Two huge tech conferences opened today in California with 124 companies launching new products this week in front of a combined audience of more than 2,500 (see note 1). At DEMOfall in San Diego, 72 companies are launching new products today and tomorrow. In San Francisco, 52 companies launch at TechCrunch50 today through Wednesday.
Eight of the 124 companies are related to financial services:
- DEMOfall: Rudder, GreenSherpa, BizEquity (Advanta)
- Techcrunch50: iThryv (below), StockMood, PersonalRIA, exchangeP, and Emerginvest
We’ll cover several of these companies, plus several in the TechCrunch50 DemoPit, starting with iThryv.
iThryv kicks of TechCrunch50
I made it down from Seattle this morning just in time to catch the first demo. I’m glad I got up early because it just so happened to be the only personal finance/banking-related finalist. Oklahoma City-based Shryk kicked off TechCrunch50 (note 2) by unveiling its online banking platform aimed at the 12- to 20-year-old crowd. The new service is called iThryv and it will be marketed directly to banks and credit unions who will customize and brand it for their own customer base.
iThryv will be integrated directly to the bank, or its core processor, so that real-time banking data can be displayed in various widgets. In addition to account info, iThryv also includes the following modules and features:
- Goal-oriented savings, including rewards for reaching milestones
- A spending & savings score that does for savings what a credit score does for loans
- Make $ area where budding entrepreneurs can learn more about starting a business
- Learn area for financial education
The company has a two-fold approach to getting iThryv into the market:
- Licensing the platform to banks for a fixed fee plus per-user fees
- Giving the platform to schools to incorporate into their curriculum
According to the founders, the service is currently being considered by several financial institutions, but it is not yet available online.
iThryv homepage (8 Sep 2008)
iThryv savings score graphed (8 Sep 2008)
iThryv “Make $” tab (8 Sep 2008)
Notes:
1. TechCrunch reported approximately 1,700 attendees; DEMOfall, 800.
2. iThryv was originally scheduled to present third, but were moved up to first when Ashton Kutcher was late for his scheduled demo of his startup, Blah Girls.