Kicking off Session 3, Prakash Kondepudi with DepotPoint discussed their innovative product offering for the real estate foreclosure market. Their platform streamlines the entire foreclosure process, saving significant time and money for all parties involved (financial institutions, lawyers, brokers and investors). Too bad the timing just isn’t right for such a solution (note sarcastic and ironic tone). Knowing the unfortunate explosive growth in this market, I foresee DepotPoint will not be foreclosing on their office space anytime soon.
Max Risenhoover with M-SIXdemonstrated their 3-D visual collaboration software. The SAS solution provides the building industry with the ability to create, model and collaborate. For example, the average 3-D rendered image would cost $50 instead of $2,000, which is the current industry average. Additionally, the technology enables interaction, commentary and click tracking.
Jeff Allen from Rallypointwas next to bad. Rallypoint is a TV widget service or portal provider, delivering Web-based content and services to Internet-enabled TV sets. The basic business model is advertising revenue, and the market potential is huge: by 2012, all TVs will be fully internet-enabled. The platform overlays content over video (via frame buffer) to layer interactive content. Examples include sports scores and statistics during a football game and social networks accompanying popular programs. It’s always interesting to see how TV and the Web interact, as my senior paper in 1994 was on this very topic, aka The Information Superhighway. Ironically, these concepts are far from new, but behavior is now changed enough to make this a viable business.
For the final presentation of the day, Terri Fiez discussed her venture: Wi-Chi. Wi-Chi designs, manufactures and markets reliable, efficient nano inverters for solar photo-voltaic systems. Essentially, the inverter is more efficient and affordable than current solutions. With the current energy crisis, and a greater reliance on alternative sources, Wi-Chi will provide a key element to making solar a bigger player in the power industry. By providing a powerful solution to the weakest link in the solar power chain, Wi-Chi is well positioned for funding and long-term success.
