Every year, ShowStoppers and Launch.It come together to present the most investment-worthy startups at CES. This year, Eureka Park — the international startup section of the massive Vegas conference — is focused on sensors and the Internet of Everything.
The winner was Enplug, a Los Angeles-based digital signage platform that turns any regular display into an interactive screen. The software platform is open and app-based, meaning that it’s flexible enough to apply to restaurants (with, say, an interactive menu screen), hotels and more. The system measures how many people interacted with a display, engages with social platforms, and can target ads toward users.
Runners-up were also big on sensors. VocalZoom, an Israeli company with an impressive noise-filtering software, filters out everything but the speaker’s voice, leaving crystal-clear audio. SwitchBee is a smart home system (also Israeli) based on home switches with no infrastructure changes. It’s a crowded market, but their touch switch design is elegant.
The flashiest presentations didn’t move the veteran angel investor judges: Ohio-based password control platform Everykey started off by burning a paper sheet of passwords, while Smart Wheels rolled up on a hands-free scooter (and not much of a business plan).
Rounding out the presenters were Lumifi (connected lighting), Diamond Kinetics (motion detection for baseball and softball), Lert.ly (a Wifi-enabled personal safety system for the elderly), Hush (smart earplugs that still plays phone notifications), Sunfriend (sun-measuring wearables), and Carbon Origins (a IoT developer platform called Apollo).