SiliconHills

By LAURA LOREKPublisher of Silicon Hills News The Founder Institute opened in Austin a little over a year ago and has already graduated three classes and helped dozens of entrepreneurs. Martin Martinez, managing director, joined with fellow directors Elisa Sepulveda and Paul O’Brien to launch Founder Institute Austin. They thought Austin needed more founders and […]

By LAURA LOREKPublisher of Silicon Hills News Imagine a nickel-sized device implanted in the brain to help treat chronic and severe mental disorders like schizophrenia, which affect how a person thinks, feels and behaves. It’s not science fiction but a real device that is being developed in Austin. The medical device is the brainchild of […]

Silicon Hills News’ 2019 Austin Tech Calendar Party took place on January 24th at Opcity in Austin. At the party, Silicon Hills News gave away a desktop or wall calendar to 175 guests. To order additional calendars please visit our Eventbrite form for our lunch and learn event on February 24th. You don’t have to attend the event […]

It’s no secret that driving in Austin, especially for downtown workers, has become one of the biggest aggravations about working or living in the city. Austin ranked 14th among the most congested cities in the U.S. in 2017 with commuters spending 11 percent of their driving time in congestion, according to a study last year […]

While working at another fintech startup, Chris Doyle saw a major problem with commercial subcontractors not being able to pay suppliers in time for their projects. He left that startup to found Billd, which acts as a bill me later service for commercial subcontractors to buy materials and pay for them over time. Austin-based Billd […]

DISCO, which makes software for the legal industry, announced Thursday that it has raised $83 million in additional funding. The startup, which moved to Austin in August of last year from Houston, has raised $135 million to date. Georgian Partners, based in Toronto, led the latest round with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, LiveOak Venture Partners, The […]

Chicago-based Cision announced Wednesday that it has acquired Austin-based TrendKite for $225 million. Cision, a public relations software and services provider, paid $94 million in cash and approximately 10.2 million shares of Cision for TrendKite. “The addition of TrendKite’s award-winning application platform, known for its innovation and dynamic user experience, gives our customers additional ways […]

Techstars is one of Austin’s oldest and most recognized accelerator programs. This week, Amos Schwartzfarb, its managing director, kicked off the 2019 program with 10 new startups. The companies come from Los Angeles, Chattanooga, TN, Toronto, Canada, Houston, TX, and Austin. The three month long program culminates with Demo Day on April 10th. Here are […]

Evonik, a German company, has acquired Austin-based Structured Polymers, a startup focused on 3D printing. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Structured Polymers, founded in 2012, raised $1.5 million from Microventures and holds three patents in the working of plastics category, according to CrunchBase. In addition, in the fall of 2017, Evonik made […]

Dosh, an Austin-based startup disrupting the advertising industry, on Tuesday announced it has closed on a $40 million round of funding. The funding includes $20 million in equity and $20 million in venture debt. Goodwater Capital and Western Technology Investment led the Series B round, with participation from investors  PayPal, BAM Capital and Anthem Venture […]

By LAURA LOREK, Publisher of Silicon Hills News Venture capital investments in Austin soared to $1.33 billion in 2018, the highest on record since the dot-com boom in 2000, according to the latest MoneyTree Report from PwC and CB Insights. Venture capital investments in Austin rose 70 percent in 2018, from $783.4 million in total […]

Ever wanted to rent an RV from a neighbor? Well, Outdoorsy, based in Austin, just raised another $50 million to make that transaction a reality. Greenspring Associates led the latest round of funding with participation from Aviva Ventures, Altos Ventures, Autotech Ventures and Tandem Capital. “We are interested in marketplace technology companies that challenge the […]

Drillinginfo, an energy software and data analytics company, has acquired Austin-based MineralSoft. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. MineralSoft, which graduated from the Y Combinator accelerator program in 2016, had raised $9.2 million in funding to date, according to Crunchbase. Its investors included Cottonwood Venture Partners, Blue Bear Capital, and Y Combinator. Drillinginfo, […]

South by Southwest Conference and Festivals, which is less than two months away, released its latest lineup of keynote and featured speakers Tuesday. The keynote speakers include Endeavor Chief Marketing Officer Bozoma Saint John, director, actress, producer and activist Olivia Wilde, and Instagram Co-Founder Mike Krieger joins Instagram Co-Founder Kevin Systrom in a talk moderated […]

By Laura Lorek, Publisher of Silicon Hills News RapidDeploy, a South African company that has created an emergency platform based on cloud technology, is branching out to Austin. The company officially opened its new U.S. headquarters at a private event at Galvanize Thursday night with Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Mninwa Johannes Mahlangu, the South […]

By Laura Lorek, Publisher of Silicon Hills News Austin is the hottest tech hub in Texas. That’s something Silicon Hills News has known for a long time since we have been writing about local technology startups since launching as an independent media startup in 2011. In 2018, the city had several big stories. Silicon Hills […]

Five finalists and four alternates from Austin made the list for the 11th annual SXSW Pitch event to be held at SXSW in March. Two startups from Houston and another from Missouri City, Texas also made the finalist list. “We had a record number of companies apply this year,” said Chris Valentine, event producer for […]

RetailMeNot appoints Marissa Tarleton as its new Chief Executive Officer. Cotter Cunningham, founder and CEO, will become the company’s chairman. Tarleton has served as RetailMeNot’s chief marketing officer since 2015. In that role, she has led the company’s brand, consumer, and business marketing and communications initiatives. She is responsible for “driving significant transformation for the […]

AlertMedia, an emergency alert notification system, Thursday announced it closed on a $25 million investment from JMI Equity. The Austin-based startup, founded in 2014, has raised more than $42 million to date from investors including Austin-based Next Coast Ventures and Silverton Partners and angel investors. Brian Cruver, chief executive officer of AlertMedia, announced the funding in […]

From climbing Mount Everest to diving the Great Barrier Reef, adventurous people can now get a short-term life insurance policy from Austin-based Life by Spot. “For the first time in the US, customers can quickly and easily obtain a short term life insurance policy to give them peace of mind as they live out a […]

This year, three of the startups featured in our 2018 Austin Tech Calendar were acquired by larger companies. H-E-B bought Favor for an undisclosed price. Go Daddy bought Mainstreet Hub for an undisclosed price. And News Corp. bought Opcity for $210 million. Now, Silicon Hills News has highlighted 25 startups we think will make some […]

Hypergiant Space Age Solutions announced Tuesday that it has acquired Seattle-based Black Pixel. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Black Pixel, founded in 2007, has a roster of Fortune 500 clients which it provides digital product strategy, design, and development services and builds sports, news, and media applications. Its customers include ESPN, […]

Hitch can hook riders up with a ride from Austin to Houston without ever putting a thumb in the air and no need to stand beside the road. The Austin-based startup wants to make hitching a ride from Austin to Houston easy and seamless and next year, it plans to expand to other cities. The […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News In two seasons of the Ideas to Invoices podcast, Silicon Hills News has interviewed dozens of highly successful Austin entrepreneurs and many of them recommended books on their podcasts. The following list contains some of their book recommendations to aspiring entrepreneurs. So, if you’re looking for a […]

Sponsored Post By Swyft In an age of disruption, entrepreneurs have to constantly be on the lookout for technological change that will upend their business model. While the disruptions that garner the most attention tend to be sudden and radically transformative, just as important are the gradual changes that take place over an extended period […]

Apple Thursday announced a new $1 billion campus in North Austin with 5,000 additional jobs. Apple also reports the 133-acre campus, which is less than a mile from its existing facilities, could grow to 15,000 employees and is expected to make Apple the largest private employer in Austin. “Apple is proud to bring new investment, […]

Sponsored post by Zoho Integrated software can make or break your business, but it might not feel like that now. As your business grows, you’ll develop more business processes and eventually, you’ll need software to help automate and streamline those processes. But efficient processes are seamless, and integration isn’t always that easy. Too often we […]

Manufacturing companies rely on suppliers to get parts on time to fill production orders and deliver goods on time. Problems can arise when a parts supplier is late or doesn’t deliver the right item or doesn’t have enough inventory on hand to fulfill the order. That’s the problem SourceDay solves. The Austin-based company has created […]

Lyft launched its dockless electric scooters and bikes in Austin Tuesday. The ride-hailing company joins Uber which launched Jump, dockless electric scooters in October in Austin and bikes last summer. Other electric scooter companies operating in Austin include Lime and Bird. Austin is the fifth market where Lyft is offering scooters on the Lyft platform, […]

Aceable, a mobile-focused platform for certification and training courses, announced Tuesday that is has closed on $47 million in venture capital. Sageview Capital led the Series B investment. Aceable plans to use the funds to expand into new markets nationwide, according to a news release. As part of the funding deal, Dean Nelson and Mike […]

Laurie Felker Jones founded JuiceBox Hero to create a marketplace for parents to comparison shop for childcare. The childcare market is highly fragmented today. New parents often don’t know where to turn to find and compare what’s available in their neighborhood. Now they can turn to JuiceBox Hero. It’s like a Kayak comparison site and […]

Companies collect massive amounts of data from their operations every day. The problem is making sense of the constant stream of information and applying insights from the data to improve business operations. Today, Hypergiant Sensory Sciences launches with its “mission to deliver human perception at impossible scale.” The company is creating a software platform that […]

Big companies can struggle with how to engage their employees in cybersecurity training. Living Security, based in Austin, has a novel approach that focuses on behavioral design and gamification to educate employees about cyber threats in the workplace and how to avoid them. The startup has created the Cyber Security Escape Room training for employees […]

Capital One this week announced its acquisition of Wikibuy, an Austin-based online website that allows shoppers to compare prices for items. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wikibuy, founded in 2016, has 20 employees, based at 3939 Bee Cave Road in Austin. Its free service has more than two million members. “We […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Kronologic has created software that turns sales leads into meetings automatically. Through automation, bots and artificial intelligence, Kronologic’s software moves the conversation to the calendar, said Trey Allison, the company’s co-founder. “Let’s get to the yes quick or let’s get to the no quick and let’s cut […]