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Ohio-based startup SmartyTags is taking its QR (quick response) code capabilities to the next level, hoping to help companies better target their customers with relevant content.

Essentially, the QR codes from SmartyTags are designed to provide valuable back-end data to the merchant, such as links to four different videos about a new baby giraffe at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Through these codes, businesses can track valuable information including the number, location, and time of scans, as well as what kinds of phones are being used to make them. What’s more, a SmartyTag can easily be reprogrammed with new content, making it simple for companies to connect customers to new videos or web links.

According to J.B. Kropp, one of the founders of SmartyTags, “QR codes provide a unique way to connect consumer to digital content. Companies are able to deliver marketing info, videos, get likes on Facebook, send tweets via Twitter, etc.,” he told midVentures. “Consumers view QR codes as bonus content, so as long as the company is delivering the right experience, it will be successful for them.”

Despite being such a new startup, SmartyTags is already being adopted by some pretty major clients—beyond the Cincinnati Zoo, it’s also soon to be used by the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and others.

According to Kropp, the reason for his company’s quick success is simple: “There has not been an easy way to manage qr codes to date,” he said. “So with the launch of SmartyTags, it was clear to companies the value and how they can leverage content to deliver to their consumers.”

For more information on SmartyTags, visit SmartyTags.com.

Launched by Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play Tech Center, Startup Camp in Indiana is now looking for bright entrepreneurs with great tech ideas—from across all college campuses, including Indiana University.

“We have officially structured a program for ideas and concepts out of a university,” said Shobeir Shobeiri, business relationship director and director of Startup Camp, who added that Indiana University students should take advantage of the school’s partnership with Plug and Play and possibly look for referrals through Dr. Donald F. Kuratko, executive director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and liaison between IU and the company.

A community of 280 entrepreneurial technology companies, Plug and Play launched Startup Camp just last month, as an incubator for newborn tech ideas to reach full maturity in full-fledged companies. This is not the first time the company has looked to expand its reach into the Midwest, either; earlier this year, it announced plans to set up shop near downtown Chicago in hopes of cultivating 50 area startups. Since its inception in January 2006, the center has helped the startups raise in excess of $750 million in venture funding. What’s more, the company has played a key role in the development of several tech startups, such as online dating site Zoosk, Twitter video upload site TwitVid, and online advertising platform isocket, which was actually developed by two former IU students.

With Startup Camp, there are no deadlines or cutoff dates for application, so students just need to apply online with an executive summary of what they hope to accomplish with their idea. The next step is a phone interview with Shobeiri—which can lead to consideration by the investment team at Plug and Play.

Once a startup is selected, the students involved are expected to move to Silicon Valley for a minimum of three months to participate in their program. Fergus Hurley, another entrepreneur who worked with Plug and Play to develop his photo-sharing program Clixtr, said the environment at Plug and Play’s office is “irreplaceable” and laid the foundation for developing his company.

“Everyone there is interested in startups and you’re surrounded by experienced people who offer great motivation,” he said. “You can’t get that sort of advice in many places.”

There is some exciting news in store for Chicago startups later this year: Startup Leadership Program (SLP), the international initiative geared towards grooming the next generation of startup CEOs, is looking to open a Chicago chapter this fall.

“SLP is not an incubator or accelerator,” SLP founder Anupendra Sharma told midVentures. “Instead think of us like HBS for entrepreneurs (or the Kauffman Program for entrepreneurs) where we provide a very high quality interactive education for startup CEOs and then a network to which they belong—and they keep coming back to help others and help themselves through the program. Our Fellows are very carefully vetted with the view that amazing people will do amazing things.”

In the four years that SLP has existed, it has already seen 215 Fellows in or graduated from its program and as many as 100 companies started. If successful in expanding to Chicago, SLP hopes to identify the best young (typically early 20s to mid 30s), entrepreneurial talent in Chicago in the areas of technology, clean technology, and life sciences—bringing them all together into one global network of quality curriculum, mentorship, and funding. Also as part of the launch, SLP is looking to find two or three leaders who can prep this summer to lead all SLP fellows this fall.

According to Brittany Laughlin of gtrot, who went through the 2010-11 program in New York, the help SLP offers is invaluable, calling it “by far one of the best professional things I’ve done.”

“SLP is about connecting entrepreneurs (tech, green tech, medical, education) to the SLP network while coaching them and grooming them to grow and lead big businesses,” she emphasized. “Personally, I’ve found the connections to be superb – there are thousands of entrepreneurs, investors and leaders who are only one connection away through SLP. From Bangalore to Silicon Valley I have a network I can reach out to at anytime. It’s pretty powerful stuff and it’s on top of the classroom lessons and workshops SLP also provides.”

For more information about Startup Leadership Program or to learn how to be involved in helping establish the Chicago chapter, visit StartupLeadership.com.

Iowa-based collaborative web hosting startup Stackd made an exciting announcement last week: after months of research and development, the company now plans to launch its new hassle-free hosting program by the end of the month.

In the announcement on its blog, Stackd said the most common question it continually receives is “What is Stackd?” According to co-founder Frederick Galoso, the answer is pretty simple. He described Stackd as “collaborative web hosting and file storage. It makes sharing and working on websites, projects, and files easy, on a built-to-scale, software-free, access anywhere platform.”

Designed to address the typical problems consumers face with other hosting platforms, Stackd offers a unique combination of key benefits, such as user-friendliness, creative control through middle tier hosting, and power provided by IaaS providers like Amazon, Rackspace, and Linode. Additionally, Stackd requires no software, can be up and running in seconds, and is built to scale.

Galoso and co-founder Stephen Ausman, who are students at the University of Iowa, have been working on this project for six months. Through the current free trial, they are giving users 2 GB storage and 20 GB bandwidth to experience Stackd personally. Following the free trial, this same size of hosting package will be available for purchase at $9.95 monthly. Other plans include Pro (5 GB storage, 50 GB bandwidth) for $19.95 monthly and Business (20 GB storage, 200 GB bandwidth) at $49.95 monthly.

Congrats on the new developments, Stackd! Here at midVentures, we’re always excited to see Midwestern tech startups expanding and moving forward!

For more information on Stackd, visit Stackd.com. You may also view a video tutorial on using the hosting system here.

Chicago-based Sittercity, the startup that links parents and care seekers with nannies and caregivers, announced this week that it has secured $22.6 million in funding—through a Series B investment led by Chicago venture-capital firms Baird Venture Partners and New World Ventures.

“We had thought through, ‘Do we want to drive with what we’ve got and build the business along that route, or do we really want to push the pedal to the metal and drive for growth?’” said Sittercity CEO Martin Clifford, who replaced founder Genevieve Thiers as chief executive last July. “We decided that we’ve got a model that really works, and now it’s just about doing it harder—and that’s going to take some investment.”

With the new $22.6 million in funding, Sittercity will be able to both expand internationally and boost its corporate program (which includes clients like U.S. Department of Defense, Avon, MasterCard, Fox Networks, Pitney Bowes and Monster Worldwide).

The startup will also add several new leaders to its board, including Benedict Rocchio from Baird and Adam Koopersmith from New World Ventures, which already includes Sittercity founders Genevieve Thiers and Dan Ratner, and representatives from lead Series A investors: Lon Chow of Chicago’s Apex Venture Partners and Sean Marsh from Point Judith Capital in Providence, RI.

“We are excited about the opportunity to partner with the management team of Sittercity and build on the success of their business over the last decade,” said Rocchio in a press release about the funding. “Sittercity is representative of the type of business we look to partner with given its strong market position and management team, operating in one of our core subsectors in the information services industry. Further, this investment underscores BVP’s longstanding commitment to Chicago and the Midwest, which is fundamental to our strategy.”

According to Clifford, Sittercity is in a market prime for growth, something this new funding will help to achieve. “Childcare is a multi-billion dollar business with tremendous untapped opportunities,” he said. “The additional funds allow Sittercity to position our current businesses for unprecedented growth while preparing to launch new initiatives that will continue to redefine the in-home care market and meet the needs of families around the globe in new, innovative ways.”

For more information, visit Sittercity.