They save a slice of your not-so-real life
Editor’s note: Here are five Bay Area startups worth watching this week.
While Snapchat and Instagram allow you to share visual snippets from your real life, a San Francisco company called Forge wants to help you share moments from your virtual one.
Forge, founded by CEO Jared Kim, makes a plugin that users can run in the background of a game to capture the entire session. After users are finished playing, they can post selected clips on Facebook and Twitter.
Watching others play video games used to be a fringe pastime, Kim said. But e-sports, or competitive video game play, has recently seeped into the mainstream. Competitions are held at venues like New York City’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Both have sold out for such events over the past year.
As the sport’s popularity has grown, people are sharing their gaming sessions with a vengeance, building followings on Amazon’s Twitch and Google’s YouTube.
“A few years ago, this was not considered a sexy space,” Kim said in his South of Market office, adorned with stuffed animals from popular ’90s videos games.
Forge, founded in 2013, released a test version of its product to the public in February. It can run in the background of more than 1,000 games, such as “World of Warcraft” and “League of Legends.”
Some recent updates to the service and good reviews on user blogs could explain increased interest in the company on startup database Crunchbase, which helped The Chronicle identify it as an up-and-comer.
Forge has raised about $9 million to date. It has 14 workers and no revenue yet, because it does not charge for the service. Kim would not disclose how many people currently use it, but said he is “cautiously optimistic.”
“It’s always a challenge when you’re trying to build a new behavior,” he said.
Also trending: Magic
If you want a task done — such as booking an appointment or picking up your dry cleaning — Magic will find someone to do it for you. What happened: This year, Magic dropped its price from $100 an hour to $35 an hour, with most of its staff in the Philippines. It also has recently started increasing its marketing efforts on Facebook, Google and Twitter. Why it matters: This company is trying to simplify tasks — similar to Postmates and TaskRabbit — but takes it a step further by calling itself a personal assistant, rather than just extra help. Headquarters: San Francisco Funding: $12 million Employees: About 180
Allset
Allows you to make a reservation, order food and pay for a meal all before stepping into the restaurant. What happened: Allset has expanded into a new city every month for the past four months. Next stop: Seattle. Why it matters: This company is trying to make eating out more efficient for those in a rush, but at the expense of having the entire dining experience. Headquarters: San Francisco Funding: $3.5 million Employees: 26
Fareness
Tells you the best day and time to book a flight. What happened: CEO Scott Wainner said the company has been increasing its Facebook ads over the past few weeks. Why it matters: In an industry dominated by a few major airlines, and with fares that change day by day — or hour to hour — Fareness is one of many apps trying to help people find the best prices. But it’s a crowded space: Competitors include Hopper, Expedia and Kayak. Headquarters: San Francisco Funding: $1.5 million Employees: 10
Attitude.ai
What happened: The company, formerly Fragmentic, recently changed its name and shifted its focus to helping marketing departments with repetitive tasks. Why it matters: Almost every company needs help managing email blasts and social media accounts; it’s a very competitive space. Headquarters: San Francisco Funding: $200,000 Employees: 3