Startups to Watch: 10 Innovators Making More Happen

As dedicated advocates of small-business innovators, Staples and Entrepreneur are proud to present these up-and-coming startups. Discovered by mining the , these companies are reinventing how consumers and businesses perform everyday tasks.
TOP HONORS
Staples will present these three companies with gift cards, marketing services and mentoring from some of the brightest minds in business.

$15,000 Staples Gift Card

Founded 2015 • Oakland, Calif.
Sabrina Mutukisna, Tara Mutukisna, Jefferson Sevilla
The Town Kitchen prepares and delivers locally sourced, chef-prepared lunches. The company hires, trains and mentors under-served youth to learn career skills with chefs and entrepreneurs.
$10,000 Staples Gift Card
Founded 2014 • Boulder, Colo.
Scott Lininger, Aidan Chopra
Started by two ex-Google employees and dads. Bitsbox is a monthly subscription box and website that teaches kids about computer programming.
$5,000 Staples Gift Card

Founded 2014
Virginia Beach, Va.
David Wolfe, Jamie Diamonstein
This fast-growing online company sells mattresses to customers in the U.S. and U.K. and is trying to take on big competitors. Leesa also donates one mattress to charity for every 10 it sells.
$1,000 STAPLES GIFT CARD RECIPIENTS
The company has developed a clean-tech eco-friendly retardant that puts out fires while protecting materials that are often destroyed by most current retardant products.
It has developed a way for IT departments in companies to collect, manage and analyze data that they can then translate into metrics that help streamline and improve their IT.
Founded in 2015, Silvernest is a roommate- matching service for boomers and empty nesters looking to share their extra space.
Evolution Labs provides schools with a software engagement platform that helps them recruit, enroll and retain students.
Launched in 2014, BlueCart uses web and mobile apps to digitally connect restaurants and their vendors.
HireKeep’s job-matching algorithm analyzes things like skill-set, culture, vision, values and compensation to help companies hire tech talent to grow their businesses.
With a presence in several cities, SPLT is a carpooling platform to provide transportation to under-served markets so that anyone who needs transportation can find it.