Meet the Newest Stars Of the ATL Tech Scene: Techstars Atlanta Announces 2017 Class

Techstars Atlanta 2017

Globally-connected accelerator program Techstars Atlanta has announced the 10 companies that will be starring in its 2017 class. Applications for the program, which is presented in partnership with Cox Enterprises, came from 42 countries — with over 40 percent from the southeast and over a third from international companies.

“One of the goals of Techstars Atlanta is to help shine a light on our city as a hotbed for innovation,” says Michael Cohn, Techstars Atlanta’s Managing Director. “We’re doing this by accelerating great startups already based here, but also by bringing international entrepreneurs to Atlanta. With the support of Cox Enterprises, we’re able to connect them with one of the city’s leading corporations. It’s a winning combination.”

From those applicants, the Techstars Atlanta team has selected 10 companies, including 7 from the southeast, 4 from Atlanta. Nearly a quarter of total applications came from the Atlanta area.

“I’m excited about this class of startups, especially since so many of them were started right here in the Southeast. This class represents Cox’s vision for bringing Techstars to Atlanta: support our existing startups while also recruiting others to the area,” says Alex Taylor, EVP & COO of Cox Enterprises.

“We want people to know that Atlanta is a great place to start and build businesses,” says Taylor.

In addition to the U.S., Techstars Atlanta saw the most applications from Nigeria, Israel, India and the U.K.

Building a diverse cohort was important to the Techstars Atlanta team, says Tyler Scriven, Techstars Atlanta’s Managing Director.

“Techstars overall seeks to include diversity, whether its related to the founder’s company idea, ethnicity or gender,” said Scriven. “I’m proud that our 2017 class captures these areas, as well as geographic diversity. A variety of perspectives and cultures helps us build better companies.”

The industries represented in the cohort are also diverse, ranging from an on-demand laundry platform to a 3D printing hardware device manufacturer to a gaming monetization tool (meet the startups below!).

The new class of entrepreneurs will now begin an intensive, three-month bootcamp-style program, with weekly mentor meetings, classes and training in subjects ranging from marketing to sales to funding, and technical and business support. They will work out of Techstars Atlanta’s Ponce City Market space.

The 2016 Techstars class saw several companies who were not originally from Atlanta set up secondary offices, hire employees, or move their headquarters here because of the connections they made through the program.

Los Angeles-based Fitspot, for example, continues to have a strong Atlanta presence, even competing in the last Atlanta Startup Battle.

The program culminates in Demo Day on Oct. 10, where the companies make their pitch to hundreds of investors. Techstars global portfolio of more than 1,000 companies have raised over $3.5 billion in funding, and last year’s Techstars Atlanta class has raised over $7 million. Nearly 75 percent of Techstars graduate companies receive follow-on funding and/or became profitable soon after program end.

Meet Techstars Atlanta 2017

2ULaundry (Charlotte, NC): 2ULaundry provides on-demand laundry and dry cleaning services.

Bloveit (Atlanta, GA): Bloveit is a date night concierge service that helps busy couples plan awesome dates at the click of a button.

Collider Tech (Chattanooga, TN): Collider designs and develops stand-alone, end-to-end additive manufacturing technology for 3D printing.

Farmcrowdy (Lagos, Nigeria): Farmcrowdy is Nigeria’s first agri-tech platform that enables sponsors to connect with real farmers in order to increase food production and split profits.

Fraudmarc (Atlanta, GA): Fraudmarc protects your corporate email by validating mail sources and stopping phishing.

 

Landing Lion (Atlanta, GA): Landing Lion is a platform that lets digital marketers quickly build landing pages (in 5 minutes!), A/B split test, and track leads and analytics.

MoQuality (Atlanta, GA): MoQuality uses AI to perform quality assurance testing on mobile apps more efficiently and accurately.

Rapid RMS (Chattanooga, TN): Rapid RMS’s software provides point-of-sale and inventory management tools for gas stations.

TheMonetizr (Riga, Latvia): TheMonetizr provides a monetization solution based on merchandise purchases for game platforms.

 

Vlipsy (Canton, OH): Vlipsy is a video clip soundboard that lets users find, reference, and create clips from their favorite Internet videos (think a Gif crossed with video!)


Continue to watch the Techstars Atlanta entrepreneurs’ journeys through Hype’s exclusive coverage or on social media using #TechstarsATL.