A highly subjective list of some of this year’s notable young startups

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Still, after many years of covering startups, including as an editor with TechCrunch, in a daily newsletter I publish called StrictlyVC and
at numerous media outlets before that (anyone remember the early years of Red Herring magazine?), there have always been startups that stand
out a little more than others.This is not to say that what I find intriguing will be a predictor of success
A lot of great ideas never find a broad or lucrative customer base
Some perish owing to mismanagement or misadventure(!) or good-old competition
a wide variety of industries and markets and that (with one exception) disclosed their funding in the last couple of months, as did many
particular brain.Xilis
This Durham, N.C
company just yesterday announced a $3 million seed round to continue working on its microfluidic organoid technology
What does that mean? In this case, the company says its tech creates 10,000 micro tumors from a single cancer biopsy, then tests which
person
Can it cure cancer? Who knows, but the company was founded by Duke professors who are medical oncologists
My colleague Jon wrote about the company here.Terradepth
The company just raised $8 million in funding led by Seagate Technology, the hardware company, and it has a number of competitors, but I
like this idea directionally
Darrell wrote about this one earlier this week.Apostrophe, an eight-year-old, Oakland, Calif.-based dermatology telemedicine startup that
makes it easier to receive medications and treatments over the phone, announced $6 million in seed funding earlier this month led by
SignalFire, with participation from FJ Labs
There are at least half a dozen other telemedicine companies focused on dermatology
steadily increased in recent decades owing to decreasing levels of stratospheric ozone, enabling people to get examined as quickly and
conveniently as possible just makes sense
here.Conservation Labs
signals to assess water flow estimates and detect leaks
building owners and tackling a very big industry
As the company itself is quick to note, there are more than three trillion gallons of water wasted each year in the U.S
alone, costing the country $70 billion.Aircam
People are both vain and impatient, two reasons why on a very superficial level, I like this roughly two-year-old, Santa Monica,
Calif.-based startup that allows anyone to get instant access to pictures taken by professional photographers at weddings, parties and other
events
That its founders are brothers who sold their last company to Apple inspires some confidence, too
So far, the company has raised $6.5 million in seed funding led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from Comcast Ventures, and Anthony
wrote about it last month.BuildOps
This is a 1.5-year-old, Santa Monica, Calif.-based maker of a field service and business process software platform for small and mid-size
subcontractors working in commercial real estate that has raised $5.8 million across two tranches of seed funding, including a round that
closed this fall
BuildOps is one of an astonishing number of startups trying to take a bite out of the commercial construction industry, on which hundreds of
billions of dollars are spent each year in the U.S
alone
While lots of architects, property owners and large general contractors are already reliant on different software packages, the small and
expenses can be avoided
Jon had covered this one, too.Medinas is a two-year-old, Berkeley, Calif.-based marketplace for reusable medical equipment, which is right
approach
Medina instead works with dozens of medical centers to assess what they have, what they need and what they need to ditch, then handles all
aspects of the sale, from early inventory checks to shipment and reinstallation
regions in need of equipment, as Crunchbase News noted when it wrote about the company in October
Think CT scanners sent off to Cambodia, ventilators shipped to India and defibrillators packed off to Mexico
Medinas raised $5 million in seed funding a couple of months ago, led by NFX.Mable
This year-old, Boston-based wholesale commerce platform is trying to help small food and grocery businesses stock their shelves with local
company was acquired by Facebook
Small to medium-size grocery stores, brands and distributors are part of a $650 billion market that comprises roughly 150,000 independently
Keller, a former PayPal product director who later bought a grocery store, realized that if he can persuade these business owners to use a
mobile app that helps them manage their procurement, he can make their lives easier, as well as more defensible against companies like
Amazon and Walmart
So far, the company has raised $3.1 million in seed funding.Phylagen
food to textiles to counterfeit goods to determine from where they came
According to Allied Market Research, the food traceability market alone is expected to become a $14 billion market by next year
year, including from Cultivian Sandbox, Breakout Ventures and Working Capital.Bunch is a 2.5-year-old, San Francisco-based app that, once
downloaded, can connect friends via audio or video chat with friends who are playing mobile games
building a vascular sealant out of synthetic polymers (which is also pretty neat)
has wide appeal from not just an entertainment but a wellness standpoint
Miniclip and Colopl Next, also means a lot
Specifically, it means (I think) that these companies would prefer to partner with Bunch than to ice it out
Jordan had covered this one, too.