PIE—or the Portland Incubator Experiment, the startup incubator run by Wieden+Kennedy and local tech entrepreneurs—is about to announce its second class, and we've got the scoop on who's invited (full disclosure: PIE co-founder Rick Turoczy works for WW's upcoming PDX festival). Being accepted into the program is no small thing: Previous PIE graduates include VendScreen, which raised $12 million in venture capital earlier this year, and Cloudability, which just scored a cool $8.7 million. These companies will spend the next three months working with mentors, W+K, big brands and other startups preparing pitch their business as the next hot tech property in Silicon Forest.
Here's the new kids:
1. AppThwack: A service for testing applications and Web sites on real Android phones and tablets
2. KS12: A creative studio that tells stories which blur the line between documentary and fiction, artwork and essay
3. Lytics.io: An API that makes analytics available and accessible to any developer
4. Plexus Engine: A tool suite for influencer and expert discovery and engagement
5. Stublisher: A service for capturing and curating event experiences
6. Vadio: A service that turns any terrestrial radio station Web site into live video channels
7. "Portland Women's Software Academy" project: A nonprofit focused on educating and encouraging would-be software developers
WWeek 2015