Last week, we put together our list of 17 startups to watch in 2017. Now, the D.C.-area's VCs and investors are weighing in. And there's no one specific industry that some of the local investors have their eyes set on. Cybersecurity will continue to be hot, but a few named fast-casual restaurants and plenty of consumer-facing brands in the DMV that could be hot in the new year.
So without further ado, here's what the DMV's VCs and investors are watching in 2017—
Nick Gillette, SWaN & Legend Venture Partners:
Cava Grill (SWaN investment)
"Mediterranean fast-casual concept. Majority of locations are in the DMV region, and they started in D.C., but are expanding nationally at a fairly quick pace. This place is delicious."
Beefsteak (SWaN Investment)
"Vegetable-focused fast casual concept from renowned chef José Andrés. Majority of locations today are in D.C., but they are expanding to other cities throughout the nation in 2017 and beyond. If you haven’t tried a fresh vegetable bowl from this place, you need to. Delicious."
Framebridge (SWaN Investment)
"D.C.-based custom-framing service with an incredible online offering in a fairly antiquated industry, particularly in terms of price, product and customer experience."
UrbanStems (SWaN Investment)
"D.C.-based on-demand flower delivery service. Currently have operations in D.C., New York, Philly and Baltimore, with plans to expand to many additional U.S. cities in 2017. Convenient service with a great product offering at a great price. And who doesn’t like sending happiness?"
Optoro (SWaN Investment)
"D.C.-based reverse logistics solution for large retailers. Just received an investment from UPS as part of their $30M Series D financing."
Real Time Cases (not an investment, but affiliated with)
"D.C.-based ed-tech company attempting to improve higher education by cultivating real-time content from executive teams at companies of all shapes and sizes, and then publishing that content as interactive case studies for students across the nation. Some really interesting stuff being done here."
Harry Alford and Ray Crowell, humble ventures:
"One company you can *literally* watch in 2017 is Dark Cubed, which will be featured on the TV show "The Hunted" early in the year. Co-Founder, Theresa Payton, mans a battle station out in Hollywood as partner-in-crime, Vince Crisler, continues to raise capital in the DMV.
"Newcomer Ataata takes aim at the incredibly stale market of security awareness training videos with professional comedians and an innovative delivery platform. After a seed raise of just under $1M, they'll head into their Series A in the spring."
FS Card, DNS Filter, Careset
"Companies beginning to make moves in the DMV market include the likes of FS Card, DNS Filter, and Careset. While the latter two are not based here (yet), their increasing customer consumption inside the beltway is reason alone to keep your eyes and ears peeled."
Evan Burfield, 1776:
Sandboxx (1776 member company)
"Social networking for the military. Made recent new hires and raised a substantial seed round."
ChurnZero (1776 member company)
"Helping companies to fight churn. They are currently raising a significant round of capital and expanding their team."
Notarize (1776 member company)
"Electronic notary service. Strong hires in 2016, raised $8 million last year, and have over 500 organizations using the platform."
Airside Mobile (1776 member company)
"Bypassing customs and immigration lines through their Mobile Passport app. Have over 1 million users and are the number 7 travel app on the Apple store."
Delect (1776 member company)
"A platform that enables restaurants to know exactly who their customers are, their eating preferences, and to market to them directly on their mobile phones; consumers are able to make automatic payments. Recently launched and getting ready to raise a seed round."
Image used via CC BY 2.0 — credit Pictures of Money
