Tracking The Progress of RoviTracker

Too many people get into “sexy” startups for the attention. They think that a landing page or pitch deck with phrases like “big data,” “internet of things” (IoT), or “the Uber of (blank)” will be what gets them funding and success. They forget that the fundamental point of building a business is to help people and to solve a problem. They forget that what governs a startup’s success is how well it can identify and remedy a pain point — not something as arbitrary as how quickly it reaches the unicorn mark.

Founder’s Blog: Boomstartup 2016 Roundup

27 July 2016 | By: Nick Jones

Boomstartup is over! Memories of Demo Day are almost two weeks old. (Good thing I JRNL’d it.) I can’t remember the last time I was involved with something that seemed to last so long and equally went by so quickly (maybe high school?). Demo Day was the culmination of 12 weeks of hard work, intense scrutiny and mentorship and the camaraderie that developed over 12 weeks with some of the best people you’d ever want to meet. As I look back on my time at Boomstartup, I am reminded how I was so unsure of taking the leap of faith. I was told that I would make friendships in a competitive environment. I was told I would meet great mentors and potential investors. I was told I would be glad, no… happy, that I came to Boomstartup. As I write this post nearly two weeks after the dust has settled, I can say that the promises made to me by Sumner Douglas and the Boomstartup program were kept.

We’re excited to introduce the companies selected for our Spring 2016 cohort! Keep an eye on these startups during the next 12 weeks as they create explosive growth and traction for their businesses.

Cleverywhere

Members: CEO Clancy Marshall, Phil Giarrusso, Kendall Davis

Social Media: Twitter, Facebook

Cleverywhere’s educational games are engaging experiences for students, building confidence through immersive activities that spark students’ creativity while building critical skills required to master the subject matter.

Core Learning Exchange
Members: CEO Jeffrey Katzman, co-founder Paul Devlin, CMO Paul Allen, CTO Chris Sawwa, COO Robert Boyer

Social Media: Twitter, Facebook

A well-funded reform movement in K-12 education has led to a mandate for personalized learning. Core Learning Exchange has developed a mastery-based platform that makes it easy for teachers to individualize instruction for each student. We give teachers the tools they need to find, share and create lessons on any device.

Seeking to rid education of factory style learning methods, Core Learning Exchange (Core-LX) has stayed true to its mission to deliver a competency-based, personalized learning experience for every student through it’s Mastery Learning Platform.

The Boulder-based startup’s platform has been implemented across three states for this school year. In addition, they have partnered with Vant4ge to reform education in the California Prison System.

In June, Core-LX was selected as an Emerging Private Sector Partner by State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA).

Super Foods, an independent operator in southwest Alabama, has selected ShopHero to power its online grocery program, which is scheduled to begin in mid-August, according to the e-commerce provider.

ShopHero, Provo, Utah, works with approximately 20 independent operators in 13 states.

Super Foods, Luverne, Ala., operates three stores — a conventional store in Greenville, Ala., and cost-plus stores in Luverne and Evergreen, Ala. The online program will be available at all locations.

According to Lillian Wilson, the retailer’s HR director, “Our customers have been asking for online ordering, and we’re pleased to be able to give it to them.”

Skinner Grocery & Market and Stewart’s Marketplace both launched new online shopping websites provided by ShopHero, an e-commerce service provider based in Provo, Utah.

Skinner’s allows customers to shop the entire inventory of the store, including its famous fresh meats, for delivery the same day. The new site integrates with the store’s existing website, allowing Skinner’s to leverage its existing relationships and investments.

“We looked at other e-commerce providers and were concerned with the co-branding model,” said Brant Brantley, owner of the Longview, Texas store. “We wanted our customers, their shopping habits and all of that data to remain on our site.”

Team of EdTech Veterans Launch Radically New Interactive Gaming Platform for Mobile and Classroom Learning That Improves Standardized Test Scores While Having Fun

26 July 2016 | By: Karen Lippe

NEW YORK & SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cleverywhere, a next generation educational interactive gaming company to inspire K-12 students, completed the elite BoomStartup Accelerator that mentors the most promising EdTech companies in the nation. Cleverywhere’s role-play adventure games, which have been in development for more than a year, reside on a kid-inspired, teacher-influenced gaming platform to engage students both in and out of the classroom while improving standardized test scores, and above all, having fun while learning. Parents can participate too by tracking their child’s progress. Cleverywhere is offering its first kid-tested app for students to enhance math and vocabulary skills during the summer learning bridge.

Selected out of hundreds of candidates, Cleverywhere and eight cohort companies were immersed in a 12-week intensive business mentoring program at BoomStartup. Each company received $20,000 in seed capital, $100,000 worth of business services along with daily one-on-one mentoring.