Wharton grads get $250K on ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’ [Startup Roundup]

Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup parses out the small pieces that make our greater Startup ecosystem thrive. We want to keep you in touch with the innovations that we can’t quite get to covering, but that deserve highlight. Follow Startup Roundup’s RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

WHO’S GETTING FUNDED?

Novotorium, the Langhorne, Pa.-based incubator focused on health and wellness compoanies, invested an undisclosed amount in Dunnamic, an interactive design studio with medical animation experience, according to a release. Dunnamic is located in Langhorne and won’t be taking office space in Novotorium, said spokesman Chuck Hall.

Wharton grads Ryan Frankel and Kunal Sarda were on ABC’s Shark Tank season finale with their translation startup VerbalizeIt and apparently started a little investor war between “the sharks,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported. In the end, New York City-based VerbalizeIt took $250,000 in investment.

Who says you can’t raise money in Philly? That was the focus on Philly Startup Leaders president and Artisan Mobile CEO Bob Moul‘s cheeky tweet, listing local funding rounds. It’d be interesting to see how much of those rounds came from local money. At least one, RJMetrics’ recent $6.25 million round, came entirely from the West Coast.

WHO’S MAKING MOVES?

PeopleLinx hired Michael Idinopulos as its Chief Marketing Officer. He was previously the general manager and chief customer officer of Socialtext, a Silicon Valley-based company that offers enterprise collaboration software. Check out a Q&A with Idinopulos on the PeopleLinx blog and watch his TED talk below.

Clutch, the Ambler, Pa.-based mobile shopping app, launched an Android version of its app, according to a release. Get it here. Clutch is led by Ned Moore, who founded Malvern’s Portico Systems, an IT service provider that was acquired by McKesson in 2011.

Gregory FCA and Safeguard Scientifics‘ contest to find the “Best Unknown Business in America” is still going on. Get more details and apply here by June 18. The contest has received “dozens” of entries “in industries from consumer products to technology to retail,” said spokeswoman Alicia Buonanno, adding that four local companies have applied.

Solve Media just released its first children’s book: Bot or Not? It’s a playful marketing effort to explain why Solve Media does the work it does. Watch actor Michael Winslow read the book out loud below.

GirlDevelopIt organizer Yasmine Mustafa is quitting her job at the Lansdale-based Netline, which purchased her company 123LinkIt in 2011, and heading to South America to travel for a few months. Read why on her blog.

WHO’S GETTING BUZZ?

Ernst & Young announced the finalists for its Entrepreneur of the Year Award. It’s a list that includes the founders of local startups like Revzilla, Curalate, Greenphire, the Neat Company and more. The winner will be announced on June 20.

New York City VC Fred Wilson is a DuckDuckGo fan, Business Insider Australia reported.

FastFig, the DreamIt Ventures Austin company that is back in Philly, where it was founded, won the Philly EdTech Meetup’s “Teacher Tank,” a Shark Tank-esque pitching competition. FastFig, based out of Venturef0rth, helps students with math homework.

Watch this video of the ZenKars team, which recently won the Wharton Business Plan Competition. Produced by Wharton Magazine, the video shows “a day in the life of [these] student entrepreneurs.”