Blink. Blink. Go to StartupBlinks and you’ll see various beacons on a world map blinking and sending out signals to others in the startup eco system. It is not a distress signal. It is signal that each startup has a news to share with the other. It sounds clichéd, but startups can finally say that they have put their country on the map.
StartupBlink, an interactive platform, allows startups from around the world to broadcast (Blink) their news, offers, or requests to the entire startup ecosystem, generating both publicity and traction. “Our vision,” says Eli David, the co-founder of StartupBlink, “is to create a one stop shop of startup Information, Connection and Promotion.”
Hailing from Switzerland, StartupBlink, was founded by Eli David and Roderick Warren last year.
Eli David, calls himself a digital nomad from Israel and he has lived in many countries, moving to a new country every two months over the last four years and Roderick Warren, a Swiss American veteran has worked on assignments in Iraq and Kosovo.
It is perhaps Warren’s training and experience as a war veteran that has driven them to map the lay of the land. Out of curiosity, I posed a few questions to the founders over an email interview:
There are many sites for startups, why create another one?
We noticed that there is no one stop shop information site for startups. There are dozens of sites each for different use like meetup.com, angelist.co , Co-working sites, and accelerator sites and so on. We want to aggregate all startup information out there to one place. We also want to create a meeting point for startup entrepreneurs.
What is the value proposition?
Startups can see who else is working on ideas close to what they do. It provides a great tool for market research, and allows exposure to your startup to people interested in Locations and industries. It also allows co-founder to connect to other entrepreneurs, mentors, find Coworking places and accelerators and much more.
What do your users say?
They love it. Many are sharing the news, and that’s what got us the media attention and many signups. Startup entrepreneurs are very accepting to the idea of creating startup community around the world, and we are building this platform exactly for that.
How many startups, Incubators, and blinks so far?
We only launched recently, we have already mapped tens of thousands of Startups, each of them sorted by Industry and location. Our platform also includes Coworking spaces, Accelerators, Influencers, and Freelancers. Since we launched, hundreds have added their startups to the map, and we have received positive mentions from various startup influencers, such as Guy Kawasaki (Link here), StartupDigest global Startup newsletter, and Product Hunt (3rd spot on December 26th).
How did you fund this?
Our own equity, and some friends. We are on bootstrapping mode.
What is your revenue model?
We will offer startup services relevant to their needs.
I have placed my own accelerator, Appleseed on StatupBlink. I haven’t blink yet but I guess I have created my first opportunity to blink on their network. Blink! Blink!