Amazon.com unveils lineup for startup contest; Seattle shut out |
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Amazon.com unveils lineup for startup contest; Seattle shut out
Amazon.com named the finalists for its annual web services startup challenge, in which young companies that use Amazon's cloud-computing compete for $100,00 in cash and credits. This year's crop of finalists range from a flight delay prediction service to a provider of in-store video analysis. Seattle was shut out this year. There aren't any Seattle-area companies on the list, and Amazon is holding the grand prize event in Silicon Valley, instead of its hometown as it's done in the past.
Read on for descriptions of the seven finalists.
Bizo: business-to-business marketing with "precise ad targeting." San Francisco.
FlightCaster: uses "advanced algorithm" to predict flight delays. San Francisco.
Gazaro: crawls web to find sales deals. Humble, Tex. and Ottawa.
GoodData: helps teams share business data and analytics online. San Francisco.
Involver: helps companies use social networks for marketing. San Francisco/New York.
Motally: tracking usage statistics for mobile websites and applications. San Francisco.
ReTel Technologies: analyzes in-store video to help retailers improve product placement and employee interactions to get shoppers to buy more.
Amazon, along with Madrona Venture Group and others, ended up investing in last year's startup challenge winner, Yieldex, a New York-based online ad optimization engine for web publishers. The year before that the top prize went to Silicon Valley video distribution startup Ooyala.
Amazon has used the contest to drum up interest among startups in its cloud-computing services, though lately the company has been putting a lot of effort into targeting large companies and government as customers.
This year's winner will be announced at the PlugandPlayTechCenter in Sunnyvale, Calif., on December 9.
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