The biggest start-up news of the last week was probably Google+ sucking up The Fridge, but New York start-ups are pushing features and hiring and having parties and moving to New York City:
WE’RE GOING TO NEW YORK CITY! Philly-and-New York-based mobile payments start-up Venmo will be setting up full-time shop in New York next week on the heels of announcing some new iPhone app features including the most commonly-requested passcode lock, which lets you lock the Venmo app with a four-digit PIN “in case your cat gets a hold of your iPhone.” You can also now scan a credit card by snapping a picture and check a box to check in on Foursquare when you split a bill.
INCREDIBLE JOURNEYS. New York start-up KeyWifi is trying to get people and businesses to share their wifi hot spots, bringing it up against security issues and legal challenges and other logistical hurdles. Betabeat spoke to founder Adam Black some months ago and we were not encouraged that the idea would ever get off the ground. But there’s been some movement: today the start-up announced three new hires. “KeyWifi is also feverishly growing, updating our technology and growing our customer base. To make this happen, our high-spirited, company founder, Adam Black, expanded the arsenal of KeyWifi talent with Product Director, Tom Hughes, Senior Technology Officer, Justin Fields and Community Development Manager, Jenn Lackey.”
TONIGHT. Disruptive start-up Covestor is hosting a networking event at Union Square Ventures; the start-up had to increase capacity to 60 spots due to high demand and it’s now sold out again. The speaker is Covestor model manager and founder of investment firm Global Equity Analytics and Research Services LLC, Robert Gay. Also, Skillshare/Svpply house party is going down tonight at 407 Broome; it’s also oversubscribed.
TOMORROW. A few of Betabeat’s favorite things… Turntable.fm Dance Party at New Work City, which has become a DJ battle with Seattle, aaaaand the second-ever East Village Tech Meetup as well as this summer’s hackNY demo fest.
HIRING: Turntable.fm seeks a Python developer: “You’ve got to have incredible technical chops, the ability to solve the problems that come with designing a large-scale consumer- facing app and thrive in the dynamic environment of a true start-up.” Twitter seeks a biz dev, Minus seeking interns, designers and devs.
SUMMER RELEASES. Silicon Alley’s 500Startups ambassador Tout goes editorial; releases Email Template Library. The Lollapalooza app and the Dexter app are now integrating GroupMe. Fitness loggers can now race remotely by connecting their Runkeeper to their Fitocracy. Web habit spy Voyurl now breaks down browsing data into fifteen different categories.
“SNAP Interactive, a leading social application developer in New York, announced a number of new key mobile features for its flagship AreYouInterested.com social dating application… New features include Real-Time Notifications that alert members instantaneously when a potential match is nearby, Spotlight where singles can purchase slots to gain significantly more exposure (and dates!) and Front-Facing Camera where iPhone users can take and send photos while participating in live chat.”
Husband-and-wife powered start-up Subjot has a bookmarklet.
