By Sharon Koshy

Over the past few weeks, here’s a sampling of news highlights of members of the BizSpark One program, identifying a small number of the best companies in BizSpark, which is now comprised of over 45,000 startups.

Week of January 1-7, 8-14 and 15-21:

  • ClickDimensions, providing a 5-star rated email marketing and marketing automation solution for Microsoft Dynamics CRM , created a 60+ page Microsoft CRM Marketing Idea eBook for free download which includes articles on creating and publishing great newsletters, easily tracking the effectiveness of online advertisements and more.
  • Digital Folio, a multi-channel, real-time shopping platform, was highlighted in the Windows Azure ISV Blog Series, discussing how Digital Folio is using Windows Azure to deliver their online shopping service.
  • Exceedra, focused on commercial and supply chain planning, announced that Aspall, a cider and vinegar producer, has implemented Exceedra’s Demand planning solution. With Exceedra’s demand forecasting solution, Aspall notes that it has enabled them to manage demand more effectively and support their continuing business growth.
  • BizSpark One alum Gradatim, creating solutions to help bank and insurance companies manage opportunities in the growing microfinance market, was featured in a Windows Azure case study. By using Windows Azure to host its offerings, Gradatim has experienced increased global scalability, savings in operating expenses and shortened customer deployment cycles.
  • Mark Gilbreath, Co-Founder and CEO of LiquidSpace, a mobile application that helps people find and share available workspace, authored an article in GigaOm focused on how doing business in real-time will be a critical component as sharing economies continue to mature.
  • News360, a next-generation news personalization and aggregation service, was featured in the Financial Times in an article highlighting a new wave of news aggregation services bringing a rich and more personalized news experience.
  • BizSpark One alum NextPage, providing information governance solutions, announced that it has been acquired by ProofPoint, a security-as-a-service provider. Based in Draper, Utah, NextPage was named a ‘Cool Vendor in Content Management’ by Gartner last year.
  • Soundtracker, geosocial internet radio, was featured by Nokia’s developer program in this video and on developer.nokia.com where founder and CEO of Soundtracker, Daniele Calabrese talks about their multi-platform mobile music service and their work with Nokia and Microsoft.