Startup Weekend comes to Northern Arizona University April 4-6

Startup Weekend brings its next event to Northern Arizona University on April 4-6, 2014, to help novice entrepreneurs gain knowledge and experience from seasoned entrepreneurs. Startup Weekend is an international organization geared towards advancing the startup ecosystem in the local community in which they are located. NAU and the LaunchBox Student Incubation program have teamed … Read more

Pinnacle Transplant wins Venture Madness, $30K

Pinnacle Transplant Technologies, a Phoenix-based biotech company, and client company at the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation (CEI), was named the Venture Madness champion and took home the grand prize of $30K. The competition began with 64 startups and drilled down to one winner. “It’s been a fun experience,” said Gabriel Hyams, Pinnacle Transplant CEO. “This opens my eyes … Read more

Top 4 startups battle for $50K at Venture Madness

Eight startups pitched their ideas this morning at Venture Madness, only four will will move on to the final rounds this afternoon. The advancing companies are Contatta, Pinnacle Transplant Tech, ReplyBuy and Clear Demand. The final four in the Venture Madness competition will compete for a portion of that $50,000 prize this afternoon at Talking … Read more

Mitel acquired Tempe software company OAISYS

OAISYS, a Tempe-based call center software company was acquired by business communications giant Mitel Monday. “Mitel is a natural fit for OAISYS as we look to expand and grow our product range and reach,” said Brian Spencer, OAISYS CEO. Mitel, which is based in Ottawa, has a large regional operation in Mesa. Spencer, now the … Read more

Southwest Maker Fest starts March 22

The first ever Southwest Maker Fest will take place on March 22 in downtown Mesa and the organizers are taking the “maker” movement to heart as they prepare for the event. “There is a strong group of organizations and individuals in the Valley involved in the maker movement,” said Cindy Ornstein, executive director of the … Read more

Only 8 startups left in Venture Madness

After head-to-head live pitches Thursday morning, the eight companies that moved to the next round of Venture Madness, were announced Thursday afternoon at the Arizona Diamondbacks spring training game. Venture Madness is a competition presented by Invest Southwest and the Arizona Commerce Authority that started with 64 startups pitching their ideas against each other. After … Read more

Scottsdale’s SyCara Local names new Senior VP of Sales and Business Dev.

SyCara Local, a digital presence and SEO company in Scottsdale, has named Bryan Ehrenfreund as their new Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development. Ehrenfreund’s new role on the executive management team will be to focus on driving SyCara Local’s customer acquisition and revenue objectives. “Bryan’s passion and track record of designing and implementing … Read more

House of Genius Phoenix launches April 15

House of Genius is an international organization that brings together a collection of industry leaders and entrepreneurs to discuss innovative ideas for startups, products, and other ventures. There are over 20 locations around the world and Phoenix is opening its doors April 15. The team, led by Nima Nojoumi as City Director, is excited to … Read more

Startup eMoneyPool raises capital from Accion

eMoneyPool (EMP), a digital microfinance provider that helps the underserved access capital through their social networks, recently raised an undisclosed amount of capital from Accion’s Venture Lab, a $10 million initiative dedicated to providing seed capital and management to disruptive and established early-stage startups with demonstrated revenue traction. The Accion U.S. Network is the largest … Read more