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By Observer Staff 5/23 2:19pm

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The Pitch Season 2, Finale: 3 Awesome Finalists, But Only 1 Winner

This season SoftBank Capital’s Nikhil Kalghatgi and Lerer Ventures’ Steve Schlafman heard from 10 startups elbowing to snag capital for their budding companies. The founders brought drive and passion to their pitches, but in the end only three could be finalists and only one the winner. Mr. Schlafman and Mr. Kalghatgi narrowed the pool by determining which of the startups had the biggest idea, the largest market to tap into and the most feasible plan. Read More

By Observer Staff 5/21 1:59pm

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The Pitch Season 2, Episode 10: Space Splitter – Making Your Roommate Less Passive Aggressive

For anyone who has ever had (or been) that roommate who can’t remember to pay rent on time or restock the cleaning supplies, Space Splitter was made for you. Founders Rob Caucci and Jeremy Pease met in the res life department at Pace University, where they were inspired to develop a solution to eradicate passive aggressiveness from the roommate experience. Space Splitter helps roommates determine who pays for what and comes equipped with the option to process payments for bills and supplies. Mr. Pease and Mr. Caucci are targeting res life departments across the country with the hopes of converting users early in their roommate career so they stay with Space Splitter until they live on their own. Read More

By Observer Staff 5/16 2:32pm

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The Pitch Season 2, Episode Nine: Edge/Admitted.ly – College Admissions 2.0

Jessica Brondo, Founder & CEO of Edge/Admitted.ly, is on a mission to make her company the new face of college admissions. Having raised her own SAT score 430 points, Ms. Brondo was bit by the test prep bug and went on to develop her own proprietary curriculum. The Edge is taking that curriculum online and into public schools nationwide. Ms. Brondo aims to bridge the socioeconomic gap by leveraging technology, particularly videos, to make test prep accessible and affordable for all high school students. Admitted.ly is the company’s newest product focusing on college admissions counseling. It analyzes a student’s data to determine their chances for being admitted to U.S. universities and offers recommendations based on each student’s history of how to boost their “admittability” score. Read More

By Observer Staff 5/14 2:58pm

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The Pitch Season 2, Episode Eight: Instreamia – Language Learning Made Easy

Moshi Moshi! Time to learn a new language, perhaps? Cofounders and brothers Scott and Ryan Rapp want you to parler francais (or Japanese or Spanish or Portugese) using their online language-learning platform, Instreamia. The educational app uses online videos to create contextualized teaching moments. So while you crank up Shakira or geek out to an online lecture, Instreamia will follow along with you to make sure you understand all the subtle nuances of the lyrics or prose. Unlike other language learning platforms, Instreamia utilizes technology to customize the learning experience and offer students interaction with teachers.

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By Observer Staff 5/09 2:00pm

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The Pitch Season 2, Episode Seven: Seed&Spark – Funding for Films

It’s a crowdfunding week on The Pitch. In episode six we met Funderverse, a crowdfunding platform serving natural gas projects. This time Emily Best, founder and CEO of Seed&Spark – a crowdfunding platform for films – hopes to prove to SoftBank Capital’s Nikhil Kalghatgi and Lerer Ventures’ Steve Schlafman that Kickstarter and Indiegogo don’t yet have a lock on the creative project market. Read More

By Observer Staff 5/07 2:52pm

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The Pitch Season 2, Episode Six: Funderverse – Crowdfunding for Companies

Discouraged by the limited options available to small and medium size businesses hoping to acquire capital, Rob Leclerc, co-founder of Funderverse, has set out to create a social media platform that connects companies with investors. Mr. Leclerc hopes Funderverse will become the Facebook for companies–though hopefully he has no Winklevii twins waiting in the shadows. Through the use of company profiles, Funderverse aims to develop relationships between companies and stakeholders and foster a crowdfunding porthole for industries traditionally underserved by the investment community. Read More

By Observer Staff 4/30 1:14pm

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The Pitch Season 2, Episode 4: Silver Living – Keeping Grandparents Everywhere Happy

Meet Silver Living, the startup bringing transparency to families searching for information on assisted living facilities. Founders Tal Ziv and Mike Cirello want to help families avoid placing grandma in a facility where the reality of the community greatly differs from what elderly relatives actually experience there (more shuffleboard, please!). Silver Living offers independent research on senior care facilities, including proprietary photos and feedback from current community members. The platform aims to ensure Grandma won’t land in a Happy Gilmore-style nightmare situation. Read More

By Observer Staff 4/29 11:28am

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The Pitch Season 2, Episode Three: Status Chart – A New Kind of Resume

For those who struggle to tell their professional story within the confines of a stodgy one-page resume, Status Chart is here to help. Christopher Kennedy, founder of Status Chart, conceived of the concept in the middle of a job interview. Feeling that his resume didn’t accurately portray who he was beyond his 9-5 gig, he wanted to create a well-designed solution that elegantly presented all his professional development and tech community activities, projects and achievements. Afterall, a one-pager doesn’t exactly give you enough space to explain your glorious hackathon achievements. The online platform helps users track their milestones and connect with others in their field. Users create profiles that list all completed, pending and upcoming projects. Read More

By Observer Staff 4/23 4:30pm

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The Pitch Season 2, Episode Two: Suitey — Makes Apartment Hunting Sweeter

Thanks for joining us last week for the premiere of the second season of The Pitch. In today’s episode we meet Phil Lang and David Walker, cofounders of Suitey, an online real estate brokerage aimed at making buying and selling an apartment in New York City suck less. Mr. Walker and Mr. Lang met while rowing at Yale (wonder if they ever rowed against the Winklevii?) and were inspired to develop Suitey after watching their friends experience the grueling rite of passage of finding an apartment in a city full of thousands of options, some more suitable than others. (No creepy perma-naked roommates, please.) Read More