Seed Sumo

Customer Problem: There are 162 million used vehicles on the road today equipped with complex maintenance systems but without embedded telematics or diagnostic connectivity. Consumers driving these vehicles may see a check engine light go on in their car, but they are dependent and distrustful of the mechanic. Dealers are in the dark, having zero awareness or information about the issue. Resultantly, dealers are leaving money on the table from missed service revenue and OEM customer loyalty incentives. Solution: CarForce has developed a complete end to end solution that leverages after market telematics to provide real time updates on the health of consumer vehicles. Service centers now have the ability to see service opportunities in real time enabling them to serve their customers by having first right of refusal, order parts more quickly, and offer their customers an on-demand concierge experience. Management: CarForce was founded by Jessika Lora, the former Head of Automotive Partnerships and GM of eBay’s Vehicles C2C business. While at eBay Motors, the world’s #1 automotive marketplace, she managed strategy and operations for a $7.3 billion dollar business and led the turn around of eBay’s $1.6 billion dollar consumer-to-consumer vehicle sector with double-digit growth. She developed her results driven track record as a management consultant for Deloitte Consulting and is a Stanford BS and MS graduate with 10+ years of automotive and e-commerce experience.

CommonEdits allows independent artists to find and participate in high quality productions with other musicians. Through the use of Creative Commons Licensing they provide a unique Music 2.0 experience where the fans help curate their content. How it works: Vocalists find instrumentals for any genre and create their own finished version of a song. Once uploaded, CommonEdits tracks fan interactions via downloads, streams, and social media shares to determine which artists make their home page. Artists who prove traction will receive increased support such as radio interviews, features with major artists, as well as marketing and distribution assistance.

Explica is a digital media start-up founded in 2016 by Vip Sitaraman in Austin, Texas. It serves as a destination for the latest news in sports, music, and gaming, specifically targeting millennial males aged 18 to 35. The company utilizes a proprietary content engine that allows writers to create engaging and interactive digital stories, enhancing the user experience. Explica focuses on delivering information visually, often through infographics that cover a range of topics, including sports and politics. This approach aims to keep its audience informed and engaged with contemporary issues and trends.

Wrapify, Inc. operates a crowdsourced advertising platform that connects drivers and brands for on-vehicle advertising campaigns. Established in 2015 and based in San Diego, California, the company enables drivers to earn extra income by wrapping their vehicles in advertisements. Wrapify combines out-of-home advertising with digital marketing, allowing brands to reach audiences effectively across multiple channels. Its platform provides measurable analytics, helping Fortune 500 companies like AT&T and Coca-Cola engage customers and drive brand awareness. With over 200,000 drivers in the United States using the Wrapify app, the company facilitates nationwide advertising campaigns while offering real-time performance data to its brand partners.

Supreme Golf operates as a leading platform for golf tee time bookings, offering access to over 16 million tee times at more than 12,000 golf courses across 41 countries. In partnership with CBS Sports Digital, it features its own booking sites, SupremeGolf.com and GolfBook.com, along with mobile applications for iOS and Android. The company collaborates with golf course owners and operators to provide comprehensive technology and marketing solutions aimed at optimizing facility management and revenue generation. Its services are utilized by prominent management companies and renowned courses, including PGA West and Walt Disney World Golf. Supreme Golf's expert team is dedicated to delivering innovative business solutions traditionally available only to larger management firms, making them accessible to all golf course owners. The company's advisory board includes several notable figures from the travel and technology sectors, reinforcing its commitment to enhancing the golfing experience for players and course operators alike.

Gazoo, Inc. specializes in providing a cloud-based managed service known as Computer Labs as a Service (CLaaS), which allows authenticated access to customized Windows desktops from various devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Bryan, Texas, Gazoo's platform enables students and educators to access Open Access Labs at any time and from anywhere, thereby enhancing academic performance and promoting flexible learning environments. The company also focuses on high-performance computing solutions, offering hardware and software that integrate hundreds of compute cores into standard servers. Gazoo leverages advanced technologies such as Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to facilitate cloud-based deployments, while its patented High Performance Virtual Machines (HPVMs) enable complex applications to be virtualized and optimized for standard architectures.

Wrapify, Inc. operates a crowdsourced advertising platform that connects drivers and brands for on-vehicle advertising campaigns. Established in 2015 and based in San Diego, California, the company enables drivers to earn extra income by wrapping their vehicles in advertisements. Wrapify combines out-of-home advertising with digital marketing, allowing brands to reach audiences effectively across multiple channels. Its platform provides measurable analytics, helping Fortune 500 companies like AT&T and Coca-Cola engage customers and drive brand awareness. With over 200,000 drivers in the United States using the Wrapify app, the company facilitates nationwide advertising campaigns while offering real-time performance data to its brand partners.

Knocki is an innovative device that turns any surface into a control interface, allowing users to manage their smart home functionalities with ease and convenience. Founded in 2015 and based in Austin, Texas, Knocki enables quick interactions without the need for traditional switches, buttons, or smartphone apps. Users can simply tap or knock on surfaces to perform various tasks, such as receiving notifications when someone knocks on the door or ringing a misplaced phone. The device is compatible with a wide range of automation tools and smart home APIs, including IFTTT, Wemo, and Nest, offering users a customizable experience through a smartphone app. By providing a seamless way to control multiple functions, Knocki enhances the smart home experience, making it more intuitive and accessible.

Customer Problem: There are 162 million used vehicles on the road today equipped with complex maintenance systems but without embedded telematics or diagnostic connectivity. Consumers driving these vehicles may see a check engine light go on in their car, but they are dependent and distrustful of the mechanic. Dealers are in the dark, having zero awareness or information about the issue. Resultantly, dealers are leaving money on the table from missed service revenue and OEM customer loyalty incentives. Solution: CarForce has developed a complete end to end solution that leverages after market telematics to provide real time updates on the health of consumer vehicles. Service centers now have the ability to see service opportunities in real time enabling them to serve their customers by having first right of refusal, order parts more quickly, and offer their customers an on-demand concierge experience. Management: CarForce was founded by Jessika Lora, the former Head of Automotive Partnerships and GM of eBay’s Vehicles C2C business. While at eBay Motors, the world’s #1 automotive marketplace, she managed strategy and operations for a $7.3 billion dollar business and led the turn around of eBay’s $1.6 billion dollar consumer-to-consumer vehicle sector with double-digit growth. She developed her results driven track record as a management consultant for Deloitte Consulting and is a Stanford BS and MS graduate with 10+ years of automotive and e-commerce experience.

Polco is a company that enhances communication between local officials and their constituents through online verified surveys, polls, and analytics. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin, Polco offers a platform that modernizes civic engagement by integrating legislation with citizen participation. The company provides services that include online polling, crowd-sourced political commentary, and performance data analytics. Its offerings are designed for a variety of clients, including cities, counties, school districts, and media organizations, allowing them to gather insights and engage effectively with their communities.

PrepFlash is a study aid creation platform that utilizes artificial intelligence and Natural Language Processing technology to streamline the learning process. By leveraging IBM's Watson technology, PrepFlash allows users to generate high-quality keywords and create customized study materials quickly. The platform supports various input methods, including uploading PDFs, pasting URLs from articles, or taking photos of text, which it then transforms into a range of quiz-based questions, such as multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank. This innovative approach enables users to study more effectively and efficiently by simplifying the creation of study guides and flashcards tailored to their needs.

Family members and their little ones communicate in-person through play. When apart, we use Skype and FaceTime which reduces our relationships to short conversations that leaves kids disengaged. Kinskii makes games that lets families connect over any distance. Our technology uses video chat to put your faces onto customizable characters to make the experience as close to playing in-person as possible.

Submitting customer service feedback is a pain, and often not worthwhile. Thanks to GripeO, users can easily submit feedback for any company in under minute. Depending on the seriousness of the issue, the user may leverage GripeO tools to increase the visibility of their gripe and the odds of acknowledgment.

TargetVision LLC specializes in the manufacture and assembly of CCTV camera systems and electronic components specifically designed for shooting applications. Founded in 2013 and located in Friendswood, Texas, the company offers innovative products such as a spotting scope camera that connects to iPhone and Android devices, along with various accessories. TargetVision primarily serves the military and law enforcement sectors and distributes its products through a network of dealers in regions including Australia, Canada, Scandinavia, and the United Arab Emirates. The company aims to enhance the shooting experience by combining its camera systems with software that appeals to both novice and experienced shooters, while also providing engaging features for social interaction. TargetVision markets its hardware to gun ranges and individual shooters, charging a monthly subscription fee for software usage at gun ranges, as well as offering an upgraded version of its software for users seeking additional features.

Knocki is an innovative device that turns any surface into a control interface, allowing users to manage their smart home functionalities with ease and convenience. Founded in 2015 and based in Austin, Texas, Knocki enables quick interactions without the need for traditional switches, buttons, or smartphone apps. Users can simply tap or knock on surfaces to perform various tasks, such as receiving notifications when someone knocks on the door or ringing a misplaced phone. The device is compatible with a wide range of automation tools and smart home APIs, including IFTTT, Wemo, and Nest, offering users a customizable experience through a smartphone app. By providing a seamless way to control multiple functions, Knocki enhances the smart home experience, making it more intuitive and accessible.

Gazoo, Inc. specializes in providing a cloud-based managed service known as Computer Labs as a Service (CLaaS), which allows authenticated access to customized Windows desktops from various devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Bryan, Texas, Gazoo's platform enables students and educators to access Open Access Labs at any time and from anywhere, thereby enhancing academic performance and promoting flexible learning environments. The company also focuses on high-performance computing solutions, offering hardware and software that integrate hundreds of compute cores into standard servers. Gazoo leverages advanced technologies such as Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to facilitate cloud-based deployments, while its patented High Performance Virtual Machines (HPVMs) enable complex applications to be virtualized and optimized for standard architectures.

Prepify, Inc. is an online platform based in Austin, Texas, that offers personalized and gamified SAT and ACT preparation services to students across the United States. Founded in 2014, the company focuses on providing free test prep while facilitating direct connections between promising students and top colleges, thereby promoting economic diversity on college campuses. Prepify's unique approach involves analyzing each student's progress to tailor a custom learning path, utilizing high-quality content from established test prep providers. The company's revenue model relies on charging universities for personal introductions to potential admissions candidates, creating a mutually beneficial relationship that enhances access to higher education.

reQwip, Inc. operates a peer-to-peer marketplace based in Austin, Texas, facilitating the buying and selling of new and used sports gear, particularly focusing on cycling, triathlon, and outdoor sports equipment. Founded in 2014 by students from The University of Texas at Austin, reQwip aims to make sports gear more affordable and accessible for users. The platform allows individuals and shops to list items for sale quickly, using any internet-enabled device, with a process that can take as little as 60-90 seconds. Users can log in using their Facebook accounts and make payments via PayPal, with credit card transactions available at no extra cost. The company primarily markets its services to sports organizations and clubs, and plans to expand into additional cities and sports categories in the future.

Fanout, Inc. is a cloud service provider based in Mountain View, California, specializing in real-time data delivery to browsers and client applications over the Internet. Founded in 2011, the company offers a platform that combines features of a reverse proxy and a message broker, allowing users to build real-time APIs and applications. Its technology enables receivers to subscribe to channels and receive data updates instantly, facilitating the streaming of activity data such as status updates and notifications. Fanout's solutions cater to organizations of all sizes, empowering them with tools for effective data management and communication. By promoting a decentralized Internet and software interoperability, Fanout aims to enhance the capabilities of its users through secure and reliable real-time API solutions.

AskU, Inc. operates an online platform designed to foster community among college students. Based in Bryan, Texas, the company facilitates connections and support among students through its services, allowing them to ask questions, plan events, and engage with one another. The initial offering, AskAgs.com, launched at Texas A&M University, has successfully attracted over 24,000 students, demonstrating the platform's effectiveness in enhancing the college experience. By enabling universities and institutions to manage student inquiries, AskU aims to streamline communication and provide valuable resources for students navigating their academic journey.

Sportwip, Inc. is a health and engagement platform established in 2014 and based in Bryan, Texas. The platform is designed to assist employers in fostering a vibrant social culture within their organizations globally. By connecting experienced start-up executives, engineers, data experts, and professionals from the wellness and retail sectors, Sportwip offers a range of activities including yoga, skydiving, and spa treatments. These experiences aim to engage, empower, and motivate employees, enabling organizations to achieve their goals, share core values, and promote healthier habits among their workforce.