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No New Product, Service or Idea Left Behind with NYC Based Startup Launch.it

Every new product, service and idea will have a home if the Cohens have anything to say about it.Today, NYC-based startup Launch.it, a free professional self-publishing and brand engagement news platform, launched with the vision that all new products and services should be easy to discover, find and share. Launch.it believes that by giving new things a home and by removing all friction associated with distribution, entrepreneurs and big brands alike will no longer be challenged to present themselves honestly and fully to deserving customers.  Although the platform aims at including new products from all industries, it will not safeguard them from the court of public opinion. Call it tough love, call it detox for overhyping marketing execs, but co-founder Brian Cohen, a well respected PR guru, veteran newsman, business strategist and angel investor, explains that the site is focused on the truth well told. “Spin at your own risk,” said Cohen.  “We’re an equal opportunity site for all products but the readers have the ultimate power to make or break your new.  Learning how to communicate with your customers can be an iterative process.  Launch.it will create better marketers based on their willingness to listen to their customer base and change their habits." Launch.it was based on a simple truth: there is no destination site for all news of the new.  “If it’s new, it’s here first,” said Cohen. Every launch empowers the launcher to write the story that they would want to see written about themselves to put the public back in public relations. With an innovative layout and unique Action Box that allows reader to connect on unprecedented levels, launchers will be able to increase visibility, get financing, and even drives sales directly through their news release story for the first time ever with a buy button next to the editorial content.To increase the reach and opportunity of being discovered, Launch.it’s homepage will be community-curated by multiple horizontals and verticals so that the most popular news will rise to the top. In addition, they have created a social network that will allow readers to follow their favorite launchers, brands and companies along with numerous partnerships for syndication to top publications. After the news release is launched, they can access robust analytics on a wide range of characteristics – such as page views, comments, demographics, info graphics, psychographics etc. You can also read our interviews with the New York Times and Business Inside for more information:·      Business Insider interview - http://read.bi/N1aPLx·      New York Times interview - http://nyti.ms/NsVHDmLaunch.it is 100% FREE, so sign-up today and start connecting to your customers through your own news story.Happy Launching!

Wolfgang Puck Launches New iPhone Application

 Pioneering chef Wolfgang Puck announces the debut of his first app for iPhone and iPod touch, created by Gourmet Pixel. The app, now available for free from the App Store, features never-before-published recipes, cooking and technique videos, one-touch calling for reservations, event planning tools and social media integration. Fans of Wolfgang can tune in to a live video chat with the master chef on Tuesday, April 17 at 12pm PT/3pm ET viawww.livestream.com/wolfgangpuck."I'm excited to bring my favorite recipes, cooking tips and tricks to our fans who share my passion for food and entertaining," said Wolfgang Puck. "For those who like to cook, dine out or host events, my app offers great features to make life easier at home or while traveling. It's VIP access to the best of what we have to offer!"The chef, restaurateur, and visionary behind an empire of restaurants, products, cookbooks, and catering operations brings new innovation to the world of hospitality with his unique app. Pulling from Wolfgang's best dishes, including exclusive new recipes, the app offers personalized recommendations based upon the season, time and user's location. Home cooks can add ingredients to a "Shopping List" of items needed at the store or market. Video demonstrations sit side-by-side with "Tips and Tricks," teaching skills like the proper way to dice an onion.Those looking to take a night off from the kitchen can access OpenTable restaurant reservations, a first in the world of chef mobile apps. A built-in GPS locator helps fans locate restaurants in airports, hotels and cities around the world. Event planning capabilities allow users to organize functions, from weddings to dinner parties. iPhone-integrated functions make for easy entertaining with an event countdown, guest list tracking and recipe and menu sharing. The shopping section provides access to a digital store of products, from cookware to kitchen appliances.With social media and the app, Wolfgang is utilizing technology to connect with guests unlike any other celebrity chef. Along with a strong social media presence on YouTube, Facebook, Foursquare, Foodspotting and Twitter, the app is another way for fans to access Wolfgang's world.The Wolfgang Puck app is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

Drinks Americas KAH® Tequila Launches 50ml Mixed Mini Pack

Drinks Americas Holdings, Ltd., ("Drinks") (OTCBB: DKAM), a leading developer and marketer of beverage products, announced today that its award winning KAH® Tequila brand has successfully launched a mixed 50ml pack which included one KAH® Blanco, one KAH® 110 Proof Reposado and one KAH® Anejo. The KAH® mini mixed pack allows retailers to offer one of each of the award winning premium KAH® Tequila selections. Drinks Americas began selling KAH® Tequila in September of 2011, and since that time has expanded the brand to 47 states and several international markets. Distributors and retailers began requesting the mixed mini pack earlier this year.  The complete KAH® Tequila series will also be available in a decorative gift pack for the holidays. Currently, the Company has orders for over two thousand cases of KAH minis, which are enjoying sales success in both retail and on premise outlets.

Schoology Closes $6 Million Round Led by FirstMark Capital

 Schoology, developer of the leading cloud-based collaborative learning platform for K-20 classrooms, today announced it has closed a new $6 million round of financing led by FirstMark Capital, a leading NYC-based venture capital firm with a history of successful investments in online, software and education businesses, and joined by existing investor Meakem Becker Venture Capital. Schoology has raised $9.3 million in funding to date.Schoology's mission is to improve communication and collaboration inside and outside of the classroom by socially connecting educators, students and parents to a single platform with the resources they need to drive a better learning experience. Schoology bundles online learning, classroom management and social networking into one, easy-to-use, easy-to-deploy platform that is free to teachers and students. Districts can easily upgrade the platform to benefit from powerful administrative, security and analytics features that can easily integrate with existing systems."Schoology is breaking down the classroom walls and has become part of the daily workflow of how teachers engage with students. This is a true, market-disrupting technology and exactly what we look for in our portfolio companies," said Amish Jani, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital. "The platform approach Schoology brings to schools melds together the very best in cloud-based technologies like social networking, content management and collaboration, document sharing and enterprise management systems in one, easy-to-use web-based platform."Schoology provides teachers and administrators with a full suite of learning management tools to manage lessons and homework assignments; administer and grade tests and quizzes; discover and embed new educational content and resources; share and collaborate with other educators on course materials; analyze individual student and overall classroom performance; and effectively communicate and engage with students in a secure online environment.Leading schools and districts in the U.S. and abroad have been quick to embrace Schoology. Ann Dunkin, Director of Technology at the Palo Alto Unified School District, representing 11,000 students offered, "We were looking for a learning management system that would provide an open platform for IT, an innovative pathway to incorporate new functionality and an appealing user interface for our users. When I saw Schoology, I knew we had a winner -- our students, staff and parents uniformly love Schoology.""I have never seen any product be adopted as quickly as Schoology," shared Keith Pomeroy, Director of Technology at Olentangy Local School District, the fastest-growing school district in Ohio with nearly 17,000 students. "Schoology has the lowest barrier to professional development I have ever seen in my 17-year career in educational technology. Most teachers know how to use it without any training. Even the more complex functionality is user-friendly and intuitive.""Demand for the Schoology platform has surpassed our expectations, exponentially," said Jeremy Friedman, Founder and CEO of Schoology. "Nearly one million teachers and students at more than 18,000 schools and districts use the Schoology platform. This year will bring more exciting innovations as we pioneer and release transformative ways to connect our users to the best, and most relevant, academic content and applications."

1% Of Nothing Launches To Get Startups Donating Equity

 Shervin Pishevar and Matt Galligan have just formally announced the beta launch of their new organization 1% of Nothing. It’s aimed at inspiring early-stage companies to donate 1% of their equity to a cause of their choice. The idea is that startups pledge 1% when that equity may be worth nothing, but if they’re acquired, that 1% becomes a significant donation. Starting today, whole companies and individual employees alike canmake the pledge to donate 1% of their equity.Serial entrepreneur, VC, and TechCrunch contributor Pishevar met Galligan, cofounder and former CEO of SimpleGeo, after Galligan accidentally attended a philanthropy panel during Summit at Sea. They saw initiatives pushing individual micro-donations and corporate philanthropy, but wanted to encourage giving from the startups in between.When asked what’s broken with startup philanthropy at present, Galligan told me, “It’s mostly nonexistent. There’s no way of knowing whether they’re doing it unless they post about their donation on a website.” The hope is that by shining a light on who’s contributing, it will become the norm and more entrepreneurs will join the movement. He doesn’t see his organization as a competitor but more as a complement to Entrepreneur’s Foundation and others with similar goals.Galligan had already seen the potential of the 1% model. He pledged 1% of the equity of his first company SocialThing. When it got acquired by AOL, that pledge became the year’s biggest single donation to the Community Foundation of Boulder, helping it to successfully push a proposition to fund local at-risk schools.Now Galligan and Pishevar are hoping more companies and employees will follow suit. In addition to equity, they can pledge to donate 1% of their time or profits. Along with the warm, fuzzy feeling of making the world a better place, the site explains that “the entrepreneur that donates their 1% actually gets a tax write-off benefit, sweetening the deal even more.” If entrepreneurs aren’t sure what to donate to, the organization will help them identify efficient causes making a big impact.The 1% of Nothing team is now dedicated to driving awareness and understanding of early-stage corporate philanthropy and showing off who’s participating.

CBRE Launches E-Commerce Specialty Group within Industrial Services Business Line

 CBRE today announced the launch of the E-Commerce Group, a newly formed specialty group within the company’s Industrial Services business line, which will serve the growing needs of occupiers in the online retail space. “With online retailing’s increasingly important role in our economy, leveraging the full spectrum of the CBRE platform will enable us to better serve our occupier clients in this burgeoning business sector,” said Ed Schreyer, CBRE Executive Managing Director of Industrial Services. “As strong as we are in both the industrial and retail space, we have the potential to be even better, and the E-Commerce Group will help us cement our position as a leader in the these marketplaces.” According to CBRE’s Americas Research, large, modern warehouse distribution space located in supply-constrained gateway markets was among the most improved property markets in 2011, and e-retailers were a significant driver of the improvement. Analysts project that e-retail will account for roughly 18% of the $4.2 trillion retail sales market by 2020. The new E-Commerce group is led by veteran industrial professionals Scott Belfer, a CBRE Senior Vice President based in New Jersey, and Mike Lowe, a CBRE First Vice President in Cincinnati. The E-Commerce Group will offer strategic advice and expertise throughout all facets of the site selection process; ensure speed-to-market solutions via a constantly updated database of national and local proprietary market knowledge; and provide critical tax nexus information compiled from the latest data from across the country to help unlock the best possible value for their clients. Additionally, the E-Commerce Group will be able to offer its clients premier, vertically integrated solutions by leveraging the full breadth and depth of the CBRE platform including retail services expertise, labor analytics, financial and economic incentives consulting as well as assistance from CBRE Econometric Advisors and other specialty services. To learn more about CBRE’s new E-Commerce offering please click here www.cbre.com/ecommercegroup.