Startups

SeatGeek can’t be Philly’s lone connection to TechCrunch 50. Can it?

Update: A reader points out that WizHive, started by DreamIt founder Mike Levinson, has Philly connections. Read about the company’s time at TechCrunch here. If TechCrunch 50 can be a startup’s launching pad to millions (just ask Mint.com), why aren’t more local companies making the journey to the Valley? One of the marque events of […]

Jack Groetzinger, formally of Scribnia, presents CheapSeats at TechCrunch 50. See the video at the end of the post.

Jack Groetzinger, formally of Scribnia, presents SeatGeek at TechCrunch 50. See the video at the end of the post.
Update: A reader points out that WizHive, started by DreamIt founder Mike Levinson, has Philly connections. Read about the company’s time at TechCrunch here.
If TechCrunch 50 can be a startup’s launching pad to millions (just ask Mint.com), why aren’t more local companies making the journey to the Valley?
One of the marque events of the Web 2.0 world, TechCrunch 50 (formally the TechCrunch 40) is essentially a business plan contest on steroids. For this year’s version, more than a thousand startups applied to be one of the 50 companies that present to judges for a chance to win $50,000 in startup funding and a whole lot of attention.
This year’s winner, RedBeacon, has already been announced, but that got us thinking: did any local companies make the trip West?
Among the 50 companies selected to present to judges, Technically Philly could only find one company with any sort of connection to our fair city: SeatGeek.

If SeetGeek doesn’t sound familiar to you, then maybe you know the founders’ last project, Scribnia. Launched at University City summer incubator program DreamIt Ventures and covered earlier this year by TP, Scribnia is a platform to rate writers on the Web and was sold before DreamIt even finished its Demo Day.
Scribnia founders, Jack Groetzinger and Russ D’Souza quickly got to work on their next project: SeatGeek, a price tracker for event tickets. While Groetzinger and D’Souza hail from Dartmouth, they earned their chops at the University City Science Center while participating in DreamIt and, in an interview with TP in June, considered setting up shop in Philadelphia.
�We�re here, and we really like it a lot,” D’Souza said. “There is definitely a chance we will be here in the long run.�
The team was dispersing from San Francisco for the conference and none were coming back our way just yet.

KNOW OF ANY OTHERS?

More than a hundred more startups were invited to the conference’s “DemoPit,” a room jammed with table where runners-up can demo their products to attendees. When combined with the 50 companies selected to present, we believe there has to more local connections than just SeatGeek.
Know of any? Drop us a comment below, or reach out through our contact form.
See SeatGeek’s presentation at TC50 below:
http://www.ustream.tv/flash/video/2163105

Companies: Scribnia / TechCrunch

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