OLYMPIC COMPETITION BRINGS STARTUP COMPANIES TOGETHER FOR CHARITY

Posted by MiniCo on Jul 18, 2012 12:00:00 AM

OLYMPIC COMPETITION BRINGS STARTUP COMPANIES TOGETHER FOR CHARITY

SpareFoot, the Austin-based tech startup self-storage finder, won $5,000 for Kure It Cancer Research in Austin’s Summer Startup Olympics. This second edition of the Startup Olympics brought together competitors from eight elite Austin tech startup companies. In the spirit of innovation and community fundraising, participants competed for monetary contributions to the charity of their choice. SpareFoot snagged the silver medal for a donation that will be used to further Kure It’s mission of funding innovative, groundbreaking research projects focusing on underfunded cancers.

Led by Office Manager Genivieve Glynn, SpareFoot was organizer of the summer games. “When I found out SpareFoot would be planning this year’s Summer Startup Olympics, I was extremely excited,” Glynn said. “CEO Chuck Gordon and I really wanted to up the ante and raise as much money as we could for the event, which meant more for the winning startups’ charities.”

SpareFoot and other startups battled in competitions including tug-of-war, basketball, tetherball, relay races, and kickball. Barry Hoeven, Founder of Kure It, said, “We admire SpareFoot’s commitment to Kure It, and their culture of creativity. They are an example to other companies that you can give back, and have fun while doing it.”

Gold medalists BuildASign chose Austin Pro Bono as the recipient of their $10,000 prize, and Austin Pets Alive was the recipient of Adlucent’s $1,624 prize for taking the bronze.

SpareFoot Sales Manager and reigning tetherball champion Ryan Harmon said, “The Startup Olympics were the most fun I have ever had raising money for a charity. The competition was intense, but everyone at SpareFoot brought their A-game and had the same goal of winning to raise money and awareness for Kure It. It was an honor to win $5,000 for such a worthy cause. Can’t wait to compete next year!”

About Kure It

Kure It is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise money for research specialists conducting innovative projects to better treat and ultimately cure kidney and other cancers. Founded by self-storage industry veteran Barry Hoeven after his diagnosis with kidney cancer, Kure It has raised over $1 million for research since 2007. www.kureit.org

About SpareFoot

SpareFoot is the world’s largest online marketplace for consumers to find and reserve self-storage units, with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability and exclusive deals. We also offer web marketing solutions for storage facility owners and operators. Our AdNetwork tool helps facilities modernize their marketing and win new tenants online. SpareFoot AdNetwork listings get more traffic than any comparable directory, featuring software integration and ROI-proving analytics. https://sparefoot.com

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