As investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs search for the "Next Big Thing," this week's Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, Calif. brings together companies whose innovation is driving economic growth.

In addition to giants like Google and Microsoft , it also shines the spotlight on startups, which could be game-changers within their sectors.

Here are a couple we'll have our eyes on this week. You should, too.

Jumo

Chris Hughes was a co-founder of Facebook and ran political organization site MyBarackObama.com —now his latest venture aims to help people help the world.

Jumo, which Hughes launched this March, is a non-profit website that introduces visitors with volunteer opportunities and causes that match their interests. The whole idea is to match resources with organizations that need those resources, tapping into the power of the Internet to connect people, something Hughes is quite familiar with from his experience at Facebook.

Chris Hughes, Jumo's founder and executive director is a "featured Techonomist" at Thursday's dinner.

Geomagic

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