Bob Moul to lead Old City’s AppRenaissance: “I want to build a major, permanent software company in Philadelphia”

The artistic headquarters of AppRenaissance, at 309 Cherry Street in Old City Philadelphia, which new CEO Bob Moul describes as representative of mobile.

Bob Moul says his 50s are going to be his best decade yet.

Today, Moul, who led Berwyn-based Boomi to a Dell exit, announces he has become chairman and CEO of AppRenaissance, a year-old Old City mobile development shop. The 48-year-old, who left Boomi after transitioning the acquisition and diving into the local entrepreneurship scene on way to volunteering to lead Philly Startup Leaders, has major plans for what is now a five-person startup.

“The goal is to IPO or otherwise make a really big technology story here,” Moul told Technically Philly on Super Bowl Sunday. “I want to build a major, permanent software company in Philadelphia.”

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What makes these Philly entrepreneurs successful? [Startup Roundup]

Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup parses 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 a weekly email newsletter by clicking here and selecting the Startup Roundup button or follow Startup Roundup’s RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

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Sink or Swim Productions, a group of Temple business school students, has launched a video series showing Philadelphia-area startups tech and not. See one of the episodes below. [h/t CityBizList]

Gamification startup Hoopla Software intends to hire at least a dozen employees as a result of its recent $2.3 million round of funding led by Safeguard Scientifics, according to Fins Technology.

According to the Business Journal, ChoozOn, which describes itself as a “deal-hunting concierge,” and not a daily deals site, raised a $1.27 million round after a $2.5 million round last summer. The company has workforce in King of Prussia, San Francisco and Jordan.

Wildbit describes the reasons for shutting down its $75,000 per year profitable email marketing service Newsberry. Despite a troubled history as a “stepchild” pet project, as the company puts it, the project was profitable but it wasn’t one the company was proud of.

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Startup Weekend v3.0 announces dates during PTW; January is move-in month [Startup Roundup]

Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup parses 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 a weekly email newsletter by clicking here and selecting the Startup Roundup button or follow Startup Roundup’s RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

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Philly Startup Weekend confirmed that its next hackathon, which has seen the launch of several startups in the region, will take place during the kick-off weekend of Philly Tech Week, April 20-22. Tickets are on-sale here.

The Business Journal’s Peter Key reports that the clever CAPTA startup Solve Media that shows advertisements that are to be typed rather than words, raised a $3 million to $6 million Series B round of funding.

One of Poptent‘s user-generated commercials created for yogurt-maker Dannon will air during the Super Bowl, the Inky’s Joe DiStefano reports. Interactive Firm Red Tettemer was tapped to create a Super Bowl ad for Century 21 real estate. Supposedly, it’s the first time a Philly ad firm, no, two, have made the big show.

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Seed Philly: Center City nonprofit startup accelerator collecting business data, hosting first event

Chatter about the need for a post-incubation home for technology startups outside of the life sciences realm in Philadelphia has been a topic of conversation among investors and entrepreneurs since at least the late 1990s.

In the past year, the seriousness of those conversations has grown, with a handful of new initiatives launching in recent months focused on the concept of offering support to build largely fledgling consumer-facing efforts seeking investment.

The long-rumored startup accelerator Seed Philly is aiming to differentiate itself by placing mission over profit and featuring a heavy reliance on data, Technically Philly has learned.

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National publications react to Philadelphia Media Network incubator [Startup Roundup]

Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup parses 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 a weekly email newsletter by clicking here and selecting the Startup Roundup button or follow Startup Roundup’s RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

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GigaOm reacts to Philadelphia Media Network’s announcement that it has accepted three startups into its incubator program Project Liberty. ReadWriteWeb’s John Paul Titlow posts his notes, too. In related news, Peter Key writes about CloudMine and its recent inclusion in Philadelphia Media Network’s incubator.

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Frank Taney: open office hours for entrepreneurs from @ScaryLawyer of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney commercial litigation attorney Frank Taney hosts open office hours for young tech businesses in the region.

Since starting to host free, monthly open office hours in June, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney attorney Francis X. Taney has met with nearly two dozen entrepreneurs he never knew before.

“Some become paying clients, some I never see again, but almost everyone walks away with some knowledge they needed, which is really the point,” said the Center City commercial litigation lawyer better known on Twitter as @ScaryLawyer. “The bigger, the stronger the pie in Philadelphia, the better it is for all of us.”

(Which is a good perspective, as Technically Philly is hosting another startup advice open hours on Jan. 19, albeit more focused on investment than potential litigation.)

Taney’s effort started at the Corzo Center at the University of the Arts by answering questions from students who were mostly starting industrial crafts and other creative arts businesses. Now it’s grown into part lead generation and part giving back, he says, helping startups the fourth Wednesday of each month. The next opportunity will be Jan. 25 from 6-8pm.

“I’m typically very useful to people who are trying to figure out the legal bases they have to cover in launching a business, whether that relates to entity selection and formation, contractual and IP issues or other related issues,” said Taney, noting he has walked through actual disputes with young businesses.

One advantage of sitting with so many startups, says the South Jersey native and Cherry Hill resident, is that he’s been able to get a good sense of where the broad entrepreneurial community is headed in Philadelphia.

“You’ve always tended to see less of a bubble here, and that’s still the case” he said. “Nobody’s chasing the sizzle. They’re building businesses.”

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Business Journal announces 2012′s 30 entrepreneurs under 30 list [Startup Roundup]

Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup parses 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 a weekly email newsletter by clicking here and selecting the Startup Roundup button or follow Startup Roundup’s RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

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The Philadelphia Business Journal has announced its annual 30 entrepreneurs under 30, including PoverUP‘s co-founders Charlie and Elie Javice, Embrace Hearing‘s Sam Tanzer and Ross Porter, At Media‘s Antoinette M. Johnson, Defined Clarity‘s Bruce Marable, and Here’s My Chance‘s David Gloss.

As we reported yesterday, RJMetrics raised $1.2 million from a group of investors spread across angels and venture capitalists. The company said in a blog post yesterday it was important to wait until it launched with a minimum viable product, signed on customers, moved into office space, grew its workforce and became more stable and efficient.

Coursekit, which moved to New York but still has close ties to Philly according to the company, announced a funding round of $5 million this week. That’s in addition to $1 million raised before it launched in December.

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Monetate: How to get hired by a startup [Startup Roundup]

Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup parses 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 a weekly email newsletter by clicking here and selecting the Startup Roundup button or follow Startup Roundup’s RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

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Wondering how to get hired by a startup? Monetate has put together the above Philly-focused graphic visualization for just that. [h/t BostInnovation]

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myYearbook passes 500,000 daily mobile users, First Round spoofs Rebecca Black in holiday video [Startup Roundup]

Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup parses 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 a weekly email newsletter by clicking here and selecting the Startup Roundup button or follow Startup Roundup’s RSS feed. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

MUST READS

The Philly Startup Leaders announcement that Dell Boomi’s Bob Moul would be taking over the organization was put to ink all over Philadelphia last week after we covered the news. Follow the coverage at the Business Journal and at the Inquirer. The official press release is here. Most notably, it looks like Moul is angling a better connection between experienced business veterans and young startups and in between the city and suburbs.

myYearbook has launched an iPad app, according to a press release, following news that it has passed 500,000 daily mobile users and 200 million mobile sessions per month.

First Round Capital has released its annual holiday video, spoofing none other than Rebecca Black’s infamous Friday music video, which, notably enough, was also the fastest rising global search query in 2011. Locally relevant video features include Monetate and former Philly retailer Warby Parker. “It’s our First Round, First Round, we just closed our First Round.” If you know Black’s chorus, you’re already laughing.

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ShiftMyGift.com: website from Chester County’s Blair Souder is gift registry for donations

Blair Souder of ShiftmyGift.com. Photography by Ryan Donnell

Say that for Christmas, you didn’t want gifts. Instead, you’d rather have friends and family donate to a cause of you’re choosing.

A Chester County startup aims to be the solution, with its ShiftMyGift.com.

Launched in August by Blair Souder after being moved by a hiking trip in poor swaths of Nepal, the site acts like an online gift registry for nonprofits, in which users highlight philanthropic efforts they support. Others can make donations on their behalf, from which Shift My Gift takes a $1.49 processing fee and makes 4.75 percent ‘grant’ to the Network for Good — the group through which the donations are made – as Entrepreneur reported. USA Today has also covered the project.

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