This month, Built in Los Angeles will be featuring some “hot” startups across the various neighborhoods that, although may feel like different worlds at times, make up LA’s budding digital ecosystem. To recommend a startup or district of LA that deserves some love, email [email protected].
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With the goal of making mobile app development a “people-first” experience, West Hollywood-based ShowKit provides a software development kit that allows the addition of video chat, screen share and shared gestures to any mobile app: Their product, which is “like Amazon’s ‘Mayday’ for iOS,”co-founder Emily Sipchen said, is gaining ShowKit some traction in such varied markets as robotics, gaming, classroom learning and financial planning.
Their specs: $500,000 seed round in 2012. Five-full time employees, four part-time contractors.
What they are up to now: As they are currently in beta with about 1,000 developers, startups and enterprise companies testing out their technology, the team is focusing on finishing the Web plugins for Mac and Windows that “will allow anyone on any computer to download a plugin and call someone through his or her mobile app. From the Web, they see the same app screen and can both navigate it.”
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Why you should look out for them in 2014: They are looking to raise a Series A round in early 2014 as well as release an Android version of ShowKit, Sipchen said.
Why they love West Hollywood: “We have one of the best views in the city,” Sipchen said about their penthouse space at 8560 W Sunset Blvd (complete with a patio!) that they share with Curious Minds incubator. Some of their startup buddies close by are Authorly, Brand Reporter and Takes.
