Here’s the startup news making headlines today on other Web sites and blogs. Startup Weekend Hamilton crowns a winner, ShopLocket makes it easier to sell fashions online, and Rent frock Repeat makes it easier to rent them online.
StartupsN.com wins in Hamilton
StartupsN.com emerged victorious from Hamilton, Ont.’s second editionof Startup Weekend. The firm’s winning pitch is for a virtual assistantthat quickly connects fledgling companies to startup world connectionslike developers, funders and even possible co-founders. Runner-up wasNervu Ninjas, a text-based messaging service for retailers. Third placewas captured by Honey Badger Automation, which uses a home’s Wi-Finetwork to control and automate settings like temperature and lighting.
By Lisa Grace Marr in The Hamilton Spectator
ShopLocket makes e-selling easier
Startup ShopLocket has now officially launched its e-commercesolution. It’s for users who want to sell something online in a waythat’s more sophisticated than a classified Web ad but lesscomplicated than setting up a permanent e-commerce site. WithShopLocket you can just enter a description and photo of the itemyou’re selling; ShopLocket makes a $2 publishing fee every time yousell something and a 2.5 per cent ongoing transaction fee thereafter.
By Mark Evans in The Globe and Mail
Cornering Canadian market (for now)
Rent frock Repeat founders Lisa Delorme and Kristy Wieber make no bonesabout the fact that they modeled their Canadian startup after Rent TheRunway, a U.S. Web site that lets women rent expensive designer dressesat affordable rates. They launched their site specifically because RentThe Runway doesn’t operate in Canada. The caveat for Canadian startupspatterning themselves after foreign examples: the U.S. or internationalcompanies that pioneered the original idea can enter the Canadianmarket at any time and wipe out their exclusivity in the Canadianmarket.