BOALT sponsored and attended the Social Matchbox Summer Social 2009 last Thursday at the E Street Cinema. The event hosted ten early stage start-ups that were picked from a pool of 50 applicants. The audience consisted of 200 handpicked industry leaders, investors, designers and press.

According to Social Matchbox, the audience also included representatives from Ashoka, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, The DC Office of Economic Development, Department of Defense, Grotech Ventures, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, The Obama Administration, Sunlight Foundation, Valhalla Partners, the Washington Post, ThrillList, and TechCrunch.

Each emerging company presented their plan in a four minute secession followed by four minutes of Q&A. The event also set aside time for 60-90 second presentations in an open-mic session– “Opportunities and Ideas for Startups”.

Presenters:
TapMetrics – Mobile / Advertising (A Launchbox Digital Startup)

Diditz – Social Media

Wegora – Online Collaboration

Giv.to – Social Media

Unblab – Email / Productivity (A Launchbox Digital Startup)

SEC Watch – Government 2.0 (A Launchbox Digital Startup)

Grasshopr – Government 2.0

Earth Aid Enterprises – Green

WinTheTrophy – Gaming

GrouperEye – College Recruiting

Opportunities and Ideas for Start-ups:
Ashoka – Social Entrepreneurship

Apps for America – Sunlight Foundation

Apps for Democracy – iStrategy Labs

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

After the pitches, audience members were invited to invest in the most appealing start-up with their “MatchBUCKS.”

At the event reception, the Community Choice Award winner was revealed: Earth Aid Enterprises. Earth Aid, founded by Ben Bixby, is a site that helps consumers rationalize their home energy consumption and in return lower their utility bills.

The Social Matchbox Sticky Pick award, based on votes from the event’s 10 person organizing team, went to Unblab, a startup that helps consumers find email messages that matter most with machines that automatically learn preferences.

We want to thank all of the great startups and presenters and of course the organizers of Social Matchbox for a great night. We appreciate the opportunity to see the newest ideas in the tech startup world.