BOULDER — For a glimpse at current and coming trends in the technology world, look no further than the 2011 graduates of the TechStars mentorship program.

Mobile and social-networking- based startups are still hot, with several companies developing technologies for the platforms. Meanwhile, a handful of other graduates focused on creating API, program coding that businesses can lean on to make life easier for their employees and clients.

And many in this year’s class steamrolled through the development stage, hitting last week’s “Demo Day,” where they pitched venture capitalists, with customers and investors already bagged.

“In the early days, people were coming to Demo Day to launch their product,” said Foundry Group venture capitalist Jason Mendelson. “Now they’re coming to say, ‘By the way, we already have customers in the pipeline and users.’ . . . That’s showing you how much faster the innovation is happening.”

Foundry co-founder Brad Feld helped launch TechStars five years ago. The Boulder-based accelerator — which gives budding and seasoned tech minds three months of office space, access to successful entrepreneurs and seed funding — now offers programs in four cities.

Garnering national attention of late, TechStars will be the subject of an upcoming Bloomberg TV series and was selected this year to play a role in the White House’s newly formed public-private “Startup America Partnership,” which aims to foster the growth of innovative companies.

TechStars managing director Nicole Glaros said the 2011 Boulder class was one of the most diverse, featuring founders whose ages ranged from the early 50s to a 16-year-old, the youngest-ever TechStar.

More than 300 people jammed the Boulder Theater for Demo Day, an event similar to an episode of the TV show “Shark Tank,” though presenters are embraced with warm applause from the audience rather than snarky remarks from potential investors.

Here’s my review of the standouts among the 12 graduating companies, yearbook style:

Most Creative

GoSpotCheck — Just when you thought crowd-sourcing couldn’t branch out any further. The company turns to the general public to help brands track their in-store merchandising. Users are paid a small fee — $2 was the example used — for snapping photos of a how a certain company’s product is displayed on store shelves and counting its inventory.

Most social

SocialEngine — This service gives companies another way to manage their social-media strategies. The engine monitors negative and positive comments about a company on Twitter, blogs and other sites, and suggests specific ways the company should respond.

Class comedian

“My name is Zak Kukoff; this is my co-founder Jonathan Yan. I’m 16, he’s 17, and we know a little bit about skipping class,” said TruantToday co- founder Kukoff, adding later: “I have 12 years of going-to-school experience.”

Most likely to succeed

FlixMaster — The company has technology that could change the way online videos are presented and consumed.

“Each video is an isolated dead end. No way to click or navigate within the video player,” said co-founder Erika Trautman. “What if video could be more like the rest of the Web?”

The company’s so-called branching technology makes it possible to link videos to other content such as images, forms and other videos. As an example, a pizza company’s online commercial using the technology enabled viewers to decide the clip’s ending within the video player.

SimpleEnergy — You’ve probably received, and ignored, requests from your utility to participate in programs to help conserve energy. SimpleEnergy co-founder Justin Segall said fewer than 5 percent of customers participate in such programs. The company says its technology can turn that around.

SimpleEnergy turns energy-conservation programs into a Facebook/Farmville-type game, where participating customers receive a score after their consumption is measured against data provided by utilities and other sources. Customers are ranked against their friends and neighbors.

TruantToday — With the company’s service, schools send parents a text message and e-mail when their child skips class. That replaces the traditional phone call that parents often miss.

Flextrip — The company developed an API for Internet travel companies to allow consumers to book activities that are traditionally not booked and paid for online, such as helicopter rides and tours.

Tech calendar

Wednesday noon to 1 p.m.

“Launching Into Your Next Entrepreneurial Stage — Tools and Tips” is a webinar featuring four seasoned entrepreneurs who will cover topics such as how to find your personal entrepreneur’s style and how to leverage that for your greatest success.

More info: ecowebinarseries.com

Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Colorado Technology Association hosts the Health Innovation Tech Conference, a day-long event covering how to be more competitive in the health IT industry. To be held at Avaya’s south campus, Blue Mesa Room, 8744 Lucent Blvd. in Highlands Ranch.

More info: coloradotechnology.org