Friday, February 3 at the Megaplex Theaters in Sandy
(Jordan Commons – 9400 S. State Street, Sandy, UT).

RSVP and purchase your tickets before they sell out.

Use the link above to get there directly. However, If you start at the megaplextheatres.com Home Page, you need to:

1. Go to http://megaplextheatres.com
2. Under ‘Showtimes & Tickets’ select ‘Sandy at Jordan Commons’
3. Choose date: ‘Friday, February 3′
4. Choose ‘Lean Startup All-Star Networking Lunch’
5. Order your tickets

Here is the flyer on the event:

This is sure to be a big hit. In particular because the crowd will get to provide feedback and eventually vote on a favorite company from the group to receive $500 cash toward their business. UVEF will also conduct a random drawing for an iPad to be given away on the spot to a lucky audience participant.

Members are free, students are $10, and guests are $25. Here are the details:

5 Successful Startups and 15 Lessons Learned

Join UVEF in our New Year as five of our UVEF Top 25 Under 5 award winners share their startup to success stories.

Thursday, January 12 at Novell from 11:45 to 1:30 p.m.

In a never-before-seen crowd-forum format, the following entrepreneurs will introduce their businesses, describe three lessons they’ve learned while starting and growing their ventures, and then take questions, comments, and feedback from the crowd.

To top it off, all attendees will get a chance to vote for the entrepreneur they think imparts the most valuable insights and lessons learned.

UVEF will award the winner a $500 cash prize and 2 extra UVEF membership seats for their company, and give away an iPad2 to a random audience participant*.

Our participants for the January Crowd Forum include:

• CampusBookRentals.com: Alan Martin, CEO
• mediaFORGE: Rhett Frandsen, VP Sales and Network Development
• KT Tape: Reed Quinn, Founder
• The Sweet Tooth Fairy: Megan Brown, CEO
• iApplicants: Ryan Kohler, CEO

Register for this event today, space is limited

 Questions? Contact Michelle@cedo.org or 801.226.1521 ext.101
No cost for this event to current UVEF members. $25 for visitors.

*Yes, you read that correctly; we are giving away an iPad to some lucky audience member in a random drawing. It could be you, but only if you are there.

Best Kept Entrepreneurial Secret

We regularly hear a compelling story about a company that seems to come out of nowhere to grab headlines and inspire entrepreneurs, making us think, ‘now why haven’t we noticed them before?’

This year we learned of a local company on a path to success when ‘disaster’ struck; a majority investor pulled out, leaving the company in a sudden bind. Not willing to be sold or to risk being disbanded, the company worked to secure an enterprise loan, which took nearly six months to close and at the ‘zero hour’ came through for $500,000 less than the company needed to close. The company’s own executive team stepped up; pulled out checkbooks and credit cards; and took voluntary pay cuts. Together they closed the gap, finalizing the loan and full company buyback in May of this year.

With new funding, the employee-owned company continued its record growth and accumulated enough revenue to pay the loan off in full on the date of the first payment. Employees and their families are planning a group march to Zions Bank to deliver the payment in person later this month.

For their remarkable turnaround and expansion story and continued success, we recognize Fishbowl Inventory as Utah Valley’s Best Kept Entrepreneurial Secret.

Most Innovative Product

With so many innovations coming from our Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Community, it is often hard to determine which to recognize as our ‘most’ innovative. This year the decision was equally tough with several nominees taking our breath away as we pondered their ground-breaking work.

One, however, shines through as a remarkable breakthrough that has the potential to literally change the world for everyone in it.

RiverRock Bioscience has the Exclusive, worldwide rights to what is arguably the most transformative technology ever developed by Brigham Young University. This broadly patented, game-changing technology mimics the innate immune system of plants, animals, insects and humans, and possesses remarkable antimicrobial, wound healing and other properties.

Whereas typical antimicrobial and wound healing agents are oftentimes toxic, ineffective against bacteria in a biofilm structure, and rapidly lead to bacterial resistance known as ‘superbugs’, the CSA technology has been shown to be just the opposite, and more effective.

Among the many industries being pursued by RiverRock that can clearly benefit from this technology are: animal healthcare; commercial disinfection; consumer personal care products and cosmetics; food safety; and household and hospital sanitation. The first of these opportunities, animal healthcare, has already resulted in a significant financial partnership and will soon be commercialized by RiverRock.

For this remarkable innovation, we recognize RiverRock Bioscience for their commercialization of this year’s Most Innovative Product.

Ron King Social Entrepreneur of the Year

The UVEF Ron King Social Entrepreneur of the Year is awarded to an entrepreneurial company that demonstrates outstanding success in a socially beneficial market. We look for companies who have built a sustainable and profitable business in an area that demonstrates an overarching benefit to the greater human community.

This year’s recipient collects food waste, which would otherwise be thrown away, and through a completely organic process turns it into a high quality soil conditioner. Through a proprietary process they are able to reduce landfill waste and methane emissions while producing a viable product that they literally can’t keep on the shelves.

The resulting soil conditioner provides the same nutrient values as chemical based soil amendments yet is completely organic. Their products are composed of ingredients selected and combined in scientifically determined proportions to produce ideal nutrient and organic content to the soil, all while helping to reduce waste and better the environment.

Please congratulate EcoScraps, our 2011 Ron King Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

Greatest Contribution to Entrepreneurs

With a remarkable number of outstanding individuals in this category, we find it hard to select just one individual who has given more of their time and talent to mentor, support or grow the Utah Entrepreneurial Community. From this year’s field of outstanding candidates, one individual stood out through his consistent dedication and innovation.

With a passion for sharing his own entrepreneurial experience and a talent for adding excitement and enthusiasm, Jeremy Hanks has assembled an active and thriving community around LaunchUp, his virtual business barn-raising forum. Under Jeremy’s direction, LaunchUp has become an entertaining and informative must-attend meetup for young entrepreneurs looking to learn from others who are forging their own path.

Jeremy Hanks relentlessly shares his time and talent, and has earned the respect of entrepreneurs with an honest and practical approach to mentoring. For his remarkable work in building LaunchUp, and for his continued service to the Entrepreneurial community, The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum recognizes Jeremy Hanks.

Please join us in congratulating Jeremy Hanks for his Greatest Contribution to Entrepreneurs this year.

Entrepreneur of the Year:

Each year we accept nominations for the most outstanding entrepreneur of the year. We seek that one individual who has achieved the highest degree of success, measured both in the success of the company, and the contribution to the local economy through employment and opportunity.

For leading his company to remarkable growth, outstanding innovation and worldwide recognition as a leader in their category, The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum is proud to announce Brad Caldwell as our Entrepreneur of the Year Recipient for 2011.

Brad Caldwell is chief executive officer and founder of SecurityMetrics, Inc. Under Caldwell’s leadership, SecurityMetrics has grown from a small security company specializing in vulnerability assessment scans to a global leader in providing PCI compliance, data security, and organizational security solutions. Spanning it’s 11 years in operation, SecurityMetrics has helped more than 1 million organizations, from Fortune 500 businesses to small retailers.

With a broad portfolio of products, services and expertise, SecurityMetrics has become the leader in helping acquiring banks and their merchants secure and manage their information assets. Brad Caldwell has worked successfully to grow Security Metrics from a cramped townhouse office to a towering new 5-story building, already expanding into areas originally designated for sub-leasing. He has assembled a 400-person world class team of local talent and established SecurityMetrics as a foundational standard in digital data security.

Please congratulate Brad Caldwell of SecurityMetrics, our 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year!

Congratulations to all the UVEF award recipients this year!

—Cary Snowden

PS: The Provo Daily Herald ran a story on the event.

PSS: Here is the story on the Utah Business Wire

Here is the official press release from UVEF:

The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) today announced winners for its 2011 Annual UVEF Awards. The annual event recognizes Utah companies and leaders for innovation, business growth and contributions to the entrepreneurial community. Award recipients were honored today at ceremonies held at the Provo Novell Campus.

“Utah continues to chart the nation’s course to better times through its entrepreneurs,” said UVEF chairman Cary Snowden. “UVEF Award winners are on the leading edge of this prolific success .”

Award recipients will be named in the following categories:

• Most Innovative Product: RiverRock Bioscience
• Ron King Social Entrepreneur of the Year: Ecoscraps
• Greatest Contribution to Entrepreneurs: Jeremy Hanks, LaunchUp
• Utah Valley’s Best Kept Entrepreneurial Secret: Fishbowl Inventory
• Entrepreneur of the Year: Brad Caldwell, Security Metrics

YouTube Video: What makes Utah a Hotbed for Entrepreneurs.

Biographies on winners may be viewed at www.uvef.net .

UVEF is a volunteer non-profit support group linking entrepreneurs to Money, Markets, and Mentors. Celebrating 20 years of new business success, UVEF empowers current and future business leaders to thrive in today’s competitive market. We provide real-world, practical education and valuable resources on how to access needed capital, attract new customers and tap into industry experts. For information on upcoming meetings, speakers and exclusive membership benefits visit www.uvef.net. Linkedin Facebook

Press Contact:

John Pilmer, APR

PilmerPR

801-369-7535

jpilmer@pilmerpr.com

www.pilmerpr.com

For ecommerce retailers and wholesale suppliers, drop shipping relationships can be the key to growth and increased profits. However, until now, drop shipping has also been difficult to manage–requiring either excessive time and IT resources or inordinately expensive 3rd–party solutions.

“For most companies, drop shipping is a huge pain in the you–know–what,” said DropShip.com CEO and Doba Cofounder, Jeremy Hanks. “It’s managed by one–off processes and throwing more IT man hours at it, and that doesn’t scale. We’re going to fix that.”

Today, DropShip.com announced the solution: Software for Drop Shipping™, consisting of two unmatched and complementary software solutions: Supplier Utopia™ and Retailer Nirvana™.

Supplier Utopia gives product manufacturers and wholesale suppliers a private, drop shipping focused, dealer portal. The software integration is fast, painless, and performed almost entirely by the team at DropShip.com with very minimal requirements from the supplier. When it’s done the supplier has a robust, branded, drop shipping management solution that they can offer to all their dealers.

Retailer Nirvana allows ecommerce retailers to offer an “endless aisle” of product selection to their customers by enabling the retailer to connect an unlimited number of product vendors to their inventory system in a way that is both seamless and scalable. As with Supplier Utopia, the integration is quick and easy.

The announcement of DropShip.com’s new products coincides with the completion of its spinoff from Doba, an industry–leading virtual distributor and product sourcing broker. DropShip.com leveraged technology that has been built and refined over the last nine years to develop its drop shipping software platform and is spinning off from Doba to continue the differentiation of technology and products to meet the needs of very different clientele.

The DropShip.com team is comprised of several executives and core team members from Doba and has over 60 years of combined experience in drop shipping processes, relationships, and technology.

“We’re excited to go after this new opportunity and meet the needs of a new type of customer,” said, Blaine Nielsen, President of DropShip.com and former Doba CEO. “Our years of drop shipping experience has put us in a great position to solve a real problem for ecommerce retailers and suppliers without taking anything away from the excellent product we developed at Doba.”

About DropShip.com
DropShip.com is a Utah–based company that builds technology, software, and services to provide ecommerce retailers and wholesale suppliers with private drop shipping software platforms and services that manage product catalogs, inventory feeds, and orders. DropShip.com’s Software for Drop Shipping™ simplifies and streamlines drop shipping connections, helps companies keep up with ecommerce growth and potential, and saves them boatloads of money. The DropShip.com team has been managing drop shipping relationships and logistics since 2002 and has over 60 years of combined experience in drop shipping and ecommerce. For more information visit the company website, www.dropship.com.

Press Contact

Clark Winegar
801-380-5554
clark@dropship.com

Time to celebrate. Again!

Utah repeats this year as Forbes Best State for Business and Careers with Forbes themselves stating that “No state can match the consistent performance of Utah.”

According to the article:

Utah highlights include energy costs 31% below the national average and employment growth that has averaged 0.6% the past five years. Compare that to the U.S. as a whole where job growth has averaged negative 0.6% since 2005. Utah’s 5% corporate tax rate is well below western neighbors Arizona, Idaho and New Mexico. Utah ranks sixth in a new Tax Foundation study that looks at the tax burden on business in each state across different industries. As part of the ranking, we included the study which will be released to the public in the coming months.

Businesses are getting the message on Utah. Procter & Gamble, ITT, Home Depot and Boeing all announced expansions in Utah this year. The Goldman Sachs office in Salt Lake City is its second biggest in the Americas with more 1,000 employees and significant expansion expected over the next four years.

Pretty impressive! See the complete article titled The Best States For Business.

Check out these other local articles on the news:

• KSL reports that Utah Ranked #1 For Business Again

When many businesses were languishing in the depths of recession a couple of years ago, Brandt Page, CEO and founder of Launch Leads, rolled up his sleeves and created a company that gets other companies the pipeline they want, with minimal risk.

By listening carefully to their clients, Launch learned that their clients have great confidence in their ability to produce targeted qualified leads and as a result, Launch recently signed several new clients and they continue to see consistent growth.

“We provide our customers with targeted qualified leads that they convert into new paying customers,” Page said. “Now that our clients are focused on closing more and more sales, their conversion rates are through the roof.”

A few of the new clients Launch recently signed include: Lunsford Peck, ListPipe and Integrated Ordering Systems (IOS).

Lunsford Peck is a tax, accounting, and financial advisory firm for medical practitioners who help reduce audit risk and tax liabilities. They decided to use Launch after a personal tour of the facilities where they really loved the feeling and energy in the atmosphere.

“They have a very professional approach to getting in contact with the types of clients I’m looking for,” said John Briggs, Lunsford Peck Partner.

The biggest thing that drew Briggs to use Launch was the ability to contact hard to reach individuals.

“We can create tremendous value for dentists, doctors, surgeons, etc., but those professionals are so hard to get a hold of,” said John Briggs, Partner. “Launch leads can do that for me and all I have to do is focus on creating value not finding leads.”

ListPipe is an online content delivery platform for distributed localization of web-based media including search engine optimized (SEO) content for franchises and distributed sales organizations.

Cary Snowden, CEO of ListPipe, said there were two things that attracted him to Launch. The first was Launch’s leadership, in particular the CEO Brandt Page.

“Brandt instills his charisma, charm and professional aptitude into his team, making them a great extension of our own,” he observed.

The next thing to catch Snowden’s attention were the impressive client testimonials.

“Launch Leads is the kind of business I want to be associated with, and thus I don’t mind them representing my business to our customer base, and I don’t just trust that to anyone,” Snowden said.

Integrated Ordering Systems (IOS) is revolutionizing the way restaurants handle their take-out ordering system. IOS takes a restaurant’s high volume of phone-in orders and gets those orders to the kitchen within seconds while ensuring each call-in customer gets the attention and service they deserve without being placed on hold and without ever hearing a busy signal.

Joshua Stephens, CEO of IOS explained that they decided to use Launch Leads after meeting with the Launch team and seeing how Launch aligns its sales process with theirs.

“We were particularly impressed with the system of how Launch was doing things,” he said. “Systematically they are able to help us filter our leads and ask the right qualifying questions in order to  connect us to the correct person. This way we can be more efficient and not waste our time talking to unqualified leads.”

Stephens explained that Launch does the heavy lifting on the front end of the sales process, so that their sales team can spend 100% of their time closing new business with qualified decision makers.

“In the last six months our company has doubled in size servicing more than 120 concepts nationwide,” he said. “However, we want to take things to the next level and Launch can give us that added push to take us there faster.”

Lunsford Peck, ListPipe and IOS are all doing very well in their respective markets and are seeing exciting growth with what they are currently doing. However, they want to continue to grow and know there is much more they can do, and Launch Leads is the vehicle that will help them do it.

“With Launch Leads on our side we are ready to step on the accelerator and grow into new markets at a much faster rate,” Snowden said.

###

Media Contact:
Amie Hansen
PR Manager
(877) 466-0111
amie@launchleads.com

The Eyring Research Institute (ERI) was founded in 1972 by Carlyle Harmon with Dr. Ronald G. Hansen as President. The Institute did consulting work in various areas of contract research in cooperation with Brigham Young University. ERI spawned many high-tech spin-offs, including WordPerfect, Novell, and Dynix, as well as advancements in the military and communication arenas that have benefited the world. These breakthroughs created a whirlwind of innovation and entrepreneurial activity in Utah Valley affecting Utah for decades.

Dr. Ronald G. Hansen and Cleo Larene Harmon will attend tonight’s ceremony to receive the award on behalf of The Eyring Research Institute, with an introduction by Richard McDermott, the former VP of Finance for Eyring.

“Few organizations have done more than the Eyring Research Institute to bolster entrepreneurism and economic growth in the state,” said UVEF chairman Cary Snowden. “Millions of people have benefited, and billions of dollars in commerce are evidence of the Institute’s impact.”

Past UVEF Hall of Fame honorees include WordPerfect, Novell, Dr. Bill Pope, BYU Center for Entrepreneurship, Stephen R. Covey, and Harold R. Wing.

About UVEF

The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) is a volunteer non-profit support group linking entrepreneurs to Money, Markets, and Mentors. Celebrating 21 years of new business success, UVEF empowers current and future business leaders to thrive in today’s competitive market. We provide real-world, practical education and valuable resources on how to access needed capital, attract new customers and tap into industry experts. For information on upcoming meetings, speakers and exclusive membership benefits visit www.uvef.net.

Press Contact:

Andon Carling
PilmerPR
801-805-6755
acarling@pilmerpr.com
www.pilmerpr.com

I had the pleasure of hosting the event as the UVEF 2011 Chairman along with our keynote speaker John Pestana, who is the co-founder of Omniture. The house was packed and the event went really well. Here are the winners:

#1
Our #1 UVEF 2011 ‘Top 25 Under 5′ Award goes to a company based in American Fork who offers online marketing with a fizz. Their methods and marketing campaigns will bring you traffic, customers, and a strong return on investment.

—Congratulations to OrangeSoda.

#2
This company was #7 last year. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, they are committed to providing a quality Apple experience for customers in the intermountain west. They have been recognized by Apple as one of their fastest growing sales channel company in the US and have been named a Top 5 distributor of Apple computers in the US.

—Congratulations to Simply Mac.

#3
Our third fastest growing Utah company is based in Provo and provides a unique natural dietary supplement system that helps customers stabilize, vitalize and optimize their health.

—Congratulations to Qivana.

#4
This company was #12 last year. Based in Ogden, they rent textbooks to students nationwide at a 50-80% discount from buying new or used in the college bookstore. Much like Netflix, books are shipped directly to students and returned in prepaid envelopes. Each semester they ship to more than 5,500 college campuses, saving students millions of dollars.

—Congratulations to Campus Book Rentals.com.

#5
This company was #6 last year. Based in Bluffdale, they are a search marketing firm with the knowledge, skills, and a proven process that consistently delivers results. This company is regularly ranked among the Top 10 SEO firms in the country and owns the domain name that all their competitors envy.

—Congratulations to SEO.com.

#6
Our #6 award winner is based in Lindon and is a Crown and Bridge dental lab specializing in high-end aesthetic dental restorations.

—Congratulations to Experience Dental Studio.

#7
Last year, this company was #23 on our list. They are a film production company in American Fork specializing in high-end commercial projects, documentaries, and feature films. The last big feature film was titled “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” starring Alyssa Milano, which was highlighted in the Newport Beach Film Festival.

—Congratulations to Fiftyfilms.

#8
Based in Salt Lake City, our next award winner uses award-winning technology to re-target visitors to bring them back to your website. They are transforming online advertising from interruptive to interactive by developing dynamic content based on consumers previous online browsing and shopping behavior.

—Congratulations to Media Forge.

#9
This company was #21 last year. They offer a revolutionary sports medicine solution for treating and preventing common sports injuries – without sacrificing comfort or freedom of movement. Headquartered in Orem, their product is now sold in over 2,000 retail locations nationwide and in over 40 countries.

—Congratulations to KT Tape.

#10
Based in Salt Lake City, our #10 winner provides a video-powered online learning and communication platform useful to organizations of all sizes. Their platform’s tools for creating, managing, and delivering online video webcasts have helped multinational corporations communicate with far-flung employees as well as local professional organizations to deliver continuing education courses to their members.

—Congratulations to BizVision.

#11
This company was #20 last year. Based in Pleasant Grove, they help entrepreneurs increase cash flow and profitability by providing clear and concise data, which they call their Six Scoreboards Every Business NeedsTM. One client increased its cash flow by over 500 percent in just one year.

—Congratulations to CFOwise.

#12
Our #12 award winner recently sold 36,000 items in 7 minutes on QVC. They are a gourmet bake shop headquartered in American Fork whose founder was promoting their Valentine’s Day gift package, Love at First Bite. With 6 stores in operation and a 7th store coming soon, we hope to see this company move up this list next year!

—Congratulations to Sweet Tooth Fairy.

#13
Based in Eagle Mountain, this company provides HR software to small & mid-sized businesses. Their web-based platform eliminates the old paper application tracking headaches and provides tools to employers that simplify the job posting, application submission, and applicant screening processes.

—Congratulations to iApplicants.

#14
Our next winner is based in Provo and has designed a patented, FDA-approved tongue cleaner to cure bad breath – 90 percent of which is caused by tongue bacteria. Amazingly, they already have over 38 million YouTube Channel views and over 280,000 Facebook fans in 114 countries.

—Congratulations to Orabrush.

#15
Our #15 award winner is a manufacturer and supplier of cables and electronics accessories based in Orem. They provide high-quality cables at a competitive price with a lifetime warranty included.

—Congratulations to Professional Cable.

#16
Based in Salt Lake City, this next company uses its proprietary social networking platform to collect and route business intelligence and market data across the $500 billion automotive industry, making dealerships and manufacturers more profitable. Approximately 1 in every 4 Car Dealerships in the U.S. is a registered member of their community.

—Congratulations to Driving Sales.

#17
Our next company is based in Orem and provides an open service delivery platform uniquely tailored to fit the IT needs of small business and distributed environments. Their solution is simple, secure and affordable.

—Congratulations to Clear Center.

#18
Our #18 award winning company is based in Provo and is a leader in local mobile search. They are at the forefront of the pay-for-performance advertising industry with a keen focus on local search. They have been around since the very beginning of the local mobile search revolution and were the first company to launch a geo-location search application on a smartphone device.

—Congratulations to Avantar.

#19
Our next company is based in Provo and helps real estate professionals take advantage of the latest tools and technologies in social media, online search, tools integrations, mobile platforms and marketing best practices with a fully-integrated set of marketing management tools.

—Congratulations to Omnia Alliance.

#20
Our #20 award winner is also based in Salt Lake City and is a community-drive, small, independent ski, bindings and apparel company whose sole focus is on the skier. They sponsor some outstanding local skiers such as David Wintzer, Parker Cook, Taylore Lyman, and many more.

—Congratulations to Bluehouse Ski Co.

#21
Our next award winner is based in Salt Lake City and was created to help businesses grow faster. They fill their clients’ sales pipelines with qualified leads and scheduled sales appointments. They also take all the risk since the lead doesn’t show up or doesn’t meet your pre-set criteria, you don’t pay.

—Congratulations to Launch Leads.

#22
Our #22 award winner is based in Lehi and helps small and medium size companies take advantage of a highly skilled global workforce in a simple and cost effective way. They help companies access an offshore team of Developers, Programmers, Designers, Internet Marketing Specialists, Copywriters, Live Chat Agents, and Customer Service Representatives for a flat monthly fee.

—Congratulations to Zylun.

#23
This company was #25 last year and is based in American Fork. They have developed over 60 mobile iphone/ipad applications for clients across the United States. The flagship app, MileBug, helps users track the miles they drive for business use so they can receive the tax deduction or reimbursement. The latest app is “Wave at the Bus” which documents the American Fork native, Dale Price, who dressed up differently every morning to wave at his teen son’s school bus.

—Congratulations to Izatt International.

#24
Our next award winner is based in Provo and offers a hosted HR software solution that drastically reduces the time, expense, and complexity of securely managing HR data for small to medium-sized businesses.

—Congratulations to Bamboo HR.

#25
Our first award winner today is an organic soil manufacturer that was established in 2010 by students attending BYU. Now based in Provo, this company recycles food waste into a nutrient-rich soil conditioner that reduces landfill waste and helps us grow healthier plants. In other words, they feed our plants recycled fruits and veggies instead of chemicals.

—Congratulations to Ecoscraps.

Congratulations to all; see you next year!

This information-packed, two-hour event will explore the essential elements of a successful franchising experience. Presenters will include franchise process, marketing, and legal experts.

Complete information and registration for this complementary event can be found at http://fdg110525.eventbrite.com.

About Franchise Development Group
Franchise Development Group was founded in Utah in 2003. After growing beyond its Utah borders, it was acquired by a New York-based firm in 2010. With 13 offices across the nation, it is the fastest growing franchise development service provider in the United States. Learn more at http://franchisedevelopmentgroup.com

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PR Contact
Bryan Waldon Pope
MSI, Orem Utah
bryan@mktgsuccess.com
(305) 747-1250

BoomStartup

Congratulations!

Each selected company will receive up to $15,000 in seed capital, free office resources, professional services and mentoring from a group of seasoned and successful entrepreneurs. Companies will be paired with one of the investor-mentors, who will guide each start-up and connect them with people in their networks to help them get their businesses off on the right foot.

“After coming off a successful first year in 2010, we return back, in our second year, with an even stronger group of 10 Companies. We were surprised at the number of applicants we received this year from across the nation and around the world,” said Robb Kunz, co-Managing Partner of BoomStartup. “This demonstrates the success that mentorship-driven accelerators are creating, regardless of their geographic location. These companies continue to surprise us with their innovative technologies and solutions – it was a tough year to only select 10 Companies”.

BoomStartup accepted the following companies:

ChampionVillage | http://www.championvillage.com
CampionVillage delivers a unique hybrid between online gaming and fitness. What really sets them apart is their in-depth knowledge of what motivates the child while truly understand their customer: mom. With this in mind, they have incorporated a reward system using game mechanics, an element of social recognition, and friendly competition, all in an online world for kids.

CircleFive | http://www.circlefive.me
CircleFive provides a new social media platform that will allow direct-to-home sales and service companies to “check in” at the customer’s home and encourage testimonials and referrals from the customer. This allows customers to have more influence with these come-and-go businesses, to promote the good ones and warn others of the bad ones. It is built not around a global social network but a local one.

Explorer.io | http://www.explorer.io
Explorer.io delivers a social utility that allows people to search, add, and share outdoor locations for various activities such as hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, and climbing. Users can share photos, favorite locations, rate locations, and even share across the social graph with Facebook and Twitter. All data points get aggregated into an algorithm that serves recommended product-driven ads for each specific location and user.

FaceTags | http://www.faceta.gs
Each person has a unique face that can be mapped and recognized programmatically.  Your face can be used as the digital link between content you define and everyone else running around with a mobile device.

Golf Compete | http://www.GolfCompete.com
With only 50 percent of tee times being occupied on average a day, courses are losing money from all amenity sales. Golf Compete is creating a new marketplace with tools that facilitate and organize golf affairs. Through their tools, Golf Compete will take the golfer through the buying process of discounted tee times, all while tracking analytics.

Jumbas | http://www.Jumbas.com
Jumbas provides consumers with a one-stop-shop for their city’s top daily deals. Users can view all of the deals by visiting their site, or subscribing to a list of aggregated deals in one email delivered each morning. With customization options, individuals can view deals that are only relevant to them, set email frequency criteria, and finally unclutter their inbox.

OER Glue | http://www.oerglue.com
OER Glue rides the wave of a new paradigm that allows people control their web experience rather than having to accept what is provided by websites. OER Glue provides the best way to find open licensed content that can be used for teaching. OER Glue layers on top of any system and website. OER Glue lets people pervasively mash-up the Web by dragging and dropping content and widgets in and out of any website.

PromoKube | http://PromoKube.com
PromoKube is a Promotion Analytics Company providing information that helps merchants advertise more effectively. Using their mobile application and scan technology, PromoKube allow consumers to load coupons that they intend to use into their phones.  These deals can then be redeemed from the mobile device at the merchant point of sale. Their mobile application makes coupon collection and redemption convenient for users, while providing valuable information for merchants.

Proz | http://www.findproz.com
The Proz solution provides quality online services to meet the instructor’s need of finding and managing clientele.  Proz provides three services: a referral center FindProz.com to aid in finding clientele, management solutions through MyProz.com to provide accounting, scheduling, and communication management tools, and community pages.

VuTherapy | http://www.VuTherapy.com
VuTherapy offers the premiere solution to online mental health therapy. It introduces patients to therapists via an online marketplace, and allows therapists to manage their practice through a simple patient management service.  The unique therapy tools to increase therapists’ efficiency and makes therapy more accessible for both the patients and the therapists.

BoomStartup’s growth has allowed the expansion of a second campus located at the Miller Business Innovation Center (9750 South 300 West, Salt Lake City, UT). Companies will be located at that campus or at the Canyon Park Technology Center, Building J (1401 N. Research Way, Orem, Utah) based on the company’s current location.

In addition to providing companies with seed capital and free resources, the companies will complete an education curriculum designed to teach the entrepreneurs the fundamentals that will help them become successful as they grow their companies.

The three-month program will conclude with an Investor Demo Day in August, hosted by BoomStartup, which allows interested investors to meet with each company. For more information about that event, please contact BoomStartup at info@boomstartup.com.

For more information about BoomStartup, visit www.boomstartup.com. Follow us on Twitter and join our group on LinkedIn and fan page on Facebook to get regular updates on the companies.

About BoomStartup
Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, BoomStartup is a mentorship-driven seed accelerator focusing its efforts on providing seed capital, mentors, and markets for its energetic tech entrepreneur participants. BoomStartup is a three-month, summer program (May-August) that mentors tech startups from ideation through execution. For more information, visit http://www.boomstartup.com.

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PR Contact
Robb Kunz
BoomStartup
rkunz@boomstartup.com
801.433.3055