This Week In Startups
Square Now Valued at $3 Billion
This week, the San Francisco-based company, Square is valued at $3.25 billion after just three years on the market according to All Things Digital. Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey created the product in order make credit and debit card payments mobile and easier than ever. You simply purchase "dongle" plug it into your phone and use the product through the Square application. It's now a booming necessity for traveling entrepreneurs and salesmen. 
Now that their company is valued in billions with more than $8 million in payments a year, founders Dorsey and McKelvey are ready to take this product past American boarders.
The jump in valuation might be caused by Squares recent partnership with Starbucks, which is using the platform to process transactions in-store. This newfound partnership will play a huge role in Square's desire to move internationally. Starbucks has nearly 18,000 stores in more than 60 countries.
App Alert: Buy a man along with your eggs and milk?
These days, picking the perfect guy isn't as easy as going to the market and picking the perfect patch of strawberries..or is it? Tadashi Takaoka created the application, Supermanket, a site that allows women to literally shop for men on an online store. The site shows shelves of categories in which the woman can pick the type of guy based on her interests in men.
Women love to shop, and more importantly women have a certain checklist they go through in their head of what they want- at the store and in their men. Supermanket gives the choice to narrow down items by three criteria- flavor, packaging, and bonus pack.
Once they find their dreamboat they can "buy" they them off the shelf, or in other words start a conversation with the men that were chosen. The guy will receive the alert, can see who's shopping for him, and decide if he wants to pursue or not. This site is different than most dating sites because women hold the power and they get to use it in a fun and flirty way.
Ladies, join the site and get shopping! There are many brands and flavors to chose from!
Entrepreneurs: Think Gluten Free!
The gluten-free market is worth nearly $4.5 billion worldwide and is expected to reach 5.6 billion by 2015. Not only are people trying to be healthy in recent years, allergies to wheat are much more common than we think. Celebrities and professional athletes are promoting the gluten free diet and as a result entrepreneurs are hopping on the wagon as well.
Darin Alpert, operating officer of Find Me Gluten Free, a mobile app that helps users find gluten free restaurants, markets, and businesses developed this app due to his allergy to gluten. Mark Cuban invested in this app, allowing it to flourish among gluten free enthusiasts. Users are able to suggest new shops and restaurants to be added to the app's list of the delicious gluten free entities.
General Mills entered the market in 2011, creating GlutenFreely, an e-commerce and informational site for gluten free eaters. It's time for entrepreneurs to keep up with the latest fashion and invest in the gluten free industry, better yet develop a product that's essential to gluten free lovers.