Startups : In The News

Favor is the latest app-based delivery system to come to town. How will it handle the competition? 

A Texas-based on-demand delivery app has come to Philadelphia, promising to deliver goods — including food from local restaurants — to residents in less than an hour, competing with companies already in the market like Instacart and Postmates.
Favor of Austin, Texas., launched in June 2013 and has since expanded to more than 20 cities across the United States with more than 10,000 so-called personal delivery assistants, or "runners."

"We've always been excited about Philly," said Ben Doherty, cofounder and COO. "I researched the market a long time ago, and I thought it was a really great potential place to launch."

"Overall, Philly is a dense market; it has lots of students and young working professionals," Doherty said. "That's generally who we focus on for our market."

Favor's runners will serve Philadelphia neighborhoods, including Temple University, University City, Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Fairmount, Center City and Old City.

The app connects customers to a runner, who will pick up and deliver "anything from tacos, to groceries, to your laundry that you’ve neglected to pick up," according to Favor.

"We do deliver anything you want," Doherty said. "That's a strong value proposition. Because they're personal assistants, they can act on your behalf and purchase anything you need."

Delivery times average about 35 minutes, according to the company. There is a flat deliver fee rate of $5 in Philadelphia plus 5 percent of the cost of the item ordered, Doherty said.

Original source: Philadelphia Business Journal
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Zoom Interiors, a startup run by three Philly transplants, earned a deal on the ABC show that funds promising entrepreneurs. In the end, Barbara Corcoran offered $100,000 for 33 percent of the company.

Beatrice Fischel-Bock, Madeline Fraser and Elizabeth Grover all met as students during their first interior design course at George Washington University. “We became friends instantly and worked together for the next three years of design school learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Fischel-Bock said.

The company was born after friends started asking them to design their first apartments upon graduation. However, at the time they were all studying abroad, but quickly realized they were still able to assist their friends, who were all on budgets.
“It dawned on us that this is clearly an undeserved part of the market,” Fischel-Bock explained. “The design industry had just been shaken by the recession and people were very conscious about affordability. We decided to try our new formula with paying customers.”

...After starting their business in Washington DC, where they were in school, they moved to Philly after graduation. Fischel-Bock refers to the city as “the best kept secret on the East coast.” “It has the highest rate of millennials moving in to the city and just has such an authentic feel. The startup community is very close knit and supportive and continues to grow,” she said.

Original source: The Heavy
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A Drexel student-entrepreneur started a feeding frenzy in the Shark Tank, eventually earning a deal with two sharks for his app Scholly. Check out the video here.

Original source: ABC

The New York Times spoke with Daniel Fine, a serial entrepreneur and Wharton student who's staying in school.

Daniel Fine is the founder and chief executive of Glass-U, a two-year-old, 10-employee maker of foldable sunglasses bearing the licensed brands of universities, music festivals like Lollapalooza, and the World Cup soccer tournament last summer. He arranges for the manufacture of the glasses in China and their distribution around the country. He’s also a senior in college.

Mr. Fine financed Glass-U, which operates out of off-campus housing, in part with proceeds from a tutoring company, NexTutors, that he started right after high school. He has also founded Fine Prints, a custom apparel company he started during high school, and Dosed, a health care technology company that is working on a smartphone app to help diabetics...

Q. You considered applying for a Thiel Fellowship, a $100,000 grant to forgo college and pursue your dream?
A. I made it through the second round, but I didn’t complete my application. At Penn, I’ve absolutely learned in the classroom, but it’s been a much greater benefit being here and growing as a person and learning who I am, what I’m becoming and what I’m hoping to be.

Original source: The New York Times
Read the complete story here.