We've already covered numerous examples of women-only taxi services over the last year or so, and now the idea appears to be spreading to public transportation as well. In Mexico City, where millions of women bus riders have long endured groping and verbal abuse en route every day, a new, women-only bus service aims to create a safer and more comfortable ride.
Mexico City created women-only subway cars years ago, and police reportedly enforce the segregation at rush hour. Beginning earlier this month, however, the same concept has been brought to the city's crammed buses under what's known as the Athena Program. Equipped with pink signs on the front to distinguish them, Mexico City's 22 women-only buses currently serve three busy routes throughout the day, and plans are in the works to bring the total to 15 routes by April 2008. "Women were asking for this service because of the sexual harassment, especially groping and leering," Ariadna Montiel, CEO of the bus system, told the Associated Press.
Women-only buses and (subway) trains have also appeared in Egypt, India, Brazil, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan, along with taxis in the UK, Russia, India, Dubai and Iran. This trend shows no sign of waning; next, in more car-centric locales, how about women-only parking garages...? (For more examples of how companies are targeting women, check out our sister-site trendwatching.com's female fever briefing.)
Website: www.rtp.gob.mx
Contact: tgonzalez@rtp.gob.mx
Spotted by: RK
Customised content has long been held up as the Holy Grail of digital publishing, and idiomag is making that promise a reality with a personalised, daily digital magazine about music that is based entirely on members' individual interests.
Launched just over a year ago, UK-based idiomag uses a system of weighted tagging to customise both content and advertising to readers' personal musical tastes. Readers initially name their favourite music topics and weight the relative importance of each of them in the content they will view. idiomag then uses that information to serve articles, tracks, videos and other multimedia content in a high-quality, audio-visual virtual magazine format that readers can enjoy in page-by-page fashion. idiomag has content partnerships with publications including Billboard, 365mag and Hip Hop Nation as well as popular blogs such as Aurgasm and BlogCritics. It has also built up a large team of its own journalists across the UK. As readers rate the appeal of the content they view, idiomag intelligently adapts subsequent issues to reflect those changing preferences.
Not insignificantly, advertisers benefit from idiomag's personalisation system as well, with the ability to serve nonintrusive, full-screen and rich-media advertisements that closely match readers' interests. A newly incorporated social element, meanwhile, uses Facebook integration to let readers get their idiomag within the social networking site, view their friends’ magazines and capture articles they like, submit articles, and view trends and favourites among the other idiomag readers on the site. idiomag also offers widgets to incorporate the magazine on other social networks, blogs or home pages. Subscriptions to idiomag are free for readers; advertisers are charged on a CPM basis, and revenue is shared with content providers based on their content’s popularity.
When readers get the content they want and advertisers reach their target audiences in a targeted way, it really is hard to see a downside. One to bring to other niches, localities and topic areas!
Website: www.idiomag.com
Contact: andrew.davies@idiomag.com
Spotted by: Cagla Pakel
If the current sub-prime lending crisis in the US and the UK proves anything, it’s that even traditional lenders can act irresponsibly, despite the myriad government regulations designed to hold them in check. That sobering fact, together with the tightening liquidity and a possible upcoming recession, should give a boost to so-called peer-to-peer lending. For the uninitiated, P2P lending websites directly match borrowers seeking relatively small amounts of cash with private individuals willing to lend them the money. Borrowers post their needs, lenders make offers and everyone benefits from bypassing lending’s traditional middlemen who package loans for a fee.
We first looked at P2P lending nearly three years ago when we profiled Zopa, a UK start-up which we described as “like eBay for money”. Since then we’ve covered other fast-growing P2P start-ups in the US, the Netherlands, Germany and China. And last week, Fynanz, which focuses solely on loans to students.
The latest entrant on our radar screen is Fosik, which brings P2P lending to Australia. Like its counterparts elsewhere, Fosik touts the benefits of using the site’s tools as a way to formalize lending arrangements among family members and friends. Plus, the site notes that investors—whether they know the people they’re lending to or not—can benefit from returns that reach 10 percent or higher.
Meanwhile, signs abound that the P2P lending is rapidly maturing. Prosper is seeking to create a secondary market around its loan portfolios. This would allow lenders to get quick cash by selling their loan portfolios to other investors. Is it too late for entrepreneurs to get into the P2P lending space? Probably not. Whether launching in new markets, targeting specific audiences or offering different types of financial services, there’s still plenty of room for peer-to-peer banking to grow.
Website: www.fosik.com.au
Contact: www.fosik.com.au/About/Contact.aspx
Spotted by: Tom Flaherty
Ubiquitous computing is a trend that's oft discussed and less frequently seen, but a shining new example just opened in New York City's luxurious St. Regis Hotel. A restaurant called Adour now features a technology-driven, interactive wine bar that lets guests explore for themselves the wide variety of wines available.
While the decor of the 72-seat restaurant features hues reminiscent of burgundy and chardonnay, Adour's 4-seat wine bar is constructed from gold and bronze and covered in luxurious goat skin. Built-in interactive technology from Potion Design helps patrons choose a wine by allowing them to browse Adour's complete wine list by wine type, country and varietal. Computer menus are projected from the ceiling onto the bar, and patrons make their choices by pressing on the bar's surface.
The first menu, for example, prompts guests to choose from a list of selections including By the Glass, By the Decanter, Sparkling Wines, Red Wines, White Wines, etc. Additional choices follow from there, including lists of countries, regions and wines. When a guest selects a particular wine, a rosette-shaped image is projected with information about the wine on each of its five petals, including details about the producer and the grapes. Adour’s Wine Director manages the wine list using a custom-designed content management system and can update the interactive bar daily or for special occasions. Adding a personal touch to its high-end experience, Adour also offers temperature-controlled, private wine vaults in its 12-seat private dining room to give guests a way to store their very own wine collection.
Besides being an upscale novelty, Adour's interactive bar feeds modern consumers' apparently insatiable infolust with relevant information, and it incorporates that information into the real-world dining experience. It also educates consumers about wines, providing them with key status skills that (they hope) will elevate them above the rest of the crowd. All that and a highly engaging experience too! Mark our words: There's more of this to come...
Website: www.adour-stregis.com
Contact: alainducasse@adour-stregis.com
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
HOLZundEISEN—German for wood and iron—sells equipment for a new sport that's taking off in cities around the world: urban golf. Also known as cross golf or street golf, urban golf isn't limited to country clubs, and its players don't have to fork over exorbitant greens fees (although a good personal liability insurance is advisable). Instead, they play their rounds on building sites, campuses, rooftops and quiet streets.
Since urban golfers literally hit the pavement, HOLZundEISEN’s iron is extra durable. It's equally suited to long and short shots, a definite advantage for golfers trekking through the city without a caddy. As befits a democratic game, the club is priced at an affordable EUR 22.
The tongue-in-cheek brand, which describes the club's design as 'high-porno-anti-glamour style', was founded by two German students aiming to promote the burgeoning sport. Besides its urban iron, HOLZundEISEN also offers tips and a Google map marked with urban golf 'courses' across Germany.
One to distribute outside Europe? Or find your own up-and-coming sport and cater to its underserved players. Since manufacturers in China and other low(er) cost production countries are increasingly accessible, designing and manufacturing equipment for niche (sports) audiences is more feasible than ever.
Website: www.holzundeisen.de
Contact: info@holzundeisen.de
Spotted by: A.L.
With hooligans grabbing the spotlight more often than not, warm and cozy aren’t terms that are usually associated with fans of European soccer/football. A new Swiss venture called Sleep-In could change that. Set up in advance of the 2008 European Football Championship that will take place in Switzerland and Austria this June, Sleep-In enables area residents from both countries to offer their homes to visiting soccer fans. Visitors can list the type of accommodations they’re looking for, and local hosts choose their temporary housemates based on the write-ups that guests submit.
Besides access to accommodation that is low cost and in some cases free, the site’s overriding benefit, its organizers say, is the chance it affords both parties to meet new people. To make sure everyone is satisfied with the arrangements they negotiate, Sleep In exhorts its users to be truthful in the descriptions they place in their ads.
We covered a comparable website last year, which facilitated bed-sharing at the Salone del Mobile in Milan and, like Sleep-In, didn’t feature advertising. However, revenues from ads could fuel similar sites for other events. The concept’s chief advantage is that it’s relatively easy to launch. A few days spent piecing together a website, sending out press releases and garnering blog posts might be all that’s required to generate some handy extra cash.
Website: www.sleep-in.ch
Contact: www.sleep-in.ch/kontakt.php
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
We've always said everything can be upgraded (or premiumized, in our sister site trendwatching.com’s current lingo) and the recruiting industry is no exception. To wit: TheLadders, a job site created exclusively for high earners looking for jobs paying USD 100,000 or more.
TheLadders lists more than 35,000 new jobs each month—all of them with annual salaries of USD 100K or higher—including many C-level, vice president, director and manager positions. Seven functional areas are served by specialized search engines, creating "ladder" listings specific to sales, marketing, finance, human resources, law, technology and operations; an eighth list, meanwhile, captures all other fields. But just as the site focuses on high-end jobs, so, too, does it cater to high-end earners. Reasoning that free access makes it too easy for less-qualified candidates to flood recruiters with a deluge of poor-quality applications, TheLadders grants full access to its listings only to premium members, who must pay USD 30 a month for the privilege. Such members can access the full set of listed jobs as well as connect with corporate and executive recruiters. A one-on-one resume service, advice from career experts, customized online profiles and e-mail alerts are available, as are a host of services for recruiters.
Since TheLadders was founded in 2003 by ex-HotJobs.com executive Marc Cenedella, the New York-based site has grown into the largest specialty employment website in the world, it says, with more than 1,600,000 members and over 35,000 recruiters using its .com and .co.uk websites. Last fall it was named a Momentum 2007 Company at the Momentum Growth Conference in recognition of its revenue growth over a short period of time, proven and scalable business model, user-base size, customers and partnerships. A good one to emulate, either in other regions or targeting niches with similarly simple boundaries.
Website: www.theladders.com — www.theladders.co.uk
Contact: www.theladders.com/abouttheladderscontact
Personal gene sequencing may be just beginning to make its way into the mainstream commercial world (see our post on Genome mapping services, as well as DNA-driven dating, which we just covered), but it's already getting upgraded. Witness Knome, which is offering whole-genome mapping for USD 350,000.
Launched in November, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Knome is offering just 20 individuals the opportunity to participate in its debut by having their entire genomes sequenced. Whereas the contenders we've already written about have focused on sequencing just key parts of the human genome for anywhere between USD 985 and USD 2,500, Knome will map out and analyse the entire thing--something only two people have had done before. That means decoding the 6 billion bits of information that make up an individual’s genome, and the result is a comprehensive view of more than 20,000 genes and insight into the individual's risk of developing up to 2,000 common and rare conditions. Knome's price also includes a thorough analysis and continued support by a team of geneticists, clinicians and bioinformaticians. Clients will retain full ownership of their personal genome and have the ability to anonymously share all or portions of it with researchers and other medical professionals.
Dr. George Church, PhD, a cofounder of the firm and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, explains: “In 2003, the Human Genome Project completed a 12-year effort to sequence the first human genome at a cost of USD 3 billion. Only very recently have costs come down to a level where it is now feasible for private individuals to be sequenced and analyzed. We expect this evolution to quickly usher in a new era in personalized medicine.”
Need we say more? As this type of service becomes more commonplace, there will be plenty of demand for medical consultants who can put it all in perspective. Something tells us there may be a whole new market for medical lawyers as well...
Website: www.knome.com
Contact: info@knome.com
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
Of all the markets that could benefit from increased price transparency, the one for used cars surely ranks near the very top. Pricing sites have emerged in one area after another—including Zillow for home buyers—but now used-car buyers finally have one of their very own with the launch last fall of PriceHub.
San Francisco-based PriceHub was created by two car enthusiasts who have collectively bought, owned and sold more than 30 (mostly used) cars over the last decade. They observed that while car buyers can refer to published invoice prices, MSRP prices, book values, trade-in values and other estimates of valuation, there was no source of real, actual car transaction prices. PriceHub, now in beta, is dedicated to providing that price transparency as well as a community for people to share and discuss prices. Users of the site can search for a car's make and model, and PriceHub will furnish a chart listing transactions made, including model year, mileage, condition, location, transaction date and actual sale price. People who have just bought a used car can submit the price they paid, thereby adding more data to the list, and PriceHub gathers sale prices from various auctions, agencies and dealers as well. Used-car sellers, meanwhile, can get a better indication of how much they can reasonably charge given their car's make, year, options and mileage. Sellers on Craigslist have even been spotted using PriceHub to justify their asking price, according to the company blog.
Exposing pricing information for all to see is an example of what our sister site trendwatching.com would call transparency tyranny—a phenomenon that's informing buyers and leaving sellers with no place to hide. The lesson for companies: Offer real value, or pay the (figurative) price yourself!
Website: www.pricehub.com
Contact: info@pricehub.com
Spotted by: Bill McMahon
Last year we covered muesli that's mixed to order, and now You Bar has brought another customizable food to the table with its design-your-own nutrition bars.
Customers of You Bar can choose every ingredient that goes into their nutrition bars: the base, protein powders, nuts and seeds, fruits and berries, sweeteners, seasonings, grains and infusions. One consumer might select cashew butter with shredded coconut, organic molasses and nutty rice cereal, for example; another might choose dates, soy protein, walnuts, ground cinnamon and dried banana. Special requests such as for organic ingredients or "extra crunchy" can also be accommodated. Consumers can choose a name for their specially designed bars, and You Bar will print it on each wrapper. For those feeling overwhelmed by the list of choices, on the other hand, You Bar offers three popular bar styles—"Honey Cashew," "Great Date with Chocolate" and "Breakfast Bar"—that are still customizable, but based on set ingredients. All bars are freshly made to order in You Bar's kitchens; pricing is USD 40 plus shipping for 12 fully customized bars, or USD 30 plus shipping for 12 of one of You Bar's popular styles.
Los Angeles-based You Bar was founded about two years ago by a mother-and-son team frustrated with the limited choices on the retail shelves. They're certainly in good company, as consumers have begun to expect having it their way, all the time. Because the bars fall into the realm of snack foods, they also lend themselves particularly naturally to use as gifts—promotional or otherwise. It's hard to imagine a health club, for example, that couldn't delight its members with specially concocted and self-named nutrition bars. (Related: Custom vitamin packs, Blends for Friends tea.)
Website: www.youbars.com
Contact: support@youbars.com
Spotted by: Jonathan Teller
In the crowd-funded arena, one name keeps popping up: Mark Bowness. Tribewanted, the experimental island community he founded, is now the focus of a BBC documentary series. Two other ventures—VIPbandmanager and the Liverpool Culture Cafe—haven't taken off as quickly, but Mark has high hopes for his latest project: Have You Got The Nerve TV.
Have You Got The Nerve aims to be a new type of TV production company: one that's created, lead and inspired by a group of 3,000 executive producers. Fusing the collaborative power of the internet and the enduring mass appeal of television, Nerve will take on three genres: documentary, drama and entertainment. Content will be made both for TV and online viewing.
To sign up as an executive producer, anyone can pledge to pay a one-off fee of GBP 60 as soon as 2,999 others have agreed to do the same. Once the 3,000 execs have joined, Nerve will be open to more people, who will pay a small monthly fee have access to the the platform. These members will also have input into programming, but only the executive producers will share in Nerve's profits. Revenue sources will be the traditional 10% cut of production value that TV production companies get, plus earnings from book deals, online social networks, games, mobile content, etc.
Will the crowds be able to create content that's more engaging than traditional producers? And will Nerve be able to reach a wider audience than user-generated Current TV? We'll be watching ;-)
Website: www.haveyougotthenerve.tv
Contact: mark@haveyougotthenerve.tv
'Personal chemistry' has long been a blanket term for all the things that make people compatible (or not), but until recently only science fiction films like Code 46 have taken the notion literally. As of December, however, Boston-based ScientificMatch is using DNA to assess personal chemistry for dating purposes.
ScientificMatch uses three components to match up singles through its dating service: personal chemistry, values and personal preferences. While the latter two are assessed via questionnaire, personal chemistry matching is done via DNA analysis. The immune system is what has been found to affect sexual compatibility, with people tending to prefer those whose immune systems are different from their own. The benefits of well-matched immune systems, according to research cited by ScientificMatch, include a more satisfying sex life, increased faithfulness, higher fertility and healthier children. Members who sign up for the company's USD 1,995.95 service send a cheek swab to ScientificMatch, which analyses the portion of their DNA that relates to the immune system. Matches are then suggested with other members who have compatible chemistry. The matching process won't work for women on the pill or for people who weren't raised by their natural parents, ScientificMatch cautions. It will, however, work for those seeking same-sex relationships. ScientificMatch currently serves just the Greater Boston area, extending into New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
Not long ago we wrote about deCODEme, 23andMe and Navigenics, three firms that are providing personal genome services to consumers interested in gaining insight into their genetic ancestry and risk profiles for a variety of diseases. With ScientificMatch's debut in dating, genomics are moving out of the realm of research and medicine and into the mainstream business world. Other contenders are sure to follow soon—care to be one of them? (Related: Dating cards fuse physical & virtual connections.)
Website: www.scientificmatch.com
Contact: info@scientificmatch.com
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
Peer-to-peer lending is no longer a new concept, with marketplaces like Zopa, Prosper and others already out there, vying for consumers' attention. But while most such sites facilitate general-purpose lending, Fynanz appears to be the first to take a niche approach with a service dedicated to funding student loans.
New York-based Fynanz, which is gearing up to launch in select states within the next quarter, offers students an "open loan" process for financing their education. To apply for a loan, students fill out an application and create a personal profile, including the amount and interest rate desired. Tapping into 15 years' worth of student loan data, Fynanz uses that information to give each student a grade and place them in one of six groups reflecting both their credit score and their academic characteristics, among other things. Individual lenders including friends, family and alumni of the institution the student attends are then given priority as they bid alongside lender networks to fund the loan. The more participants bid on the loan, the lower the winning rate is likely to be, Fynanz says. Servicing fees will be "no more than" what other marketplaces charge, company CEO Chirag Chaman says, but there will be no application fees or hidden costs for borrowers. For lenders, meanwhile, the benefits are attractive returns and the knowledge that they are performing a social good.
Fynanz's platform is built using the same characteristics that traditional lenders use, preserving the legality and distinct tax status of the education loan, Chaman explains. There is also likely to be increasing demand for student loans, he predicts: "I came from the student loan world, and there are some big problems there. Those cracks have turned into huge gaps over the last year, and personally, I think the worst is yet to come. People used to dip into home equity, but that's not there anymore."
The P2P lending market, meanwhile, could grow to between USD 5 billion and USD 10 billion in annual volume within 10 years in the US alone, according to data released this week by Online Banking Report. Is there room for niche players? Time will tell. Keep an eye on this one! (Related: Person-to-person loans for home buyers.)
Website: www.fynanz.com
Contact: customer.care@fynanz.com
Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz
Products that carry a sense of place or provenance are coveted by consumers for a variety of reasons, from environmental concerns to shifting perceptions about what constitutes value. As people move away from mass consumption to unique products and memorable experiences, the importance of storytelling deepens. Which is a boon for smaller companies, who are often more closely in touch with their product and history. We recently spotted a great example in Copenhagen.
Gerbola Vin was founded by two brothers, Emil and Magnus Gerbola. Their grandfather came to Denmark from Italy while touring Europe as a circus clown. Going back to their roots, Emil and Magnus have started importing wine from Northern Italy, selling to wine bars, restaurants and corporate clients. And directly to consumers, which is where it gets interesting. Instead of setting up shop in one of Copenhagen’s famed shopping streets, the brothers found a location that has the ideal temperature and humidity for storing wine: an underground air-raid shelter. Built in 1942 and located in a small park, the shelter has no electricity or other modern comforts, which suits the wine perfectly. It also makes for an interesting experience—customers don’t just buy a carefully chosen bottle of Italian wine, they also acquire the experience of descending into a candle-lit bunker, and the opportunity to share those details with their friends.
Gerbola Vin is currently open on Fridays only, and by appointment. However, as can be expected with a good story, word is getting out and the Gerbola brothers are considering expanding their retail operations.
Website: www.gerbolavin.dk
Contact: info@gerbolavin.dk
Spotted by: Trine Plambech
Grand funerals and eloquent eulogies are all very well when it comes to marking the demise of the wealthy and well-respected, but as the royalty and nobility of days gone by can attest, there's nothing quite like a requiem to cement one's name in the annals of time. Fortunately for today's moneyed elite, there's Requiem for You, an Austrian firm that can compose a personal requiem on demand.
Just launched last year, Requiem for You offers services on three levels, the most basic of which is the composition of an individually tailored requiem. The firm represents a network of composers, librettists and musicians who will write an individual requiem in advance, capturing the client's unique personality and accommodating preferences for balance among vocal, instrumental and textual components. Styles available include baroque, classical, romantic, jazz or Broadway musical, with text in German, Latin or English. A personal laudatio is also available.
In addition to composing the piece, Requiem for You can also produce an audio recording of it using a team of freelance artists, orchestras and recording studios, once again honouring the client's personal tastes in the CD's cover art. Finally, upon request the company can arrange a performance of the requiem, using anything from an audio presentation of the recorded version to a live performance with orchestra and choir. Prices reportedly range from EUR 20,000 for the requiem's composition to EUR 400,000 for the all-out live performance.
Requiem for You obviously targets the highest of high-end consumers, offering a premium shot at immortality that only the wealthiest can afford. This is where gravanity and premiumization meet—and given that there are some 9.5 million millionaires in the world, according to the 2007 World Wealth Report from Cap Gemini and Merrill Lynch, that's not a bad place to be! (Related: Art after life.)
Website: www.requiemforyou.com
Contact: salzburg@requiemforyou.com
Spotted by: Martina Meng
Over the past few years, swapping clothing, books, music and movies has taken off around the world, with groups meeting for swaps offline and online. Now, flat-pack behemoth IKEA is organizing a furniture swap at its Amsterdam store: a husselmarkt. The swap, which will take place on February 9th, will let up to 250 people bring in furniture—which doesn't have to be made by IKEA—and swap it for items brought in by others. IKEA will also add 12.000 euros worth of furniture to the mix.
The event is part of a marketing campaign that encourages customers to think like designers, which includes experimenting by rearranging furniture they already have (roughly translated, husselen means to shuffle, or move around). To help people redesign their living spaces, IKEA offers a tool on husselen.nl that lets users draw a room as it's currently arranged, and then move around pieces on-screen. Any furniture that no longer fits their rearranged room can be brought to the husselmarkt.
It might seem contradictory from a business point of view: if people swap, they'll buy less. But IKEA knows that once a consumer rearranges a room, or gets a new couch (even if it isn't strictly new), they're likely to want a new rug, lamp or table to complete the makeover. What's next? How about H&M organizing a clothing swap? (Related: Swapping marketplace.)
Website: www.husselen.nl
Spotted by: Aylsa van den Broek
It's no secret that many public schools are underfunded and lack supplies, but the enormity of the problem can easily overwhelm those interested in helping. DonorsChoose.org aims to divide and conquer that challenge with a crowdfunding approach that matches potential donors with specific classroom needs.
Created by a group of Bronx, N.Y., teachers in 2000, DonorsChoose.org is designed to engage everyday citizens in an online marketplace where teachers describe and individuals can fund specific student projects. It begins when teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need in order to learn. Volunteers at the not-for-profit site screen each project proposal and verify that the teacher and project meet set eligibility requirements. Citizen philanthropists can then fund the student projects of their choice—in whole or in part—and are emailed immediate acknowledgements for tax deduction purposes. DonorsChoose.org purchases the student materials and ships them directly to the school along with a disposable camera; the teacher then photographs the students participating in the project and writes an impact letter to the donor, while students write their own thank-you notes. DonorsChoose.org sends all that feedback to donors who completely funded or contributed at least USD 100 toward the project.
DonorsChoose.org is sustained by an optional fulfilment fee of between 15 percent and 25 percent of the cost of each student project, depending on school need. Ninety percent of donors choose to include the fee, the site says, and the rest is made up by grants and contributions. The site's impact, meanwhile, has been to facilitate the contribution of almost USD 19 million to fund more than 43,000 projects for more than 986,000 students, tapping more than 57,000 donors across all 50 states.
We've already covered crowdfunding models for recording artists, software development and athletic teams, but between DonorsChoose.org and community-focused CrowdFunder, among others, it's becoming clear that the collective spending power of the Internet masses may also be the key to filling in the gaps for chronically cash-poor social services. One to bring to other parts of the world? (Related: Peer-to-peer micro lending.)
Website: www.donorschoose.org
Contact: cbest@donorschoose.org
Spotted by: HL Tay
In December and earlier this month we wrote about four US companies selling what we called eco starter kits. Like gift baskets filled with cheese and fruit, the kits contain an assortment of items, all with a ‘green’ twist: reusable water bottles and grocery bags, energy-saving light bulbs and eco-friendly cleaning products. All of the kits carry an implied message, namely that a few changes in our individual buying habits can make a significant difference in our impact on the earth. Ideally, the kits’ users will continue to buy the eco-friendly products they contain, nicely multiplying the planet-saving impact.
We spotted one in the United Kingdom, too, and by a brand we’ve covered before. Back in March 2006, we wrote about greentomatocars, an earth-friendly car service that exclusively uses fuel-miserly Toyota Prius hybrids, brightly decorated with green tomato designs. The firm’s greentomato eco kits sell for GBP 9.99, in keeping with the founders’ philosophy that green products should be competitive in price and quality with similar products on the market.
Is greentomato building a multi-product, Virgin Group-like brand around its catchy name and eco-friendly philosophy? Perhaps! But there’s still plenty of time (and room) for others to enter the space.
Website: www.greentomato.org
Contact: mail@greentomato.org
Spotted by: Chris Hodges
Anyone who's ever travelled knows that it can be hell, particularly when long layovers and multiple time zones are involved. Thanks to the Aéroports de Paris, however, those travelling through the City of Lights can now experience light therapy to recharge their stamina during a trip.
Light therapy, or exposure to full-spectrum light mimicking sunlight, has been found to be beneficial for both jet lag and the "winter blues," or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Making the most of both purposes, the Paris-Orly and Paris-Charles de Gaulle airports offered travellers complimentary light therapy sessions during the 2007 holiday travel season. Large, igloo-shaped stations in select airport terminals were equipped with specialized therapeutic lamps from Philips Energy Light along with relaxation chairs and calming music; massages were also available. "Express" sessions, meanwhile, were available from roving light therapists elsewhere in the airports. In addition to offering consumers a brief respite during a busy season, the service was also a promotion for Be Relax, a new airport boutique opening this month that offers light therapy and more year-round.
Instead of bombarding consumers with multi-million dollar, one-way advertising campaigns, some smart brands are aiming to help potential and existing customers in relevant ways. Without pushing them to buy. Our sister-site trendwatching.com has dubbed these initiatives brand butlers, and offering travellers a little comfort while also promoting a new service is a classic example. With its benefits for travellers, meanwhile, light therapy is a natural fit for many travel contexts. British Airways was reportedly experimenting with light-therapy visors for passengers back in 2005. Other airlines, airports, hotels—what about you? (Related: Baby brand space at Schiphol Airport.)
Website: www.aeroportsdeparis.fr
Spotted by: RK
Photos by Gwan W.S.
Springwise’s daily servings of new business ideas wouldn’t be possible without our network of 8,000 Springspotters who send us news of new business ideas whenever they spot them. Little wonder then, that we’re especially attuned to developments in the area of citizen journalism. We first reported on back in June 2003. The South Korean online newspaper has—by recent count—60,000 reporters who receive about USD 20 per published story, plus the glory of having their story appear on a website that’s read by millions.
Now comes word that OhmyNews is opening a school to help citizen journalists better hone their craft. Located in a remodelled elementary school 90 minutes outside Seoul, the facility will teach skills such as camcorder and digital photo use. Additional classes are designed to re-educate mainstream journalists on best practices in citizen journalism, and others are aimed at businesses and NGOs.
The OhmyNews Citizen Journalism School is significant for a number of reasons. First off, it further legitimizes citizen reports. And it does so on its own terms: the practitioners—and not old-school academics—are behind the effort. And the school will undoubtedly create a strong face-to-face community alongside the online newspaper’s massive online community.
Equally important from an entrepreneurial standpoint is the school’s location. Korea is perhaps the most internet-focused nation on the planet, where broadband connections are nearly as common as electrical wires. Bottom line: what happens in Korea isn’t likely to stay in Korea, which means there’s a ripe opportunity to start similar ventures elsewhere. As more and more citizen journalists emerge, readers and viewers will inevitably seek out the most prescient and finest reports. Which means that those who want to stand out as citizen journalists will seek training.
Website: english.ohmynews.com
Contact: internews@ohmynews.com
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
Based in North London, The Make Lounge holds classes on Saturdays and weekday evenings in knitting, decoupage and card making—crafting techniques that have been around for ages, but have seen a strong resurgence over the past few years. Boosting appeal to casual crafters, the classes last just one session. Participants learn a skill and take home a completed project without having to commit to more than one evening.
Classes cost around GBP 35, including materials. When possible, The Make Lounge’s craft projects use environmentally friendly materials. And crafting in the 21st century wouldn’t be complete without sharing the results online: to build interest and pride, projects are displayed on photo-sharing website Flickr.
We’ve featured related businesses: a sewing café in Berlin, Etsy Labs in Brooklyn and make-your-own wedding rings in Manhattan. One reason why the craft revival continues to grow? Since more people work in offices and behind computer screens than ever before, it’s no wonder that many of them long for the chance to make something with their hands in their spare time. For a more in-depth look at the status shift from passive consumption to mastering skills, check out our sister site trendwatching.com’s briefing on status skills. Pick a skill, find a way to help others master it, and you’ve got yourself a new business!
Website: www.themakelounge.com
Contact: create@themakelounge.com
Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz
Now that consumers have gotten used to finding cheap flights and hotel rooms one the web, it’s time for more verticals in the online travel market. Catering to slope-bound travellers, Liftopia lets ski resorts sell discounted lift tickets online. Visitors simply choose dates and regions (such as Lake Tahoe or New Hampshire) where they want to ski, and then scroll through a list of budget-priced lift tickets. Basically, Liftopia encourages price differentiation for lift tickets. Resorts are able to charge lower prices for tickets sold in advance—which can’t be cancelled—and keep prices for on-mountain sales at a higher level.
Avid skiers and boarders have several good reasons to like the San Francisco-based start-up. For starters, ski resorts at popular mountain destinations are normally clustered within a few miles of each other. So enthusiasts looking for day or weekend trips can use the site to choose which resort among the group to visit. To make that quest easier, Liftopia’s search engine lets visitors select resorts that are easy drives from several heavily populated US regions. The site also incorporates up-to-the-minute weather data and trail maps to help skiers make their choice. Besides customers who are willing to commit to a trip in advance, Liftopia’s discount pricing should also attract budget-minded young skiers whose service jobs or college schedules make spur-of-the-moment travel relatively easy.
Liftopia’s ski-travel niche could be replicated in other markets. Country inns, local restaurants and golf courses might all lend themselves to the same approach. All it takes to build a business around any of these niches is the legwork to band together a group of related leisure businesses, plus a healthy dose of web-savvy. Imagine an avid golfer, for instance, surveying the list of prices at nearby links, then checking out each course’s webcam to see how long the wait time would be at the first hole. (On a side note: Eye Spy Golf is mapping golf courses in the United States using Google Maps so that golfers can get a close look at links in any state.)
Website: www.liftopia.com
Contact: info@liftopia.com
Spotted by: Bill McMahon
There are lots of cosmetics companies out there that donate to charities of one sort or another, or that eschew testing on animals. But Peacekeeper Cause-Metics appears to be unique in the industry in that it donates all its distributable profits to charity.
Taking a page from Paul Newman's business book for his Newman's Own line—not to mention that of Belgian mobile operator Ello Mobile, which we covered in 2006—PeaceKeeper was launched in 2002 with the sole purpose of helping women in need around the world. The New York-based company offers a line of natural lipsticks, nail polishes, lip glosses and lip balms that are free of toluene, formaldehyde, acetone phthalates, parabens and FD&C colouring, and that are made without animal testing. All after-tax distributable profits from the company's sales go to help women's health advocacy and urgent human rights issues, including domestic violence and battery, the sex slave trade, gender inequality, rape and infanticide. PeaceKeeper also gives one half of one percent of its gross revenues each year to charity, and it makes micro-credit loans to women in need. To date, the company has given more than USD 55,000 in cash donations and USD 30,000 in products to women-focused non-profits for their silent auctions or VIP events. Organizations that have benefited include Womenslaw.org, Project Hope International, the Small Planet Fund and Women for Afghan Women, among many others.
Whole Foods, Henri Bendel and Nordstrom are among the upscale retailers that have embraced PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics, along with celebrities Daryl Hannah, Bonnie Raitt and Julia Ormond. In this era of increasing social consciousness, it's hard to imagine a more worthwhile way to put business skills to work. Social entrepreneurs: replicate this model!
Website: www.iamapeacekeeper.com
Contact: info@iamapeacekeeper.com
Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz
While being able to check in for flights online has made life easier for airline passengers, it isn't always as convenient as it could be. Airlines generally allow online check-ins 24–30 hours before take-off. If a passenger wants their pick of seats, they'll have to remember to log on as soon check in opens—which could be at 3 a.m.—and need to be online to do so. (Unfortunately, many check-in systems don't play nice with mobile web browsers.)
An inconvenience to consumers usually means a business opportunity for smart entrepreneurs, and this is no exception. Check Me In was launched in June 2007 to help passengers check in as soon as they can, without having to be online or ask a colleague or family member to do it for them. How it works? After booking a flight, passengers log on to www.checkmein.eu and enter their flight and personal details, indicating their seat preference. For EUR 7 per one-way flight—which covers up to 5 passengers on one booking—Check Me In takes care of the rest.
As soon as check-in opens for a flight, the company snags the best available seats, in line with their customers' preferences. Customers receive an email confirmation that includes their boarding pass. If they don't have access to a computer or printer, customers can print their boarding pass at the airport terminal. The Dutch company's founder, Iwan van Geelen, told us that many customers handle check-in themselves for their outbound flight, but use Check Me In for their return trip. The service is currently available for over 20 airlines and 350 airports worldwide. With air travel becoming increasingly taxing, air travellers need all the help they can get. More lifehacks for fliers to follow? And how about combining Check Me In with TripIt?
Website: www.checkmein.eu
Contact: www.checkmein.eu/contact_en.htm
Spotted by: frankwatching.com
Qbic, an innovative Dutch hotel we covered when they launched last year, features units that contain a bed and bathroom as well as a TV, DVD-player. As we pointed out, these 'cubes' are manufactured offsite and can be used to quickly and easily create guest rooms in buildings that might not otherwise be deemed suitable for (semi-permanent) use as a hotel, like vacant office buildings.
Budget hotel group Travelodge UK recently announced a variation on this theme: a hotel made of steel modules that resemble shipping containers, which are stacked on top of each other like Lego blocks. Each module contains a bedroom and bathroom, with plumbing and wiring ready to hook up to the rest of the units. Once the container-like elements have been bolted together, the structure's exterior walls are covered with brickwork or other cladding to make them look like any other Travelodge. The construction model was conceived by Verbus, and is currently being used to raise hotels in Uxbridge (opening in June) and Heathrow Airport (opening end of 2008). Although the hotels have yet to open, Verbus and Travelodge have already considered their demise. When the modular lodges have run their course, they can be dismantled and the steel casings can be reused at other sites.
Travelodge was purchased by investment firm Dubai International Capital in 2006, and has been rapidly expanding ever since. Modular building will help speed up further expansion, and will also make it feasible to build temporary hotels for major events like the Olympics. Travelodge estimates that a hotel could be built in as little as 12 weeks using the modular construction method. Not quite a pop-up hotel, but definitely an interesting alternative to traditional hotel construction, which should definitely inspire anyone involved in hospitality or building. (Related: Stackable homes.)
Website: www.travelodge.co.uk
Contact: www.travelodge.co.uk/contact_us
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
Finding sustainable and affordable ways to power the world is clearly a substantial and increasingly urgent challenge. We covered consumer-generated power back in 2006, but Dutch startup Qurrent is taking the notion a step further with technology to enable neighbourhood-wide energy networks.
Because of fluctuating patterns of consumption, homes with wind and solar energy generators can find themselves with surplus energy at some times of the day but not enough at others. Surplus energy typically gets sold back to the main grid, but as much as 30 percent of it gets lost along the way, according to EcoGeek. When a group of homes work together to manage their collective energy generation and use, on the other hand, higher levels of demand in one home can be matched with surpluses in others, thus evening out the group's overall consumption and minimizing the amount that must be drawn from the main grid. Participating homes essentially form a "mini-grid" that shares energy internally before exchanging any with the main grid, thereby minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency.
To make it all happen, Qurrent provides a device for each participating house known as a Qbox. Each linked to a central Qserver, the Qboxes in the network monitor energy flows in each home and optimize them for maximum network-wide efficiency. They share capacities as needed among neighbours, and can also autonomously turn on devices such as washing machines and dryers so that they are run at the optimal time. A consumer could tell their Qbox that they want their laundry done by 6 p.m. and that it will take roughly 1.5 hours, for example. They can then go to work and the Qbox will decide when is the best time to run it, taking into account their production profiles and energy rates as well as those of their neighbours.
Qurrent won the 2007 Picnic Green Challenge for the best marketable green idea that could be developed and sold to consumers within two years. Along with the award came a EUR 500,000 prize, which reportedly will be used to pilot-test the concept in a Netherlands neighbourhood. One to get in on early?
Website: www.qurrent.com
Contact: info@qurrent.com
Spotted by: RK
In-car direction finders have revolutionized driving. But for many drivers, the devices’ spoken instructions eventually become annoying or distracting. And while it can be a big help when your device tells you to turn left in 500 feet, trying to estimate that distance in heavy traffic can add to stress levels.
The makers of Virtual Cable say they have a better solution. The New York City area start-up has designed a heads-up dashboard display that virtually ‘paints’ a highly visible line above the road ahead. The line curves precisely where a driver using an in-car navigation device would normally be instructed to turn. Follow the line till you reach your destination. It’s that simple.
Little wonder that Virtual Cable’s founders drew thousands of curious visitors to their website after their product was first introduced at a navigation technology conference in San Jose, California, last December. But before the product reaches consumers, the parent firm, Making Virtual Solid, must partner with an existing navigation system maker. Virtual Cable will only be available in new cars, the founders say, though it also will be retrofitted into some commercial vehicles.
Nonetheless, Virtual Cable illustrates how the relatively new auto navigation field continues to innovate rapidly. Other exhibitors at the December 2007 conference discussed ways to grow advertising revenue and maximize subscription return. Both should prove vital areas as the market matures. Meanwhile, in the wake of the January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, tech writers have discussed industry efforts to incorporate entertainment, social networking and hacker protection into auto navigation systems, while readying those systems for WiMax as that wide-area broadband technology continues to expand. The takeaway: all these niches within the auto-navigation field remain blissfully open to any entrepreneur with a sellable idea and the wherewithal to get it to market.
Web site: www.mvs.net
Contact: www.mvs.net/contact_us.html
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
Taking personalization in a new direction, Japanese Yosimiya is selling bags of rice printed with a newborn's photo, name and date of birth. The bags are shaped to resemble a swaddled baby. But the key feature is that the bags contain the baby's exact weight in rice. Holding the bag will therefore feel like holding the baby. Bags of rice with baby's photos printed on them aren't new in Japan, by Yosimiya is the first to make them to order, creating bags that match the baby's size and weight. The personalized, made-to-order 'dakigokochi' are priced from JPY 3500 (USD 32 / EUR 22) and available in a wide range of colours and designs.
Yosimaya's dakigokochi are selling like hotcakes and mainly given to friends and family by the baby's parents. Could this be one of those Japanese crazes that catches on in other parts of the world? Ongoing interest in personalization (see the books and DVDs for children that we recently covered) definitely won't hurt, and both parents and other gift-givers are always on the lookout for fun new baby gifts. It's also the kind of business that can easily be started by solopreneurs with a crafty bent. Build a cute website to sell the product online (or use Etsy) and start printing, sewing and selling. We hear they make good doorstops, too ;-)
Website: www.yosimiya.com
Contact: shop@yosimiya.com
Spotted by: Mio Yamada
In December, we featured a few companies that sell eco starter kits: (gift) boxes containing products like aluminium water bottles, energy-efficient light bulbs and low-flow shower heads, all aimed at helping jump-start a more environment-friendly lifestyle.
One of our Springspotters alerted us to Eco-Me, which took the concept a step further by developing kits that help consumers create their own cleaning products. Whether for health or environmental reasons, more people are switching to 'natural' cleaning products from brands like Ecover and Seventh Generation. Eco-Me's founder—Robin Levine—was concerned about the (small) amounts of synthetic chemicals that are still present in most eco-cleaners, and decided to go back to basics, mixing her own products using simple recipes and ingredients that have been used for hundreds of years.
Making it easier for other consumers to follow her lead, Levine created kits that contain the necessary tools: spray bottles for mixing spray cleaner and polish, mixing jar, natural bristle scrub brush, mixer, microfibre cleaning cloth, and a bottle of Eco-Me's Home Cleaning Essential Oil. Plus, of course, instructions on how to make various products by adding oil, vinegar, water and baking soda.
Besides kits for home cleaning, Eco-Me also sells kits for making natural body, baby and pet products—currently only in the United States and Canada. While true eco warriors get their instructions online or from friends and track down ingredients from local sources, other consumers need help taking steps to greener living. Which creates opportunities for smart, eco-conscious entrepreneurs.
Website: www.eco-me.com
Contact: info@eco-me.com
Spotted by: Emma Crameri
Shopping has always been a social activity, but only recently have sites like Stylehive, Crowdstorm and ThisNext begun to make its social aspects explicit with ways to make recommendations, seek advice and discuss products online. Now Design My Room brings segmentation to the game with a site focused specifically on interior design.
"Give your room a makeover" is the proclaimed purpose of Design My Room, which launched into beta in August. The site lets users test out interior designs either on sample rooms provided by the site, or by uploading a photo of the real room they have in mind. They can paint, furnish and decorate the room by selecting from thousands of products—from sponsoring brands Armstrong, Benjamin Moore, Kohler, Smith & Noble, Whirlpool and others—and then dragging and dropping them wherever they want. Rooms created by professional designers are also available for inspiration and copying. Users can save multiple versions of their room and offer them up for rating and comments to friends or the site's audience at large. Then, once they've settled upon the look they like, shopping for the items they've chosen is made easy via an automatically linked shopping list, which keeps track of their selections all along.
Basic members of Design My Room are given one free project, which they can save and redesign as often as they like. A "plus" membership enables 5 projects for USD 4.95 a month, while premium members get 25 projects for USD 9.95 per month. Uploading a room photo costs an extra USD 25.
"When my wife and I renovated three years ago, we had to sign out samples from retailers and lug them around—a heavy piece of granite, a cabinet door, ceramic tiles, carpet swatches, paint chips. They must have weighed 50 pounds," explains Jesse Engle, vice president of business and product development at Massachusetts-based Swatchbox Technologies, which created DesignMyRoom.com. "Next time, we do it all on the site."
In addition to the obvious benefits for users, category-specific sites like Design My Room give brands a clear line of communication with the consumers most likely to listen. Style-forward consumers are eager to create and share content, acting as curators for peers who are looking for inspiration. Time to apply this concept to the niche of your choice!
Website: www.designmyroom.com
Contact: media@swatchbox.com
Spotted by: Xiujuan Pan
Back in 2005, we covered Norwich Union's Pay-as-You-Drive program in the UK to charge consumers for auto insurance based on how often, when and where they use their vehicles. Starting in Texas, the United States will soon see a similar service for the first time thanks to MileMeter's "auto insurance buy the mile."
Like Norwich Union's offering, MileMeter will use consumers' usage levels to determine how much they must pay for auto insurance. Unlike Norwich Union's, however, MileMeter will not use any kind of vehicle tracking device to record that usage. Rather, consumers will buy coverage in advance in increments of as few as 1,000 miles; when their odometer reaches the end of that increment, the coverage expires. The cost per mile varies with the geographic area and the age of the driver, but a reasonable ball park for a 30-year-old driver and minimum coverage in a midrange urban ZIP code in Texas might be 4 cents per mile, MileMeter CEO Chris Gay says. Multiple drivers in a household can also be covered for a single vehicle.
Dallas-based MileMeter will launch in Texas this summer, with plans to roll out quickly to other states, Gay says. In the meantime, it's attracted a fair bit of attention, not least because it was one of only seven finalists in the most recent Amazon Web Services Startup Challenge. Because it doesn't use gender as a basis for determining rates, MileMeter has been ardently supported by the National Organization for Women (NOW). And by rewarding drivers who use their cars less, it has the potential to make an environmental impact as well. Sounds like a win-win all around—time for more entrepreneurs to start thinking in increments!
Website: www.milemeter.com
Contact: curious@milemeter.com
Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz
It's been a full five years since we covered Westin Hotels' Heavenly Bed program, through which it sells the same beds that guests sleep on in its rooms. Other hotel brands followed suit, selling selected products that are used in rooms, or that line up with their (boutique) style. Now, a hotel still in the planning stages aims to take the concept and apply it to everything on its eco-friendly premises.
The Emerald 5 ShowTel and Conference Center is reportedly so named because it is meant to be a showcase of environmentally responsible products. Planned as part of Destiny USA's self-named retail and entertainment complex in the works in Syracuse, N.Y., the USD 450 million hotel is designed to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum standards. Details are still scarce, but according to artist renderings the 1,300-room hotel will resemble a 39-story-tall patch of grass and feature a green facade that includes 400,000 square feet of solar panels. There will be preferred parking spots for guests who drive fuel-efficient cars, and each guest room will include low-flow showers and toilets; low-emission adhesives, paints, carpeting and composite woods; locally and sustainably sourced materials; and energy-efficient lighting and climate control.
The most unique part, however, is that virtually everything a guest might see or touch in the hotel will be for sale. Destiny will work with brands to promote their products, and consumers will have the option of sleeping in a different room each night to be able to try out as many designs and combinations as possible.
It's a well-known fact that consumers like to try before they buy—see our sister site trendwatching.com’s trysumers briefing for more—and using a hotel stay to let them do that thoroughly, for a wide range of products, makes sense. While some people might balk at the idea of having their hotel rooms turned into showrooms, especially if the sales element is overly present, retail isn't just for stores anymore. Placing products in relevant settings, hybrid forms of retail like Showtel are on the rise. If you're in hospitality of any kind—or sell furniture, bedding, cosmetics, food & beverages, appliances—you'll want to explore this one.
Website: www.destinyusa.com
Spotted by: Pamela Brewer
Children can now watch themselves interact with their favourite cartoon characters, thanks to Kideo's personalized videos. How it works? Customers either upload a photo of their child to kideo.com, or go to a Lucidiom retail photo kiosk and scan or upload it there. The photo is cropped down to a head shot, which is then attached to a cartoon body. A few days later, a DVD is mailed to the customer’s house, with an animated movie that shows the child alongside popular cartoon icons like Dora the Explorer, Spiderman and the Care Bears. Besides featuring a child’s image, his or her first name is spoken by the characters throughout the video and also appears on the packaging.
Though the DVD’s static head shots lack a level of realism that would make them appealing to older kids, most small children will be delighted to see themselves on screen and to hear their name spoken by the cartoon characters. Kideo isn’t the only company providing personalized media for children, of course. In December, we told you about Flattenme, which produces lushly illustrated, personalized books. Kideo’s videos, priced around USD 39.95, are currently only available in English. Localized versions to follow?
Website: www.kideo.com
Contact: info@kideo.com
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
Over the holidays, we spent some time looking back by picking our favourites* from the new business ideas we covered last year—most of which are still highly relevant for 2008. Since any publication is as much about its readers as its writers and editors (especially if those readers also contribute), we didn't want to withhold your favourites. So, here we go, in order of most viewed in 2007:
1. Pay-what-you-want restaurants (Austria, Australia & United States)
2. Craigslist meets YouTube—online video classifieds (United States)
3. Soft drinks for the undecided (Singapore)
4. A Blind Call—accidental charity (Belgium)
5. Cus