Founded in May 2012, Zoobean connects parents with remarkable books for their kids vetted by others who have read the books. The idea for Zoobean was a result of parents Felix and Jordan Lloyd not being able to find the right reading material for their children.

The duo began kicking things off officially at the beginning of 2013. After being connected in the minority startup community, they heard about the DC PopUp and decided to take their idea to the next level and work with entrepreneurs, coaches and judges from Silicon Valley and the DC technology community with NewME.

“It was very helpful to break down a few key statements,” Felix said about the PopUp. “We met with Angela before the PopUp and she began writing down a few statements that encapsulated what we were saying. We ended up using them in the presentations.”

After three days of in-depth entrepreneurial activity, they were ready to pitch their idea at Demo Day to a panel of judges for the opportunity to win $45,000 worth of prizes from Google, Microsoft, Rackspace, and others. Zoobean topped the Demo Day group and walked away a winner; an achievement that helped catapult them into receiving their first round of funding.

“We learned to always be pitching, always be selling,” Felix said. “Because we had that experience prior to going to market, seeing what Angela, our peers, and audience took away helped us get back to the product and business side of Zoobean.”

His experiences at the DC PopUp helped him realize that it’s more valuable to put your idea out there and start talking about it, that way you become better at understanding opportunities and threats as early as you can.

His first round of $500,000 will be put towards hiring a lead developer as well as marketing and customer acquisition. Zoobean’s main goal right now is to find the right people that will benefit from their product.

2013 has started off great thus far, and it’s only getting better. We’re thrilled to announce an extended partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs that supercharges our recently announced 2013 NewME Popup Tour.

What that means is we’ll be adding more cities to our original list of 6, increasing to 13. In addition to all the great coaching we’ve been able to provide alongside some of our close friends and mentors, you’ll also get coaching from Google subject matter experts. What we’ve learned since we launched our pop-ups in November of last year is that entrepreneurs not only want to learn the art of the pitch, they also want to learn key things like SEO, SEM, cloud infrastructure, api integration, and more in their journey to build amazing products.  Joining forces with one of the world’s most innovative companies allows us to raise the bar delivering a top-tier experience in cities around the country and attracting the best entrepreneurs.

We’re excited to strengthen our partnership with Google. Their commitment to NewME and diversifying the tech industry since our inception in 2011 has been critical to accomplishing our mission of accelerating underrepresented tech entrepreneurs around the world.  Like we said earlier, it’s only getting better.

Twist and Turns

My co-founder, Steven, and I came into the NewMe program with a ton of assumptions, a bit of naiveté, and a certain Dirty South swag characteristic of born-and-raised ATLiens. I remember the first day at the office I plopped my backpack down, grabbed some food, laughed and joked with some of the other founders and decided on the spot that the next three months would be dedicated to nurturing and growing our startup.

Sure our idea came with a few holes, but those could be patched up with good ol’ fashioned hard work, ingenuity, and the support of an awesome ensemble of NewMe mentors.

Exactly four days later our startup completely pivoted. Then two weeks after that we pivoted again.

What was happening? From an outside perspective, it must have seemed we had no clue what we were doing. Two pivots in less than a month? Even Taylor Swift would frown upon how fast we were breaking up with our ideas.

But we were learning. A lot. And that’s an incredible testament to the NewMe program. From getting feedback from all the mentors and speakers to physically hitting the streets to talk to our customers, we were constantly testing our hypotheses. Unfortunately many of our conjectures were rendered false, but we were finally moving at a speed we just couldn’t attain in Atlanta.

There’s still eight more weeks left in the program and hell, we might pivot one or two more times. But I think we’re close to something. Something potentially huge. Till then we’ll keep grinding, testing our hypotheses, and ultimately leveraging NewMe’s support to build an amazing business.

***Update: Due to overwhelming demand, we’ve added additional cities to our tour. Detroit registration is now open for all, so don’t forget to sign up before it’s too late. Additional details will be provided for newly announced cities soon!

NewME Accelerator Pop Up Tour dates are as follows:

D.C. – March 1st-3rd

Detroit – May 29th-31st

Oakland – (TBD)

Chicago – June 21st-23rd

Memphis – June 28th-30th

Atlanta – July 12th-14th

Columbia, S.C. – July 19th-21st

Durham, N.C. – July 23rd-25th

Austin – August 16th-18th

L.A. – (TBD)

NYC – October 25th-27th

Kansas City – November 22nd-24th

Miami – 2nd-4th

Get more details on the Events page.

Rippld
Founder: Adrian Walker
Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI
Website: http://www.rippld.com
Description: Rippld is a network that provides a real-time collaboration platform for creative professionals/companies

Fotopigeon
Founder: Frederick Hutson
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Website: http://www.fotopigeon.com
Description: Think of us as the FedEx of photo sharing, we help families share photo lab quality prints with distant loved ones in hard to reach places.

Fanmeetr
Founder: Brandon Rivers
Hometown: Santa Clara, CA
Website: http://www.fanmeetr.com
Description: Fanmeetr finds, connects, and engages local sports fans on multiple platforms.

Have1OnMe
Founder: Marco Aponte
Hometown: Walnut Creek, CA
Website: http://www.1onme.com
Description: Have 1 On Me is an app that delivers a truly social gift by allowing you to send drinks to friends nationwide.

DigitalMunch
Founder: Lin Tam
Hometown: Sunnyvale, CA
Website: http://www.digitalmunch.tv
Description: digitalmunch produces quality video trailers through our automated platform saving app developers time and money.

VocalTap
Founder: Steven Otu
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Website: http://www.vocaltap.com
Description: We help business owners get mentored by their peers through private, facilitated video calls.

SoClick
Founder: Justin Dawkins
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Description: Ad technology platform for innovative social products.

And if you haven’t registered yet for our Welcome event you can do it here.  Hope you can join us and help kick off the next cycle on Feb. 19th at Google’s Startup Lab.

CEO and Founder of DWLLR, Khisaun Ferguson:

I applied to NewME because…

I felt connected to its mission. To accelerate, educate and empower minority and women entrepreneurs. Founding a technology start-up was a “brave new world” to me. Even though my corporate experience has run the gamut of real estate, finance and marketing. Technology was something I consumed and not created. Consequently, I knew that if I was going to be serious about my transition to creator, I would need help and for me, it was NewME.

Unique factors that made Khisaun and DWLLR stand out…

For me it was domain expertise and drive. DWLLR came out of a pain that I experienced day after day for over ten years in real estate. I had vision to innovate but the question that every start-up founder must answer is, can you build it? Here’s where my drive came in, I didn’t have a technical co-founder nor did I know many developers, was I going make an excuse for not creating a product? Absolutely not. I locked myself in my house for six months and spent nearly $30K and developed a product. I think being a single founder with the hustle, drive and determination to “get it” was the factor. My theme song is “Who Gon’ Stop Me” by The Throne which is the mentality you have to have as a founder.

The main factor that stood out from the other hundreds applications…

SWAG! I think it was the fact I knew my problem, my market and my solution intimately. DWLLR was a the engagement ring to a ten year relationship, but we already have two kids, so its bittersweet. I wish it would have came about five years ago.

My application experience was…

For me it was easy. I was honest, and tried to lay my cards on the table. One of the rules of being a start-up founder is you have to “know your problem”. That goes for — knowing the problem your trying to solve and knowing your problem as a founder. If I didn’t have a problem I wouldn’t need the program.

Khisaun’s advice for new applicants…

Be honest. Be open. Most of all be clear. If people are confused reading your application chances are your pitch is confusing. You have to look at the application as an “unsigned term sheet” and depending on your answers determines whether an investor will sign it or not. NewME is not some college admission essay you just blow off the answers to with no forethought and expect to get in. This real life and real money. Don’t think about the fairytale meetings with angels, VCs or billion dollar Facebook acquisitions. That’s not reality.

Reality is you will spend your life on your start-up, not just three months. You will sacrifice time, money, frustration, and even tears. You don’t have time to stop and smell the roses here. If you want into the Silicon Valley world, make it apparent by showing that you’ve ate, breathed and slept your company before NewME so that all the program has to do is turn up the heat and either show your perfection or your impurities.

Make sure to read Randy and Sharron’s Founder Stories!

Apply for the Spring 2013 cycle here. Deadline is December, 14 5pm PST.

CEO and Founder of Derbywire, Sharron Battle shares some insite:

Sharron talks why she applied for the NewME Accelerator program…

I applied for NewMe because I believed in what they stood for, which is supporting minority under- represented entrepreneurs that want to contribute in the tech space.  There are several areas that minorities are under-represented, less than 1% of several spaces (Design Professionals, MBA Recipients, Technology Startups and more) and it is great that focus was put on this.

I think that innovation is at its best when you have a diverse group addressing the needs of a space because everyone has different perspectives that they can bring to the table.  I have worked with some of the best performing companies and when I look back on their success, all of them had very diverse cultures that contributed to success and innovation.

I think NewMe is a good start for those that do not mind working hard to change the playing field.

Sharron on how Derbywire set themselves a part in the application process…

I think the fact that Derbywire was aiming to create a community where people can monetize digital content was our uniqueness.  The business model is a creative way of implementing job creation.  Think about it…if you have initiative, drive and some type of hustle this can be a second source of income.  Lastly, mobile is a huge market and making access of the ability to do mobile transactions on the go via mobile is convenient for users.  They can make simple purchase transactions efficiently, browse and network amongst million of users that engage with their mobile device 24/7 a day.

Our competition, focused more so on providing a web presence and experience for the user and we focused on the mobile experience, which we believe is a smart move.

Sharron’s advice for current applicants…

Make sure you have a strong team, good developers, and tough skin.  Entrepreneurship is no easy job and you cannot give up, there is no option but to win.

Go to Derbywire to download the iOS and Android app.

Read Sp.12 Grad Randy Mitchell’s Founder Story  

 Randy Mitchell, Co-founder of Plisten

 Randy on why he applied to NewME Accelerator:

I believe in and support what they are working to accomplish. Minority communities have suffered socially and economically for decades largely due to a lack of awareness, access, and real life examples (people who look like them and come from similar backgrounds) of what’s possible.

Because of this, many minorities often see entertainment and professional sports as the primary vehicles for social and economic success. NewME challenges this notion by introducing technology as an alternative that’s sexy, smart and according to Forbes, the No. 2 contributor to the Billionaire pool in the U.S. and the No. 1 sector for job growth.

NewME is a pioneer in this space and I wanted to be a part of that, for posterity’s sake.

How Randy stood out amongst hundreds of other applicants:

I made it a point to serve in the NewME Community and stay connected, not because I wanted anything from it but because I wanted to support it. Doing this in hindsight allowed me to be a familiar face and start-up among the people at NewME that mattered. “Social Proof” is a big thing in the Valley. Serving the community allowed me to build Social Proof in the NewME eco-system and to be the founder NewME knew. That made all the difference.

 Randy’s Advice to Applicants:

Start with “Why”! Build something from the heart that matters, the world is full of companies doing it just for the money. Be bigger than that, build for something greater than money or self because there will be many long days and nights along the start-up road where all you will have to sustain you is your “Why”, and that has to be big enough!

A strong “Why” will help you get through the hard times, of which there will be many. Start with “Why”, Think Different, and Build Epic Ish! Or put another way – GO HARD IN DA PAINT!!!

Silicon Valley is an electric place and fertile ground for ideas with the intent of becoming reality. Seize that, enjoy it, and pay it forward to those who come after you.

Go to Plisten to find out more about Randy’s start-up! 

PictureMenu is an iPhone and iPad app that allows users to view restaurant menus. It is the simplest way a restaurant can have their menu viewable on a smartphone or tablet.

There are other food apps out there like OpenTable, Yelp, and Foodspotting, but PictureMenu is approaching the food space a little differently. The app focuses on menus through photography with a goal to create valuable technology that restaurants can incorporate into their daily workflow.

“We allow any restaurant the opportunity to easily provide their restaurant’s menu on an iPhone without having to hire a developer,” Lyons says. “It’s only the first version and we are currently learning important wants and needs from the restaurants and users based off of the success we are already seeing.”

PictureMenu is helping crowd-source the world’s menu onto one platform.

The app provides a discovery platform for users to find great restaurants based off what they’re in the mood for or what’s nearby. After they find a restaurant they can then go into that restaurant’s guest favorites and add a photo of what they ate. Next to their description of the dish they can add a price to the meal so whenever anyone visits that restaurant on PictureMenu they can now see the item the user uploaded.

Food photography has become extremely popular today, especially with the launch of Instagram in 2010. Keeping that in mind, PictureMenu allows users to take pictures of your dish and share it directly to Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

PictureMenu has 1,500 downloads from 24 different countries and 350 menu items already added since its launch only one month ago.

“We’ve had great feedback from users and restaurant owners that love the app,” Lyons says. He explains how NewME has been one of the most valuable resources to his company’s growth and himself as a CEO.

“The access of knowledge and depth of mentors has really allowed me to make smarter business decisions and develop within the start-up community, Lyons says. “The value of simplicity, design, and product all contribute to the success of PictureMenu’s traction; and all of those characteristics of the company matured with the help of NewMe Accelerator.”

Download PictureMenu at the Apple App Store 

Sew Love is a platform for crowdsourcing fashion design founded by sisters Sabrina and Silvia Scandar. On sewlove.co, anyone with an idea for a clothing item or accessory can submit the idea to see it manufactured and sold by Sew Love. All Sew Love products are made in the USA using sustainable products and responsible manufacturing processes.

Both Sabrina and Silvia came across NewME through membership of the LAB Miami, an innovative co-working space in Miami and partner for the NewME Miami Pop-Up.

“We loved the idea that NewME targeted women and minorities,” Sabrina says. “Because they have a presence in San Francisco, but were targeting Miami companies, we felt it was meant for us to be part of.”

There were countless great people and an abundance of knowledge being dropped every day of the Pop-Up, but the one-on-one coaching sessions are what really stood out for Sabrina.

“The classes and one-on-one coaching session really helped us think through our business and put together a great pitch,” Sabrina says. “It was also great to hear about all the other amazing companies getting started in Miami.”

It was a great moment to have such an amazing event end with a Demo Day enabling a Miami start-up to accelerate. With Sew Love’s win they not only received $25,000 in services, but a slot in the next cycle of the NewME Accelerator in San Francisco!

“We’re excited to meet other entrepreneurs and to have the support of the NewME community behind us,” Sabrina says. “We’re also looking forward to the opportunity to meet and pitch to VCs in San Francisco with the NewME team.”

Sew Love is happy to know other people believe in their vision and look forward to get back to work on building their company.

Visit Sew Love to find out more about the company!