Technology companies are traditionally risky places for entrepreneurs and investors; in 2007, however, everything from space suits to hybrid taxis drew the interest of tech-savvy business people. While the Internet has been a magnet for technology investors for years, in 2007 many local backers focused on companies with a Web 2.0 bent whose business models were based on sites where content is created or customized by the user.
Web 2.0 efforts included portals like WeddingWire.com, aimed at making wedding planning easieronline; Snoozester, which allows college students to customize wake-up calls over the Internet; and Ruckus, another college-oriented Web site dedicated to legal music sharing. Brijit.com targeted busy readers with its online article summary service, while Clearspring came into its own capitalizing on the popularity of widgets, a type of software application.
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Other Internet-based tech gambles in 2007 included TinselVision, which aims to be the online destination for Bollywood content, and Upside Over Inc., a Web-based outdoor gear retailer aimed at children that won a major investment from Blackboard co-founder Stephen Gilfus.
According to the most recent MoneyTree report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, software was the most invested-in industry in the D.C. region by venture capitalists, with 43 of 130 deals happening in that space.
Mobile technologies were also a trend during 2007. Kajeet targeted its cell phone products at the teen and “tween” market, while Mobilians International focused on online payments. Reston-based Sprint Nextel partnered with Microsoft to offer a GPS-powered directions service via cell phones, while DotMobi established a D.C.-area presence for its company, which sells domains customized for mobile Web content.
“The iPhone was really an eye-opener for the industry not only for consumers, but for telecom players,” said Pragnesh Shah, Mobilians’ founder. “It puts a lot of the handset manufacturers and mobile carriers on notice, and is driving continued innovation.”
Green technology was a focus this year. Julia Spicer, president of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Capital Association, and Matt Swartz, a venture capital and acquisitions lawyer for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, both said earlier this year that alternative-energy companies were a new focus among venture capital companies. EnviroCab got approval from Arlington County this year to operate an all-hybrid taxi fleet, winning half ofthe 100 licenses it requested.
