StartupCafe

Edinburgh was well represented this weekend at Launch48 in London, and the journey was absolutely worthwhile. Over the course of 48 hours, teams of developers, designers, marketers, and business savvy individuals came together and created 5 exciting new web applications. Skills and experience were mixed, but one belief was the same – that a huge amount could get done in a short space of time. Our mission was to brainstorm, build, and launch a web app between Friday night and Sunday evening.

25 assorted ideas were pitched by participants, whose suggestions ranged from political lobbying to kid-authoured dummy guides to customisable legal documents. Attendees narrowed it down by way of democratic vote, and we all then chose which project we wanted to dedicate our hearts and minds to.

I’m delighted to share that 5 new web apps were developed in that short space of time, and team members are carrying on to bring the new businesses to the world. Without further ado, the new web applications are… *drumroll*

1. Punttr – beta.punttr.com – @Punttr

A fun news prediction betting system so you can make bets with your friends about sports games, reality shows, or other topics of discussion. It has a similar vibe to now retired Hubdub, the Edinburgh-founded news prediction site, but with some twists and flavour of its own. Punttr will initially be done through Twitter, keeping it easy to sign up and helping bets catch attention virally. Users gamble with points, earning return rates that depend on bets placed so far, but virtual goods will also be introduced.

I believe they’ll be launching privately during the World Cup, invite only, with a bigger beta launch aimed for August (or thereabouts!).

2. FacebookTu.be – http://FacebookTu.be – @FacebookTube

Free your videos from the confines of Facebook and watch all your friends’ Facebook videos in one easy-to-navigate place. FacebookTu.be also allows you to Digg or Tweet the videos, pointing out that people become YouTube stars because they can integrate with other media to spread virally.

If you’re wondering about legal rights on the name, you’re not alone, but I couldn’t help admiring the fearless spirit of the team. They’ll fight that battle later, and in the meantime, their exit strategy is hoping to sell to Facebook for £100. Seriously. In fact, ‘Anyone that wants us to exit now… just £100.’ They didn’t woo any design people onto their team, but the site is perking up and is already in action. You can have a look and even contribute by setting your own videos free there.

3. 42Voices – www.42voices.com – @42Voices

A site bringing together voice-over artists and people who need voices for short-term projects such as promo videos, screencasts, or demo guides. Essentially 42Voices plans to revolutionise the voice-over industry in the same way 99Designs did the web design industry, helping companies find voices in a way that’s quicker, easier, and more affordable. The marketplace is free to join, and it’s trying to break down the barriers both in becoming a voice artist and in sourcing voice talent from beyond your office walls. They expect to help SMEs and startups in the tech scene, as founders often record their own audio when they perhaps shouldn’t, but are looking to also address the market for corporate videos, conference DVDs, and other short script projects.

Project submission will be starting very soon, or you can even start practicing your best recording voice – if your submission gets chosen, then the money goes to you.

4. Recip.ly – www.recip.ly – @Reciply

Recip.ly combines meal planning, recipe aggregation, and online grocery shopping into one streamlined process. The application will convert the recipes you choose into actual Tesco ingredients and let you schedule delivery too. As they aptly state, Repic.ly lets you ‘checkout your recipes’ in order to save users significant amounts of time. The main target market is mothers with families to look after, and the site designs they debuted were really very attractive.

Working out the conversion of recipes into ingredients is the trickiest part, but hopefully the likes of Mechanical Turk or semantic analysis will come to the rescue.

5. TaxiSquare – www.taxisquare.com – @TaxiSquare

Real time, location based one-click taxi booking system to make taxi bookings easier and improve business for drivers. The app will be developed for mobile, with inspiration from Foursquare (imagine turning a Foursquare check-in into a taxi booking). The team was especially notable for bringing in a real taxi driver to work with them on Sunday, after they got in touch via Twitter, and he confirmed major interest in the system. They intend to make the app free for consumers, and then charge a monthly fee to taxi drivers to gain access to the booking requests.

With only one developer on the team, it will take some more time to get the application fully developed but it should be a hit when they get it going. Even an investor in the audience was interested!

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WOW, that’s a weekend well spent if you ask me. Any thoughts on these ideas? Feel free to add your questions or suggestions below and we’ll see if the teams have answers for you 🙂