East Meets West 2019 — Startup Showcase Highlight
By Brittany Lieu
A Battle of Startups
Welcoming industry experts from both ends of the Pacific, the East Meets West 2019 two-day conference is Hawaii’s most anticipated startup event of the year! Hosting the 5th annual global conference, Blue Startups, invites leading venture capitalists and entrepreneurs alike for a learning and networking experience like no other.
In addition to sparking thoughtful conversations with the help of featured international speakers, hot topic breakout sessions, and networking opportunities, EMW’19 ended with a bang! Spotlighting new and innovative startups, created right here in paradise, the ‘Startup Showcase’ lent the stage to growing companies from the West, like Aiooki, dataPlor, Pixery, and Shakaguide, and companies from the East, like Fanalyze, Instant Teams, Luna2, and Souco, for a competitive pitch-off.
About the Companies
Aiooki
Aiooki provides an asset-focused fintech platform that incorporates AI/ML and blockchain technologies to facilitate affluent Millennials to make self-directed property investment easy, affordable, transparent, and liquid.
dataPlor
Providing Leading Companies with Emerging Market Data Intelligence.
Pixery
The largest marketplace for causes powered by content-driven commerce.
Shakaguide
App & Platform for Location based Audio Experiences that connect stories with places.
Fanalyze
Fanalyze is a fantasy sports search engine and analysis platform to speed up research by using search to quickly get relevant player data and to compare players instantly.
Instant Teams
Instant Teams enables companies to create and manage remote teams while providing remote jobs to untapped talent pools of military spouses and veterans.
Luna2
Luna2 is the Airbnb for shops. It allows products to be launched globally 12 times faster and get 4 times more sales.
Souco
Souco is an online B2B marketplace for on-demand warehousing based in Tokyo, Japan.
Representing over $7 billion in capital, the panel of judges represented acclaimed global venture capital firms including GGV Capital, ff Venture Capital, Moment Ventures, Aspect Ventures, Fresco Capital, and Builders VC. So, what tech startup captured the interest of these investors?
The Results:
First Place: dataPlor
First Runner Up: Souco
Second Runner Up: Pixery
Startup Showcase Star — dataPlor
Rising to the top in all 7 areas of judging criteria, including value proposition, sales potential, viability/feasibility, traction, strength of management team, competitive advantage, and lastly judges’ comfortability in investing, dataPlor proved to offer a standout and compelling business offering.
Who and What is dataPlor?
dataPlor, founded and led by CEO Geoffrey Michener, joined the Blue Startups ohana in 2018 as one of the Cohort 10 startups. As they continue to grow, dataPlor promises clients the reliability and value of human-powered emerging markets intelligence. Based in Los Angeles with offices here in Hawaii, Guadalajara, and Mexico City, dataPlor and it’s technology allows people all across Latin America the opportunity to get paid collecting hyperlocal business information right from their smartphones. Founded in 2016, dataPlor has since partnered with Google, Airbnb, American Express, and Lime, to extend their invaluable services and further the data reach of some of the world’s largest companies. Although dataPlor is only one of many successful global startups represented at EMW’19, it exemplifies the immense business potential in bridging the East and West.
Check out dataPlor’s blog post on their EMW victory!
Find Out More
Check out our ‘East Meets West 2019 — Recap’ blog post and our other related posts to learn more!
- ENTREPRENEURS & INVESTORS CONVENE AT ANNUAL EAST MEETS WEST CONFERENCE
- WHERE IS INNOVATION COMING FROM: THE WEST OR THE EAST?
- WOMEN INVESTING IN WOMEN — IT’S ABOUT TIME
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