YOUR WEEKLY FIX OF ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS We’ve selected 15 new business ideas this week that will provide entrepreneurs with plenty of inspiration. Spotted from countries all around the world, these ideas offer a taste of what’s to come.

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YOUR WEEKLY FIX OF ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS !
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20-­‐26
February
2014
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YOUR WEEKLY FIX OF ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS !
Top 10 business ideas & opportunities for 2014!
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20-­‐26
February
2014
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We’ve selected 15 new business ideas that will provide
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entrepreneurs with plenty of inspiration. Spotted from
!
countries all around the world, these ideas offer a taste of
what’s to come.!
!!

4. 1. Eco bottle caps double as Lego blocks!
Bottle caps typically serve a humble
purpose and aren’t really thought of as
the most practical invention ever —
instead, they contribute to more than USD
1 billion worth of plastic waste that ends
up in US landfills each year, rather than
being recycled. While in the past we have
seen initiatives turn them into mini indoor
gardens, a new scheme called Clever
Caps has redesigned them to give them
extra use as Lego-style bricks after
they’ve finished their life as a bottle cap.!
Read more about Clever Caps »!

5. 2.
App promises clean water for kids in need when users simply !
ignore their phone!
We’ve already seen how smartphones
can be leveraged to aid global causes
such as cancer research with Samsung’s
Power Sleep app. Now UNICEF is
challenging smartphone users to make a
difference by ignoring their devices
through the Tap Project app, which helps
provide a day’s worth of clean water to
children in need for every ten minutes
users refrain from touching their phone.!
Read more about the Tap Project »!

6. 3. Smart bag can stop shopaholics from overspending!
Weird Of The Week: This is part of a series of
articles that looks at some of the most bizarre and
niche business ideas we see here at Springwise.!
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Sometimes, humans just can’t control
themselves and end up doing things they
know they’ll regret later. Ideas such as
the Kitchen Safe have previously helped
homeowners hide snacks from
themselves, and now iBag is a handbag
that automatically locks owners out if it
detects they’re about to splash the cash.!
Read more about the iBag »!

7. 4. Bike light deters dangerous activity behind cyclists!
This is part of a series of articles that looks at
entrepreneurs hoping to get their ideas off the
ground through crowdfunding. At the time of
writing, each of these innovations is currently
seeking funding.!
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Cyclists often have to deal with poorly
planned cycle lanes, dangerous traffic
hotspots and even angry motorists, and
many have taken to filming their journeys
as a way to provide footage in the event
of an incident. While products such as the
Helmet of Justice have already combined
cameras with existing bike equipment,
the Fly6 is a rear light with an embedded
HD camera that aims to discourage bad
behavior on the part of motorists by
warning them that they’re being filmed.!
Read more about the Fly6 »!

8. 5. Analytics platform actually helps boost web traffic!
Web analytics tools are great for website
owners who need to know how many
visitors they’re getting, where they’re
coming from and what content they’re
engaging with. However, it’s typically left
up to them to figure out the hard part —
working out how to optimize content to
give readers what they want. Echobox is
a new app for content creators that
actually gives them actionable tasks to
help their writing go viral.!
Read more about Echobox »!

9. 6. Multi-use city square built to collect floodwater!
Thanks to its proximity to the sea, the flat
nature of its topography and high levels
of precipitation, the Netherlands is a
country that is prone to flooding. When
rainfall hits cities such as Rotterdam, it
can cause closed roads and ruined
basements due to the lack of drainage.
Aiming to tackle this problem,
Watersquare Benthemplein is a public
space featuring a sports pitch, theater
and greenery that automatically becomes
a reservoir for excess water during heavy
rain.!
Read more about the Watersquare
Benthemplein »!

10. 7. App enables on-the-fly meetups with fellow solo!
travelers!
Traveling is all about taking in new
experiences and meeting new people,
and the latter can be especially important
for solo trekkers. While sites like
Globetrooper already helps groups
looking to plan a journey with likeminded
strangers, Backpackr is a new app that
lets lone tourists and hikers check in real
time when others that share their interests
are nearby.!
Read more about Backpackr »!

11. 8. Flower bouquets fit through the mailbox without getting ruined!
It may be easy to send seeds, and even a
foldable kit to grow them indoors, through
the post — à la Vancouver-based Patch
— but flowers have to be hand-delivered
due to their fragile nature. That is until
online florist Bloom & Wild came along,
with its special letterbox size packaging
which preserves the freshly cut stems
inside.!
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Read more about Bloom & Wild »!

12. 9.
Superfruit drinks for fliers tackle jetlag and DVT!
Airline food is a common target for
criticism by consumers as it often doesn’t
match the quality they’re used to back on
the ground. However, good food can
actually be vital for helping them stay
healthy while on board, where the
atmosphere is stuffy, stress levels are
high and there’s not much room to
stretch. Netherlands-based FlyFit has
now introduced a range of drinks that
help airline passengers counter the
effects of flying.!
Read more about FlyFit »!

13. 10. In place of text CVs, platform lets freelancers blog their work !
history!
The recruitment industry has already seen
its fair share of innovations aiming to
better connect employers with skilled
workers, from gamified hiring and
automatic scoring of coders’ skills. From
Germany, Somewhere is a visual
blogging platform that enables
freelancers and small teams to show
potential employers and clients a more
engaging story of their work.!
Read more about Somewhere »!

14. 11. Service lets cold and flu victims order instant medication from !
their bed!
We’ve already seen dedicated services
that aim to deliver specific health
products to consumers as quickly as
possible — such as Dr Ed, the site that
gets morning after pills to those that need
them in under two hours on a weekend.
Now Walgreens and TaskRabbit have
collaborated on a scheme that enables
housebound flu sufferers to order
essentials without leaving their bed.!
Read more about Walgreens and
TaskRabbit »!

15. 12. Smart device lets anglers catch fish with their smartphone!
You may think that monitoring the
locations of fish is a job for marine
scientists with lots of technical
equipment, but the process is becoming
much easier. In recent weeks we’ve even
seen efforts from a coastal safety charity
track sharks so that they tweet when they
near the beach. Now FishHunter Sonar is
bringing even the time-old art of angling
into the 21st century, enabling users to
increase their haul by locating fish on
their smartphone.!
Read more about the FishHunter Sonar »!

16. 13. Widget turns any car into a smart vehicle!
This is part of a series of articles that looks at
entrepreneurs hoping to get their ideas off the
ground through crowdfunding. At the time of
writing, each of these innovations is currently
seeking funding.!
!
The Internet of Things is already making
great headway in connecting home
appliances to owners’ smartphones, and
consumer vehicles are set to be the next
big thing to go digital if demonstrations at
this year’s CES are anything to go by.
Currently seeking funding through
Kickstarter, OBDLink MX WiFi is a small
device that enables drivers to use a
variety of maintenance tools and
dashboard displays through their mobile.!
Read more about the OBDLink MX WiFi »!

17. 14. App helps anyone get dressed with outfit recommendations !
from their own wardrobe!
Consumers wardrobes can be so vast
that it’s hard to keep track of every item
— as evidence by the You’ll Never Wear
That Again Facebook app, which drags
up old photos to show them clothes that
could be given to charity. Now Style
Puzzle wants to make wardrobe
management easier, as well as
recommending outfits when users can’t
decide what to wear.!
Read more about Style Puzzle »!

18. 15. Micro-donations take a percentage of donors’ daily spending!
We’ve already seen charities and
nonprofits look towards new technologies
to enable easier giving opportunities for
consumers, such as CentUp — the
scheme that attaches micro-donation
buttons to viral content to reward creators
and good causes. Now Changefolio is
also taking advantage of small donations,
enabling shoppers to automatically give
money to charities based on the cash
they spend on the high street.!
Read more about Changefolio »!

19. What is Springwise?
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Springwise scans the globe for the most promising, unique and innovative business
ventures, ideas and concepts that are ready for regional or international adaptation,
expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation.!
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Springwise headquarters is in close contact with more than 17,000 Springspotters in over
150 countries worldwide, who provide us with details of the latest innovations in their
countries. These are compiled and assessed by our editorial team, and the best
examples are published to provide entrepreneurial inspiration to our readers around the
world!!
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Springwise publishes a Daily and a Weekly newsletter, to which you can subscribe for
free, they are sent to more than 170,000 people.!
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Established in 2002, Springwise is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.!
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