3 Startups helping you with unwanted gift cards, mortgage rates and online notes for teams

We continue to be blown away by the Toronto startup community. Over 600 people came out to last night’s event and despite some serious over-crowding, the energy of the community was palpable. The talent that is coming forward in the Canadian tech scene is amazing and we’re looking forward to continuing to profile it on the global stage.

We were thrilled to host three innovative startup demos and an amazing guest speaker, Get Satisfaction founder Lane Becker. Lane’s experience as a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned Silicon Valley native provided incredible insights and served as an excellent kick-off for the first Sprout Up of 2011.

Didn’t get to ask your questions to Lane last night? You can ask him questions online at ask.sprouter.com/lanebecker

From buying discounted gift cards to connecting with the lowest mortgage rates to online team note sharing – the startups who demoed last night had great reviews from the audience. We encourage you to check them out:

RateHub – Founder Alyssa presented RateHub an independent, mortgage rate comparison platform. The service has a goal of bringing you the best mortgage rates in a straight-forward manner. Ratehub works with top mortgage brokers in Canada and update their rates on a daily basis. Interested in finding some help and guidance when needing a mortagage? Visit Rate Hub.

CardSwap – Founder Frances Ho presented CardSwap; a service that allows you to turn unwanted gift cards into cash. People wishing to get rid of gift cards can put them on the website for a slightly discounted price, once the gift card is purchased CardSwap collects the buyers payment and sends you their address to send the gift card, along with the payment. If you have unwanted gift cards or are looking to get gift cards at a discounted price checkout CardSwap.

Rocketr – Andrew Peek and the Rocketr team made their global debut at this month’s Sprout UP – we love global debuts! They announced the Toronto Launch of their website Rocketr. Rocketr is an online service that provides a faster, easier way to take notes across all your teams’, you can even email notes to your account. You can visit Rocketr to receive a passcode and begin taking notes with your team.

In case you missed it, we changed up the suggested connections section on the nametags. We want our guests to get the most out of networking at these events. You now have the option to pick from four categories: looking for like-minded entrepreneurs, looking for a co-founder, looking for investment and looking for opportunities to invest. You are matched up based on these principles. Email Erin@sprouter.com or Emily@sprouter.com with your preference for next months SproutUP.

Thanks to all three companies, Lane Becker and everyone who joined us last night. The turnout was a testament to the ever-growing community of innovators in Toronto and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.

Make sure you’re part of the Meetup group to ensure you get notified about future events and we look forward to seeing everyone next month!