If you grew up on the West Coast, you may or may not have heard the term “hurricane party” before – it’s a multi-day party held during a hurricane, where guests bring sleeping bags, radios, food and other hurricane supplies. Of course in the chaos of a hurricane, the trick can be finding the party, and that’s what makes “Hurricane Party” such an apt name for the Austin startup working to revolutionize realtime social networking.
Hurricane Party was voted 2011 Hottest Startup at SXSW in a poll conducted by Tech Cocktail. The company’s iPhone app is a way for users to spontaneously connect and create parties in real time. Just the ticket for SXSW, but after the show ended, the party was over for Hurricane Party. CEO Rene Pinnell says people didn’t download or use the app as much as he had hoped they would after SXSW. Now his company has a new offering that he thinks will help people connect even on those less-than-epic nights. Forecast is meant to be an improvement on the “checking in” concept pioneered by foursquare. It lets users share their future plans instead of just their current location, so that people can decide where to go based on where their friends will be going.
Austin’s Capital Factory is proud to have put the wind into Hurricane Party’s sails last summer. Hurricane Party was one of the five companies that earned the right to spend 10 weeks during the summer of 2010 with a group of 20 entrepreneurial mentors at Austin’s Capital Factory. To learn more about Capital Factory, watch our exclusive report.
