Many people has missed Bitcoin boat. Is bitcoin the end of the world ? I don't think so...
I believe in the near future there will be atleast 4 to 5 alternate currencies that will come close to the Bitcoin. So let's not miss these new boats !!

I am not an Economist. Following are speculations based on the info I gathered from different tech sources. This is an on going effort and I will be revising this list based on my findings. If you find this info helpful, don't forget to donate some BTC . No trolling please !! If you believe in anyother innovative alt currencies, feel free to share in comments.

Innovative Coins:

1. Ethereum - http://ethereum.org
    Whitepaper : http://ethereum.org/ethereum.html
    Ether Sale Date - 22-July-2014

2. Stellar - https://www.stellar.org

3. Storj   - http://storj.io

Feature Heavy Coins:

1. Saffroncoin : This coin is heavily under-valued. It has a lot of new features -  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=586320.0 , https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=586323.0

Crazy Coins:

1. MaxCoin - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=438150.0

Disclaimer : Some of these may end up as scams, So do your own research before investing your hard earned money.