While Boston’s well respected for its famous museums, world-class universities, and of course delicious clam chowder, it also offers one of the most vibrant and innovative startup scenes in the US. Boston’s reputation as an intellectual and academic hub makes it a perfect place for ideas to develop, founders to come together, and startups to grow. The startups on this list affect all sorts of different industries, from fitness, to education, all the way to farming! Not only are all of these Boston startups hiring right now, all of them are looking for diverse candidates from non-technical backgrounds. Check them out and see where you can make an impact!
1. Amino Apps
Photo Source: aminoapps.com
Why they’re awesome: Besides providing an endless supply of cute animal pics and Drake gifs, the web’s also really good at helping people come together over their common interests. Whether you’re into American History, Beanie Babies, or Pictures of People Who Look Vaguely Like Taylor Lautner Eating Salads, chances are you can find Reddits, Tumblrs, Forums, and Facebook Groups full of likeminded people. Amino Apps knows people love talking about their passions online, and that’s why they’re aiming to be the leading mobile-first app for passionate communities. Whether you’re a Hunger Games fan, a sneakerhead, or are obsessed with Pictures of People Who Look Vaguely Like Taylor Lautner Eating Salads, Amino Apps has a place where you can feel comfortable expressing your passion. With Amino Apps you could bring the openness and enthusiasm of online communities with you wherever you go.
Who: Founded by Ben Anderson and Yin Wang.
Funding: $6.5M in Series A raised September, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Community Coordinator position!
Size: ~13 employees according to LinkedIn.
2. Cabbige
Photo Source: Cabbige.com
Why they’re awesome: Americans are known for a lot of things, not least of all their love of food (example: we have an entire TV channel dedicated to watching people cook and/or eat). While there are a lot of startups out there helping restaurants, grocery stores, and takeout joints, no one’s really giving props to the people actually growing everything. Until Cabbige that is. Cabbige is a farmer-first business analytics platform. Although it doesn’t get a lot of love, farming is a serious undertaking and farm managers think of their profits the same way they think about their crops -- they really want them to grow. Cabbige is then akin to a farm-money fertilizer (also the name of our rap collective), and operates as an easy-to-use pricing tool. Basically by using the platform, farmers learn how much they should be pricing their produce at and how much they can expect to make in the coming season. On average, farmers using Cabbige saw a 9.6% increase in revenue, a barnful by any estimation.
Who: Founded by Jessica Angell.
Funding: No funding information but founded in February 2014.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Marketing Coordinator position!
Size: ~Currently no information on employee count.
3. Careport Health
Photo Source: Careporthealth.com
Why they’re awesome: While many hospital patients are all better and back home in a jiffy, not everyone is so fortunate. Some patients have to stay at post-acute care treatment facilities before they can make the transition back home. Coordinating which post-hospital facility is the best for each situation can be difficult. Many patients don’t know what options are available to them and hospitals aren’t much better at evaluating what’s best for which patient. Fortunately Careport Health is here to tackle this problem, and take the stress out of post-acute care coordination. Careport Health streamlines the entire process by providing a patient database that allows them to learn about their options, comparing and contrasting different facilities. Careport also lets healthcare professionals track post-care patient progress, while enabling hospital administrators to better understand the post-care network. Right now, 20% of patients are readmitted from post-hospital facilities, a staggering number which Careport Health is set on bringing down.
Who: Founded by Lissy Hu and Vivek Garipalli.
Funding: $2.2M in Venture funding raised June, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? No positions currently listed on their website, but if healthcare is your passion, feel free to email them at info@careporthealth.com.
Size: ~10 employees according to LinkedIn.
4. Cintell
Photo Source: cintell.net
Why they’re awesome: In the Jenga game that is successfully running a company, a solid customer base is the piece that supports the entire structure. Although the rest of the structure could seem to be doing alright, removing that piece can cause everything else to topple over. It’s then really surprising that so many companies have a murky idea of who their customers really are. What’s even worse is having a customer profile that’s too rigid and unchanging. Cintell allows companies to truly understand their buyers, by creating a cloud-based customer intelligence platform. It lets companies create detailed digital personas, allowing them to really understand their target customers. With Cintell, companies can add customer details such as buying habits, motivations, challenges, preferences, and much more. You can then easily share that buyer persona with any other team in the entire organization, making interdepartmental communication as easy as logging in. Probably most importantly Cintell continuously validates and tests these different customer insights, allowing your profile to reflect real-time buyer data.
Who: Founded by Apparao Karri and Katie Martell.
Funding: $800K in Seed Funding raised April, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Sales Lead position!
Size: ~23 employees according to LinkedIn.
5. Circle
Photo Source: Circle.com
Why they’re awesome: We encounter circles almost everywhere we look. Frisbees, pizza pies, the moon, roulette wheels. This last example is particularly relevant for Circle (the company) as they’re taking a pretty big gamble with their mobile payments company. Circle allows you to send and receive money, just like other payment apps, but with one big difference. While those platforms are integrating new ways of thinking about money using old infrastructures, Circle thinks the existing systems are broken, and that we need to rebuild our money processing tools from the ground up. Just like the how there are open systems for the Internet of Media and the Internet of Information, Circle wants us to have open systems for the Internet of Value too. That’s why their platform is built on open internet standards and protocols, like Bitcoin’s blockchain. They’re reinventing how we think about, store, and share value, and it seems like their gamble is paying off.
Who: Founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville.
Funding: $50M in Series C raised April, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Customer Experience Specialist and a Talent Acquisition Lead!
Size: ~87 employees according to LinkedIn.
6. CrowdComfort
Photo Source: CrowdComfort.com
Why they’re awesome: Workplace facility management is currently a HUGE hassle. There’s not really a streamlined way for employees to report problems, and when they do get reported technicians spend a ton of time figuring out the root of the problem. If you’ve ever complained about the heat in your office only to have someone come 3 days later to fix the air conditioning you probably know what we mean. CrowdComfort’s mission is a simple one with far reaching impact, making facility management easy. Users submit a geo-tagged report detailing a problem and can even include pictures of the specific issue. The problem immediately gets delegated to an individual technician, who then goes straight to the site, already knowing exactly where the problem lies. The best part is all that information gets stored and analyzed on the platform, allowing facility managers to pinpoint recurring problems and nip them in the bud.
Who: Founded by B. Eric Graham and Kevin Loos.
Funding: $1.4M in Angel funding raised November, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Telephone Sales Representative.
Size: ~14 employees according to LinkedIn.
7. Evertrue
Photo Source: Tydanco.files.wordpress.com
Why they’re awesome: If you’re a recent college grad, your alma mater probably hits you from time to time asking to pay it forward. How does your college decide who to target for fundraising and when they should be contacted? Turns out colleges have entire departments dedicated to educational fundraising, and this continued push for development is a huge source of their funds. Evertrue is a tech platform that was created to streamline higher-education fundraising, making it easy for development teams to identify, prioritize, and manage new prospects. Evertrue helps provide information on who to message, which donors to follow up on, and which donors are in which geographic area. For the longer play, they also help fundraising teams tap into social media platforms in order to energize existing alumni networks. Already ramping up the fundraising efforts of places like Brown, Middlesex, Boston U, and Oregon State, they don’t show any sign of stopping.
Who: Founded by Brent Grinna and Eric Carlstrom.
Funding: $8M in Series B funding raised October, 2014.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Business Development Representative and an Event Marketing Associate.
Size: ~103 employees according to LinkedIn.
8. Fortified Bicycle
Photo Source: Fortifiedbike.com
Why they’re awesome: Getting from place to place in a city could be a nightmare. Cabs are expensive, buses are gross, and subways are creepy (not to mention mysteriously sticky). It’s no wonder then that more and more people are opting-into the bike life. Fortified Bicycle is a company that gets the Urban Biker, creating bike accessories that turn your two-wheeler into a powerful city beast. They offer anti-theft bike lights, a state of the art bike seat security attachment, and a rechargeable lithium ion battery that can power a rear light for up to 24 hours. Fortified Bicycle allows you to bike your city with confidence.
Who: Founded by Slava Menn and Tivan Amour.
Funding: $800K in Venture funding raised July, 2014.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Customer Service Agent and an Office Manager.
Size: ~8 employees according to LinkedIn.
9. HelloToken
Photo Source: adclubbrandathon.com
Why they’re awesome: Here’s a list of things millennials hate: Lines at Chipotle, most of the Hobbit movies, having to enter a wifi password in a cafe, not realizing you had your phone on silent while trying to play a Snapchat video, any Nelly song after Hot in Herre, and ONLINE ADS. We hate them so much that we install adblockers (that are probably stealing our data) so that we don’t have to deal with them. Not only do we block them, when we they do actually get past our defenses, we don’t even pay attention. So basically there’s this whole ad ecosystem where companies are pouring billions of dollars into ads that people are either actively ignoring or super resentful of encountering. HelloToken realizes there has to be a better way to monetize content which is why they’re throwing out ads, throwing out paywalls, and replacing them with a one-click survey question that serves as a micropayment. This allows content creators to earn up to 10 times more while also granting marketers valuable data. Plus, no more flashy and intrusive ads!
Who: Founded by Brian Truong and Kevin Vora.
Funding: No funding information currently available.
How do you infiltrate? Currently offering Business Development and Content Development internships.
Size: ~8 employees according to LinkedIn.
10. Jibo
Photo Source: ThatsReallyPossible.com
Why they’re awesome: Now that Star Wars is back in the zeitgeist, people are thinking a lot about our old friend R2D2 (and a smaller though still significant percentage about C-3PO). Back in the 70s when Star Wars first sprung forth from George Lucas’s mind-chasm, robots that walked around and talked were as far out there as lightsabers, Millennium Falcons, and alien cantinas. In 2015, not so much. Meet Jibo, the first family robot. Jibo is not so much a machine as a robot assistant (and something that will rock your humanity to its core). Their promo video shows him serving the roles of photographer, storyteller, email reader, reminder, even wingman! A brainchild of some of the smartest minds in robotics, Jibo raised $3M on indiegogo and has been skyrocketing ever since. While Jibo might make Jon Connor and Neo sweat, we think he’ll actually wind up being be pretty helpful. Jibo is R2 for the Facebook generation, a robot that could send emails, order takeout, and help you figure out what show to watch on Netflix.
Who: Founded by Cynthia Breazeal.
Funding: $16M in Series A funding raised December, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Support Specialist position.
Size: ~62 employees according to LinkedIn.
11. Localytics
Photo Source: VCPost.com
Why they’re awesome: Some things are better when combined: Chocolate and marshmallows equal s’mores. French fries and cheese equals cheese fries. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian equals Kimye. Marketing and Analytics together? Localytics. Localytics is a SaaS marketing platform that helps brands drive engagement across the entire user lifecycle. First Localytics helps companies acquire users by allowing them to allocate their budgets to sources that actually drive high-value users. Marketers then are able to engage with users by broadcasting an attention grabbing message via the most optimal channels. Localytics also helps companies grow their user base by providing robust analytics to drive precise messaging. And finally, they help retain users by alerting which ones are at risk, so you can take action before they fall off. Combining marketing and analytics this seamlessly isn’t easy, but they definitely have a hold on it. Localytics is currently used by HBO, Microsoft, Fox, Zipcar and a slew of other brands!
Who: Founded by Raj Aggarwal, Henry Cipolla, Brian Suthoff, and Andrew Rollins.
Funding: $35M in Series D funding raised March, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Business Development Representative and an Account Executive.
Size: ~260 employees according to LinkedIn.
12. Luvo
Photo Source: LuvoLearn.com
Why they’re awesome: Listen, life can be tough for a college student. The horror of 11 AM classes. The all-encompassing existential spiral of walking into a dining hall that just ran out of chicken fingers. The crippling double-bind of choosing between Natty Light and Keystone Light at a house party. With so much going on outside the classroom, sometimes it’s difficult for college students to remember why they’re on campus in the first place: academics. Enter Luvo, a student-centric learning platform that allows students to buy and sell student-created, course-specific study materials. They’re basically a note marketplace! And if self-guided study isn’t enough, Luvo offers a selection of reputable tutors for hires as well. Luvo’s so confident in their approach to education that they even offer a Luvo “Do Better” Guarantee. Basically, if your grades don’t improve after using their product, Luvo will return every dime right back to you. All that confidence actually seems pretty grounded too. In a survey of their user-base, 87% of student note-sellers and 94% of student note-buyers saw their GPAs shoot up!
Who: Founded by Micheal Matousek and Steven Maggs.
Funding: $7.32M in Series B funding raised March, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for an Official Luvo Note-Taker.
Size: ~89 employees according to LinkedIn.
13. Ovuline
Photo Source: Wikimedia.org
Why they’re awesome: There’s an app for everything now. Food delivery? App for that. Dating? App for that? Pregnancy? Now there’s an app for that too! The company’s called Ovuline and they’re helping families all over the world conceive. By creating a complex prediction algorithm, the team behind Ovuline has been able to help women accurately predict their cycles, allowing them to figure out exactly when they’re most fertile. Ovuline provides an ovulation calculator and calendar, expert articles on conception and fertility, and they even have a “Not trying to conceive” mode just in case. Ovuline is in a rare spot in that they’re working on a challenging and complex bio-health problem, while at the same time having a real, measurable effect on families’ lives. Plus their slogan is “Let’s make babies.”
Who: Founded by Vasile Tofan, Alex Baron, Paris Wallace, Gina Nebesar, and Rory O'Connor
Funding: $3.22M in Venture funding raised May, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for an Enterprise Sales Manager.
Size: ~29 employees according to LinkedIn.
14. Rue La La
Photo Source: SprinkleLab.org
Why they’re awesome: Rue La La is like if you and 16 million of your closest friends had access to a secret fashion network. Being a Rue La La member is like being part of the online fashion Illuminati (oh sup Kanye). While there are a lot of fashion sites springing up, Rue La La’s different as they offer their shoppers access to the most stylish brands at unbeatable prices. Regardless of your fashion preferences, Rue La La works hard to curate the highest quality merchandise. Each preselected boutique goes up on their site at 11 AM each morning and stays open for 48 hours. After that the clothes and the prices are gone forever (you snooze you lose!). Whether you already dress to impress or are looking to up your fashion game, Rue La La is definitely worth checking out.
Who: Founded by Ben Fischman.
Funding: $22M in Series A funding raised January, 2012.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for an Executive Assistant.
Size: ~609 employees according to LinkedIn.
15. Runkeeper
Photo Source: RunKeeper.com
Why they’re awesome: If only there was a way to have your personal trainer with you at all times. Why? Well think about it. If you ever felt lazy or needed an extra jolt of motivation, he’d be there to pump you up and get you off the couch. Though Runkeeper hasn’t yet developed the technology necessary to shrink a personal trainer down to the size of a wallet, they did the next best thing. Runkeeper is an awesome fitness management platform and pretty much the only one you’ll ever need. Launched to the iTunes store back in 2008, it’s the great-grandaddy of all fitness apps. Basically Runkeeper allows you to set goals, schedule your workout sesh, track your fitness progress, and stay motivated with friends. And those features are only the tip of the iceberg. Runkeeper is robust enough to help you build new running routes and even has a music function baked right in too.
Who: Founded by Jason Jacobs.
Funding: No funding info but founded in August, 2008.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Customer Support Rep.
Size: ~43 employees according to LinkedIn.
16. Spoiler Alert
Photo Source: www.mitvcconference.com
Why they’re awesome: Woe is the plight of the over indulgent roommate. His eyes too big for his stomach, he peppers you with questions: “Hey you want the rest of this pizza? There’s no way I can possibly finish it.” If you don’t accept the offer (probably because you already had dinner), your friend will just throw the rest of the pizza in the garbage, ruining it for all eternity. Turns out restaurants deal with the exact same problem. Food producers, distributors, grocery stores, farms, and restaurants throw out tons of perfectly good food every day too. What a waste! With Spoiler Alert, food suppliers can sell or donate their excess food inventories to other companies or non-profits. This cuts down on waste and allows businesses to minimize costs, explore new revenue streams, and even get charitable tax deductions.
Who: Founded by Ricky Ashenfelter and Emily Malina.
Funding: No funding info but founded in April, 2014.
How do you infiltrate? No jobs currently listed but they're a small team so it's definitely worth it to reach out. Send them an email at: jobs@foodspoileralert.com.
Size: ~7 employees according to LinkedIn.
17. Testive
Photo Source: Testive.com
Why they’re awesome: Remember the SATs? Either your parents begrudgingly shelled out serious dough for a class (which didn’t work because the teacher ended up being Nyquil in a tweed jacket) or they bought one of those monstrous test prep books (which also didn't work because whenever you told them you were studying, you were actually playing Gamecube for 3 hours). Either way you slice it, Testive realizes test prep is broken. Most students aren’t self-motivated enough to really buckle down, and individualized course are both super expensive and super unreliable. Testive turns the test prep world upside down by providing free self-guided study resources to all their members, and, for those who are willing to pay a little, a tech based one-on-one coaching experience that really works. Coaches monitor students’ daily progress and meet with them weekly for reviews. It’s test prep that’s not only effective, but realistic too. Testive students improve their scores by 18 percentile points, triple the amount of other test prep services and about 150 points on the SAT.
Who: Founded by Facundo Chamut, Tom Rose, and Miro Kazakoff.
Funding: $2.16M in Venture funding raised July, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a part-time SAT/ACT Coach.
Size: ~35 employees according to LinkedIn.
18. Wellcoin
Photo Source: www.nycrunningmama.com
Why they’re awesome: Have you ever thought you might be more motivated to exercise if someone paid you to do it? Well the folks over at one Boston startup definitely did. Wellcoin is part social network, part health initiative, and part currency. Basically whenever you do something healthy, you earn a certain amount of “Wellcoins” via the app. Sleep more than 7 hours a night (instead of the 5ish that you usually sleep)? Earn a Wellcoin! Choose a kale smoothie and whole wheat bagel (instead of that 67 ounce slushie and triple cheeseburger that you usually eat for breakfast)? Earn a Wellcoin! Walk a full two miles to work (instead of being carted around by the rickshaw you usually take)? Earn a Wellcoin! You get the picture. The best part is you can then use your Wellcoins to buy stuff that further reinforces your healthy lifestyle -- things like gym classes, health food, and exercise gear. Wellcoin gets you in a positive feedback loop that inspires healthy living. You do healthy things to earn Wellcoins, then you spend those Wellcoins on things that allow you to live a healthier life!
Who: Founded by Glenn Laffel and John Paul Pollak.
Funding: $750K Convertible Note raised January, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? No specific roles listed on their website but they encourage health-conscious job seekers to drop them a line at: jobs@wellcoin.com.
Size: ~9 employees according to LinkedIn.
19. Whoop
Photo Source: i-lab.harvard.edu.com
Why they’re awesome: This next one is straight out of a sci-fi novel. Whoop is wearable technology that lets athletes hack their bodies in a way that’s totally natural. It’s a performance optimization system used by everyone from college athletes, to Olympians, to US Navy SEALs. Their product, which collects and analyzes physiological signals of the wearer, is super robust, giving athletes, coaches, and trainers an inside understanding of ways to reduce injuries, balance athletic training, and predict physical performance. Up next on the roster? Iron Man suits.
Who: Founded by Will Ahmed, John Capodilupo, and Aurelian Nicolae.
Funding: $12M in Series B funding raised September, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Customer Service Manager.
Size: ~47 employees according to LinkedIn.
20. Yesware
Photo Source: Yesware.com
Why they’re awesome: Here’s a dreaded scenario: you text someone you’re romantically interested in and...YOU NEVER HEAR BACK. You’re left wondering whether or not they even read the message, whether they intentionally ignored you, or if they’re just too busy to chat. There’s nothing more frustrating than being left in the dark especially when the stakes are high. Turns out salespeople have this same exact problem when trying to close deals. Yesware works as a sales optimization platform, allowing salespeople to sell more effectively and sell more. One of its most helpful features is an email tracker that sends you an alert if and when a recipient opens an email, allowing you to follow up on their interest and re-engage them. It also includes a template feature for faster emailing as well as a robust CRM sync. Not only does Yesware help you close more deals, with Yesware, you can finally stop wondering what if.
Who: Founded by Matthew Bellows, Cashman Andrus, and Rajat Bhargava.
Funding: $13.3M in Series C funding raised June, 2015.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for a Sales Development Representative and a Customer Success Associate.
Size: ~94 employees according to LinkedIn.
While this list serves as a great starting point, there are tons of other Boston startups out there making major moves in the northeast tech scene. Boston startups touch a variety of different industries, and are innovating in ways that wouldn’t even be imaginable even five years ago. If you’re a Boston native, rest assured knowing you don’t have to hitch a flight to Cali to get a startup job and if you’re a New Yorker looking for something new, Boston might be the perfect place to kick start your career.
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