We're thrilled to announce the first five companies selected to present at the LAUNCH 'PAD tablet event on Oct. 21:
- Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote
- Woody Sears, founder of zuuka
- Jason Baptiste, CEO of OnSwipe
- Michael Mullany, CEO of Sencha
- Amit Jardosh, co-founder of UberSense
Get to know these companies right now, try out their apps and start following them.
Evernote
We love CEO Phil Libin's passion for tablets. Evernote, which lets you save and take note of everything in your life, debuted its iPad app the same day the iPad went on sale in April 2010, and HTC even used Evernote's API to build Evernote directly into Sense, its custom overlay for Android. In July, Evernote raised $50M from Sequoia Capital and Morgenthaler Ventures, then acquired Skitch in August.
Website: http://evernote.com
App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8
Twitter: @evernote
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/evernote/
Blog: http://blog.evernote.com/
Phil Libin
Twitter: @plibin
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/plibin
Google+: https://plus.google.com/107940642855928250160
Blog: http://www.vastlyimportant.com/
zuuka Inc.
Parents can't keep their kids' hands off their smartphones and tablets, but zuuka's best-selling interactive storybooks for the iPad (published under the name iStoryTime) make everyone smile -- trust us. Many of the books, which range from free to $2.99, tie in to movies like "The Smurfs" and "Shrek Forever." In August, zuuka raised $2M in a Series A led by Frankfurt-based Corporate Finance Partners.
Website: http://www.istorytimeapp.com/
App Store: [ Smurf book ] http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-smurfs-movie-storybook/id449796732?mt=8
Twitter: @istorytime
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/istorytime
Woody Sears
Twitter: @woodysears
Google+: https://plus.google.com/115316421917203265605
[ Tablet browser version of Slate, which uses OnSwipe. ]
OnSwipe
For publishers that don't have the time or money to build an app that makes their content tablet-pretty, OnSwipe's solution, focused on the tablet browser, has become the answer. We're impressed with how quickly the TechStars New York grad has attracted clients like Hearst and Forbes. OnSwipe raised a $5M Series A in June from Spark Capital, Lightbank, Yuri Milner, Lerer Ventures, Betaworks, SV Angel, Morado Ventures, Thrive Capital, and ENIAC Ventures.
Website: http://onswipe.com/
Twitter: @onswipe
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/onswipe
Blog: http://blog.onswipe.com/
Jason Baptiste
Twitter: @jasonlbaptiste
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonlbaptiste
Blog: http://jasonlbaptiste.com/
[ Sencha demo of its platform -- U.S. energy visualization available here. ]
Sencha
Open the browser on your tablet and visit a site that looks and feels like a native app? Totally possible if you use Sencha's platform for developing a mobile web app -- Android and iOS supported -- which is what wowed us and clearly attracted top-notch clients from Amazon to Harvard Business School to the U.S. Army. Sequoia Capital led Sencha's $14M Series A round in June 2010.
Website: http://www.sencha.com
Twitter: @sencha
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/senchainc
Blog: http://www.sencha.com/blog/
Michael Mullany
Twitter: @mmullany
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mmullany
Google+: https://plus.google.com/105934763164497938689
UberSense
Every athlete -- and serious amateur -- wants to know how to improve their technique so they can win. UberSense has started by targeting golfers and baseball players with its amazing SwingReader apps that let them record and analyze their swing; the iPad version adds the sweet extras of comparing two videos, storing notes in the video and measuring swing tempo. The company is a finalist at MassChallenge 2011, a startup competition and accelerator.
Website: http://www.ubersense.com/
App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/swingreader-golf-swing-analysis/id355407084?mt=8
Twitter: @ubersenseinc
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/UberSenseInc
Blog: http://blog.ubersense.com/
Amit Jardosh
Twitter: @amitjardosh
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/amitjardosh