TNW Startup Rally finalist offers media app developers the ability to enable users to push music, videos and images to connected TVs

Launched today at The Next Web Conference is Zapstreak, a new mobile SDK for Android app developers that creates an Airplay experience without the need for any additional hardware. With Zapstreak’s technology embedded within a media app, user’s can push music streams, videos or images to a connected TV, adding a completely new dimension to the viewing experience at home. For developers, Zapstreak represents an opportunity to integrate a new and engaging way to share and view content, whilst making their app more appealing and ‘stickier’. By using Zapstreak’s SDK, developers negate the need for costly native app development, estimated at around €50K.

Using DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), the technology standard that allows the sharing of digital content between connected devices, media from an Android app can be listened to or viewed on a connected TV, as long as both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. The vast majority of connected TVs being sold today include the DLNA standard.

In addition to launching at the conference, Zapstreak has been selected as one of 19 hot startups in The Next Web’s Startup Rally.

Stefan Bielau, co-founder of Fushion Sheep, the Poland-based mobile development studio that created Zapstreak said, “By embedding Zapstreak within an app, Android developers are instantly offering current and potential users a vastly enhanced experience. By enabling users to take the music, videos or images they like from within an app to a connected TV, developers are now able to distinguish themselves from the competition within a crowded market.”

From today, developers will have access to the private beta version of the SDK. To become involved please click here. Once the beta is closed, developers will be charged a minimal monthly license fee. An SDK for both Windows Phone and iOS and are also planned for the future.

80% of all TVs currently sold globally come with Wi-Fi integrated. By 2015, it is estimated that the total shipments of connected TVs will reach 138 million worldwide. In the first quarter of 2011 alone, more than 1000 TV models globally were certified with the DLNA standard.

iTraff Technology which has just closed the first round of financing, has developed an innovative image recognition technology dedicated to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Its main application – SaveUp – allows to make a purchase straight from the smartphone by simply taking a picture of a product. The company is also developing individual solutions for B2B market and helps to design interactive advertising campaigns based on its photo recognition technology.

iTraff Technology will soon provide a special platform, which will contain an easily accessible API. It will allow each company to build own application based on image recognition technology in few minutes. This will not require any additional help from iTraff Technology and it will be possible to use the same API in many different ways. To develop this platform company acquired from investors a half million EUR for nearly 32% of the company shares, which means that a total valuation of iTraff Technology stands at approximately 1.5 million EUR.

Among the investors are the most important Polish venture capital firms. A great example is the Innovation Nest fund. Its CEO, Piotr Wilam, was the Polish Internet pioneer who co-founded in 1998 the top web portal  – Onet.pl. Marek Kapturkiewicz, who is a fund co-creator, is an expert in strategy development for IT companies. Another investor is Rafał Han,  founder and CEO of HanBright – a VC that has in portfolio the leading Polish media for parents and preschoolers. Stephane Senkowski is a private investor with a great experience in managing large technology companies.

Among the shareholders is also the SpeedUp Group, which invested in iTraff Technology at the seed level, earlier, in 2011. ‘We owe SpeedUp Group a lot. SpeedUp introduced us in the industry, helped us from the very first steps. I am also glad that just a year after our company was founded, we managed to close the first funding round. It ensures further development of our company and our technology. Today we have gained not only great investors, but also the outstanding experts, who work for IT industry for years. They will give us a wonderful mentoring. With their support iTraff Technology is able to create platform with API, which will provide users with an easy-to-use technology that will help them to purchase things much more quickly and conveniently. That will be our share in the mobile revolution, which is currently spreading worldwide’, says Arkadiusz Skuza, CEO of the iTraff Technology.

iTraff Technology was awarded  several times both in Poland and abroad. It is worth to mention that technology has been rewarded in Brussels by the Europeana Foundation (which work in collaboration with the European Commission) and in the Vienna, during the Startup Week 2011 competition. In Poland, SaveUp won the Startup Fest 2011, an event organized by one of the largest home media company – Agora SA. It was also rewarded at Mobile Trends Awards for its e-commerce potential.

Our API platform is going to be open very soon. Do not miss it, be the part of the mobile revolution!

Learn more about it at:

www.recognize.im

Two of the above mentioned investments: Pastylka.pl and Ortopedio concern to various extend the e-health market. RekomendMe represents the market of HR services that more and more often transmit themselves into the internet and are available through the internet sites.  The other ones, like FusionSheep, are a worldwide innovation in the range of wireless   video transmission among different equipments. TimeSelf is a start-up that will offer an innovative product on the tourism market. The next one, Lookmash is a social platform, connected with the fashion world.

Choosing these projects we took into consideration the combination of three criteria: the management team quality, the market potential and finally the product/ service quality itself. We are acting in the area of high risk and that’s why we attach the main weight at the skills and the potential of the originators and the management team – summarizes Bartek Gola, the SpeedUp Partner.

The total investment sum is ca. 3 500 000 PLN. The majority of the funds comes from the   SpeedUp IQbator speed fund (The co-investor in Ortopedio is the SpeedUp Investments Fund), belonging to the SpeedUp Venture Capital Group. This fund has already invested in such companies and projects as Booklikes, SaveUp, Dwiepaczki.pl or Okazjum.pl, and it is planning at least 10 investments more till the end of 2012.

Short description of the new Speedup investments

Fusion Sheep Sp. z o.o. and its project LaterTV

LaterTV is a distributed multimedia management system in the home area. It enables communication among all the equipment in the local network that is able to operate multimedia: TV sets, smartphones, tablets, PCs, modern game consoles.

LaterTV allows for writing down a given multimedium “for later”, and also reproducing it on the TV screen, it enables multimedia consumption on the large TV screen instead of the computer or smartphone screen. This solution does not demand the purchase of any additional equipment and functions wirelessly. The project is realized by a 2-people team composed of people with strong technological skills, with several years of experience in establishing and conducting technological companies. LaterTV will be an application developed at first for the tablets iPad and iPad2. Then for the tablets supporting the operation system Android. As a goal a plug for the main browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox) will come into existence, allowing for sending the chosen by the user and supported content kind trough the local network (WiFi) to the equipment cooperating with the DLNA protocol.

RekomendMe Sp. z o.o. and its project RekomendMe

RekomendMe uses the potential of social platforms to improve communication among large corporations and individual users. The project is coming into existence in partnership cooperation with the Aspire Association (aspire.org.pl), associating innovative companies from the outsourcing branch. The project RekomendMe from Cracow is on the initial development stage. The application is created in the Ruby on Rails technology.

The  Lookmash Company its project Lookmash

The idea of the Lookmash site is to deliver to the user a tool that will solve the everlasting trouble: which cloth should you put on, buy, to be sure that you look good in it. The site will be a simple and efficient  tool (mobile application and  WWW site) for daily use that allows for a  quick adding of minimum 2 photos in  different clothes, comparing the appearance of a given person, observe online results, see the others’  suggestions. The site will have a system of accounts, news, following, will be integrated  with  Facebook, will offer a voting and comments system, so the users will be able to express opinions,  but also inspire and be inspired.

People having smartphones will be able to use a mobile application for the iPhone equipment, Android. The distinguishing factor will be widget for internet shops – compare (at)lookmash, the service driving motor, settling it in the solid frames of the e-commerce business model. Its functioning rule is very simple and assumes installing on the Internet shop sites a plug, permitting the users to compare the clothes from a given shop before their purchase.

The TimeSelf company and its project: TimeSelf

TimeSelf is an innovative mobile application in the branch of e-tourism.  The application goal is to deliver a tourist guide created from the beginning for every customer on the base of his/her interests, but also time and financial possibilities. The base for a complete, full of content guide is a trip plan, suited to somebody’s liking, taking into consideration the meals, entertainment and transport. The customer  gains the possibility of producing his/her own  tourist guide, depending on what  he/she is interested at in a given city, (or what he/she wants to omit), what  his/her available funds are and the most  important thing  – how much time he/she has.

The product will be available in four forms: traditional paper book, e-book, audio version and mobile application (for iOS and Android). Each of the forms is characterized by the fact that the tourist content is delivered referring to the plan, generated by the system, but personalized and improved already by the user.

In comparison with the competition the application is filling a niche on the tourist guide market.  Between the traditional tourist guide with no interactivity and trips prepared and conducted by educated operators there is TimeSelf – delivering the service of the second ones with the comfort and independence level of the second ones.

The Pastylka.pl company and its project: Pastylka.pl

Pastylka.pl is a social platform on the subject of health and medicine, containing centralized knowledge, supported by the users’ experience. The web site  contains information about illnesses, articles, health test, doctors’ lists, medicines’ list, opinions concerning the doctors and medicines, medical forum, appointments’ reservations, e-patient summary form,  so complex information  concerning health at one place in the  net. The user will be able i.e. to create his/her accounts, browse and add posts, observe chosen subjects, browse and participate   in creating knowledge base about illnesses, and also will have access to the doctors’ base and opinions about them. Creating a patient summary form online and an access to the case history will make the patients’ feel safe and on ease. Patients will also be able to register themselves through the Internet. Thanks to the web site Pastylka.pl the Internet users do not have to look for many sites  to find the information that interests them  in the net – it is  enough to have   Pastylka.pl  Ca. 34% of internet users look for information about health and healthy life style in the net.

The  Ortopedio company and its project Ortopedio.pl

The main activity subject of the company Ortopedio.pl will be sale of physiotherapy, orthopedic and medical devices through a highly specialized internet shop and delivering tools for financing these devices. The greatest innovation will be a social module, enabling connecting people with similar illnesses  taking into consideration exchanging experiences connected with the usage of given products or  their influence on health improvement. Such information gives priceless knowledge for the equipment dealers in the context of products quality increasing and adapting them for the customers. For the injured people with a temporarily or permanently restricted physical ability it is easier to buy a product through the internet with home delivery than driving from one shop to the other.

The shop Ortopedio.pl will be built in the form of WEB 2.0 what will give the customers the possibility of expressing opinions about the products. To improve  contact with the Customers, except phone or e-mail, an application LIVE CHAT will be applied. From every shop level, in every moment with one click you can connect with the consultant and gain information.