Chris Heivly vowed he’d never invest in a music startup. “Only healthcare is that much kinda silly,” he told the crowd gathered last week for The Startup Factory accelerator’s biannual showcase/graduation in Durham.
Ironically enough, two of TSF’s most promising young startup graduates hail from each of those scary startup categories. And they’re the first of TSF’s 35 company-portfolio to take them on.
The first, BoomBoxFM, is using a personalized weekly newsletter to introduce thousands of subscribers to new music in their favorite genres. The goal of founder and music industry veteran Michael Hoy is to expose the artists behind the four million songs on Spotify that have never been played, and in a way not yet attempted by any other music discovery app or company (of which there are many). Word is spreading fast, as 16,000 people have subscribed and 3,500 new artists have been featured so far this year, and Hoy’s is seeing validation with high email opens and click through rates. He’ll attempt to raise a seed round this summer.
ELXR Health, meanwhile, has jumped onto the national stage for its innovative way of simplifying the patient consent process required by the federal government in order for doctors to release health records.. A patent is pending for the technology and process. And Tuesday June 2, founders Paul Emanuel and Clinton Racine presented in Washington to U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander’s staff (Senate members weren’t there due to Patriot Act debate) about health privacy and security. They’re also working to raise money this summer, as well as line up a larger development team.
For Baverman’s full story, read on at: http://exitevent.com/article/startup-factory-class-7-recap-150604
