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The tech community is a market that is constantly changing and growing within modern society. Year upon year companies and entrepreneurs are inventing new products to change that way we live, and each year comes with its break through stars. We have compiled a list of the people to watch out for in 2012.
Ben Milne, founder of Dwolla
Sick of credit card fees and being charged for using PayPal? Thanks to Ben Milne who founded “Dwolla” in 2008, paying for an item is as simple and easy as befriending someone on Facebook. Using Dwolla, much like PayPal, all you need to send money is the recipients name and email address.
However, unlike PayPal which takes a percentage of the transaction, Dwolla merely takes 25 cents for any transaction over $10. Dwolla has been a hit with users and in July 2011 it was processing $1 million every day, equating to over $350 million per annum. It is also expected that Milne will be announcing even more financing for the company and already has a 700 strong spreadsheet of willing investors. Dwolla is only set to grow in 2012.
Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp, co-founders of Pinterest
Social media has dominated the internet in recent years; with sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Investor Jeff Jordan said that he hadn’t “seen growth like Pinterest's since Facebook's early days". Jordan invested $27 million in Pinterest which was founded in 2010 and has seen huge growth in the last year. Pinterest is an online pin-board social site that allows users to pin photos from around the internet to their online profile. The users’ pins can then be shared through other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Monthly page views on the site are rumoured at more than 1 billion. The unique thing about Pinterest is that it is doing all this with a relatively small team. It will be interesting to see how the company grows in 2012.
Prashant Chandra, inventor of the Fujitsu Lifebook
The new Fujitsu Lifebook is a laptop that comes with, and then stores, all your digital needs. From a smartphone to digital camera and tablet, the Lifebook has them all in one and they can be detached and used separately. All the devices are in sync with each other, no USB or cords needed and the Lifebook will be placed at an affordable price. Prashant Chandra developed the design for the Lifebook after winning a Fujitsu competition. The design is sleek and practical with all the separate items fitting in slots within the laptop. The tablet, for example, becomes the keyboard within the laptop once slotted in. This is the design and indeed designer to watch out for!
Christina Cacioppo, Analyst, Union Square Ventures
At only 25, Christina Cacioppo has already made a big impact in the start-up community. She was just 23 years old when she first began working with Union Square Ventures and now works with around forty “early-stage” internet companies the world over from New York, to the West Coast and Europe. Cacioppo works to discover the next big thing and to help the companies expand and become successful in the near future. She also works with existing established client portfolios. Union Square Ventures clients include Etsy, Twitter, Zynga and Kickstarter. The future is definitely bright for the 25 year old who is now split between staying with the company or branching out on her own.
Ren Ng, founder and CEO, Lytro
Founded in 2006, Lytro is a light-field camera start-up company. The company works to produce its own cameras rather than linking with an already established manufacturer. As of June 2011, the company has raised around $50 million and that is set to increase. In 2011 Lytro came up with a revolutionary camera that you can set the focus on the image after the photo has been taken. There are rumours that it may even be built into the next iPhone. In February of this year, Lytro won the “Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal’s Idea and Innovation Award” in the consumer technology category and is set to have a huge impact on the photographic industry.
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