On Wednesday, May 2, Froomz bested five other Berkeley start-ups at the EUREKA! inaugural event, earning the award for most innovative start-up.

EUREKA! is a project of the Keiretsu Forum, a worldwide network of private equity and corporate investors that provides early stage capital, and the City of Berkeley Office of Economic Development. The event provides mentoring, resources, networking and feedback from angel investors to early stage entrepreneurs based in Berkeley.

Held at at the Crystal Ballroom of Hotel Shattuck, the event kicked off with a reception hosted by FIVE Restaurant, during which the six competing companies showcased their products and offered live demos. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates provided the guests a warm welcome and Judith Iglehart served as program emcee. Each company was allotted 12 minutes: 4-minute presentation, 4-minute Q&A, and 4-minute feedback.

The judging panel, led by Randy Williams, included Brad Winegar, Victor Belfor, Alison Wellsfry, Ed Dua, Julio Delofeu, and Paul Weiss. Froomz received top marks for the night, with a solid 4 (out of 5) across the board from all panelists.

Runner-Ups were AlbertMing, an apparel design company that combines the functional performance of outdoor apparel with tailored clothing, represented by Founder Albert Shyy, and FlickLaunch, a streaming movie experience built for Facebook, represented by CO/Co-Founder Craig Tanner.

Other competitors included Atdaa, a crowd-sourced travelbook for the world, Kloudless, a service that helps you manage your email attachments, and Taptin, which clones mobile apps for malls and merchants.

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