Israeli start-up Soluto Ltd. has won the 2010 "TechCrunch" Disrupt Award. Soluto was one of five finalists of the 20 start-ups and two audience choices that were presented at the "TechCrunch" conference yesterday.
Soluto CEO Tomer Dvir and CTO Ishay Green founded the company in 2007. In the words of the award judges: "If Soluto can convince the millions of frustrated PC users to use their software, they could transform the industry. Or, disrupt it."
Soluto seeks to eliminate user frustration with their PCs caused by non-responsive applications, crashes, and the like, and to address the problem of downloading software in a secure and effective way. Employees at many enterprises also waste valuable time on computer technical problems.
Soluto believes that it has the solution. Chief product officer Roee Adler says, "We're talking about tens of billions of dollars lost to computer frustration."
Soluto's solution is free software that can be downloaded from the Internet. The software harnesses the power of the crowd to learn which actions really eliminate frustrations and improve user experience, and leverages this user wisdom for the benefit of all PC users. The company also has patent-pending low level driver technology which detects when a user is frustrated by his or her PC and tells them which application is causing it.
Adler says, "Success lies in the user base. The more users we have, the smarter the system will be." This is why the software is free.
"Globes": How will you generate revenue?
Adler: "It will be based on the freemium model. We'll offer the software for free to users who know how to fix problems themselves, and help us expand our database. Less skilled users will be charged for fixing problems."
Adler says that most revenue will come from the enterprise market. "Our system knows how to extend a computer's lifespan at an enterprise, make the workforce more efficient, and lower maintenance costs."
Adler adds, "Our goal is to create a designated site, a kind of PC genome, which will be available for all users and will provide relevant information collected from the use of our software." He says that this information will help decision-makers decide on technology product purchases. "Our goal is create real value for a lot of users worldwide," He concludes.
Soluto has raised $7.8 million to date from Bessemer Venture Partners, Giza Venture Capital, and Proxima Ventures Ltd.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 27, 2010
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