Austin has been named the best place for new startups by the likes of Forbes and recently became the second city chosen to receive Google Fiber, beat out only by Kansas City, Kansas. University of Texas is also a large driving force behind the growing startup community, with programs centered around entrepreneurial pursuits.

Startups better have true grit to gain acceptance into the TechStars program. Although thousands of companies apply each year, TechStars only invests money and time in about ten companies per program location. If you are hopefully optimistic, TechStars will launch its first program this August, and is currently accepting applications.

Living in Austin provides the social netting to help inspire people to quit their day jobs and make the leap into starting their own business.

Resultly plans to leverage John’s knowledge and expertise in improving, growing, building unique consumer relationships to leave a targeted value impression. John’s social influence will help position Resultly at the intersection of a new space, one that meshes social, mobile, and search into a single app. Resultly plans to align itself as the one cool tool users need to stay on top of all the content they are interested in. This unique partnership of bringing someone from outside the technology space, gives Resultly a unique perspective into the consumer world that it would not otherwise have. Thru the partnership, Resultly will tap into John’s ability to engrain brands throughout pop culture using non-traditional marketing and branding techniques.

Resultly provides users with a mobile app to stay on top of all their interests. Tapping into the web’s largest ecommerce, travel, news, and social sites lets Resultly bring users items exactly matching their interest the second they hit the web. Resultly aims to eliminate the need for users to continue checking the Internet for updates on the things they care most about.

“We knew we had a hit product that we needed to make cool for mass consumers. Even Kim Kardashian sent a tweet last year stating how she keeps checking eBay for a pair of shoes everyday that’s sold out,” said Ilya Beyrak, Founder of Resultly. “If even Kim can’t find a pair of shoes and keeps repeatedly checking online, imagine how many others suffer the same fate,” added Beyrak regarding the use of Resultly.

“When I first tried Resultly, I was blown away by the product in the first couple seconds of playing with it. It easily solves one of the biggest problems with search in a way that all of the big competitors aren’t addressing,” said John. “It was hard not to get excited about the product and additional value that I could bring.” Resultly realized there was a real world problem of users repeating search behavior online to get the freshest content: the need for constantly checking if something has been added or updated online. Thru its service, once a specific interest is added to a users’ account, Resultly stays on the lookout for things matching that interest automatically. Users then receive detailed alerts to their mobile device with the key information around those items. Products receive key information like images, price, color, and condition, while Job alerts show salary, location, and position.

The most recent example of Chicago’s growing importance in the tech community, crowdfynd is a free mobile and web-based application that uses crowdsourced information to revolutionize lost, found and crime reporting. Currently available on the iTunes store, crowdfynd is a simple and effective tool open to anyone with internet access or a smartphone. A community of users can create and share posts if they have lost something, found something or witnessed criminal activity. Using tools such as geo-tagged maps, photo sharing, direct messaging and monetary rewards, crowdfynd offers users the opportunity to quickly and conveniently share information with an engaged user-base focused on improving their community.

“We’ve all seen lost dog fliers and wanted posters around town, but our goal is to give people a chance to share information through a technology they actually use: their smartphones,” says Jay Sebben, Co-Founder and CEO of crowdfynd. “We are taking those posters and bringing them into the 21st Century.”

From Groupon to the launch of the startup incubator 1871, Chicago has produced several noteworthy tech companies in recent years, and crowdfynd is further proof that the Second City is rapidly becoming one of the top locations for technological innovation. For more information on crowdfynd, visit https://www.crowdfynd.com or download the crowdfynd app from the iTunes store today. The company plans to release an Android version of the app in late June 2013.

crowdfynd is the first ever mobile and social application that uses crowdsourcing for Lost, Found and Crime reporting. Born in Chicago, crowdfynd is reimagining how the world disseminates information related to personal property and community safety. From a lost scarf to witnessing an act of vandalism, crowdfynd offers members an easy-to-use, socially connected platform for all their reporting needs.

Drippler was founded in 2011 by Matan Talmi and Dotan Galron, soon joined by Ronen Yacobi. The founders came up with the concept after constantly helping their frustrated friends and families use their smartphones and tablets. They launched Drippler to help users make better use of their devices.

Drippler’s new iPhone app automatically analyzes and detects the device and starts sending a daily Drip, which is a personalized update, so users discover the latest tips, updates, apps or accessories every day. The app features a new user interface and magazine-style design, improved personalization and other new features such as search, Instagram-style sharing and saving your favorite Drips for reading later.

“It’s been an exciting year for us at Drippler. We launched our Android app a year ago, and today we’re celebrating 5M users, and launching on the App Store so iPhone users will also be able to enjoy Drippler” said Matan Talmi, Drippler Co-Founder and CEO, “Drippler is disrupting the way mobile users engage with their devices, and as a result our users are more productive and enjoy these amazing devices even more”

MakerShop is a website that gives designers of real world objects that can be 3D printed a place to market and distribute designs. Designers of original work or curators of 3D printer designs can set up shop on the MakerShop website to let people from around the world materialize their designs via a mainstream 3D printing company, a local community 3D printer or at home, possibly having their 3D printer designs go viral. The website is in Beta but new designers can sign up for free and make a shop today. Shop owners can give away their designs, charge for them or accept donations. One designer has already created a shop with original 3D printable character artwork, each with a story. Designs have been downloaded hundreds of times over the past several weeks.

“The main benefit of the 3D printing and related technologies in our view is found in furthering the Information Age, which is all about digitizing content and organizing and sharing it over information networks,” said Michael Spivey. Michael continues, “We believe in designers and the great work they can do with these new tools.”

The blog post mentions a Real World Object Lifecycle that MakerShop will be detailing later next month. This lifecycle is a process for designers to use to design 3D printable objects, distribute the objects and get feedback to learn how to make the design smarter for its next release.

SpiveyWorks Corporation is a small business based in Charlotte, NC that designs apps to empower individuals in their daily lives on whatever device they happen to be using.

Product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Image: 3ders.org

“Ever since we launched OkCupid, we have always tried to push the envelope,” said Christian Rudder , OkCupid co-founder and General Manager.  “We believe that Bitcoin users are exactly the early adopters who are using OkCupid.  By accepting Bitcoin, we’re embracing their innovative spirit and inviting them to subscribe to OkCupid.”

“Both Bitcoin and OkCupid are based on mathematical technology,” added Sam Yagan , CEO, Match Inc and co-founder of OkCupid.  “OkCupid innovated the way people think about finding love and now Bitcoin is innovating the way people think about currency.  I wish I had come up with the idea myself.”

While OkCupid is free to use, A-list members pay a nominal fee for bonus features that optimize their online dating experience by letting them browse profiles anonymously, search for potential matches by special attributes and see which members have rated them, in addition to other various features.   Bitcoin is not backed by a government and operates on a peer-to-peer network.  You can find out everything you need to know about Bitcoin here.  And people who prefer using traditional government-backed currency need not worry; OkCupid will still offer their A-list service for standard U.S. Dollars. \

In addition to seed funding, mentoring and coaching, Sequoia Apps is designed to help capitalize on the successful past performance and unique skill sets of all IC focused developers and engineers and help build viable and disruptive commercial applications. “Sequoia Apps is a great example of how companies can leverage the successful past performance of their employees and connect them to the intellectual and financial scene of the DC startup community,” said T. Richard Stroupe, Jr. Sequoia Holdings co-founder. “For years, our development staff has designed and built world class applications for various IC customers, and now we would like to create a new disruptive platform to invest in those engineers in order to help them achieve similar success in emerging markets”.

“Our goal is to build a dynamic and innovative platform based on the unique skillset and experience of the IC development community, “ said Adam Rand, Sequoia Holdings co-founder. “Sequoia Apps will offer a number of key strategies and lessons learned from successful entrepreneurs and private investors.”

Owned, managed and operated by the employees of Sequoia Holdings, Inc, Sequoia Apps will accept new business plans and make seed investments based on committee review and acceptance. After initial launch and success, candidates will leverage Sequoia’s unique relationships and network with DC area VC, Private Equity and Angel investors for additional mentoring and investment opportunities.

“Sequoia’s leap into the startup accelerator space demonstrates its commitment to help aspiring technical leaders of tomorrow realize their dreams.” said Chris Lee, Sequoia’s Director of Software Development. “It’s basically a Silicon Valley inside of Sequoia. Build the great software you want to build and learn from fellow entrepreneurs how to build and sustain successful businesses.”

PreApps.com is the exclusive marketplace where users can discover, preview, and test the best new mobile apps coming soon for iPhone, Android, and Windows. The site serves as an app development ecosystem for developers where they can create pre-release hype, receive pre-opted user downloads upon release, beta testers, and critical user feedback. The company’s aim is to connect app users with app developers to create better quality, more successful apps.

After 30 days since the company launched, over 250 upcoming new apps have now been submitted to the PreApps’ platform in categories ranging from Games to Utility apps. The apps that have graduated from PreApps and are now live in their respective app stores have stated PreApps improved their app downloads, ranking, quality, and overall success.

“The exposure and buzz generated by PreApps.com is great for developers and it shows in the sales and download figures – we received over 3,000 downloads on the first day as a result!” – Sage Young (Young Money Apps)

“The great thing is that there are many more apps that are in the pipeline that are poised for success. I’m expecting big things from Keylium and Yellowbrick,” said Sean Casto, Founder and CEO of PreApps. “Being able to bring app enthusiasts and app developers together to create a better app experience has been a dream of mine for over a year. Through a lot of hard work it is becoming a reality, but it is only the beginning. As we start to build we can start to set the bar even higher to grow faster than we ever thought we could.”

The company has also been featured on a digital billboard in Times Square and outside the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas. With millions of visitors there everyday, it allowed PreApps to expand their audience.

The company also took its brand on the road to San Francisco for the Apps World 2013 conference. The PreApps team was on hand to secure strategic partnerships, answer questions, showcase the platform, and help users and developers with hands-on demos and product tutorials.

From the Makery is a daily online column highlighting rare stories of making from around the world and around the web. The Makeshift Magazine staff curates timely content from a network of contributors in India, Kenya, and other exotic locales, as well as from the farthest reaches of the Internet.

The column, previously only run on the magazine’s Facebook and Twitter feeds, is now published as a free, weekly newsletter. Email subscribers receive a roundup of the previous week’s curated stories each Monday—a series of five stories for some coffee-break inspiration.

Past Makery entries include a Chinese fisherman who built his own prosthetic hands, instruments made from landfill in Paraguay, Afghanistan’s wooden cameras anew, a pee-powered generator in Lagos, and a solar-powered 3D printer in London building objects from molten sand.

Sign up for the free newsletter at http://www.mkshft.org and find online-exclusive articles and videos.

Makeshift is a quarterly print and online magazine about innovation in emerging markets and informal economies around the world. It explores vastly different cultures and societies—environments where regulations and resources may be scarce but where ingenuity is used incessantly for survival, enterprise, and self-expression. Makeshift is about people, the things they make, and the context in which they make them.

Makeshift is designed by a global team based in New York, Mexico City, and Madrid. Contributing researchers, journalists, photographers, and videographers in over 60 countries weed out stories of street-level ingenuity. “The fascinating part about this new magazine,” according to TJ McCue, Forbes contributor, “is that it has citizen journalists, blogger/travelers, who are finding and sharing unique approaches to commerce and innovative solutions to common problems.”

What is Tunii.com? Check out what all the Tunii buzz is about by watching their short “See How Tunii Works” video.

“Our new Facebook App and referral link are easy ways to generate income,” says Tunii Co-founder Keith Harrison. “The more people that join and use tunii through your user unique referral link, the more you can grow a recurring income.”

Tunii.com is free to join, the referral link is free to use and users never need to buy anything to participate.

“We’re trying to do something good for everyone involved,” Harrison added. “Our vision at Tunii is to revolutionize the music industry by giving both recording artists and music fans around the world the ability to generate a substantial income by simply sharing the music they make and love. The referral link creates the opportunity for businesses, bands, fans or anyone with a web site to make a portion of the earnings from anyone who joins and uses Tunii through the link from their site.”

Seamless integration with Facebook allows anyone with a Facebook account to join Tunii with just a few simple clicks. The Facebook app makes sharing music and referring your friends to Tunii a breeze.

Thanks to Tunii.com’s patent-pending technology innovations, Facebook app and referral link, everyone can make money in multiple ways with a simple internet connection and without ever spending a dime.

“We have created a Win Win and Win for artists, fans and anyone willing to help spread the word about the benefits of Tunii through our referral link program.

Tunii is creating a crowd sourced future for the music industry where together we can all share in the success for connecting artists and fans around the world.”