Zferral Among Top Talent at TechStars NY

Zferral, the Jeff Epstein startup that provides a socially integrated referral platform for businesses, was one of the stars at the demo day at TechStars NY. Designed to be the ultimate mentorship-driven seed stage investment program, TechStars NY runs three-month programs in Boston, MA; Boulder, CO; and New York City, New York. As one of just two companies not based on in New York (there were three but one moved to the Big Apple after raising $1 million, Betabeat reports), Zferral came to TechStars NY from Detroit, MI. Epstein, the company's “Chief zvangelist,” is a huge supporter of all things Michigan – especially Michigan State sports. He also has a ninja-like backhand in ping pong. Regarding the event, Managing Director David Tisch told Betabeat that he thinks there was “definitely a strong network effect, and that's why you are seeing so many more local companies in this class.” “A lot of these were companies we were able to meet and watch over the past months, which gave us confidence there was more than just talk to their pitches,” he said, adding, “Last time we had four or five companies change over the course of the three months. It's harder to see the natural pivots for a lot of these start-up.” Betabeat has provided a full list of the members of the new class: Zferral – Detroit, MI – Social Referral Platform Chat id – Florida; UK; Pakistan – Unified Chat Platform for Businesses TimeStream (Spontaneously) – NY, NY – Social Calendar and Discovery Platform Fred Rover – NY, NY – Web and Mobile App Discovery Order.in – Brooklyn, NY – API for Food Service Industry Arootz – NY, NY – Marketplace for Authentic Experiences Urtak – NY, NY – Publisher Polling Tool to Increase Engagement Contently – NY, NY (via Idaho) – Marketplace for Professional Content CourseKit – Philadelphia, PA – Social Learning Management Software Dispatch.io – NY, NY; Florida – Cloud Sharing, Movement, and Management Service Piictu – NY, NY (via Caracas, Venezuela) – Mobile Photo Meme Game Wantworthy – Philadelphia, PA – Brand for Discovering and Sharing Women's Fashion