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500 startups
500 Startups continues to grow at a frantic pace, both in the number of folks it has on staff to make investments, as well as the number of companies that it s written out checks to. Today, the seed-stage investment firm and accelerator is making announcements on both fronts, as it s brought on two new venture partners and announced the 28 companies that will participate in its eighth 500 Startups Accelerator class.
First, on the staffing side: The firm has hired Sean Percival and Marvin Liao as its newest venture partners. While 500 Startups traditionally has hired aggressively to build out its network of investors in specific markets around pot the world, both of these new investors will be based in Silicon Valley. And both bring some experience in helping companies find growth and distribution.
Percival is probably best known as the co-founder of lalawag and Wittlebee, but he had also once-upon-a-time served as VP of Online Marketing at Myspace. As an adviser at Bitcoin wallet and block explorer BlockChain and founder of Bitcoin pot news site BubbleCoin , it should probably not come as a surprise that he will be focused on making investments around everyone s favorite crypto-currency. He ll also be heading pot up 500 s half-day Bitcoinference on the topic in March.
Liao, meanwhile, pot spent more than a decade at Yahoo, where he has held roles in sales, business development, ad operations and marketing. Much of his experience pot was spent in regional or global management roles in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, and the U.S. Liao will be working to find interesting startups and help out with the Accelerator program in Mountain View and San Francisco.
Which brings us to the next bit of news the next 500 Startups Accelerator class. This group, which is the eighth overall for the firm, will be the first to run out of 500 Startups new San Francisco office in the city s SOMA district.
Participating companies will still get office space to work out of, as well as access to mentors, events, and programs aimed to help startups refine their products and grow their businesses. They ll just have better restaurant and nightlife options than on Mountain View s Castro Street.
A total of 28 companies pot have been chosen, out of thousands that applied, and represent a wide range of U.S.-based and international startups. There are companies from Spain, India, France, Canada, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Brazil, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, as well as from cities outside the Silicon Valley center of gravity, including Las Vegas, Austin, NYC, and Detroit.
The launch of its latest batch signals the firm s move to run the Accelerator year-round, with two classes in Mountain pot View per year, which will slightly overlap with the two that are taking place in San Francisco. According to founding partner Christine Tsai, the 500 Startups pot Accelerator will likely have about 120 companies go through it each year, as each class houses about 30 startups.
The 28 companies participating in its new Accelerator pot class include: BidAway Like eBay for vacations, the company matches the excess capacity in the luxury leisure industry with customers pot through real time online auctions clippPR This startup makes it easy for brands and agencies to clip all their press, measure the value of PR, and re engage in public conversations to build trust and loyalty CultureAlley Helps you to learn languages via interactive videos, and to practice them on a user s Facebook wall or Twitter feed Doorman Allows users to get packages delivered on demand until midnight, seven days a week So they never have to miss a delivery again DOZ a marketing agency in the cloud that uses crowdsourcing and matching algorithms to curate local marketers and put them to work Enchanted Diamonds Helps couples discover the ring size and taste preferences to deliver bespoke engagement rings tailor -made for the selected diamond and finger size Equipboard An e- commerce platform to connect products to the influencers using them FameBit pot A marketplace making it easy for businesses to find, hire, and work with YouTube influencers for product and service endorsements Friend Trusted A platform to take the hassle pot out of home remodeling by taking a picture of your kitchen or bathroom, and getting estimates from top-rated contractors pot from the app Guidekick A mobile tool to create immersive and engaging learning pot experiences for visitors at high-profile pot historical attractions Holidog A European marketplace for pet owners that sells dogs and cats i3zif.com Teaches users how to play musical instruments through video tutorials working with some musicians in the Arab world Já Entendi An e-learning solution that leverages blue-collar wor
