Startup Roundup: TicketLeap redesign roundup, DreamIt grad partners with Journeys

Introducing Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup. Here, we’ll parse out the small pieces that make our greater Startup ecosystem thrive. We want to keep you in touch with the innovations that we can’t quite get to covering, but that deserve highlight. Follow along with the Startup Roundup’s dedicated RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

DEFINITE READS

TicketLeap has launched its redesign, according to an email. It looks hella sharp. We dig the Facebook and Twitter comments. The company says that its also allowing events with less than 100 tickets to sell service at no charge. It also got the ReadWriteWeb treatment.

Read more

Techgirlz hopes to bridge gender gap in Philly

If you have ever been to one of the dozen weekly technology events around Philadelphia, you likely have quickly noticed that the room is often largely filled with men.

“I’ve been in tech for 15 years and I’ve never been in a room full of women,” says Techgirlz co-founder Anita Garimella.

To help bridge the gap, a handful of local women have created Techgirlz, a new organization that hopes to solve the gender gap in Philadelphia’s technology community. According to Techgirlz, most girls begin to dial back the pursuit of subjects like math and science in middle school. Technology jobs are often viewed as only involving computers or programming, something the group says turns off many young women.

Read the rest at Philly Post.

Disclosure: Welson-Rossman works for Chariot Solutions, a former Technically Philly advertiser.

VC Roundup: Robin Hood moves, BrainRewards raises cash

Welcome to the VC Round-up, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.

DEFINITE READS

In case you missed it last week, we reviewed all of the 14 companies in DreamIt Ventures. The companies will be showing off their summer’s work on August 11th at Demo Day.

Robin Hood Ventures has moved into the University City Science Center. While the angel investing group has been in the Science Center since May, the group just released the news late last week. In an email to Technically Philly, Executive Director Ellen Weber said that the group made the move to be closer to entrepreneurs. Life Science investor BioAdvance also joined the Science Center.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

Wallingford-based educational gaming company BrainRewards is raising $750,000, according to SEC filings.

Edison Ventures completed its $5 million investment in Blue Cod Technologies, a Massachusetts-based insurance technology company.

Mt. Laurel-based Jumpstart has invested $500,000 in ConnectYard, a company that provides communication tools for students and teachers.

GIVE A GLANCE

Our good friend Joey D. wonders if NuPathe’s IPO will suffer the same fate as other Safeguard Scientifics IPO offerings. In the meantime, Safeguard announced that its earnings are growing.

Cross Atlantic Capital Partners has invested $4 million in Health Market Science, a provider of healthcare data technology.

Venture Capital news site thefunded.com has listed First Round Capital as the fourth-best VC firm in the country.

Apple Store opening: video, photos and timeline

Two people -- and a police car -- wait outside the Apple Store at 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 31, the day after its official opening and two hours before its second day opening.

Now we can finally drop the Apple Store watch. As reported and expected, the Apple Store at 1607 Walnut Street near Rittenhouse Square opened Friday late afternoon and did so with much fanfare. Rather than recreate the coverage, we figured we’d offer you a spin through the best.

• Apple Store development timeline — Brownstoner
• Inside the Apple Store photos — Brownstoner
• The Apple of many an eye opening — Inquirer (Good perspective on retail effect)
• The Line for the New Apple Store — Daring Fireball
• That New Store Smell — John Gruber’s Flickr
• Philadelphia finally gets an Apple Store — Fortune (complete with a Philly dig or two)

Below, check out some videos of the opening.
Read more

Openings on our Jobs Board: Ruby Developer, Web app designer and Web designer

In case you haven’t noticed, over the past few weeks we’ve seen an influx of gigs posted to our Jobs Board. Is it a sign of the economy finally turning around?

Whatever the reason, don’t wait around to find out, as these jobs are likely to go quickly. Here are a few of the recent additions:

• The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is looking for a full-time Web application designer.
• Veritat Advisors is looking for a Ruby Developer.
• If you hurry, you can still apply to Azaveas opening for a contract Web Designer.

If you’re a company looking to affordably connect with our audience of 16,000 technologists in the region, be sure to post your job openings here. Over 1,000 people checked out our Jobs Board in the past month, and each job is tweeted out to our 2,000 Twitter followers at least twice.

Event Highlights: August 1 – August 6, 2010

If you can manage to pry yourself away from the gut-wrenching saga that is the 2010 Phillies, this is a great week to be out and about in the tech scene.

This week stretch your creative muscles at the Guitar Effects Study Group on Monday, learn to “connect the dots” with social media at Philly Net Tuesday and chat about venture capital at the Philadelphia Union game on Thursday (a little break from baseball may be good for your sanity, anyway).

 Read more