Life 3.0 – San Francisco Startups that Change the Way You Live

San Francisco Startups

The Life 3.0 party is a series of events where San Francisco startups and social media marketing companies have the opportunity to demo their inventions to a variety of potential users including bloggers, investors, engineers, and enthusiasts.  Attendees can “vote” on the best, most viable ideas, and the top winners from this series are given the opportunity to exclusively pitch their products to a group of esteemed angel investors.

The event, promoted by Funders & Founders, a technology start-up investment group.  Last night’s event was hosted at the Steelcase company in the SOMA district of San Francisco.  The beautiful, loft-like space was modern, open, bright and inviting.  It was a terrific environment to navigate around and visit different San Francisco startup product teams.  And sponsored by Los Osuna tequila, Slo Down Wines, and L’Artisan bakery, the beverages and treats were a classy and remarkable complement to the setting.

Last night’s event featured some exciting companies.  Below are a few of my favorites.

Blueseed is a San Francisco startup Incubator on water.  A what?  Yes, because of the United States’ current immigration and regulatory restrictions, developers around the world aren’t given the chance to come to Silicon Valley, and innovative companies aren’t allowed to hire them.  With a planned ecosystem 12 miles off-shore from Silicon Valley, Blueseed will house the development talent of U.S. technology companies in an environment conducive to great development.  Just have a look at these cool concept vessels.

 AwayFind, another cool start-up has a product more relevant to the everyday person: Email management in an entirely different way.  AwayFind frees you from the tether of constantly needed to check your email.  Customized by your own settings, when you receive a timely, important email message, AwayFind will notify you on your mobile device with an SMS, Voice call or even our iPhone & Android apps.

GetAround is a startup solution I have been waiting for.  Living in San Francisco, I sold my car, and mainly commute on my two motorcycles (a Burgman, and a Roadstar for those interested).  If I need to go further than I like on a motorcycle, or I just want to enjoy the comfort of a car, I typically use CityShare.  But GetAround seems like a more appealing, cost-effective alternative: Peer-to-peer auto sharing.

Essentially, I am renting the use of your car, and GetAround makes it possible with technology, full liability insurance, and management of the billing and screening systems.  Those who rent their cars earn money while they’re not using it.  It’s estimated that sharing your car just 15 hours per week can earn someone $350 each month.  Besides, it’s good for the environment.

This San Francisco startup technology has practical implications for the parents of adolescents.  Genietrack enables concerned, busy parents to monitor their children’s whereabouts and behavior in an unobtrusive fashion, meaning no calling or texting.  Parents can securely view current and previous locations of their children via the location-based functionality.  And for the app-holding kid, there’s no effort involved–no need to “check-in” or participate in the app in any way.

This was just a sampling of the companies at the event.  I plan to evaluate the entire line-up at the next Life 3.0 event in March.  And lastly, if you are wondering, as was I, “What’s up with the lizard?”  Turns out it’s a really sophisticated gadget that learns your behaviors and plays with you like a pet.  Next time I’ll do a write-up on him, too.