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The Big One: 20 unique finds from U.S. startups
Looking for something truly unique this holiday season? Try gifting a wearable hummingbird feeder. Or augmented-reality ski goggles.
You can find those gifts and more in this year's American Inno gift guide, featuring 20 items you can buy from startups across the country.
This year's list features gifts for a range of people on your shopping list, including techies, workout pros, kids and kids at heart. "Shark Tank" standouts like oversized hat startup Noggin Boss, tech-infused kids clothes from Wonder Togs and the buzziest new AI product from Humane top our list of unique products to buy from startups this holiday season.
Dive into our list below:
American Inno's 2023 gift guide: 20 unique finds from U.S. startups
Startups to Watch
- Hello Wonder, a startup led by veterans of Google and Amazon, is developing an AI assistant designed to help children navigate the internet in a safe and healthy way. Wonder can feed websites and videos to children based on queries or answers to questions Wonder asks, and it can also see what a child is doing, ask comprehension questions or set reminders, like getting a homework assignment done. The company recently wrapped up a pre-seed round, Portland Inno reports.
- RepeatMD, a startup that develops white-label rewards program software for spas, plastic-surgery centers and other wellness companies, raised $50 million in a Series A round. Led by a former restaurateur, the startup says it has seen a 130% increase in its software-as-a-service revenue in the past 12 months, Houston Inno reports.
- SparkMeter raised $5 million from Honeywell Smart Energy to help expand its work bringing smart grid technology to small and medium-sized utility providers across the U.S. SparkMeter helps utilities assess how grids are performing, monitoring things like the quality of power and whether there are efficiencies the utility can tap into, DC Inno reports.
- Odele, a fast-emerging hair-care startup that launched as a Target-exclusive brand in 2020, has grown its revenue from $5 million to $30 million in the three years since it hit shelves. With now over 5.7 million bottles of hair and body-care products sold, the startup has expanded past Target as it entered CVS and Ulta Beauty stores, Minne Inno reports.
- Inclusively, a startup that developed a jobs platform that helps companies find employees with disabilities, raised $13 million in a Series A funding round from investors, including Gayle Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints. Its software allows job applicants to choose and identify accommodations they will need for job interviews and on the job with companies, St. Louis Inno reports.
'Death parties' and more ways founders handle startup failure
Approximately 90% of startups fail. Yet, these failures are infrequently talked about beyond the confines of closed doors and off-the-record conversations.
But some founders are flipping the script, choosing instead to publicly reveal the tumultuous journey of startup life and to give a candid reflection on where things went wrong, Alabama Inno reports.
Mikhail Kozorovitskiy, founder of the now-closed Birmingham, Alabama, tech startup Datalus, was thrown a "death party" by other local startup founders and entrepreneurs, celebrating the life of the company. At the death party, Kozorovitskiy burned a piece of paper with the company's failures written on it.
"That's how I ended it," he said. "I had a great time with a bunch of friends, a bunch of ecosystem co-founders, and then I figured out what I was going to do next."
READ THE FULL STORY: 'Death parties' and other ways founders handle startup failure
Weird and Wired: Augmented reality ski goggles
Hitting the slopes this winter? Try a pair of augmented-reality smart ski goggles.
Rekkie, a Cincinnati startup, has created AR snow goggles that come with a transparent heads-up display, projecting information directly on the lens. You can find friends, check your speed, control music, receive notifications and answer calls without needing to take off your gloves.
The startup, which you can also find in our 2023 startup gift guide, recently landed a $300,000 investment from billionaire Mark Cuban on an episode of "Shark Tank."
Read the full story: Cincinnati brothers score investment from Mark Cuban on ABC's 'Shark Tank'
