P-I Food writer Rebekah Denn explores why there are so many food and restaurant related Internet startups in the Seattle area, noting Menuism, RecipeZaar, AllRecipes.com, UrbanSpoon and Bigoven.com.
Writes Denn: While Silicon Valley is at least near the food-loving heartlands of San Francisco and Berkeley, those cities are long-established culinary hotbeds. By contrast, Seattle’s rise in the food world largely has paralleled its growth as a center for technology. Bon appetit!
Startup $$ Pool Set at $2 Million
Andy Sack and Chris DeVore, the partners behind Judy’s Book, have announced the creation of a seed fund for worthy Internet start-up ventures. Dubbed Founders Co-op, the pool of capital will be disbursed in investments between $10,000 and $250,000 in exchange for a 5% equity share in the start-ups.
Two companies have been picked as examplars for the concept. Cooler Planet, a Website that connects pre-qualified customers to solar energy panels at reputable dealers and Orange Line Media, a stock photo company that is jumping on the bandwagon for microstock images, those photos submitted by both amateur and pro photo shooters for resale.
[24×7]InstantService ‘Proactive Chat’ Integral to Omniture Web Analytics
To help companies convert online shoppers into online buyers, Seattle’s InstantService, Inc., a provider of chat and email management solutions, announced today that it has joined Omniture, Inc.’s Genesis Network. The seamless integration between InstantService’s proactive chat product, InstantInvite, and Omniture’s online business optimization platform will deliver powerful sales, marketing and analytical efficiencies for Fortune 500 ecom retailers, financial services, high tech, transportation, and call centers.
Because InstantService’s proactive chat solution generates transactional data, Omniture users will gain a new data stream reflecting online customer and visitor behaviors. Data and analytics derived from these solutions will enable companies to adapt online services and support, including chat, to better engage and help shoppers.
“The more you know about online shopping behavior, the better you can tailor a service and support experience that exceeds customer expectations,” said Mike Lande, CEO of InstantService. “With our new integration capability with Omniture, companies will have a smarter way to engage shoppers in chat sessions, viewing site activities and generating meaningful reports for marketing and operational analysis.” [24×7]
