CNET
Country singer Tim McGraw wants you to buy his album -- on Facebook. Tuesday, the recording artist became one of the first people to try out a new system for selling through status updates on the social network. McGraw's team used e-commerce platform Chirpify to encourage Facebook fans to type "buy" in the comments section of a post to instantly purchase a special edition of the star's "Two Lanes Of Freedom" album.
TechCrunch
Unlike existing social networks, Celly allows groups to create lightweight, private social networks called “cells” that members can join in seconds from any device.
TNW
Celly...has raised $1.4 million in funding led by the Oregon Angel Fund (OAF). In addition, Upstart Labs, the Portland Seed Fund, and various other investors have joined the round. To complement the news, the company has also announced the release of its iPhone app to give more users access to its offering.
GigaOM
Upstart Labs, an accelerator, has teamed up with Rogue Venture Partners in a deal that will provide more funding for enterprise-oriented startups...The news falls in line with more interest among investors lately in funding enterprise-facing companies than consumer-facing ones. In November, VC Fred Wilson wrote about the trend, particularly in the context of later-stage investments.
Venture Beat
Portland may be best known for dark beer, bird-adorned crafts, and beflanneled hipsters, but it also has a burbling startup scene. Upstart Labs, an early stage fund and startup incubator in Portland, is continuing to churn with added funding, new investments, and an expanded team. Today, it formally announced a partnership with Oregon-centric firm Rogue Venture Partners and revealed two joint investments.
TNW
The combination of the two organizations will help give startups a better chance of success as they receive additional support as they get build its business. Tom Sperry, General Partner at RVP, says that he “wants our early-stage companies to have the absolute best chance of success. By co-investing with Upstart Labs, we give our portfolio companies access to a team who will help them build their business for sustainable growth.
GeekWire
Upstart Labs is different than than an accelerator since they are not taking in classes of startups and running them through a formal process. However, he added that recent graduates of TechStars or Y Combinator could be good candidates. ‘Our speciality is taking companies from Demo Day to series A,’ says Tate.
Oregonlive
Portland's Upstart Labs has secured new investment for its unusual approach to incubating startups, and made new investments in two young companies. Upstart sees itself playing an intermediary role, providing expertise to help early-stage companies graduate from those incubators to their first round of venture capital.
Portland Business Journal
Upstart Labs has teamed up with an outside investor in its effort to boost companies not quite big enough to attract venture capital, filling a critical void in Portland’s funding ecosystem. The Portland-based business incubator announced Friday it joined with Rogue Venture Partners to invest in Juked and Measureful.
KGW-TV
Upstart Labs in Northwest Portland helps develop the tech industry by offering funding and mentoring to bring raw ideas to the marketplace.
Forbes
A good mentoring relationship grows organically over time. It takes nurturing. Almost universally, the workers I know who have made a successful transition to new work… had at least one person they could turn to when the ground got shaky... And that’s precisely what PivotPlanet has in mind.
Mashable
Looking for your favorite IPA while traveling? Want to make sure the bar you’re going to tonight is still carrying your favorite brew? <a href="http://www.taplister.com">Taplister</a> is a new service that lets you check local taps and find the beers you want near you.
CBSNews
Kurth just launched a new business called PivotPlanet...the website basically offers paid mentoring from <a href="https://www.pivotplanet.com/browse">experts in a host of different fields</a>, including composer, animal therapist, interior designer, DJ, tiny home builder, spa owner, travel writer, and other lines of work that actually sound cool when you describe them at parties.
TechCrunch
If you’re the kind of person who chooses bars based on the beers on tap, then Taplister may be the app for you.
CNET
MoPix is working with the independent film community, since studio movies have their own system that is difficult for the company to break into... The company said that of the 5,300 films submitted to the Sundance Film Festival, 232 are shown and fewer than 100 get picked up by a distributor.
BetaKit
MoPix is aiming to solve this problem by making it possible for independent creators to create, distribute and monetize their own work without the need for a middle man.
TechCrunch
MoPix, which was founded in 2011, has officially launched to help indie filmmakers distribute their movies to consumers, with easy-to-create iOS and Android apps, as well as sales through its own Roku store.
Wall Street Journal
Paypal is still 1.0. It’s not integrated into things like Twitter. I read about [Chirpify] and said, “God, this is a no-brainer.
VentureBeat
...Chirpify expanded its offering with support for digital content, meaning musicians and bands can now sell content such as music or concert tickets directly to fans on Twitter.
Billboard
...The company is targeting artists and music companies who can use the platform to sell MP3s and concert tickets...
TNW
Chirpify is announcing that it's scored $1.3 million in funding from an impressive array of investors, including Voyager Capital...
GigaOM
...Chirpify is looking to leverage the exploding Twitter network to create a tool for brands, organizations and users to sell items, take donations and accept payments...
Mashable
The Portland, Ore., company has linked up with PayPal to make Twitter-based transactions, a.k.a. “T-commerce” sort of like writing a check.
TechCrunch
With some road behind it, Chirpify is now launching its direct and P2P payments and donations (and retail sales) service with additional functionality for brands.
PandoDaily
Chirpify Facilitates Scarily Seamless Twitter PaymentsAfter a few months of testing and 300 transactions, the company relaunched today as a full Twitter commerce platform with a new name—Chirpify.
Meet The Startup
In episode 35 Greg Rau, CEO and founder of Upstart Labs, talks about the world of funding and startup incubators and why Upstart Labs is doing things differently.
Wall Street Journal
In less than three years, Portland had become home to three incubators for tech start-ups...
Portland Business Journal
...an encouraging sign for the health of Portland’s quickly evolving startup ecosystem.
Silicon Florist
Upstart Labs takes a page from accelerators like Obvious and Milk where mentors take a more hands-on approach...
Social Commerce Today
Wouldn’t it be great if people could buy directly from your tweet, with a simple tweet message?
TechCrunch
It’s like Square, but you don’t need an extra device (a Square) — or a credit card. Pretty cool.
The Today Show
Best for using Twitter to find something special.