Stay tuned Kickstarter announced via tweet yesterday that, starting this fall, U.K. residents will be able to use the crowdfunding platform to launch their own projects. Currently, although people anywhere can give money to projects on the site, only individuals based in the U.S. can launch projects and receive funding.
Advise away Tout’d, a new digital forum for personalized recommendations, launched last week. As a social media platform and referral space, the app for iOS and Android enables users to ask for advice from friends as well as share recommendations ranging from restaurants and gadgets to professional referrals.
Sell now Join M&A professionals this Thursday at General Assembly for the first Startup Exit event on the East Coast. With a focus on social commerce and online retail and fashion, the evening will feature a fireside chat with Etsy’s Director of Strategic Finance, Carrington Williams, and well as a panel featuring the CEOs of Thrillist, dotBox and OpenSky. Tickets are required.
Success story Xeko, an award winning card game designed to raise awareness of endangered species, has raised over $100,000 on Kickstarter and is fast approaching its launch on mobile and social platforms.
Hackathon The photo editing app Aviary will host its third Photo Hack Day at Dropbox HQ in San Francisco this weekend. It’s free to register and attend, and the first place prize is $7,000. Additional prizes include a “New York Startup immersion” from Aviary, as well as $2500 in Facebook ad credits and free Facebook sweatshirts. There will also be a fireside chat, featuring Aviary CEO Avi Muchnick and Hipstamatic CEO Lucas Buick.
Just launched: Music Overture, an online community designed to help aspiring musicians network and showcase their talents. Though it would seem that something like this already exists, the creators urge potential users to “think online concert hall.”
Relaunched: Tripl’s social travel application, which connected travelers to locals, has pivoted to become a sort of Facebook Timeline for your friends’ trips. “Tripl figures out where your friends are traveling by filtering out all the geo data that is attached to photos, checkins, and statuses throughout your social networks and looking for changes in distance… The web app then combines all those data points with additional content about the destination like Wikipedia articles and stock photography,” the company said in a press release. Tripl is currently enrolled in the Dreamit Accelerator program.
More social networks Wetradetogether, a social network designed for traders, financial advisors and individual investors, in poised to launch in the U.S. and Europe. The site consolidates features such as real-time streaming of financial data, sentiment indexes, advanced charting and collaborative workspaces to aid individuals and small businesses with independent online trading.
Do something The Bing Summer of Doing campaign—in collaboration with DoSomething.org—kicks off in New York today as Maria Menounos, Karlie Kloos and noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker join volunteers to help restore the Pieces for Peace Mosaic in Harlem’s Jacob H. Schiff Playground.
Personnel shuffles We hear that the app publishing service Onswipe has made some new executive hires, though they’re not saying who yet.
Birthday Shapeways has hit the four-year mark. The company reports that its printed over a million three-dimensional products to date and is currently building its “the factory of the future” in Long Island City. Hey, we’ve been to LIC, and it’s more like back to the future.
