Much the way Kiva matches investors with entrepreneurs in the developing world, so Grow VC brings a crowdfunding platform to mobile and web startups around the globe.

Launched earlier this month, Hong Kong-based Grow VC aims to bring the first truly transparent, global, community-based approach to early-stage funding. Focusing on startup funding needs ranging from USD 10,000 to USD 1 million, Grow VC collects membership fees from its participants and pools 75 percent of them into a community fund. That fund then gets invested into promising member startups. Grow VC manages these investments, but members can control how their portion of the fund should be allocated, allowing them to focus on the startups they feel have the most potential. Grow VC users can follow each other in Twitter-like fashion, while reputation statistics reflect their track records. When a startup fails, the community fund covers its own losses. But when one does well, 75 percent of the returns are paid as commissions to top-ranked members.

The company explains: "We're here to fix the traditional opaque and mysterious startup funding system. Grow VC offers the platform and tools so the process from idea to launch can be managed and communicated with a more structured manner, while at the same time enabling the race to success to start much earlier."

Fees depend on the amount to be raised or invested. Startup and funder pricing starts at USD 20 per month. Others, such as experts, certified partners and business sponsors pay more.

Grow VC spent several months in beta, and by January had already gained more than 700 registered users. One to get in on early...? (Related: Twitter for entrepreneurs — "Open-mic nights" for business ideas.)

Website: www.growvc.com
Contact: jouko@growvc.com

Spotted by: John Greene

It's no secret that brands can inspire love, and sites such as Hollrr and Thinglink are built on that fact. Now, starting with a concept much like Saatchi & Saatchi's Lovemarks, MyBrandz has built a virtual stock investment portfolio based on the top 20 “most lovable” brands.

Now in beta, MyBrandz provides an online community to unite fans of the best-loved consumer brands. Aiming to test the correlation between brand love and success on the financial markets, the Brands Love Portfolio is based on the top 20 most loved brands on the web. Those brands were chosen using MyBrandz's proprietary algorithm, which takes into consideration 28 different parameters including the number of positive mentions on Twitter and the number of Facebook fans. Apple is the No. 1 best-loved brand, according to these measures, followed by Starbucks, Google, Playboy and Disney; Nike, Sony and Blackberry are also on the list. Taken together, the Brands Love Portfolio has shown much higher results than the Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 indices, MyBrandz says, with an annual return of about 64 percent.

Currently, the Brands Love Portfolio functions only as a virtual one, but anyone can follow, test and compare it with other indices. MyBrandz plans to continue developing it, however, possibly eventually releasing it to the market as a new investment product. In the meantime, the Israeli company recently launched its “Own Your Brand” contest whereby members can win real shares of their favourite brands by submitting related content and winning “hearts” from fellow users.

It stands to reason that consumer love should be a predictor of a brand's financial success, and what better way to gauge that love than through the buzz generated by the online masses? Of course, whereas MyBrandz focuses on the top consumer brands globally, the same model is crying out for application to specific industries or regions. One to emulate on a localized or niche basis!

Website: www.mybrandz.com
Contact: info@mybrandz.com

We've seen the social shopping trend manifested in various forms in recent years, including TeethYou, the Chinese site we covered back in 2007 that let shopping fans show off their favourite purchases. Adding to that concept a heady splash of so-called nowism is Blippy, a Twitter-like effort that lets users automatically publish their shopping transactions in real time for all the world to see.

Launched to the public just last week, California-based Blippy bills itself as “a fun and easy way to see and discuss the things people are buying.” Friends can select to follow each other, meaning that they'll see a constantly updated feed of those people's purchases. Followers can both comment on and “like” transactions as they move through the stream. Each user decides which purchase categories they'd like to share; they can choose to automatically share purchases at vendors like iTunes, Amazon, Netflix and Blockbuster, for example, or they can publish all those made through a particular credit card, debit card or bank account. They can also deliberately keep more private transactions to a “non-Blippy” account.

There are obviously privacy considerations associated with using Blippy, though the site says it performs “super-human feats” to protect its users' data. The potential benefits, however, are intriguing. In addition to paving the way for affiliate fees through the vendors that get mentioned in its stream, Blippy also stands to increase transparency by facilitating reviews and comparisons. To wit: “Imagine being able to tell if you’re getting ripped off with what you’re paying for a gym membership or on your Comcast bill when compared to what your friends are spending on the same things,” as TechCrunch points out. An API is also reportedly in the works, promising even more transparency in the future. In the meantime, one to watch! (Related: Cheap & simple credit card processing for everyone.)

Website: www.blippy.com
Contact: hello@blippy.com

Spotted by: Benoit Rigaut

The mobile apps continue to come fast and furious in industries far and wide. One of our latest spottings? An iPhone app from insurer State Farm that lets customers look up policy information, record accident details and submit claims.

Available both for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, State Farm Pocket Agent is a free application with features for all consumers, whether or not they're already customers. Its On the Road feature, for example, uses the iPhone's GPS to help users find the nearest hotel or gas station or call a tow truck, taxi, locksmith or rental car service. A built-in checklist, on the other hand, reminds drivers what to do when they're in an accident. Then, of course, there's a way to look for nearby agents. Registered State Farm customers, meanwhile, can do all that plus look up their policy information, record accident details and submit claims, including photos of the accident taken with their iPhone cameras.

Serving as a sort of mobile brand butler, as our sister site would say, Pocket Agent is just one of many examples of the myriad new opportunities enabled by the iPhone and Android platforms. Make consumers' lives easier when they need it most, and they're more likely to become—and remain—loyal customers. (Related: Real-time flight reviews via Android and iPhone — Zipcar's iPhone app finds and unlocks cars — Adidas creates free iPhone guide to Berlin's street art — ING app for G1 phone uses camera & compass to show nearest ATM.)

Website: www.statefarm.com/iphone/index.asp?WT.svl=104

Spotted by: Chris

An entrepreneur may have the best product in the world, but if he or she doesn't accept credit cards, it can be a problem. That's something St. Louis glass artist Jim McKelvey learned the hard way, and it's also why he was inspired to create Square.

Cofounded with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Square lets small business owners begin accepting payment cards immediately without the contracts, expensive hardware, monthly fees or hidden costs that are typically required. Using Square's intuitive app and a small plastic device that plugs into a mobile phone's audio input jack, payment cards can be swiped and read anywhere. Customers can have receipts sent to them via email or mobile phone and then access them securely online; they can also use text messaging to authorize every payment in real-time. For those who create a Square account, meanwhile, there's faster transaction processing and the option of photo verification. Now in limited beta, Square will donate a penny from every transaction to the cause of the user's choice. It will be widely available in early 2010. The reader devices will likely be free, while the app will cost about USD 1, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Similar in many ways to ProcessAway, which we covered earlier this year, Square promises to open up a whole new world of opportunity for sellsumers and minipreneurs. One to get in on early?

Website: www.squareup.com
Contact: partners@squareup.com