based panels are not practical. Saule’s photovoltaic cells have the form of thin layers integrated with lightweight sandwich panels that constitute no additional load for the structure of the production hall or building.

Whether you’re collaborating through email, intranet, SharePoint or a social enterprise network, getting the answer to your problem begins with identifying the right co-worker. Founded in 2012, WhoKnows helps you find them instantly. For the first time, whether you’re looking for information or an introduction, users can be immediately connected to an expert colleague with a quick browser search.

Founded in 2013, Globaloria provides courses that teach 5th- to 12th-graders computing, software engineering, game design and coding using industry tools and professional practices. Created especially for schools, Globaloria uses a project-based learning approach that can be taught as a stand-alone course or through core integration. Aligned with Common Core and state standards, Globaloria builds new capacity among teachers without requiring STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) expertise; it does so via teacher training, step-by-step teacher and student support and expert-on-demand resources using a blended learning network approach.

Founded in 2014, the company describes itself as “the world’s most advanced Website editor.” It will launch in the fall.

Founded in 2012, Umpires Media is focused on becoming the No. 1 provider of video-based sports rules explanations for every sport, in every language, worldwide.

Founded in 2014, Kwilt is a sleek and simple way to assemble the complete collection of images that make up your life. Seamlessly pulling from virtually every social account, drive and device you own, it compiles all your pictures into a fully interactive media mosaic. It’s an easy way to view, sort, edit and share favorite photos.

Founded in 2011, 1World Online provides a social research service to help in understanding what people really think on a variety of topics and give them informed choices in balanced, well-structured and logical ways via polls, related expert opinions and supporting data points. Service is based on “smart crowdsourcing”; it’s self-regulated via members’ feedback and combines cultural insightfulness and intelligence with entertainment and next-generation social networking.

Founded in 2011, Joyus aims to enhance the online shopping experience by helping shoppers discover goods through short-form videos. Each week, its curators share their special apparel, beauty and lifestyle finds with users and then show them how to make them work for you. Each item is available for sale for a limited time through the exclusive video sales platform, making it easy to buy. Users can also share these videos with friends on Facebook and Twitter with just a simple click.

Altiscale was founded in 2012 to provide organizations access to the only cloud purpose-built for Apache Hadoop, as well as the operational expertise needed to execute complex Hadoop projects. By monitoring both the infrastructure and jobs, Altiscale provides unparalleled levels of service for its customers. The Altiscale team has been on the forefront of Apache Hadoop, from its incubation at Yahoo to operating more than 40,000 Hadoop nodes.

Founded in 2011, Magisto aims to offer an easy, fun way to share experiences through video. Magisto’s Web, iPhone and Android apps enable users to automatically edit videos and share them with friends and family. Using Magisto requires no previous experience or knowledge of video editing; users simply record and upload videos, select a theme, pick background music and give their movie a title, and Magisto will turn the videos into edited movies, complete with music and effects, in minutes.