Todd Jones: National Startup Roundup

In this roundup, we decided to look at a couple of startup scenes you might not think of and possible apps designed to help you travel to those locations.

LOOKING FOR THE SCENE
If you are looking for the next great startup scenes, you might take a trip to Bozeman, MT or to the country of Vietnam.

In 2012, Oracle bought RightNow Technologies for $1.8 billion giving the Montana city of 40,000 a new perception leading to a hub for startups. The result was new millionaires from the company launching several startups, attracting talent from the East and West coasts, and taking advantage of the city’s Montana State University.

“Rob Irizarry, a RightNow alum who runs resource and networking organization StartupBozeman, recalls prominent venture capitalist Brad Feld of Boulder-based Foundry Group coming to town and saying that Bozeman reminded him of Boulder 15 years ago.”

Vietnam is, of course, the home to Flappy Bird creator Nguyen Ha Dong, and is a bourgeoning startup hub. The launching of startups and new entrepreneurial activity has a name. It is called the “Flappy Bird Effect,” according to CNET’s article on the country.

While Vietnam is hoping to raise its entrepreneurship game, they still have a way to go, according to CNet.

“Tech in Asia estimates the current number of startups is between 1,000 and 2,000, though it’s difficult to gauge,” the online tech site said.

For the country, Flappy Bird seems to have sparked a beginning.

“No moment in Vietnam’s startup history for the last ten years could be so monumental and magical. I heard of tens of university kids and engineers leaving their jobs or starting up projects just because they were so inspired by Nguyen Ha Dong. Nguyen really did ignite an industry.”

CHANGING HOW WE TRAVEL
As people look for more convenient and alternative forms of transportation, companies like Uber have burst on to the scene. In fact, in Fayetteville, SUMO launched recently with the same thing in mind.

Two other startups are receiving attention.

Wanderu has attracted the attention of Virgin Group’s Richard Branson. Wanderu is an app that helps connect millennials with buses or trains to travel across the country.

“Earlier this year, Wanderu became one of the finalists in the Extreme Tech Challenge, leading to the opportunity to personally pitch to Sir Richard Branson,” TechCo reported.

Branson certainly has the ability to take Wanderu further.

Jetsmart really is trying to be the Uber of the skies. Commuting by plane? Yes.

The app helps travelers locate a private charter plane to take them to their destination.

Apparently, investors believe in the model.

“With $20 million in Series B funding from the Saudi Royal Family, music and entertainment moguls including Jay-Z, and executives at companies such as Goldman Sachs and Twitter, the company will take a big step closer to that goal,” says TechCrunch.

Travel could look different in the future. You might want to book a train to Bozeman with Wanderu or a private flight to Vietnam with JetSmart to check out the startup scenes.