by Aidal Rahl
The technology industry seems to be in a constant state of regeneration, as each passing year sees exciting new tech startups bring revolutionary forces to the table for the benefit of customers everywhere. This year is no exception to that rule, with a large number of startups around the world that are hoping to transform the way people use their smartphones, tablets, and traditional computers. Among all of these exciting new tech startups, however, there are three that seem to stand just a bit above the crowd with an even higher level of promise and innovation.
Cause.it
Gagan Dhillon and Andrew Blejde created the Cause.it mobile app in 2011 with the hope of getting people more engaged with charitable work and even charitable giving. Both men saw a need for increased awareness of charities and greater involvement by people of all ages. When they noticed that there was no current market for such a service, they immediately got to work.
Cause.it is not actually “new” in most consumers’ minds, as they have probably seen it in action at least once via a Facebook post or another social media outlet. In 2013, though, the group is looking to attract more capital and eventually profits through a for-pay service.
Long offered to charities and volunteers for free, the duo will push through a small change this year that charges nonprofits a flat, $50 fee to connect directly to their most enthusiastic supporters and volunteers. If the app can do for charity work what social media has done for social cohesiveness around the world, this application could be a seriously exciting prospect in 2013 and years to come.
250ok
Entrepreneur and self-proclaimed geek Greg Kraios started 250ok in 2011 in order to solve a problem that most people never realized they had. The service’s goal is to determine whether an email was delivered to a recipient’s inbox, spam folder, or even their trash folder, and then alert the sender to the ultimate destination of that email. To some who do not engage in corporate email or promotional mailing, it might sound a bit creepy. Kraios insists that’s not the case.
Instead, he cites the need for companies to determine whether or not they’re actually reaching as many people with their email as they think they are. If they send out 2,000 emails and half go to the spam folder where they’re never seen, that’s a waste. The company at present only knows that the email was successfully delivered. They do not know where it ended up. Solving this problem could easily transform email marketing.
Imprint Energy
The push to go thinner, lighter, and longer with today’s mobile devices is largely limited by the size of the battery needed to power that device for at least a full day’s use. Those batteries are not bulky by any means, but they certainly are when one examines the size of the battery in relation to the size of the device that they power.
Christine Ho and Brooks Kincaid, founders of Imprint Energy, have an alternative to the bulky battery. They’ve created a battery that’s as flexible as a thin piece of plastic. Best of all, it can be sized to hold the same charge as larger batteries without coming close to them in size. With tech like that, the company may soon find themselves field calls from the likes of Samsung and Apple, among others.
Plenty of Promise for These and Other Startups
The upcoming year is shaping up to be one that is thinner, lighter, more connected, and more charitable, than ever before. The charge toward those realities is being led by startups that have new ideas about how people should charge their phones, volunteer with a nonprofit, and even reach others via email. All told, it’s an exciting time to be an observer in today’s fast-moving technology industry.
This article was contributed by Aidal Rahl of OrderSatTV.com, a website offering deals on satellite TV and internet services.
Photo Credits
Cause.it | 250ok | Imprint Energy | Aidal Rahl | scottchan | FreeDigitalPhotos.net
