Thursday, January 17, 2013
TouchFrame's Braindex Pits Your Brain Against Mike Tyson, Others
Are you smarter than Mike Tyson? How about Andy Milonakis? A new, interactive application, Braindex--designed for the iPad and iPad mini--lets consumers do just that directly on their tablet. The new app is the first application launching out of TouchFrame, a new startup out of the MuckerLab incubator in Los Angeles. The app lets users play in an interactive game against host of celebrities, to see if they can answer quizzes faster than such folks as Mike Tyson, La La Anthony (La La's Full Court Life), Jason Mewes (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks), Jenni Pulos (Flipping Out), comedian Andy Milonakis and celebrity chef Rick Moonen (Top Chef Masters). TouchFrame has teamed with 51 Minds Entertainment, part of Endemol, to develop what it says is a TV-quality play along game show.
TouchFrame is one of the nine companies which launched themselves at MuckerLab's big Demo Day yesterday, the second class of startups to launch out of the accelerator. MuckerLab is run by Erik Rannala, a former Silicon Valley VC who moved specifically to Los Angeles to startup the accelerator. So far, the accelerator says it has had a 100 percent funding rate on its companies, based on its prior year's class.
The Braindex game is free on the App Store, and runs on iOS 6. The company said it will be rolling out new contestants each week, with both celebrities and contestants found on the streets of Los Angeles. The software also includes a way to challenge Facebook friends in contests. touchFrame is led by Sam Rogoway, who was formerly CEO of TripUp, which was acquired by SideStep; the firm's co-founders are Jon Zimelis (OpenSky) and Chris Lavender (Miso Media).