RECAP: 1 Million Cups features MotaVera and YouSpin
June 10, 2015 | Abby Tillman
Kansas City’s 1 Million Cups event was on display this week with a full room and a camera crew on hand, recording content for an upcoming website update.
The two featured startups — MotaVera and YouSpin — rose to the challenge of the added pressure, and introduced attendees to their respective startups.
First to present was MotaVera, an online platform that enables college students to connect with small- and medium-sized businesses for internships and job opportunities. Truman State University students recognized a need for the product while looking for internships and jobs themselves.
“I saw this problem,” MotaVera co-founder Nep Orshiso said. “I saw that it was a real problem, and I saw my peers having trouble with [finding jobs]. It was very easy to relate to them.”
The MotaVera team wanted to create a job platform that is different from other available solutions, including the career service center at their school.
“We focus on the small- to medium-sized opportunities,” said Orshiso. “The small opportunities are generally overshadowed.”
MotaVera will be mobilizing student representatives who will target other student groups to promote the platform, and the opportunities listed on it. MotaVera plans to launch their minimum viable product by the end of 2015.
Following MotaVera was YouSpin, an interactive, virtual jukebox system for bars, clubs and restaurants. Founder Adell Hendon created the solution to help engage patrons by allowing them to influence the type of music that is played at a particular venue.
“You can pick songs from your phone,” said Adell. “Everyone gets to vote on the songs they want to hear. … Those most popular will play first, and everyone gets to hear what they want to hear.”
YouSpin is currently offering its beta version, and will be available for $600 per month. It includes a platform for customers to chat with other bar patrons, vote on music, get drink specials and learn about upcoming events.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Tees to NFTs: Why the designer behind one of KC’s most iconic young brands is testing the waters of crypto
Blockchain’s rise is sending a wave of change crashing over far-ranging industries — and a Kansas City-based design and branding studio is ready to hang ten, its founder said. “I saw it as an emerging market of opportunity,” Ocean and Sea’s Brendan O’Shaughnessy told Startland News, detailing the popular design firm and clothing brand’s nose dive…
Yelp for DEI: New tech gives public a tool to share discrimination concerns in real-time, empowers companies to monitor, improve
Aishah Augusta-Parham’s tech platform has a goal rooted in impact: help business owners become more mindful of diversity, equity, inclusion efforts in their day-to-day operations — better ensuring their customers do business with companies and brands that embody shared values. “We are the Yelp of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Augusta-Parham said, detailing the mission behind…
Dough-re-mi: Choir teacher’s pop-up pie hustle bakes her second verse from scratch
On any given weekday, Ann Lewis Marzette can be found in the classroom, teaching and training students in the Kearney Middle School choir. But when the clock strikes 3 p.m., she trades sheet music and scales for mixing bowls and measuring cups, embracing a side hustle that has her singing dough-re-mi — while customers serenade…
Return on investment: Why the co-founder of tech giant Dropbox just donated $500K to Blue Valley schools
Blue Valley schools, teachers, and students are expected to benefit greatly from a newly announced fund launched by the homegrown Johnson County tech entrepreneur who later co-founded the cloud storage giant Dropbox. Arash Ferdowsi, a 2004 graduate of Blue Valley Northwest High School, has put up $500,000 to launch the Arash Ferdowsi Fund, which benefits…