Launch DFW | kickstart monday

18 May Kickstart Monday: Village Initiative Tackles Student Loans Through Crowdfunding

Posted at 11:40h in Startup Profiles by Raquel Vincent

The Village Initiative is an early-stage startup that will be a community-based crowdfunding platform which allows individuals to become members, tell their stories behind their student loan debt, and allow their own “villages” or network, contribute to their campaign. Co-founders Jason Hilliard and Randon Knighten are alumni of...

04 May Kickstart Monday: Marma, Natural health products inspired by Grandma’s remedies

Posted at 07:45h in Startup Profiles by Jasmine Crockett

Sore throat? Sunburn? Bad cough? Who remembers all of the childhood memories of your grandmother putting together the weirdest ideas to produce a remedy to cure you? Jump forward years later from the playground and as adults we think only what the doctor says or...

06 Apr Kickstart Monday: Oduga, Toys That Grow With Baby

Posted at 07:45h in Startup Profiles by Raquel Vincent

Ask any parent and they'll tell you, "kids grow up so fast." Even looking at my niece, it's hard for me to believe she'll be three this summer. I could have sworn it was last year that she was this tiny baby instead of the...

30 Mar Kickstart Monday: Sharitabl, a social network for good

Posted at 11:52h in Dallas Startup News, News by Rachel Winstead

With the amount of time that we spend on social networks, wouldn't it be refreshing to know that some of that time could spent towards giving to others? This is the mission behind Sharitabl, a social network that passes ad revenue on to charities and global...

16 Mar Kickstart Monday: eDebut, movie streaming for new film releases

Posted at 14:06h in Dallas Startup News, News by Rachel Winstead

The film industry is a billion dollar behemoth, and for independent filmmakers, the costs around debuting their work can be daunting. A local company in the Dallas area is working on changing how movies are released, by making them available through their app, eDebut. "Our primary goal...

02 Mar Kickstart Monday: KidStarter, creating a brighter future through STEM-based learning

Posted at 13:47h in Dallas Startup News, News by Rachel Winstead

DFW Excellerator, the "first cross-border incubator and accelerator in North Texas that supports programs from start-up to late stage technology ventures," has been incubating the KidStarter project for the last year. KidStarter has been hosting instructor-led classes since early 2014 - within 10 months, the classes were at full...

26 Jan Kickstart Monday: Scarab, the wearable device that analyzes the world around you

Posted at 11:25h in Dallas Startup News, News by Rachel Winstead

"We all do our best to steer clear of health threats. But what about the threats that we can't see?" Amulet Corporation has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its Scarab product. Scarab is a wearable device and app that collects data (LOTS OF DATA) about your...

22 Dec Kickstart Monday: Custom Apps Made Easy with Appr

Posted at 09:47h in Dallas Startup News, News, Startup Profiles by Rachel Winstead

Earlier this year, Flurry Analytics released a report on mobile app usage since 2013, noting that, of the time spent on a mobile device, 86% of the average US mobile consumer’s time was spent on apps. "The data tells a clear story that apps, which were considered a mere...

17 Nov Sprinkl: The Next Element in the Digital Household

Posted at 10:37h in Dallas Startup News, News, Startup Profiles by Rachel Winstead

Perhaps you'll remember Sprinkl from the September Dallas New Tech event, when local tech entrepreneur Noel Geren presented the smart automation sprinkler technology. Well, we're so thrilled to hear that Sprinkl is transitioning the product for a full-market launch, and their Kickstarter campaign is live today! The team at...

03 Nov KICKSTART MONDAY! Zunotek’s SnapRecorder Makes Music Production Sleek and Simple

Posted at 17:25h in Dallas Startup News, News by Michael Winstead

Among musicians of every kind, from street corner buskers to Super Bowl half-timers, having the right equipment to produce the sound they envision for their audience is essential. With the advent of more in-depth audio mastery and studio recording technology, many artists struggle to “cut through...

27 Oct Kickstart Monday: CopKarma, an app “for the people”

Posted at 18:27h in Dallas Startup News, News by Michael Winstead

Just about everybody has had an experience with a police officer at some point in their life, some of us more frequently than others. It is astonishing, then, that individuals have no way of archiving these experiences by any means other than a case number and...

13 Oct Kickstart Monday: Finding Opportunities for Your Purpose with PurposeMatch

Posted at 20:31h in News by Michael Winstead

In this day and age of countless opportunities, finding a fulfilling career path has become more difficult than ever for newer generations in the work force. Tasked with choosing the best foundations for their future, thousands of young students and workers feel overwhelmed or “stuck”. PurposeMatch, a multidimensional species of...

06 Oct Kickstart Monday: BLEasy, A Bridge for Your Arduino System

Posted at 17:05h in News by Rachel Winstead

BLEasy is a new project out of Grabo (from Denton), and it aims to be the best Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) bridge you can find on the market. "Wires gave us [a] headache and they also limit the size of our Arduino system. There are some...

29 Sep Kickstart Monday: Pterys, Sunglasses With a Cause

Posted at 20:15h in Dallas Startup News by Rachel Winstead

If you've never heard of pterygium, then we're about to teach you something, dear reader. Pterygium (pronounced terry-gee-um), also known as “Surfer’s Eye”, is a fleshy growth occurring on the whites of the eye and is much more common than people think. 1 out of 4...

22 Sep Parenteen: Ensuring Safe Teen Drivers Through Tech

Posted at 14:56h in Dallas Startup News, News, Startup Profiles by Rachel Winstead

When it comes to teen driving, the statistics can be daunting. Just during the first year of receiving their license, teen drivers are 10 times more likely to be involved in a car accident. In the United States, 1 in 4 crash fatalities involve someone 16...

15 Sep Kickstart Monday: Pump Up West Dallas

Posted at 20:50h in News by Rachel Winstead

Most of the Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that we've featured are tech-related, so this week's project is a little bit different - but it's for a great cause that we're excited to hear about. Pump Up West Dallas is a campaign to install bicycle repair stations...

01 Sep Buoy: Ensuring Safe Driving Through Tech

Posted at 16:10h in News by Rachel Winstead

Driver safety is always an issue, especially with an increase in mobile phone use. The CDC reports that a cringeworthy 31% of U.S. drivers read or send texts or emails while driving. "Car companies increase technology every year to allow more functions of the cell phones...

18 Aug Make Any Flat Surface Your Canvas with Gocupi!

Posted at 15:26h in News by Rachel Winstead

"Do you have a need to robotically draw images on any vertical surface using a robot? Don't want to be limited by having to send gcode or commands to a tiny microcontroller that limits what you can draw? Then gocupi is exactly what you have...

11 Aug Whippersnappers: A Sock Subscription Service That Delivers Insane Amounts of Cute

Posted at 10:00h in Dallas Startup News, News by Rachel Winstead

It's kind of a fact -- kids go through clothes (including socks) really, really fast. And it's written in stone that socks are the easiest thing on earth to lose. Well, all of your problems are solved, because Whippersnappers will deliver adorable and hilarious socks RIGHT. TO....

28 Jul Kickstart Monday: The Tomorrow Techies

Posted at 19:30h in News by Rachel Winstead

There is a persistent and growing need for coding programs for kids -- not just in the North Texas area, but everywhere. This week's Kickstart Monday is about the Tomorrow Techies -- a project geared towards students in grades 6-12 who are interested in learning more...

21 Jul Beer + Bluetooth = Brilliant

Posted at 14:00h in Dallas Startup News, News by Rachel Winstead

Today's Kickstart Monday is all about making your beer brewing experience easier and smarter. The process of brewing beer is time-consuming and requires dedication. Today, brewing your own beer at home has become a popular endeavor, but it's not without its headaches. The process requires a careful...

07 Jul Kickstart Monday: GoGoMedic Gives You Peace of Mind in Medical Emergencies

Posted at 18:52h in News by Rachel Winstead

If you've ever been in an accident or had to help someone in an emergency, there's a good chance this device could've come in handy. The GoGoMedic is a Medical ID device where all of your medical information can be stored. Carrying all of your pertinent health...

30 Jun Kickstart Monday: Meh.

Posted at 17:01h in News by Rachel Winstead

Many of you are probably familiar with local business, Woot. They started out as a "daily deal" online shopping experience, and kind of exploded from there. With an online forum, wacky product descriptions, and an official Wootcast, they've definitely become more than an online retailer. Perhaps...

28 Apr Kickstart Monday – Mi World Lets You Share, Even When You’re Not Connected

Posted at 14:04h in News by Rachel Winstead

Mi World™ PCS is rounding off their Indiegogo campaign at the beginning of May, and we're excited to see this project get funded. Mi World™ PCS is a personal hot spot, of sorts. With a 30 hour battery life and up to 512 GB hot swappable...

21 Apr Kickstart Monday: iPal Launches Indiegogo Campaign for Smartglasses Product

Posted at 12:33h in News by Bradley Joyce

Editor's note: Kickstart Monday is our ongoing series of profiling local crowdfunding campaigns each Monday (or at least we try to do one every Monday!) iPal wants to get you into a pair of smart glasses and they just launched their Indiegogo campaign today to make...

17 Mar Kickstart Monday: Photonic Designs – New Battery Tech

Posted at 09:51h in News by Bradley Joyce

Every week at airports across the country, 1000s of batteries are being consumed by marshaling wands and thrown away. Photonic Designs is looking to solve this problem with their new technology. A marshaling wand is that flashlight with a cone on the end used by all sorts...

30 Dec Kickstart Monday: Switch Taps Interchangeable Beer Tap Handles

Posted at 09:00h in News by Bradley Joyce

Sometimes innovation comes in relatively low-tech forms, and we celebrate it! After all, who doesn't want completely interchangeable tap handles that not only work on your trusty kegerator, but also your growler. BOOM. Say hello to Switch Taps' recently launched Kickstarter campaign. And what is entrepreneurship but...

09 Dec Kickstart Monday: Busker – Wallet Friendly Pick Storage

Posted at 12:51h in News by Bradley Joyce

It's a problem every guitar player has experienced...