(Memphis Daily) “We just closed a lead investor for our $1.5 million angel round,” said the entrepreneur, sipping a latte. “And we’d love to have you on board to help us round out the fundraise.” It most cities, coffee shop conversations revolve around everything from sports to movies to current events. However, at The Creamery in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood, it’s not uncommon to overhear terms negotiations, angel pitches and potential future co-founders talking about big ideas. The place is crawling with startups and investors. Density. It’s what startup hotbeds like San Francisco; Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; and others enjoy. It accelerates connections between people. It’s what enables serendipitous conversations to occur. Read the full article at The Daily News

(High Ground News) Eight Memphis startup companies are traveling to Silicon Valley this week to pitch their business plans and try to make connections within the high-tech haven. The trip was organized by Start Co., a local nonprofit aimed at growing and supporting Memphis’ entrepreneurial community. The eight companies are all graduates of Start Co. accelerator programs, which serve as a first-stop for budding businesses and are designed to help potential entrepreneurs take the first actionable steps toward launching a business. Start Co. CEO and founder Eric Mathews and president Andre Fowlkes are leading the visit. It is the organization’s third trip to Silicon Valley in 18 months and another effort to highlight the strengths of the Memphis entrepreneurial ecosystem. Throughout the visit, Start Co. hopes to exchange best practices and lessons in failure with their peers as well as find new resources such as mentors, sponsors, partners and other providers for its programs and investment capital. On Wednesday, Start Co. will host its own Demo Day at San Francisco seed fund and accelerator 500 Startups. The event will have a definitive Memphis twist, with local barbecue and libations served to attendees. It also will provide a forum for the eight accompanying businesses to pitch their ideas to investors representing brands such as PayPal, American Airlines and SoftLayer. Read the full article at High Ground News

(High Ground News) Aspiring female entrepreneurs got the chance to show off and develop their business ideas at the first-ever Startup Weekend: Women’s Edition hosted by Start Co.this past Friday through Sunday. Jennifer Krouse and Krouse & Co. won the competition, and the top three teams will have access to additional mentoring to take their ideas to the next level. “The event was phenomenal. We had seven teams competing, it was very action-packed, and people from different backgrounds came out from all over the city,” says Al Pickett, Start Co. Vice President of Diversity. “We helped them uncover gaps in their business models and the pitfalls that could potentially hurt the business.” New businesses ideas presented included food delivery via mobile app, a 21stcentury publishing company, a running/fitness app, and a business to help the homeless, among others. View the full article at High Ground News

2014 Upstart teams Cabsolutely and eDivv and Seed Hatchery team Pickle receive initial funding, final close announced for Sparkgap graduate Graph Story Memphis, Tenn. (Nov. 11, 2014) – Start Co., a member of the Global Accelerator Network operating industry-specific accelerators each summer, today announced $387,000 in angel investments for two Upstart, one Seed Hatchery, and one Sparkgap accelerator graduate startups in Memphis. These investments continue the Start Co. tradition of bringing together talent, investors and ecosystem support for startup success and bring the total 2014 investment in Start Co. teams to more than $1.4 million. “So far this year, seven teams received post accelerator funding, illustrating that the talent pool for startups here in Memphis is becoming more robust,” said Andre Fowlkes, President of Start Co. “Our focus is to grow investment in tandem so that we can help bring new, disruptive technologies to market, and look forward to providing support to these startups in growing their valuations and securing more follow on capital.” Four Memphis startups that closed on funding recently are: Cabsolutely ($75,000): Cabsolutely is a cloud-based dispatch platform for taxi cab companies, enabling them to compete with ridesharing applications. Co-founders Virag Reti and Andras Simon plan to use the funding for application development and launch with initial customers in January, as well as consumer facing marketing. The team entered into a partnership with Premier Transportation, Yellow and Checker Cab earlier this year to utilize its technology. eDivv ($242,000): eDivv is an online marketplace for trading beauty products. Co-founders

(Memphis Business Journal) Four alumni of Start Co.’s latest group of accelerators have received a total of $387,000 in angel investments to help grow their companies. Cabsolutely and eDivv, which completed the Upstart accelerator, received $75,000 and $242,000, respectively. Cabsolutely is a cloud-based dispatch platform for taxi cab companies that allows customers to request a ride through a mobile app, while helping taxi companies improve passenger service with modern back-end technology. The company will continue to develop its app and is expected to launch in January, and recently announced a partnership with Premier Transportation, Yellow and Checker Cab. All three companies will utilize its technology. eDivv, an online marketplace for trading beauty products, will use its funding for product development, marketing and scaling customer facing operations. Graph Story, an alum of the Sparkgap accelerator, received $50,000 in capital. The company also received $250,000 funding in August. Graph Story uses data derived from graphs to compile information for small and medium-sized logistics companies. Pickle, which graduated from Seed Hatchery, provides brand engagement through use of selfies generated by users. The company received $20,000 that will be used to develop its beta product. Read the full article at Memphis Business Journal

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) –Four start-up companies in Memphis received $387,000 in funding in order to continue moving forward. Cabsolutely, eDivv, Graph Story and Pickle were the four startups and all participants of the Start Co. summer acceleration program. The latest investment in companies adds to the more than $1.4 million total in 2014 this year. President of Start Co., Andre Fowlkes, said in a press release to WMC Action News 5, “So far this year, seven teams received post acceleration funding, illustrating that the talent pool for startups here in Memphis is becoming robust.” All four businesses have taken advantages of their post-acceleration program by visiting during Friday office hours, participating in business development sessions, workshops and networking sessions. CEO and Founder of Start Co., Eric Mathews said in a press release, “Having mentor and investor participation from day one enables the founders to build their business models quickly and correctly. Both the teams and the investors benefit from the early engagement during our accelerator programs, which builds confidence for supplying further investment after Demo Day.” View the full article at Action 5 News 

(Memphis Daily) The leadership of Memphis’ Start Co. organization is fanning out to both coasts next week – looking to, among other things, exchange best practices and to spread a little taste of Memphis along the way. Some of the group is heading to the San Francisco area for a “Demo Day”-type event at the 500 Startups organization. Meanwhile, Start Co. vice president of diversity Al Pickett will head to Washington on behalf of the Global Accelerator Network and the kickoff of the Small Business Administration’s Growth Accelerator Fund, which awarded Start Co. $50,000 earlier this year. The Start Co. contingent heading to the West Coast includes founder and CEO Eric Mathews and president Andre Fowlkes as well as the group’s community manager Hillary Quirk and its intern. They’ll be joined by eight teams from Start Co.’s acceleration programs – four teams that graduated from the Seed Hatchery accelerator, three of the Upstart accelerator teams and the startup Musistic, which graduated from the Start Co. program last year. Read the full article at The Daily News