You know that US has the most millionaires, right? It seems that no matter how bad the economy is, a brilliant idea, together with hard work, can get you a long way. And the great part is, all these cool new startups are not just making money, they’re making our lives easier, more efficient and just pure awesome. From new forms of communication to services as basic as dry cleaning, they’re revolutionizing how we think and go about our everyday. In this post we bring you the very best startups from Brooklyn that make your life for the better.
Also read our post ‘Innovation Grows in Brooklyn’.
HowGood
Two brothers founded HowGood with the desire to help shoppers make better choices when buying their food. They had a passion for sourcing, buying and eating healthy, sustainable food, and they brought all that to an everyday consumer. HowGood makes sure the food product was locally produced, the animals involved in the making of the food were treated humanely, the people who made the food were paid a fair wage, and that the product is altogether healthy. With $2 million raised the company turned what was once childhood discussions around the dinner table into a trusted way for every shopper to buy better.
Vice Media
Vice Media started in 1994 by Shane Smith, Gavin McInnes and Suroosh Alvi as a punk magazine titled Voice of Montreal. The youth media quickly became popular and is now operating in 36 countries. Just recently Vice has expanded from print building out a multimedia network, including the website vice.com as well as a network of international digital channels, a TV and feature film production studio, record label, magazine and a book-publishing division. Their office in Williamsburg houses 525 employees and the company is believed to be worth $30 billion if it ever gets public.
FlyCleaners
FlyCleaners is nothing more but a laundry app. The reason for their success is their very convenient service, that’s both simple to use and extraordinary fast. You can get your laundry picked up in as little as 20 minutes. They outsource your laundry to cleaning partners which charge FlyCleaners with a wholesale price and that makes them highly competitive on the market. Just for their seed funding FlyCleaners received $2 million from Fabrice Grinda and Zelkova Ventures.
goTenna
This brilliant idea made their creators a little fortune. GoTenna is a small gadget that enables you to communicate without any need for central connectivity whatsoever–no cell towers, no wifi, no satellites–so when you’re off-grid you can stay connected. It even works if your smartphone is in “Airplane Mode”. Founders Daniela and Jorge Perdomo came up with the idea for goTenna in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 and they raised $1.8 million in seed funding to kickstart the company.
Mouth
This is a brilliant website for all the foodie lovers. Mouth offers indie food and tasty delights to all who seek something more than just your casual bag of chips. They source all kinds of food from independent artisans and companies across the country, bringing you the very best ingredients from your grocery list. Co-funders Craig Kanarick, Sam Murray and Nancy Kruger Cohen combined their experience from digital media and their love for food, and raised $2.9 million from various investors.
Kickstarter
It’s the most popular crowdfunding website in the world and has raised more than half a billion dollars for more than 3.3 million people around the world just last year. That same time, Kickstarter moved from a Lower East Side tenement building to a hip Greenpoint space that once served as the Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory. Launched in 2009 by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, and Charles Adler the media quickly recognized Kickstarter as one of the “Best Inventions” and was named “Best Website of 2011”.
Submit your project to Kickstarter.
Parcel
Another great idea that’s especially useful for those who never seem to get to their delivery in time is Parcel. They receive your packages when you’re not at home and deliver them later in the evening when you’re back from work. The service is very simple, you just enter one of the Parcel addresses when shopping online and mark a one-hour time slot when you’re at home for delivery. The service inspired various investors and so Parcel raised more than $1 million seed funds.
Livestream
Livestream is a magical online place where you can get all your favorite shows, matches and historical events broadcasted live. You simply visit livestream.com or any of their free Livestream apps for TV, iPad, iPhone and Android and can watch live sports, news, education, music and more. Founded in 2007, they now have over 140 employees and in May last year they moved its streaming services from a Google-owned property in Manhattan to the artistic neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Watch your broadcast on Livestream.
Modern Meadow
Modern Meadow applies the latest advances in tissue engineering to develop novel biomaterials to address some of our most pressing global challenges. They develop cultured animal products which require no animal slaughter and much lower inputs of land, water, energy and chemicals. Their leather and meat products are humane and eco-friendly. Modern Meadow CEO Andras Forgacs also cofounded Organovo, a company that 3D prints human tissue, revolutionizing the world of medicine. It’s no wonder they raised over $10 million in funds from ARTIS Ventures and Horizons Ventures.
Learn more about Modern Meadow.
Gimlet Media
Gimlet Media is a network of high-quality, narrative podcasts. Founded by Alex Blumberg who previously served as a producer on This American Life and was the co-founder of economics podcast series Planet Money, they launched two shows in 2014 – StartUp and Reply All. In November, Gimlet Media raised a $1.5 million round of seed funding thanks to these two successful shows.
Farmigo
Farmigo is a small startup that wants to empower people to create a better way to eat, by creating farm-to-neighborhood access to fresh food, benefiting local farmers and bypassing supermarkets. They connect farmers to neighbors, neighbors to each other, and everyone to their food. By creating communities around neighborhoods and even offices, Farmigo makes fresh groceries accessible to everyone. They raised $10 million in two rounds of venture capital funding and just last year moved into a brand-new, 5,000-square-foot office in Gowanus.
We believe that life is too short for a bad meal, a bad trip, and to not look our best. That's why i scour yelp, spend hours on @tripadvisor, watch youtube videos, and try to become an expert in everything I do in life to ensure every moment is the best it can be #Lifetailored
