information technology : Innovation + Job News

Web-savvy companies are increasingly reaching out to customers through their mobile devices using a consumer research application pioneered by Columbus-based iPinion.

iPinion licenses a mobile survey platform to corporate clients and businesses. The app allows iPinion clients to integrate consumer research from smartphone users into their consumer data collection streams.

iPinion CEO Pala Kuppusamy formed the company in Columbus in 2010. The tech start-up has four employees, including Kuppusamy, all of whom were hired within the last year. Kuppusamy and co-founders Anitha Manoharan and Steve von Bevern put up the initial $100,000 investment to get the company moving. The trio's friends and family acted as angel funders, investing a total $200,000 in the venture.

Best Buy recently signed on with iPinion, using the company's patent-pending mobile survey platform to conduct a series of brief exit interviews aimed at gaining insight into the purchasing patterns of non-buyers. The iPinion team worked with members of Best Buy's competitive market research team to develop the most technologically efficient, user-friendly survey solution.

"They devised a research technique to do in-store intercept surveys on non-purchasers to understand what products they were looking for, why they did not purchase, what they intend to do next, and where they intend to purchase in the future," says Kuppusamy.

For clients like Best Buy, iPinion executes the technical maneuvers required to reach potential consumers on their wireless devices. "Responses are captured in real-time and sent to (our) server where raw data reports and data exports are viewed by the client," says Kuppusamy. "Offline data capture is supported by iPinion, (allowing clients) to conduct surveys in areas where Internet connection is not stable or available."

Source: Pala Kuppusamy, iPinionsurvey.com
Writer: Kitty McConnell

#TAGS is no secret to Columbus metro residents. Columbusites (at least the 444 confirmed TAGS followers) have been playing Tweet and Go Seek since 2009. Tweet and Go Seek has been featured on every major Capital City news outlet -- TV, print and digital.

Yet the Columbus-based art-startup may come as a revelation to artists, entrepreneurs and marketing professionals beyond Central Ohio.

@Tweetandgoseek leaves a digital trail and Twitpic for Twitter followers to physically follow to a recognizable destination in the Columbus metro area. The first one there collects the "TAGS prize" -- a piece of original artwork redeemable as a gift certificate at a local caf� or boutique, restaurant or hotel.

In 140 words or less, @tweetandgoseek describes itself as "collectible artworks left around a city. partnering brands add a value to each one. photo/location/value tweeted. Followers chase it down to get the goods!" in its Twitter profile. Tweet and Go Seek creator Matthew Barnes has hidden "600+ pieces of @misterbarnes art hidden all over the city to date!" he said in a recent interview with @hiVelocity via Twitter.

Barnes launched the project during Columbus' 2009 avant garde art fair, Art Basel.

"TAGS is the inaugural campaign in a boutique arsenal of initiatives aimed at creating more active, direct engagement with consumers and greater ROI for brands with an included twist of collectible art while balancing itself between the social/virtual and physical worlds. I like to call it Art-vertising!" says Barnes.

Tweet and Go Seek vendor values average an 85 percent redemption rate with 180 percent spent over the value of the brand giveaway. Barnes charges vendors a nominal fee for each piece left for a TAGS seeker, with labor, design, social media marketing and the hiding factored in. Each participating business provides something of decent value, i.e. $10, $20, $100 off so that "people will feel obligated to compete."

Barnes' start-up has been successful enough that he hires people to hide TAGs pieces. "TAGS serves three purposes: a) To actively engage consumers and offer them an immediate value as well as something they may be inclined to collect which may increase in value over time�b) To offer brands a unique way to engage with existing and potential customers with immediately measurable ROI while combining their social reach with ours. And c), For people to �become familiar with an aspect of a particular artists work," says Barnes.

Source: Matthew Barnes, TAGS
Writer: Kitty McConnell

Znode, a Columbus-based leader in multi-store ecommerce, has been acquired by the Yell Group plc.

Yell Group, based in Reading, UK, announced in a July 11 news release that Znode will continue its Ohio operations and serve "as the development base for Yell's ecommerce capabilities."

Founder Vish Vishwanathan will serve as executive VP and general manager of Yell Connect while co-founder David Chu will serve as senior VP of technology. 

According to TechColumbus, the central Ohio technology business incubator, Znode was founded in 2007 and funded by TechColumbus, the co-Investment Fund, Ohio TechAngel Fund II and North Coast Angel Fund II.

Mike Pocock, Yell Group's CEO, said in the release that "The Znode team and their innovative technology provide Yell with a platform for our digital business and enable us to provide ecommerce solutions to small businesses, connecting them more efficiently with their local consumers. Their talented workforce and technological capabilities are a great addition to Yell as we move forward into new digital marketplace opportunities."

The release notes that Znode's platform enables businesses to "expand their online footprint using innovative multi-store and online franchising strategies."

Yell Group is a provider of print and digital services for consumers and small- to medium-size businesses within the local eMarketplace in the UK, US, Spain and some countries in Latin America.

Sources: TechColumbus, Yell Group

Recent Case Western Reserve University mechanical engineering graduates Austin Schmidt and Solomon Alkhasov won the 2011 Idea Competition, sponsored by LaunchHouse and CSU's Accelerated MBA program at Nance College of Business. They created a company called Affinity Algorithms, which develops proprietary computer arbitrage software to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers in various online marketplaces. The software provides greater liquidity and price transparency in the marketplaces.

"We are developing a suite of online software that helps the seller in fragmented marketplaces better manage inventory," explains Schmidt. Although Schmidt and Alkhasov came up with the idea from their experiences buying and selling textbooks in college, they say it can be applied to many online marketplaces.

The idea for Affinity Algorithms came about in January, they set up shop in March, and landed at LaunchHouse this month. They plan to roll out a full build of the software in September.

Students from all Northeast Ohio colleges and universities were invited to pitch a business concept to a panel of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, CSU faculty and LaunchHouse staff. The contest primarily focused on students who had innovative ideas in the fields of software and internet technology, low-tech medical devices and clean energy.

The second winner is Ronny Shalev, also a student at Case. Shalev created a product known as an autonomous intravenous (IV) insertion tool that will be the most effective replacement for the current procedure of manual vein localization and needle insertion. Shalev's tool will completely replace the need for trained medical staff.

Contest winners were each awarded a $2,500 scholarship to the Global AMBA program along with a prize basket of support services from LaunchHouse, "Additionally, we received a $500 check from LaunchHouse, along with a bunch of services that include legal services, accounting, and free space for three months," says Schmidt. "All in all, a very comprehensive package with everything needed to get a business off the ground."

The winners will also have the opportunity to compete for up to $5000 in follow on funding.

Source: Austin Schmidt, Affinity Algorithms
Writer: Karin Connelly

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication Fresh Water Cleveland.

Andrea Trgovcich puts her stomach where her business is. Sort of.

The principal and founder of the Youngstown-based Wellness Integrated Network (WIN) even lost weight while testing her Web and mobile-based application; whether or not she lost sleep is unknown.

"My daughter and I are 'soft' testing this new system. We've both lost weight on it because of the pre-diabetic style of eating, which is six times per day. It's working for both of us and we're not pre-diabetic," says Trgovcich.

The WIN application tracks patients' or consumers' dietary consumption and recommends meals and activities based on medical history, lifestyle, cooking ability, available time and preferences. WIN organizes nutritional data, creates family meals (short of cooking, that is), and collects research data. Trgovcich says the three-year-old startup will target the medical field, but the applications are broader than that.

"It (WIN) has the capability to deal with any kind of nutritional aspect. It could be for an athlete training for a marathon or someone who needs to eliminate certain things from their diet. Or it could be a lifestyle choice," says Trgovcich. "Follow-on phases include grocery store and restaurant integration . . . We're tracking by a simple green, yellow and red light system: if you did it, if you substituted, or you skipped altogether."

"We got some interest right away from people who wanted to invest and thought it was a great idea. We applied to be a YBI portfolio (Youngstown Business Incubator) company right after that." Trgovcich is also getting help from JumpStart in Cleveland for advice on selecting a CEO, a search that is ongoing.

WIN is currently recruiting 40 to 50 patients ages 11-15 for a pilot in partnership with Humility of Mary Health Partners and Ohio University Osteopathic Medical School.

"We want the results published in an official, peer-reviewed journal. We're not just doing a 'proof of technology' at this point."

We are recruiting currently 40-50 patients (children ages 11-15Source: Andrea Trgovcich, Wellness Integrated Network
Writer: Patrick G. Mahoney

IT Martini was created three years ago when the opportunities for IT professionals to connect in central Ohio were few and far between, says John Bishop.

Today, thanks to Bishop and co-founder Aladin Gohar, IT Martini -- a social and professional gathering for the tech-oriented -- not only has helped build a more robust network around the Columbus area, but has caught on in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, with more cities on the way.

"If you go back to 2008, it was a different kind of environment for professionals and for technology professionals beyond that," Bishop says. "And what I noticed in conjunction with Aladin Gohar was that there weren't a lot of opportunities for technology professionals to meet each other and engage one another as an industry."

That summer, Bishop and Gohar held the very first IT Martini. Two hundred people showed up to hear a speaker, socialize and connect. This month, IT Martini is celebrating its third year with a May 26 event expected to draw 1,000.

The format for an IT Martini event is straightforward, Bishop says.

"We try to stay as interactive as possible," he explains. "So we put on panel discussions and we tend to have panel discussions run concurrently with the social aspect of the event in a separate, segregated space. That way, people who want to be social can participate in the social aspect of the event, and if they want to participate in a little bit more of a discussion, presentation, industry-best-practice type of activity we have that for our attendees as well."

As IT Martini began to catch on locally, a sponsor in 2009 asked that an event be held in Cincinnati, Bishop says.

"And then last year we started to do not just Columbus and Cincinnati, but Cleveland and Indianapolis."

An IT Martini in Nashville is in the works, and there also seems to be interest in West Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin, Bishop says.

Source: John Bishop, IT Martini
Writer: Gene Monteith

FlyMuch plans to role out a new service next month that will let travelers plan their next trip with the help of knowledgeable Facebook users.

The Dublin-based startup, which began working on a mobile app for travel in 2009, aims to fill a void, says Brian Zuercher, head of product and co-founder.

"There had been no service that had created a great user experience in terms of planning travel. At the heart of it was the consumer who says 'I'm getting e-mails from Travelocity and Orbitz and Hilton everyday for things I'm never going to do.'"

That resulted in an idea for an application that would aggregate the best travel deals and tailor them to individual users through a browser add-on. Zuercher and Jim Kamnikar, CEO and co-founder, "spent almost two years, both prototyping and iterating on the product with a parallel path of fundraising."

FlyMuch will offer a scaled down version of that vision in its first phase, Zuercher says.

"The product as it's going to stand when we release it is all about getting and giving recommendations for travel things like hotels, dining and activities for your trip," he says. "What we're able to do is see inside your social network of who's relevant to ask about a destination. Maybe they live there or have been there. And then you can solicit any of those people, and we create your own unique page for your trip. Those people can come in and make recommendations, and the bonus feature is that you get access to all those things on your iPhone."

Zuercher says FlyMuch will build on that simple platform as it engages with people and builds trust. Eventually, features that tailor deals for individual users and other bells and whistles will be added, he says.

The initial mobile app will be limited to iPhone, but "pretty quickly be available for DROID and other platforms," he says.

The firm is closing in on a $1 million series A investment round, about half of which has been funded by Ohio TechAngels, Zuercher says. That has allowed FlyMuch to hire eight full-time employees with the goal of employing around 20 in the next couple of years.

Source: Brian Zuercher, FlyMuch
Writer: Gene Monteith

Thanks to an innovative effort by a firm spun off from the Cleveland Clinic in 2009, hospitals can now track their best practices, determine their most efficient use of research dollars and program funding, and monitor best patient outcomes by tapping into trend-spotting software that has long been used by other industries.

Population Explorer, a product of Cleveland-based Explorys Inc., uses data-crunching software similar to the kind of technology used by large, fast search engines such as Yahoo! and Googlem thereby giving healthcare systems a new perspective on the mountains of information accumulated on patient care.

"In almost every other industry, this kind of technology has been in use for a long time," explains Explorys President and Chief Technology Officer Charlie Lougheed. "It allows them to see trends and correlations that you can use to make a difference in patient's lives. It lets hospitals become more efficient, offer better care and in most cases, do it less expensively."

Explorys doesn't examine individual patient information, instead looking at the outcomes of care and how hospitals arrived at decisions that resulted in the best outcomes for patients. The result is a roadmap to improved, efficient care.

Born from a smaller prototype that the Cleveland Clinic started building five years ago, Population Explorer took off when the hospital brought in two "big data" veterans in early 2009. Lougheed and Stephen McHale (now Explorys' CEO) had founded Everstream Inc., a data analytics company focused on media trends, in 1999, later selling it to a Georgia company for $15 million. When the duo took over the new project, they immediately started expanding the scope of the clinic's software. Months later, Explorys was spun off to commercialize the system. Since then, its growth has been explosive.

It now mines trend information from not only the Cleveland Clinic, but University Hospitals and MetroHealth hospitals in Cleveland, Akron-based Summa Health System, as well as MedStar Health in Columbia, Md. Other national health care providers are due to come online soon as well, reports Lougheed.

Others have taken notice, too. Gartner Inc., a leading information technology research and advisory company based in Connecticut, recently named Explorys as one of five of its "Cool Vendors in Life Sciences" winners for 2011.

After starting with 10 employees and a modest budget, Explorys has already expanded to 25 employees. Lougheed expects the company to double its staff again by the end of the year, with further growth planned for next year.

Source: Charlie Lougheed, President & CTO
Writer: Dave Malaska

The couponing craze is boosting the bottom line for one local company that has just moved into a new space and adding 20 employees to its ranks.

LocalGreatDeals.com, an online coupon site, works with media partners and local businesses to offer Internet-based coupons for small- and medium-sized local business in Cincinnati and in 34 other cities across the country.

Based in Loveland, LocalGreatDeals.com, is growing along with the couponing and saving renaissance.

"Industry wide the coupon industry continues to grow as the economy evolves into what is today. People are interested in finding a deal and getting the most bang for their buck," said company Vice President of Sales Ryan Minton.

In Cincinnati, the company works with network affiliates websites to offer hundreds of coupons for local businesses. The site also uses web keyword search techniques to help make their coupons easier to find online.

"We're different from the deals of the day sites where you get a discount when you purchase a deal. Users that go to our site don't have to pay for anything," Minton said.

Founded in 2009, the company has just moved from downtown Loveland to a nearby office park at 424 Wards Corner in Loveland. The company has 40 employees and is in the process of adding 20 more inside sales associates.

The company is also expanding its services and moving rapidly into new cities. It expects to be live in 100 cities by year's end. The company also isn't entirely averse to daily deal methods, and recently launched Dealsthatgiveback.com. It's a twist on the deal-of-the-day site where 10 percent of each purchase goes to a charity of the buyer's choice.


Source: LocalGreatDeals.com
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication Soapbox.

 Three entrepreneurial minded doctors, along with their tech partners, are building on the health IT explosion with a new tool designed to cut down on both surgical and billing errors.

eMerge Health Solutions is the latest CincyTech portfolio company, formed in 2006 by three Cincinnati area gastroenterologists, a healthcare provider and IT specialist. Their first product is a voice-driven tool that allows surgeons to make documentation and notes during operations and other medical procedures. The software creates a database from those notes that a doctor can refer to and cross-reference with similar procedures.

The software is designed to improve patient outcomes through more accurate procedure documentation.

"We will be offering a first-of-its-kind-product, the ability to document during a procedure using voice command and control," said eMerge CEO Alex Vidas. "This allows the clinician to gain productivity benefits without taking focus away from the patient's care."

The company was created through collaboration of its founders Dr. Alan Safdi, Dr. Michael Safdi, Dr. Pradeep Bekal and Dan Walker of the Ohio GI & Liver Institute, and Bharat Saini, a former GE Aviation technology manager.

The patent-pending technology has been thoroughly tested in 30,000 procedures since its development. It's now being used in three ambulatory surgery centers and at The Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati. The product is initially targeted for self-contained GI units within ambulatory surgical centers and hospitals.

"We are calculating that gastroenterology represents a $250 million-$300 million market and the total addressable market is $500 million-$700 million across all medical specialty areas. This is a tremendous opportunity," said CincyTech executive-in-residence and eMerge board member Phil Huff.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: CincyTech

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication, Soapbox.

You're sitting in an airport and your flight has been delayed. You've plowed through your concession stand copy of Newsweek and are bored stiff.

So, you do what any normal person would do. You start to people-watch. And some of what you see is, well, a little freaky. That guy in the camouflage hot pants, for example. If only your friends could see THAT.

Well, now they can, if you have an iPhone and download a mobile app from FreakJet.com that allows you to upload photos to the company's website.

"The problem we're solving is a consumer problem," says Mike Figliuolo, one of FreakJet's founders. "Which is boredom and nothing to do at the airport."

Launched two months ago, FreakJet is like People of Walmart -- with wings. While he acknowledges there's a fine line between posting a funny picture and being mean, Figliuolo says the site is not intended to hurt anyone.

"Nothing hateful, no folks with disabilities, no kids," he says. "If you post those, we'll take it down. And if your picture ends up on the site and you don't like it, just send us an e-mail and we'll take it down immediately."

Figliuolo says users have downloaded some 500 copies of the app so far, with about 100 pictures posted from airports all over the country.

Based in Dublin, FreakJet.com is about fun, but it's not just for fun, Figliuolo says. The company fully intends to realize a financial return. Right now, that's coming in the way of advertising, he says.

"But eventually you can do paid apps -- there's a gaming aspect of it that will be in version two, version three -- so there are big revenue pieces associated with it that are down the road.

Source: Mike Figliuolo, FreakJet.com
Writer: Gene Monteith

Event promoters hate unsold tickets. In Columbus, TiXiT has stepped in to help promoters solve that problem while offering buyers discounted prices.

The startup, with investment by the weBuild tech accelerator, "has sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of tickets " so far, says CEO Mike Figliuolo (also a principal at weBuild).

While the member base is currently small, he's encouraged by the conversion rate of those who buy tickets after opening an e-mail promoting an event.

"In traditional e-mail campaigns, for folks who sign up for membership sites and actually want to get that e-mail, you'll get a five percent open rate, you'll get a five percent click-through rate, and you'll get a five percent conversion to purchase rate," Figliuolo says. "We get a 30 percent open rate. On that 30 percent, we'll get 20 to 40 percent click-through. Of that 20 to 40 percent we'll get 20 to 30 percent to go into the shopping cart, and of that we're converting 10 to 30 percent to sales."

Members register for free to receive notifications of deals on various events. Alerts are sent by e-mail, text message, tweet -- however customers want them. 

"The value for consumers is it's free, and I can now go to one place to discover new events, buy things that I want to buy and get great deals, instead of having to go out and get a coke can for this discount, a copy of the newspaper for that discount, another site for that one," Figliuolo says. "Here are all the events in your geographic area."

TiXiT takes a percentage of every ticket sold, he says, noting that the company has done work with organizations like the Columbus Blue Jackets, CAPA, BalletMet, Jazzarts, and the Columbus Crew.

Figliuolo says the company is still in the pilot phase, launching formally only last year. As TiXiT learns what works and what doesn't, it plans to expand to other geographic regions.

Source: Mike Figliuolo, TiXiT
Writer: Gene Monteith

Ty Jacobs and three colleagues started FourthFrame eight years ago to supply software talent to its clients and to develop software products for the marketplace.

While Jacobs says FourthFrame has built a solid business doing just that, it's the success of the company's project management division � Simple Genius Apps -- that last month allowed Jacobs to quit his day job to devote full time as division president.

"A few years ago I started doing iPhone development and I developed some game apps," says Jacobs, who runs Simple Genius from his Pataskala home. "But there wasn't a whole lot of money in (iPhone) game apps unless you write Angry Birds, right?"

Then, the iPad was announced -- and it was a game-changer, Jacobs says.

"I knew it was going to be a whole new frontier for software, and so I started trying to think about what kind of niche I wanted to fill in that new space, and ended up settling on project management software because I have lots of project management experience."

The first Simple Genius app � SG Project -- launched in May 2010 and provided task-based project schedule management. Jacobs soon added an application for action item management and another for risk management.

"I was the first to offer a real project management app on the iPad," he says. SG Project Go was recently added for iPhone and iPod users.

Earlier this year, Simple Genius launched SG Project Pro � which combine those apps into a complete suite of tools. Since then, more than 17,000 units of the suite have sold in 65 countries, allowing Jacobs to quit his job as a director of IT business operations for Columbus-based NetJets and devote his full attention to Simple Genius.

In the near term, Jacobs says the company will develop some updates to the existing iPad applications and then begin working on a Mac version for desktops and laptops. In the long-term, Jacobs wants to grow Simple Genius beyond his one employee � himself.

"My vision is a software development company that has 10 to 20 pretty high-end software development jobs."

Source: Ty Jacobs, Simple Genius Apps
Writer: Gene Monteith

Dimple Dough may seem like a funny name for a company, but it really does make sense, according to Shawn Barrieau, Dimple Dough's CEO.

"In 2004, I moved to Cleveland from Seattle with my wife and kids for a new job. With the holidays approaching, we had to think about sending gifts and pictures of the kids to relatives," he recalls. "I thought about how cool it would be if you could put a picture on a gift card. I did some research and ended up forming a company in 2006 to offer software that enables retailers to put photos on gift cards to personalize the experience. In effect, we're putting smiles on cash. Hence the name Dimple Dough."

Dimple Dough has grown considerably since then -- from two to 22 employees.

Working with processing, printing and fulfillment, and ecommerce partners, Dimple Dough now offers a comprehensive cloud-computing card management platform to help retailers and banks manage every aspect of their gift card programs.

"We offer creative features and platforms, including customization, ecommerce, smart phones, corporate cards, eGifts and social media," Barrieau explains.

Clients include American Express, Nike and AMC Entertainment.

Dimple Dough recently tackled the brave new world of virtual gift cards.

"We have a top-tier retail customer that just moved its rewards program from plastic gift cards to electronic gift cards," Barrieau says. "We did all the strategy and implementation for them and will soon be delivering more than six million eGifts to their data base. By helping them go from plastic to virtual gift cards, we're saving them millions of dollars in printing and postage costs. It's also good for the environment."

Dimple Dough receives Ohio Technology Investment Tax Credit assistance through the Ohio Third Frontier initiative, Barrieau notes.

"That has definitely helped us grow."

Source: Shawn Barrieau, Dimple Dough
Writer: Lynne Meyer