Partners Chris Heivly and Dave Neal on Monday disclosed their four latest emerging ventures – and Heivly says each had to meet  specific criteria to crack The Startup Factory.

Top of the list: a “bad-a**” mind set and a market “that we find interesting.”

So who are these startups and what are the plays? 

First, let’s revisit the “bad-a**” qualifier. Back in January, Heivly wrote a blog about the “bad” asset, and WRALTechWire followed up. (You can read the full post here.) But Heivly boils it down to one key factor that he and Neal want.

“We are looking for the bad-a** entrepreneur first of all – the power kind of mind set, the power kind of team experience,” he says.

Next comes technology and potential.

‘We are looking for startups that are targeting markets we find interesting,” he explains.

So with those criteria having been met, TSF selected four teams to go through the three-month accelerator and development process while also receiving $50,000 in funding.

Heivly adds another quality when summing up the selections:

“These four are really fun ideas.”

Hevily sums up each:

  • KNOWMAD

This venture is led by N.C. State graduates. “They left NCSU and went to other careers but decided they wanted to do startups.”

And they have set a lofty goal.

“What Pandora did for music, they want to do for the spoken word,” Heivly says.

TSF’s announcement sums up Knowmad this way:

“Knowmad provides easy access to ‘knowledge on the go,’ harnessing ‘ears-free’downtime in our daily lives to help us stay informed and entertained. Knomad aims to become the first major social radio app, making it easier for users to discover, listen to, and share spoken content (radio shows, podcasts, TED talks, news updates, interviews, lectures, etc.). Think Twitter meets Spotify for non-music audio: a social platform complete with easily shared cloud playlists, a social feed, the option to follow people and organizations, and smart topical searching.”

  • CROWDFUNDE

“In Crowdfunde, you have a brand new approach to crowdfunding,” Heivly says.

In TSF’s announcement, Crowdfunde is described this way:

“Crowdfunde curates and filters crowdfunding content from around the web. Our proprietary algorithms help shoppers, investors, donors, companies and brands find, create and share wisdom of crowds. The web is becoming linked conversations. Own the conversation to own the traffic. CrowdFunde helps find, fund and figure out what conversations will or should change your business model, brand strategy, content curation and social marketing. Yes is how we answer the, “Is CrowdFunde a crowdfunding, content marketing , social media or web analytics tool?”CrowdFunde helps you become us and them become tribe.”

  • HOSTEL ROCKET

Travel sites are everywhere, but this one is different.

Says Heivly: “They are making a travel play on a problem that no one seems to tackle yet.”

TSF announced Hostel Rocket this way:

“Hostel Rocket is a hostel travel search and booking engine. We work with over 60,000 hostel operators and OTA’s worldwide to help you find the right hostels, tours, flights, car rentals, and rail passes. Once you’ve found all of your travel needs you can build an itinerary and book everything directly at the Hostel Rocket site saving you time + money. In addition, we solve revenue management issues for hostel operators so they can book more ways, more often and eliminate over-bookings.”

  • CARELULU

The Triangle already has a Lulu (self-publishing) and there is Hulu (online entertainment). Now comes CareLulu.

Says Heivly: The team of four people, including three from outside the U.S., is bringing a very smart approach to what he describes as an “under-served market.” They want to help parents with child care and preschool searchers.

TSF’s summary of CareLulu: 

“CareLulu is a curated marketplace that makes it easy for parents to find great child care or preschool. Instead of spending hours on the phone or searching the web, parents can now do a personalized search and quickly find a child care provider that fits their needs: budget, hours, or even specific requirements like a peanut-free environment, a foreign-language program, or part-time availability. We also make it easy for parents to find all the information in one place, including photos, cost, and verified parent reviews. In short, CareLuLu is the easiest way for parents to safe, affordable, and high-quality child care!”

You can also read today’s initial post on TSF’s selections.