500 Startups announces its 8th batch of startups, adds two new venture partners

500 Startups, has announced list of 28 companies that will participate in its 8^th batch of the 500 Startups Accelerator class. With this, the accelerator has also announced that it has brought in Sean Percival and Marvin Liao as its newest venture partners.

Sean Percival, had launched his first internet startup in 2006 for $12, and then sold it in 2009 at an 835,000% ROI. He was also the CEO and co-founder of 500 Startups company Wittlebee, and spent some time at MySpace as the VP of Online Marketing. Whereas Marvin Liao, is a former 500 Startup Super Mentor. He had also worked at Yahoo for more than a decade and has worked in Sales, Biz Dev, Ad Operations, and Marketing all around the globe. He also spent 2 years running online marketing at ecommerce startup Alibris.com.

The startups under its 8^th batch have been selected from countries like Spain, India (CultureAlley), Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Brazil, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Our local brethren hail from Las Vegas, Austin, NYC, SF, Sunnyvale, Detroit, Oakland and Mountain View. This will be first batch that will run out of 500 Startups’ new San Francisco office in the city’s SOMA district.

The participating companies will get access to space to work out of, as well as access to mentors, events, and programs.

Here is the list of startups that are part of accelerator’s 8^th batch

• BidAway – Like eBay for vacations, it matches the excess capacity in the luxury leisure industry with customers through real­time online auctions.
• clippPR – Makes it easy for brands and agencies to clip all their press, measure the value of PR, and re­-engage in public conversations to build trust and loyalty.
• CultureAlley – It helps to learn languages via interactive videos, and to practice them on a user’s Facebook wall or Twitter feed.
• Doorman – Allows users to get packages delivered on demand until midnight, seven days a week.
• DOZ – A marketing agency in the cloud that uses crowdsourcing and matching algorithms to curate local marketers and put them to work.
• Enchanted Diamonds – Helps couples discover the ring size and taste preferences to deliver bespoke engagement rings tailor­-made for the selected diamond and finger size.
• Equipboard – An ecommerce platform to connect products to the influencers using them
• FameBit – A marketplace making it easy for businesses to find, hire, and work with YouTube influencers for product and service endorsements.
• Friend Trusted – It takes the hassle out of home remodeling. Simply take a picture of your kitchen or bathroom, and see estimates from top rated contractors from the app.
• Guidekick – A mobile tool to create immersive and engaging learning experiences for visitors at high-profile historical attractions.
• Holidog – A European marketplace for pet owners selling dogs and cats.
• i3zif.com – It teaches how to play musical instruments through video tutorials working with some musicians in the Arab world.
• Já Entendi – An elearning solution that leverages blue-collar workers in Brazil by transforming content like books, booklets, and manuals into video lessons.
• Pijon – Reinvents college care packages to delivering supplies that students need every month.
• PredictionIO – An open ­source machine-learning server for software developers to create predictive features, such as personalization, recommendation, and content discovery.
• Quest – Mobile app, that allows users to ask any question and get an answer within minutes.
• Raisy – It partners with brands and services to provide easy and profitable online fundraising programs for schools.
• Rapt.fm – It provides technology for artists to build fan bases, get discovered, give live concerts, and monetize.
• Remark – Provides a browser­-based platform for video annotation.
• Roam & Wander – Makes games, apps, and toys for kids under the TuTu and DiDi brands.
• ShareRoot – It provide a social marketing suite to help large brands drive and measure Pinterest engagement.
• Shippo – Makes international shipping easy and cheap for ecommerce businesses by aggregating shipping volumes and giving customers access to cheaper shipping providers.
• Simmr – Gives diners access to behind­ the­ scenes experiences at their favorite restaurants.
• SoundBetter – Provides a marketplace for music production talent.
• Unwind Me – A brand for accessible massage and wellness, making it easy to book and receive high-quality massages, when and where they want, at an affordable price.
• VenueSpot – An online marketplace where venues bid to host events.
• Whale Path – It’s an on demand research platform where professionals can order business research from qualified and vetted top-tier students
• Wuzzuf – It does intelligent job matching by simulating how “human” recruiters actually think, screen applicants, and communicate with both employers and job seekers.