SiliconHills

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News The MassChallenge Texas accelerator transformed re:3d’s business. “We’ve grown by more than 30 percent since we’ve been in the program,” said Samantha Snabes, the startup’s co-founder. re:3d took home the $10,000 USAA Vetrepreneur Award in the MassChallenge Texas finalist awards ceremony held Wednesday evening at the Hyatt […]

The fourth industrial revolution is one in which machines and humans work together to solve problems and accomplish tasks. And it’s already here. One of the leaders in the space is CognitiveScale, a five-year-old Austin-based startup, that announced Tuesday it is partnering with Dell to create a new way to interact with customers using its […]

The promise of flying cars may become a reality a soon. The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering has teamed up with the U.S. Army Research Labs and Uber Elevate to develop the technology behind Uber’s new rideshare venture: UberAIR. By 2020, Uber plans to demonstrate the first flying rideshare vehicles in […]

IBM has always been at the forefront of cybersecurity since the earliest days of the Internet. At the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, I interviewed Nick Simicich, an ethical hacker on the IBM staff, whose day job consisted of breaking into company computer systems to expose the vulnerabilities. That was in 1999. Since then, cybersecurity has grown […]

A week after he moved to Austin, Chris Ripley waited in line at Walmart and noticed a woman covered in paint standing in front of him. He struck up a conversation with her and discovered she worked at the City of Austin‘s Resource Recovery Center and was learning to recycle paint. Together, they went to […]

Zac Maurais and Ben Doherty’s first startup, Favor, had a pretty good outcome. Favor, which launched in Austin in 2013, to deliver food to people’s homes, sold to H-E-B earlier this year. Instead of taking time off, Maurais and Doherty are back at the startup grind, launching Sunroom, a company that helps people rent apartments […]

Galvanize recently announced plans to buy San Francisco-based Hack Reactor, which will make it one of the largest coding programs in the country. “From the beginning, we saw a clear compatibility through a shared passion for innovative, high-quality instruction combined with measurable outcomes and we are thrilled to welcome the Hack Reactor team to the […]

This is a Sponsored Post Austin is home to several interesting and innovative drone technology companies, but when most people think of drones they typically think of a toy or a piece of military equipment. Software companies in the drone space are now taking off, helping businesses across a wide array of sectors. One of […]

Five years ago, Austin’s top technology company, Dell went private in a deal valued at $24.4 billion. And Monday, that same company, now known as Dell Technologies, announced that it is going public and its stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Dell Technologies plans to exchange each share of Dell Technologies […]

Amazon’s Austin Tech Hub on Monday launched Warriors@Amazon. The group is comprised of Amazon employees who have served in the military and those still serving in the Guard and Reserve and all Amazon employees who support them. In 2016, Amazon pledged to hire 25,000 veterans and military spouses by 2021 and since then the company […]

Austin-based Mood Media, the parent company of Muzak, announced Monday afternoon that it has acquired focus4media, one of the largest Mood independent affiliates in North America. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Focus4media provides sight, sound, scent and system solutions to businesses in the mid-Atlantic region, including Alabama, Florida, Virginia and more […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News The U.S Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson officially launched AFWERX, an innovation lab, at Capital Factory on Wednesday. AFWERX is like the skunkworks of the Air Force. It allows military personnel to collaborate with industry, educators, entrepreneurs and others on new ideas and products without dealing with […]

Nine ventures pitched solutions to provide better jobs for Austin’s low-income workers at Impact Hub’s inaugural Workforce Development Accelerator Demo Day Monday night. The 11-week accelerator, sponsored by Capital City Innovation, Workforce Solutions and Impact Hub, worked with nine ventures. Other sponsors included Google, JPMorgan Chase & Co., BuildFax, and Digi.City. “We are creating this […]

Newchip, the online platform that aggregates crowdfunding deals, announced recently that it has closed on $2 million in seed funding. Austin-based Newchip also launched an equity-based crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder. It has already raised $102,000 of its $1 million goal from 84 investors. Wefunder is an equity-based crowdfunding platform that lets people invest as little […]

Dura Holdings, a new software company in San Antonio, recently announced the acquisition of Utah-based Moki Mobility, a software company. Moki Mobility, founded in 2011, is moving its operations from Lehi, Utah to San Antonio. The company will initially have three employees and it is hiring for additional positions. The financial terms of the deal […]

In February, Oracle announced it planned to launch its Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator program in Austin. On Friday, J.D. Weinstein, the new head of the Oracle Startup Ecosystem in Austin, provided details on the program including that it will be based at Capital Factory downtown. “Usually, you don’t hear Oracle and Startup in the same […]

Underminer Studios, an Austin-based startup focused on Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality applications, is hosting ATXRHACK, an immersive technology hackathon at WalMart’s Technology center downtown. The hackathon focuses on creating innovative solutions for real industry problems. It is sponsored by Underminer Studios, Intel, Walmart, Galvanize, occipital, Cuvee Coffee and Capital Factory. The sponsors […]

In two years, DivInc, an Austin-based accelerator focused on mentoring and coaching ethnically diverse and women-led tech startups, has had four cohorts with 36 companies. Those early-stage companies have raised $2.5 million and generated more than $1 million in revenue, said Preston James, DivInc co-founder. “In the next three to five years, you are going […]

London-based Finastra announced this week its acquisition of Austin-based Malauzai, a provider of mobile and Internet banking solutions. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Credit unions and community banks are the fabric of American financial services. We strive to help them realize the benefits of digital transformation – including being able to […]

Strangeworks, an Austin-based quantum computing software company, closed a $4 million seed round recently. William Hurley, known as Whurley, the company’s founder and CEO previously announced the company had raised $4 million when the company made its public debut at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin. Just recently, Strangeworks sent out a press release with […]

Eventador announced recently the company has closed on $3.8 million in seed stage funding. The Austin-based startup announced that the investment came from lead investor LiveOak Venture Partners with participation by Deep Space Ventures, RSH Ventures, Capital Factory and existing investor Keshif Ventures. The company plans to use the money to expand its U.S. and […]

DrillingInfo, the Austin-based startup digitizing the oil and gas industry, has been acquired by Genstar Capital, a private equity firm based in San Francisco. To date, DrillingInfo has raised $199.7 million in funding, with the bulk coming from private equity investor Insight Venture Partners. Upon close of the deal, Genstar will become the new majority […]

Convey, a member of the Techstars Austin class of 2014, announced Tuesday that it has raised $10 million in funding. The Austin-based startup received the investment from Silverton Partners, Techstars Venture Capital Fund, RPM Ventures, NextGen and others. To date, Convey has raised $25.75 million. The company plans to use the money to hire key […]

A city-wide celebration will be held Saturday at the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural, and Genealogy Center on Saturday in honor of Juneteenth. Google Fiber is hosting the event with the museum to celebrate Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day. It is a holiday that commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas […]

BuildGroup, a Venture Capital firm founded in 2015, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $330 million aimed at investing in emerging software companies. The Austin-based firm’s investors include “successful entrepreneurs and business leaders from Texas and the Rocky Mountains, with the founders contributing a significant portion of the overall funds,” according to a news […]

Techstars announced Wednesday ten startups that make up its inaugural class for the 2018 Impact program in Austin. “Nine months ago we set out to find ten world-class teams who like us, believe that our deepest problem sets represent our biggest opportunities, and that entrepreneurs should sit at the center of our strategy to build […]

By Derek Urbaniak Head of Ericsson’s Austin Design Center Special Contribution to Silicon Hills News Decades ago, wireless deployment served only a narrow purpose for a narrow constituency. Today, it provides nearly limitless ways to make life easier for all people through the power of mobility. As we enter the next generation of wireless technology […]

Austin-based Unchained Capital, a crypto-finance startup, announced Thursday that it has closed on $2.99 million in a seed stage round of funding. The company reports the funding will go to hiring new employees and working on its financial services and wealth management offerings. Unchained Capital’s investors include Michael Komaransky, formerly of Cumberland Mining; Brian Spaly, […]

SeriesX, a startup based at Capital Factory, announced Wednesday that it has closed on two rounds of funding, totalling $2 million. The Austin-based company plans to use the money to further develop its customer relationship management platform, Vertalo, which is built using Ethereum blockchain technology. It also plans to add to its technical team. The […]

ALTR, an Austin-based cybersecurity platform built with blockchain technology, officially launched in Austin on Wednesday. The company, which has been in stealth mode for four years, released its first commercial software package to provide secure data access and storage on its ALTR platform. ALTR has raised $15 million in funding from institutional and private investors […]

HeatGenie, an Austin-based startup with an innovative way to heat up beverage cans, has raised $5.9 million of a $6.7 million round of funding, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, founded in 2007, has previously raised $3.6 million, according to CrunchBase. ARTIS Labs led the latest round of funding […]

Austin entrepreneurs often complain about the lack of venture capital, especially for first-time entrepreneurs and early-stage startups. The pain is real. Austin does not have as many venture capital firms and venture capital funds as California. But slowly that is starting to change. During the past decade, several new funds have sprung up including LiveOak […]

Pingboard, an Austin-based startup spun out of Capital Factory, has raised $4.3 million of a $5 million round, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, founded in 2013, makes organizational chart software for companies. It now has more than 1,000 customers, including “GoFundMe, Popsugar, Udemy, Sequoia Capital, WPEngine, and the […]

After eight years at the helm of 3 Day Startup, Cam Houser has moved into the founder and chief innovation role and Alexis Taylor will take over as Chief Executive Officer. “I saw Alexis as our future CEO two years ago,” Houser said in a news statement. “She is one of the most impactful individuals […]

Xeris Pharmaceuticals, founded in 2005 in Austin, filed on Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange with an initial public offering valued at $75 million. The company, now based in Chicago, has strong ties to the Austin startup community. Xeris has raised $202 million to date in […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News For the eighth time, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce celebrated Austin’s hottest startups at its A-List Award ceremony. “Startups are trailblazers, risk takers, and pioneers,” said Hugh Forrest, programming director of South by Southwest, which co-sponsors the awards. At the event, the A-List awards went to […]

HanAra Software, a subsidiary of South Korean-based BNF Technology, has selected Austin as its North American headquarters and plans to triple in size. The company, which provides data management and predictive analytics solutions for plant management, has six employees in 1,000 square feet at 3410 Far West Blvd. They are hiring and plan to add […]

The Austin Technology Council on Thursday announced the appointment of Amber Gunst as interim Chief Executive Officer. Gunst takes the reins from Barbary Brunner who has served as the organization’s CEO for the past two years. Brunner announced last week that she had left to join Phunware, an Austin-based software company, as its Chief Marketing […]

Inc. Magazine Wednesday named ten Austin-based companies to its list of best places to work. The companies included Arrive Logistics, Embark, Munck Wilson Mandala, Opcity, Peddle, Praetorian, Salcora, Square Root, Student Loan Hero, and The Zebra. Out of thousands of applicants, Inc. singled out just under 300 winning companies nationally. Inc. recognized Square Root, creators […]

LiveOak Venture Partners announced this week that it has expanded its staff. LiveOak, based in Austin, added Mike Marcantonio as principal and Mason Rathe as a senior associate. They will focus on new investments and support the firm’s portfolio of companies. Marcantonio previously worked at Blue Heron Capital and focused on venture and growth stage […]

Student Loan Genius has raised $3.5 million in venture capital. Vestigo Ventures, based in Cambridge, Mass., led the round which included CMFG Ventures, Prudential Financial and Rubicon Venture Capital also participated in the round. The Austin-based startup, founded in 2013, has raised more than $7 million to date. The company plans to use the funds […]

Silverton Partners, based in Austin, announced this month that it has closed on Fund V at $108 million. The venture capital firm, founded in 2006, focuses on early-stage companies and since its launch, the firm has made more than 50 investments in the enterprise and consumer technology categories. “Fund V, our largest fund to date, […]

OJO Labs, an Austin artificial intelligence startup, has raised $20.5 million in venture capital. The company, founded in 2015, raised the Series B round from new investors Realogy, the Royal Bank of Canada, Northwest Mutual Fund Ventures and ServiceMaster. It also included existing investors LiveOak Venture Partners and Silverton Partners, both based in Austin. “This […]

Indeed, the world’s number one job site, Thursday announced plans for a huge expansion in Austin and plans to add 3,000 new jobs. The Austin-based company is adding 615,000 square feet of office space in two new offices. “We are committed to growing in Austin, a city that is a proven tech hub with excellent […]

The CEO of the Austin Technology Council Barbary Brunner announced Thursday that she has left the organization to join Phunware, which also announced it’s launching a cryptocurrency called Phuncoin. Brunner will join Phunware as its Chief Marketing Officer. Brunner, with 25 years of technology leadership experience, previously served as CMO of Experian’s PriceGrabber business, CMO […]

One of the most anticipated and outstanding events in the Austin startup community every year is going to take place on May 24. The Austin Chamber of Commerce along with South by Southwest hosts the annual A-List awards and recognizes some of the city’s rising startup stars. The event kicks off at 4 p.m. at […]

RetailMeNot announced Tuesday the acquisition of LowestMed, a website that compares prescription drug prices and provides mobile or printable coupons. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “RetailMeNot is proud to welcome LowestMed to the company as RetailMeNot Rx Saver,” Cotter Cunningham, CEO and founder of RetailMeNot, said in a news statement. “Many […]

In 2012, Kapil Rajurkar founded Preschool2me in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company started out as a side project, Rajurkar said. Rajurkar wanted to be able to keep tabs on his son at his preschool so he created an app that allowed him to connect with his son’s school. The app is an interactive communications platform […]

Austin-based Meta SaaS, which runs a platform for managing software as a service subscriptions for companies, got acquired by Flexera, a private software company based in Itasca, Illinois. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Meta SaaS, founded in 2016, raised a $1.5 million seed stage round last year led by Dallas Billionaire […]

BigCommerce, the ecommerce platform, announced Wednesday that it has closed on $64 million in growth equity funding, led by Goldman Sachs. Other investors include General Catalyst, GVC Capital and Tenaya Capital. To date, BigCommerce has raised more than $200 million. “Our mission is to help every business selling online maximize success through the benefits of […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News From dog walking services to robot teaching assistants, 10 startups pitched their ventures at the sixth annual Techstars Austin Demo Day. This year’s class included six teams from the Carolinas and Virginia and four from Austin and half of them had female founders. They made their pitches […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News Pioneers in pot see a huge market developing nationwide for legal cannabis, and they think it’s not if, but when, legal marijuana will become a huge market in Texas. That’s the big takeaway from the first ever Austin Cannabis Entrepreneur conference held last Thursday and Friday at […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News The dust might have settled on South by Southwest 2018, but the ideas and energy remain. Last month, Silicon Hills News put on an event at Galvanize Austin recapping the highlights from SXSW 2018, including local startups that made a big impact, 20 technology trends and 10 […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher Silicon Hills News Young people are demanding change in society, said Amal Clooney, an international and human rights lawyer. Eleven-year-old children are speaking out at the March for Our Lives event and companies are beginning to take notice and make changes, Clooney said, during the closing keynote last week at the […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News To succeed, businesses must have a just cause, said Simon Sinek, the bestselling author of Start with Why. “A cause so just that not only do people feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, but they are willing to sacrifice in order to advance […]

RealCo, the San Antonio-based accelerator that launched last year, announced this week plans to expand into Austin and Boulder and the hiring of a new managing director. Richard Grote, who lives in Boulder part-time, will become the new managing director. Grote has spent the “past 18 years building and mentoring startups, as well as nurturing […]

YouEarnedIt, a startup focused on rewarding employees at companies, has landed an investment from Vista Equity Partners, based in Austin. The Austin based startup also received investment from its previous investors, Ridge Ventures and Silverton Partners. It did not disclose the financial details of the deal. Previously, YouEarnedIt raised $8 million in venture capital. “It […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News Voice can be a powerful lever for change, said Adam Grant, bestselling author and professor at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Grant moderated a panel at WorkHuman 2018, a meeting of human resource professionals put on by Globoforce, at the Austin Convention Center Wednesday morning […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News At South by Southwest 2018, Ingrid Vanderveldt, chairman, and CEO of Empowering a Billion Women by 2020 movement, launched MintHer, a financial resources network for female entrepreneurs. Vanderveldt, who previously served as the first entrepreneur in residence at Dell, spoke at SXSW 2018 on “Empowering a Billion […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News From amazing weather to Elon Musk‘s pop up appearance, blockchain technology, and internationalization, South by Southwest 2018 is over but not forgotten. Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer of SXSW, gave an overview of seven early observations from SXSW 2018, during a Tech Talk event with the Austin […]

SpareFoot, the Austin-based online self-storage marketplace, announced Thursday plans to acquire SiteLink, a software maker for the self-storage industry, founded in 1996 and based in Raleigh, North Carolina. As part of the deal, Cove Hill Partners, a private equity firm in Boston, will acquire a majority stake in the combined company. The financial terms of […]

SpyCloud announced this week that it has received $5 million in venture capital funding. Austin-based Silverton Partners and March Capital Partners led the Series A round. SpyCloud plans to use the funding on product development, security research and to expand its database of assets. It also plans to hire more employees. SpyCloud, founded in 2016, […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News Billionaire Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, said he expects Austin’s Oracle campus to grow to about 10,000 employees in coming years. “We are going to have a handful of hubs in the United States,” Ellison said. “Austin is one of the key places we want to […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News Todd Nevins is pulling the ripcord on his life this week. The host of the Go Hunt Life podcast in Austin and founder of CLICKplacement, an AdWords business, is moving to Mexico. Todd and his wife, Allison, have sold most of their belongings, everything from their couch […]

Umuse has created a digital assistant for the email inbox box that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning and becomes smarter over time. To bring the product to market, the Austin-based startup led by Scott Abel, former Spiceworks Founder and CEO, announced Wednesday that it has raised $5 million in seed funding from Shasta Ventures, […]

By Dave Manzer Sponsored Post on Silicon Hills News Here’s an opinion that won’t be popular among our friends in the technology news media: It’s coverage of SXSW risks perpetuating a very narrow and biased view of what a true startup ecosystem looks like. Don’t believe me? You need only look at the headlines coming […]

Mythic, an Austin-based microchip maker, announced Tuesday that it has received $40 million in venture funding. The company, which also has an office in Redwood City, Calif., closed on its Series B funding led by SoftBank Ventures. Mythic, which was once known as Isocline, has raised $55.2 million to date, according to its Crunchbase profile. […]

Outdoor Voices, a high-tech fashionable line of athletic apparel, has raised $34 million in additional financing, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Austin-based startup received the funding from Google Ventures, according to an article by CNBC. To date, the company has raised $57 million and plans to use the latest […]

TurnKey Vacation Rentals, one of the nation’s largest vacation rental management companies, recently announced it has received $31 million in funding. The Austin-based startup received the funding from Adam Street Partners which led the Series D round along with participation from existing investors including Altos Ventures and two new institutional investors. To date, the company […]

The only Austin-based startup to win an award in the 2018 SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards was MasSpec Pen by the Eberlin Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. The MasSpec Pen provides a better way for surgeons to rapidly perform and diagnose cancer biopsies. It allows surgeons to extract molecules from tissue and test […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher with Silicon Hills News In 2010, Kirsten Green founded Forerunner Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, based in San Francisco. She had spent her early career as a retail analyst with Banc of America Securities and others and she spent a lot of time studying retailers. She even went to […]

By Susan Lahey Reporter with Silicon Hills News It is always ironic when the tech doesn’t work at SXSW, which happened to Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, speaking at SXSW on Tuesday about creating innovation that solves problems. Starting his presentation with a video about the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals he ran into technical […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher with Silicon Hills News Capital Factory awarded Samsa, a startup that runs a cryptocurrency index platform, $100,000 in its Blockchain Investment Challenge on Thursday at South by Southwest. Judges selected two other runners-up: Topl, which is building a platform for international investment on blockchain technology and Vertalo, a blockchain-backed platform to […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News Sometimes being in the right place at the right time during South by Southwest can create opportunity. Daniel Senyard, founder of Austin-based Shep, got a text from Henry Yoshida, one of the company’s advisors, to get to Capital Factory’s first-floor auditorium because Joshua Baer, founder of Capital […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News For the first time, Food+City held its annual Challenge Prize competition at South by Southwest. And judges awarded three $10,000 cash prizes to the winner of each of three sessions on Tuesday. Altogether 14 startups competed as finalists from the U.S., China, Kenya and the United Kingdom. […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News Quantum computing, not Artificial Intelligence, is the space race of our generation, said William Hurley, known as Whurley. Whurley, founder and CEO of Strangeworks, gave the keynote speech Tuesday afternoon at South by Southwest on “The Endless Impossibilities of Quantum Computing.” He pledged to keep the math […]

At South by Southwest, some of the globe’s most innovative companies pitch every year to become the winner in their category. At the 10th annual SXSW Accelerator Pitch event, judges selected ten winners among the 50 finalists and for the first time, they named a “Best in Show” winner, which went to “Nanowear, a New […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News It’s the end of an era for smartphones and the rise of cryptocurrencies. Those are just a few of the trends Amy Webb, founder of the Future Today Institute, sees emerging. In a completely full ballroom on a Sunday morning, Webb took to the stage at South […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News As a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin, Mason Hunt founded a parking mobile app called ParXit designed to let people rent out their driveways to people needing parking. ParXit officially launched in December of 2015 and gained a lot of traction in the Austin […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher with Silicon Hills News London Mayor Sadiq Khan spoke during the afternoon keynote at South by Southwest on Monday about the need for technological advancements to benefit everyone in society. There’s an increasing disconnect and disillusionment across London and worldwide stemming from fear of globalization, he said. Technology is profoundly changing […]

By Susan Lahey Reporter with Silicon Hills News In a session Sunday between Evan Smith and Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland, Smith lumped the Taoiseach with leaders like Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau: young, progressive people, moving their countries forward in a world where many leaders seem to be peddling hard backward. Varadkar, at […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, visited Capital Factory Sunday evening during a special South by Southwest event. He called for a “redoubling of efforts” to achieve gender equality. “It’s still the case in the U.S.A. and the U.K. that if you are born a girl your […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher with Silicon Hills News At a breakfast meeting, Sunday at South by Southwest, Austin, and France launched a new website and movement designed to bring the two technology communities closer. It’s French Tech Austin and is designed to support ties between Austin and France’s tech industry and entrepreneurs and provide opportunities […]

William Hurley, known as Whurley, is one of the best-known tech entrepreneurs in Austin. And he is always hatching up something new every year for South by Southwest. One year, Chaotic Moon, the company he co-founded and sold to Accenture, commanded a drone to taser an intern. Three years ago, Whurley launched Honest Dollar at […]

By Susan Lahey Reporter with Silicon Hills News It started out as one of those tired debates about whether Austin—being a city where people want to live and not work 22 hours a day—could ever be another Silicon Valley. But then it got interesting. The SXSW panel with Brent Bellm, CEO of Big Commerce, Tina […]

Joshua Baer, founder of Capital Factory is bullish on Texas. He wrote the Texas Startup Manifesto last year and has worked diligently since then to bring Texas’ major cities together: Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. The goal is to create a statewide strong and supportive ecosystem for startup companies and entrepreneurs looking to create […]

By Laura Lorek Publisher of Silicon Hills News Business as a force for good, capitalism as the roots of inequity in our society stemming from slavery, the wealth gap and intentionally helping underserved communities. Those are just a few of the hot-button topics discussed during the panel on the meta-topic “The Future of Capitalism and […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News The Westworld at South by Southwest experience provides an entertaining look at the wild west town of Sweetwater and a life of living “without limits.” But it is a decidedly tame version of HBO’s Westworld hit television series. That series depicts a Wild West theme park run […]

By Susan Lahey Reporter with Silicon Hills News For the second time, an Irish Prime Minister will be coming to SXSW; only Leo Varadkar is a very new brand of Irish Prime Minister. Ireland’s youngest, and the first LGBT prime minister is leading a country that will soon be the only English-language country of the […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News International Women’s Day is the perfect time to highlight some of the fascinating events happening at South by Southwest focused on women, women’s rights, equality, inclusion, advancement and leadership. It’s the era of the #MeeToo movement and #TimesUp. The hashtags for Women’s International Day are #PressforProgress and […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News South by Southwest is a place where startups launch and get major traction. That’s why it’s also home to many pitch events. Here’s the top seven for your consideration. Release It Sessions 1 & 2 Release It at SXSW Interactive Festival is a place for startups to […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News South by Southwest is about to begin. That means anxiety is at an all-time high. Because fear of missing the panel or keynote or meetup, movie, band, party that everyone is talking about is real. But the great thing about SXSW is that you will miss some […]

DivInc, the Austin-based accelerator focused on helping minority and women entrepreneurs, announced Wednesday its latest cohort with 11 startups. The program is set to launch April 2nd and will be based at Capital Factory. It is the fourth class of entrepreneurs that DivInc has coached and mentored. In 2016, Preston James, Ashley Jennings, and Dana […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Launching a startup involves all kinds of paperwork and technical details that can bog down an entrepreneur. Gabe Wilcox, founder of MineralSoft, an automated revenue management system for mineral rights, not only had to deal with bringing his idea to life but the nitty gritty details of […]

Social Media Week Austin kicks off today and runs through Wednesday at various locations throughout Austin. The three-day-long conference, put on by Best Practice Media, covers a wide range of topics from content creation to public relations to digital marketing. Tickets costs $200 and are sold out. Another big event kicking off this week is […]

The next big thing in telecommunications is 5G. And AT&T has been testing 5G transmission in Austin for a couple of years in specialized trials. 5G stands for the fifth-generation of wireless broadband technology. It provides faster speeds and better coverage than the current 4G standard. The service is expected to offer speeds up to […]

Austin-based SparkCognition announced this week it has raised $56.5 million in funding. The artificial intelligence company previously announced last June that it had closed on a Series B round of funding for $32.5 million. But since then, it landed additional investors that push the round of funding even higher to $56.5 million. The investors included […]

A new coworking space with a wellness approach: work well win plans to open a 100,000 square foot site in East Austin at a former Motorola campus. The work well win site is set to open this summer. It’s one of a handful of coworking sites work well win plans to open nationwide. The company, […]

Serial Entrepreneur Ben Lamm envisions a future in which artificial intelligence is ubiquitous. Lamm co-founded Austin-based Hypergiant to fashion that future by working with Fortune 500 companies to create products for the artificial intelligence marketplace. That might include an autonomous bartender that can craft cocktails on the fly tailored to customer’s tastes. And it’s not […]

Transportation is becoming a booming industry in Austin. And now it’s gotten even bigger with Hyliion, a hybrid electric trucking company, moving its headquarters from Pittsburgh to the Austin area. The company announced this week plans to move into a new 80,000 square foot office space, which is under construction, in Cedar Park. Hyliion, which […]

In March of 2017, WeWork launched the Creator Awards to reward individuals and organizations for doing creative work. Austin’s Samantha Snabes, founder of re:3D won the regional award for Austin and went on to win $1 million in the overall global competition held in New York City. Now WeWork is doing it again. The company […]

Austin’s pioneering venture capital firm, True Wealth Ventures, founded by women to invest in women, announced on Tuesday the close of the firm’s first fund with $19.1 million. Kerry Rupp and Sara Brand, partners in True Wealth Ventures, plan to use the funds to invest in about 12 women-led startups in the sustainable consumer and […]

Watch out Austin there’s a new accelerator in town. Oracle, based in Redwood Shores, Calif., on Tuesday, announced it’s launching a residential Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator program in Austin. The Austin program is Oracle’s first residential accelerator program in North America. Oracle has eight other global locations in Bangalore, Bristol, Mumbai, Delhi, Paris, Sao Paulo, […]

Austin’s tech scene is always hopping. No matter what the day or the time, it seems there is always something fun to do. So if you’re looking for something to do this week, check out these fine events: Monday – Saturday – Austin CPG Week by TEN Capital Group features more than 42 sessions across […]

Something new is brewing in East Austin. It’s the Notley’s Center for Social Innovation, a campus for nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies with a socially innovative focus. And recently the center partnered with Capital Factory, a tech coworking and accelerator site, to launch the new social entrepreneurship and nonprofit coworking community at Springdale General in […]

Austin-based MineralSoft announced on Wednesday that the company has raised $4 million in funding. The company plans to use the funds to market its software platform, which helps mineral, royalty, investors and others manage their assets. MineralSoft also signed an exclusive partnership with oil and gas data provider Austin-based DrillingInfo. Investors included Cottonwood Venture Partners, […]

Austin-based Employee Wow, a software company, announced Wednesday that it has raised $1 million in seed funding. The funds come from Sean Tomlinson, an investor based in Hong Kong. He also joined the company’s board of directors. Employee Wow plans to use the money to hire sales staff and market its Anonymous Employee Feedback Platform, […]

Austin-based RigUp announced it has raised $15.8 million in funding. The company, founded in 2014 as an online marketplace for services and labor for the energy industry, also secured a $30 million credit line from Silicon Valley Bank. RigUp has raised $63.8 million to date, according to CrunchBase. The company plans to use the money […]

In Amazon’s Super Bowl ad, there are major hints that Austin is definitely on Amazon’s radar. Amazon’s personal assistant Alexa, a hardware device that runs on artificial intelligence, is the ad’s star along with Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos. The ad opens up with a woman in her bathroom brushing her teeth, listening to Alexa. Alexa […]

In 2013, Dell went private in a $24 billion buyout deal backed by Silver Lake and Michael Dell. Today, Dell Technologies filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing that the company’s board is considering taking the company public again with an initial public offering or by merging with VMWare. Normally, the company doesn’t […]

Content marketing is driving readers to websites. Startups that produce their own content can become an authoritative voice in the industry that they cater to. That creates trust, which can lead to higher sales of products and services. But it’s not just about throwing content onto a website and hoping something resonates with the audience. […]

In Dallas, ShearShare, a startup that created an app to allow barbers and hair stylists to rent salon space on the fly, won $100,000 in a diversity investment challenge last week. The diversity challenge, announced last Fall by Captial Factory, focuses on giving a $100,000 investment to one startup from Dallas with a diverse executive […]

Techstars Austin announced the ten companies selected for its Techstars Austin 2018 accelerator. The accelerator, which features a diverse set of companies, kicked off on Jan. 22nd at Techstars’ new offices at 220 S. Congress Ave. The program ends on April 20th with a Demo Day. This is Techstars’ sixth program in Austin. This year’s […]

Next Coast Ventures announced last week that the firm has added Jeff Browning as its latest venture partner. Browning “will focus on helping their portfolio companies with all aspects of organizational design, talent acquisition and executive development,” according to a news release. Browning most recently worked as a principal at GTRC Private Equity and he […]

Earlier this month at the Google Fiber space downtown, Tarmac TX held its Demo Day for the companies in its 2017 cohorot. Now the accelerator, based at Galvanize, is accepting applications for its 2018 program, which starts in mid-April. The free program lasts nine months and includes mentorship and help with issues facing early-stage companies. […]

Two women-led startups from Austin are among the top ten finalists in the nation for the sixth Women Startup Challenge: Emerging Tech. The startups include Astral AR, a drone piloting system that uses the Internet of the Things and helps law enforcement stop bullets, and detect guns and bombs through walls. Leah La Salla is […]

Ten Austin entrepreneurs have joined the WeWork, Bunker Labs and Patriot Boot Camp’s new Veterans in Residence program in Austin. The new program provides space, community and services to Veteran-run startups to help them to grow their business for six months. Last week, at a kick-off event at WeWork Domain, the first ten veteran entrepreneurs […]

Wellnicity, which makes home health test kits and supplements, announced it has received $3.6 million in seed-stage funding. Austin-based Capstar Partners led the investment into the company. Wellnicity plans to use the funds to further develop its software platform, sales and marketing and to invest in packaging and fulfillment functions. “We chose to invest in […]

Something new is coming to Austin on Monday. Office Depot is opening BizBox, a brick and mortar component of an online service it launched last November. BizBox will be located at the 14 Office Depot locations around Austin. BizBox offers everything from logo and website design to finance and accounting services. The location will also […]

On the year of its 10th anniversary, SpareFoot, a storage marketplace, moved this month to new headquarters at University Park. Sparefoot has raised $49.4 million since its founding in 2008, according to its Crunchbase profile. SpareFoot’s last round of funding came in 2015 led by Revolution Growth, founded by Steve Case, founder of America Online. […]

Catering to small business can mean big business. Just ask the folks over at Main Street Hub, which sold Tuesday to GoDaddy for $125 million in cash plus up to $50 million more in future earnouts, according to a news release. The transaction is expected to close by June pending regulatory approval and other requirements. […]

After working in stealth mode for two years in China and Austin, Wanchain launched its digital currency platform this week at a Bitcoin conference in Miami. “Tokenization of assets is at its inflection point. With cryptocurrencies now worth over $700 billion, the digital economy is growing wildly, but there is a problem,” Jack Lu, Founder, […]

The Texas 5G Alliance launched this week to advocate for 5G telecommunications technology and infrastructure in Austin and statewide that is needed to bring smart city applications to life. The alliance seeks to educate people about the technology for rapid deployment statewide and to make Texas a leader in telecommunications infrastructure. Why is it needed? […]

Sputnik ATX announced this week it has chosen four startups to join its inaugural class for its accelerator program. Those startups include YouPei.me, a cash-back platform for credit and debit cardholders to get Bitcoin rewards with more than 5,000 partner brands, Redenim, a data analytics platform for women to find the perfect pair of jeans, […]

Texas is the only state to have two cities as finalists for Amazon’s second headquarters in North America. Austin and Dallas made the list of the top 20 cities in North America under consideration for the $5 billion project, which is expected to create as many as 50,000 jobs. Amazon reported it reviewed 238 proposals […]

In the first WeWork Creator Awards Finals, Samantha Snabes, founder of re:3D, took home the top prize of $1 million in the for-profit company category. The Austin-based company makes Gigabot, a large 3D printer. It is also developing a new 3D printer that uses recycled materials. In addition, WeWork announced a $1 million prize to […]

One of the most successful startups to spin out of Capital Factory, WP Engine announced Thursday that it has received $250 million in funding from Silver Lake, a venture capital firm. WP Engine, founded by Jason Cohen in 2010, now has more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue and more than 75,000 customers worldwide, […]

Silicon Hills News’ 2018 Austin Tech Calendar Party took place last Thursday at The Zebra, an insurance comparison marketplace startup, in downtown Austin. It was a wonderful evening and the event was a smashing success. This is the fourth time Silicon Hills News’ has created a tech calendar shining a spotlight on Austin’s most innovative […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News At Sputnik ATX’s downtown office, a group of entrepreneurs gathered to talk about e-commerce startups and eat barbeque Monday afternoon. “We’ve learned a lot about the startup scene in Austin hosting these events,” said Oksana Malysheva, President, and CEO of Linden Education Partners and CEO of Sputnik […]

Austin-based Slingshot Aerospace announced Tuesday that it has received $3.25 million in seed stage funding, led by ATX Seed Ventures. Slingshot Aerospace is using artificial intelligence to provide detailed reports about the earth to industries such as Defense, insurance, and energy. Other investors in the seed round included Okapi Venture Capital and Sway Ventures along […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News GenXComm, a telecommunications startup spun out of the University of Texas at Austin, announced Tuesday it has raised $7 million in funding, led by Intel Capital. Other investors included Azure Capital Partners, Bandgap Ventures, Capital Factory, FAM Capital Partners, Lip-Bu Tan, UT Horizon Fund and WS Investment […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Austin’s rare snow and ice storm didn’t stop the tech community from turning out at DivInc’s Demo Day at Google’s Austin downtown office Friday night. The night shined a spotlight on women and minority tech founders who are launching startups in Austin. “It’s about startups. It is […]

Austin-based Dosh, a cash-back app, just raised $4.9 million in venture funding, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has raised $18.4 million to date in seed-stage funding and is preparing to raise more money early next year for a Series A round, according to a spokeswoman. Goodwater Capital led […]

Transportation logistics in this country is still problematic despite all the new technology on the market. That’s a market Austin-based Overhaul is tackling. The commercial trucking industry is a $115 billion per year industry and Overhaul aims to overhaul it. The transportation security technology startup creates software for shippers of premium cargo to track their […]

By STUDIO ESTATES Sponsored Post On a former cotton farm in Kyle sits a beautiful piece of land with expansive views and Hill Country charm. At Studio Estates, David Cuddy has built a burgeoning business park, home development, movie studio complex and now tech center. Cuddy’s 800 acres is prime real estate in one of […]

Tim Ferriss, angel investor and bestselling author and podcaster, recently moved to Austin. For 17 years, Ferriss lived in Silicon Valley. But now he’s a resident of Austin. Ferris is the author of “The 4-Hour Workweek,” “The 4-Hour Body,” “The 4-Hour Chef,” “Tools of Titans,” and his latest book: “Tribe of Mentors.” “In the end, […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Austin is shining brightly in the month of December with all kinds of great events to put knowledge into your noggin. But it’s also a time to have fun and celebrate our successes, which is why we invite you to our 2018 Austin Tech Calendar Party on […]

In Austin, Google Fiber unveiled three murals throughout the city that the company commissioned from local artists. “Google Fiber believes that citizens should be always inspired and empowered to create a better city and a better future and that public art has a central role in the process,” according to a spokeswoman. In Austin, three […]

On Giving Tuesday, Austin-based Favor announced it is joining with Feeding Texas and local toy drives across the state to help those in need this holiday season. Now through Dec. 15th, people can use the Favor app to donate directly to toy drives in six Texas cities and Favor is waiving the delivery fee. “Simply […]

Emma, a digital marketing platform based in Nashville, announced Tuesday that it is now accepting nominations for its 14th annual Emma 25 honorees. The program, Emma 25, grants select nonprofit organizations Emma email marketing services for a lifetime. The free accounts let nonprofit organizations distribute email to up to 5,000 contacts per month. To date, […]

Austin-based Bazaarvoice has signed a deal to be acquired by Marlin Equity Partners, a global investment firm, for approximately $521 million. Under the deal, Bazaarvoice would become a private company. Marlin Equity Partners, based in Los Angeles, plans to pay $5.50 in cash for each share of Bazaarvoice stock. Bazaarvoice is traded on the Nasdaq […]

EverlyWell, the Austin-based startup that makes at-home healthcare tests, asked for a $1 million investment for a 5 percent equity stake in its company, on Shark Tank Sunday night. Julia Cheek, the founder, and CEO, ended up with a $1 million line of credit at an eight percent interest rate for a five percent equity […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Being a woman in the technology industry is not easy. The technology industry is male-dominated at all levels and the pay disparity can reach 50 percent for women, compared to the salary for men in similar jobs, said Lauren Hasson, founder of Develop(Her). “I decided to own […]

Virtual agents, virtual assistants, bots, and other automated technologies are supercharging workforces, said Doug Reeder, innovation leader at NTT DATA Services. These technologies easily execute tasks that are mundane and repetitive, Reeder said. “They allow people to do less of the mundane things,” he said. Reeder delivered the keynote address Thursday morning at the InnoTech […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Opcity’s staff moved this week into new headquarters at the Bergstrom Tech Center in Southeast Austin. The high-tech company occupies 50,000 square feet in Building 312, a two-story, glass and brick building built in 1985 for Lockheed Martin. “We wanted a big home for our headquarters,” said […]

Austin’s homegrown fresh baked cookie delivery company, Tiff’s Treats just closed on $25 million in funding to accelerate its national expansion. Tiff’s Treats, started by former University of Texas at Austin students Leon and Tiffany Chen in 1999, now has more than 700 employees at 34 stores in Texas and Atlanta. They will soon open […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Two tech giants took the stage at Hogg Memorial Auditorium at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday afternoon to talk about technology and Microsoft. UT President Gregory L. Fenves introduced them. Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella visited Austin to meet with students, entrepreneurs and business partners. […]

South by Southwest officials announced this week that the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will be a keynote speaker in 2018. Khan joins previously announced SXSW keynote speakers Darren Aronofsky, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Barry Jenkins, Ester Perel, and Whurley. South by Southwest Conference and Festivals take place March 9-18th. In addition, SXSW announced even more featured […]

WeWork Cofounder and Chief Culture Officer Miguel McKelvey will be a speaker at South by Southwest Interactive 2018. McKelvey cofounded WeWork in 2010 with Adam Neumann in New York City. WeWork is a privately held company with more than 3,000 employees. It has more than 160,000 members worldwide and it currently has 170 locations in […]

ScaleFactor has a new twist on accounting products for small business. The Austin-based startup has created a finance and accounting platform that taps into machine learning to create more intelligent budgeting and forecasting information aimed at small business. On Thursday, ScaleFactor announced it had received $2.5 million in seed round financing from Next Coast Ventures, […]

Rollick Outdoor announced Wednesday that it has raised $5.6 million in seed stage funding. The Austin-based startup plans to use the money to build an online marketing platform aimed at RV and boat retailers. It is launching in select markets including central Texas this year. It plans to use the funds to hire sales and […]

In 2003, Austin’s tech industry looked much different than it does today. The dot com crash had led to many Internet startups failing and even established companies like Intel halted expansion plans here. But despite the upheaval in the industry, Sean Lowery, executive director of InnoTech Austin, saw the city’s potential for a rebirth of […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Austin is the kind of place that no matter what the hour of the day there is something fun and interesting to do in this city. And this week, in the tech community, there are so many activities going on that it will make a person’s head […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher with Silicon Hills News A crowd from the University of Texas at Austin of professors, staff, researchers and more turned out Thursday night at the AT&T Education and Conference Center in Austin to honor the UT Austin’s Inventor of the Year and Emerging Inventor of the Year. The annual event is […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News The same leadership traits in men like decisiveness and ambition are often criticized in women, said Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. Take those same traits and apply them to women of color and the discrimination is even worse, Sandberg said. “Women of color have all the […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Finding joy, being grateful and helping others are key to being resilient and living a fulfilling life, said Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. One of the most important lessons Sandberg learned through adversity is gratitude. “Reminding ourselves of gratitude is so important,” Sandberg said. After […]

The RAD Office Tour is a one-day self-guided tour featuring 11 cool workspaces in Austin. The RAD Office Tour takes place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission tickets include tour stops at Bumble, Condé Nast Co/Lab, Favor, argodesign, Kammok, Handsome, GasPedal, and Soma Vida Wellness Coworking. VIP Only tour stops include […]

By DAVE MANZER ‎Founder of Manzer Communications in Austin Guest Post Let me just state for the record that I am not an economist nor an economic development professional with a chamber of commerce. Nor am I familiar with the different economic incentive packages (tax breaks and otherwise) that nearly 250 communities across the U.S., […]

Earlier this month, Google introduced its second generation of consumer hardware products, all made by Google. On Friday at its downtown Austin office, Google showed off its new Pixel 2 phone, Google Home Mini, Google Clips hands-free camera, Google Pixel Buds, and an updated Daydream View headset. The products harness advanced artificial intelligence to assist […]

SailPoint Technologies, founded in 2005, filed papers with federal regulators on Friday to raise $100 million in an initial public offering. The Austin-based cybersecurity firm has raised $26 million to date in venture capital and private equity funding. The company plans to use the proceeds of its offering to expand operations and add additional customers. […]

“That’s right, you’re not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway” to quote Lyle Lovett. And Austin wants the second Amazon headquarters. City leaders officially submitted Austin’s bid to Amazon on Wednesday, a day before the deadline. On Sept. 7, Amazon announced the Seattle-based tech giant was looking for a second North American headquarters, Amazon […]

Techstars on Wednesday morning announced the launch of the Techstars Impact Accelerator, its first program aimed at for-profit startups that are tackling social and environmental problems. The accelerator will be based in Austin. Applications open in December. The program kicks off in June of 2018. Zoe Schlag, the program’s Managing Director. Since 2014, Schlag has […]

Certain Affinity announced Monday Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited of Hong Kong has made a $10 million investment for a 20 percent stake in the Austin-based game development company. The international investment follows a $5 million investment in Certain Affinity by Capstar Partners, an Austin-based private investment firm. Under the agreement with Leyou Technologies, Certain Affinity […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News MassChallenge Texas kicked off Monday evening with a big crowd at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in downtown Austin. “I want Texas to be the place where startups come to innovate,” said Mike Millard, managing director for MassChallenge Texas. The global accelerator is now accepting applications […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Austin made a major push to cultivate relationships with other countries during the first International sessions at Austin Startup Week. Representatives from Australia, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Ireland and the European Union made presentations at Capital Factory on Thursday. Capital Factory has had 20 international startups set up […]

AlertMedia, a communication software provider, announced Wednesday that it has raised $8 million Austin-based Next Coast Ventures led the Series B round with continued investment from ATX Seed Ventures. To date, the Austin-based company has raised more than $17 million from investors including Silverton Partners and angel investors. AlertMedia plans to use the funds on […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News At Galvanize this morning, I presented Content Creation for Entrepreneurs to Drive Engagement. More than 180 people signed up for the presentation, which kicked off at 8 a.m. following last night’s Austin Technology Council’s Battle of the Bands. About half of those people showed up. And we […]

It’s the Seventh Annual Austin Startup Week. Silicon Hills News started in September of 2011, the same month the first Austin Startup Week took place. Back then, the event was much smaller and the tech community in Austin was a whole lot smaller too. Austin Startup Week is still led by the two founders, Jacqueline […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News In remote and impoverished areas of the world, teaching children science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM skills can involve a lot of expensive resources. It requires computers, labs, buildings, high-speed Internet, power supplies, and pricey robotics kits with trained instructors. That’s a problem Rohit and Sidharth […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Ericsson announced Thursday plans to open a design center in Austin with 80 employees by next June. The center is focused on microelectronics and creating products for the 5G telecommunications marketplace. “This R&D center will be one of our key centers when it comes to 5G ASIC […]

TrustRadius, founded in 2012, announced Wednesday it has raised $5.5 million in additional funding for its technology review platform. The Austin-based company reported LiveOak Venture Partners led the Series B round with participation from existing investor Mayfield. To date, TrustRadius has raised $13 million. In addition to the funding, the company added Bill Macaitis, former […]

Next Coast Ventures announced Wednesday that it is has added two technology venture partners and its first entrepreneur in residence. The Austin-based venture capital firm has added Paul Rogers and Jim Dunham as Technology Venture Partners, which will serve as mentors to the firm’s tech entrepreneurs in its portfolio and advisers to the fund’s leadership. […]

BY LAURA LOREK Publisher with Silicon Hills News From the outside, 500 W. 2nd street might look like any new skyscraper in downtown Austin. But inside, it’s got that Google flair with scooters in the lobby, a swing, balance boards, a ceiling made of recycled canoes, an Airstream trailer food truck, outdoor movie theater, dog […]

The Zebra, an insurance comparison marketplace, announced Tuesday that is has closed on $40 million in financing and hired Former Kayak Executive Keith Melnick as its new Chief Executive officer. The Austin-based startup reported Accel Partners led the Series B financing round, the largest Texas Series B financing this year. Melnick, former president of travel […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Sputnik ATX is one of Austin’s newest startup incubators and accelerators. “We’re in a bit of a stealth mode right now,” said Oksana Malysheva, President, and CEO of Linden Education Partners and CEO of Sputnik ATX. Sputnik ATX, which fashions itself after a Y-Combinator incubation model, will […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News It’s going to take the mass consumer market years to catch up to all the innovation in the augmented reality and virtual reality marketplace, according to a panel of experts at the University of Texas at Austin on Thursday. One of the challenges for virtual reality and […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News A huge gap exists between what colleges are teaching students and what a company like Apple needs, an Apple executive said Thursday. “I don’t consider myself an expert on education technique, what makes great curriculum or any of that. I’m sort of like a big user of […]

The Austin-based on-demand delivery service, Favor, announced Thursday that it has reached profitability and raised $22 million in venture funding. S3 Ventures led the Series B financing round, which included existing investors. “Scaling a high-touch, hyper-local logistics business is no easy task, and all the credit goes to our team’s relentless focus executing on our […]

Hurricane Harvey hit South Texas hard and with billions of dollars in losses, it is proving to be one of the costliest natural disasters in our nation’s history. Houston, Beaumont, and the Port Arthur area received more than 50 inches of rain in a short amount of time flooding many houses and businesses and wreaking […]

On Monday morning following the landfall of Hurricane Harvey, Johnathan Wojtewicz headed to Houston in his truck towing a Jet Ski equipped with a boat deck capable of rescuing nine to ten people and animals. But on the way to Houston, he ended up rescuing about 40 people stranded in their vehicles along the highway […]

Earlier this month, in the basement of the Ernest Cockrell Jr. Hall at the University of Texas at Austin campus, James McGinness worked with his team to put the final touches on a transportation pod for Texas Guadaloop. McGinness, team lead for Texas Guadaloop, graduated with his Masters in Mechanical Engineering from UT in May […]

Email is still the backbone of an effective marketing campaign, said Karen Gragg, vice president of marketing at Emma. Marketers report email generates the most return on investment with a 47 percent return, compared to the next highest platform, social media, with a 19 percent return, according to Gragg. Emma held an event Thursday afternoon […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News The technology industry has a problem. Its workforce isn’t diverse enough. That means not enough women and not enough people of color, but it also means not enough people of varying ages, faith, sexual orientation, disabled, military veterans and other differentiators. Why is that important? Because studies […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News “Entrepreneurship is essential to our standard of living and economic growth,” said Stephanie Breedlove, co-founder of Care.com Homepay. “Entrepreneurs create new wealth and new jobs,” Breedlove told several hundred people attending Capital Factory’s Women in Tech Summit Wednesday afternoon in downtown Austin. Yet entrepreneurship has been shrinking […]

Vyze, a cloud-based financial technology company, has raised $13.1 million in venture capital to accelerate its growth and expand into new markets. Austin Ventures with additional investment from Fathom Capital and Starvest Partners led the Series C financing round. The company, founded in 2008, has raised $48.1 million including the latest funding round. As part […]

Nobody likes to do laundry. But we all need clean clothes and many of us are too busy to fetch our dry cleaning and laundry. That’s where Austin-based Press comes in. The startup, based at Capital Factory, just raised $500,000 in seed stage funding to expand its business. The company, which began as a Longhorn […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Heather Hoover, executive vice president of operations at uShip, joined the company in 2005, a year after its founding. At the time, uShip, the online shipping marketplace and freight automation software provider, didn’t have a formal office. Nick Parker, chief technology officer at uShip, and the founders […]

The biggest challenge for Austin and the Texas Legislature is tackling school finance, according to Austin District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool. “More than half of the property taxes that are paid by Austin homeowners, commercial properties and businesses go back to the state under recapture,” Pool said. That’s more than $400 million this year […]

It may be the heart of the summer and the Texas heat is going strong, but that doesn’t mean technology activity has slowed down in Austin. Silicon Hills News has highlighted five events to attend in Austin this week. TUESDAY– WeWork and the Austin Tech Alliance will host a tech town hall meeting with Councilwoman […]

In the first ever Austin WeWork Creator Awards, seven Austin entrepreneurs won $845,000 in financial grants and now head to New York City fo the final event. The biggest winner, GrubTubs, took home $360,000 in the scale category, the top prize at the event held at Austin City Limits Live at Moody Theater Tuesday night. […]

Austin-based Mood Media Corp. announced Wednesday its acquisition by several investors including Apollo Global Management and GSO Capital Partners. Mood Media, the parent company of Muzak, is now privately-held and its stock will no longer trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The investors paid 17 cents per share Canadian for Mood Media’s stock. The deal […]

AT&T on Tuesday announced the second trial of its ultra-fast 5G network throughout more locations in Austin. Last year, the Dallas-based company completed the industry’s first wireless 5G business customer trial in Austin. The company’s second trial delivers “an ultra-fast internet connection to residential, small business and enterprise customers using Ericsson’s 5G RAN and the […]

Austin-based SparkCognition, a startup focused on artificial intelligence, announced Monday that it has closed on $32.5 million in funding. Verizon Ventures led the Series B funding round with participating from The Boeing Company, through its Boeing HorizonX unit. “SparkCognition has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence to bring unparalleled advancements to many of the world’s […]

Austin-based HomeAway announced it has signed a lease to occupy a new 16 story office tower in The Domain in the first quarter of 2019. The vacation rentals company reports the new 315,000 square foot location will be able to accommodate more than 2,000 employees. “As a global company headquartered in Austin and as the […]

This week, WeWork announced 11 Austin companies have been selected as finalists for The Creator Awards South Regional Final, which will be held next week at ACL Line. WeWork selected the finalists from more than 2,000 applications from all across the south. The event is Tuesday, June 27 at ACL Live at The Moody Theater, […]

One of the latest startups to spin out of the University of Texas at Austin, GenXComm has received a $1.5 million seed round of financing. The Austin-based startup is focused on doubling the amount of traffic a wireless network can handle. Its patent-pending technology is called S-SIX. FAM Capital Partners led the investment with investments […]

Rishi Bhilawadikar created the movie, “For Here or to Go?” to tell the story of H1-B Visa workers in the U.S. living in limbo. He knows the story firsthand. For 12 years, Bhilawadikar, a native of India, has been in the U.S. first under a graduate student Visa at Indiana University and later as a […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher and reporter with Silicon Hills News Creating a great company culture isn’t just about having perks like free lunches, Ping Pong tables, and nap rooms. “They are important in a sense,” said Courtney Branson, head of culture at Square Root in Austin. “Having a Ping Pong table does bring people together […]

Amazon announced Friday plans to buy Austin-based Whole Foods Market in a deal valued at $13.7 billion. “Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy,” Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, and CEO said in a news release. “Whole Foods Market […]

Procore Technologies, which makes construction management software, is hosting a Summer Solstice Kick-Off party next Thursday. And you’re invited. The event takes place at Procore’s Austin office at 221 W. 6th Street on the 18th floor starting at 5:30 p.m. It features light dinner and drinks, but you must RSVP. “It’s not often that we […]

Since launching in 2012, Eagle Eye Networks has become the largest cloud-based video surveillance provider in North America. It’s also the largest cloud-based video surveillance provider in Asia. And now, it’s set its sights on becoming the largest cloud-based video surveillance provider in Europe. On Thursday, Eagle Eye Networks announced the acquisition of Panasonic Cloud […]

CognitiveScale announced Tuesday that is has received an additional $15 million in venture capital for product development of its augmented intelligence products. Norwest Venture Partners, Intel Capital, Microsoft Ventures, the Westly Group and USAA provided the investment. To date, the Austin-based startup has raised $50 million. “We are excited about the future AI-enabled enterprise, and […]

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know getting a small start-up operation successfully up and running requires a watchful eye on the bottom line. Maybe you can spring for a ping pong table in the snack room, but you can’t imagine footing the bill for health insurance for you, your employees and families. You might be […]

By Nicholas White Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The Daily Dot Reprinted with permission from ATLAS, a quarterly publication on entrepreneurs from Acton School of Business If you don’t live by your values even when doing so can hurt you, then you don’t really have values. I don’t remember where I first read that, but […]

Digital Pharmacist announced Tuesday that it has closed on a $6.5 million round of financing. Activate Venture Partners, based in New York, and LiveOak Venture Partners in Austin led the Series B financing round. The Austin-based startup plans to use the money on marketing and product development. Digital Pharmacist, founded in 2012, provides digital, communications […]

Everfest, a festival aggregation and promotions site, announced this week it has raised $3.6 million in funding. Live Nation co-led the series A round along with ATX Seed Ventures. Other investors included Red Frog Events, Chip Conley and Bob Kagle. The company plans to use the funds to hire key employees and on product development […]

Governor Greg Abbott on Monday signed House Bill 100 which provides statewide regulation of popular ride-hailing companies. And Lyft and Uber both began providing rides in Austin once again. The law is effective immediately. It overrides local laws passed by cities like Austin to govern ride hailing companies. “Texas has longtime been the home for […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher and Reporter with Silicon Hills News More than 800 people turned out Thursday night at ACL Live at the Moody Theater to celebrate 17 companies that made the Austin Chamber’s 2017 Austin A-List of the Hottest Startups. “In many ways, A-List is a lot like SXSW in that it helps shine […]

Uber and Lyft, the ride hailing companies, that rode off into the sunset a year ago when they couldn’t reach agreement with local officials, have announced plans to return to Austin on Monday. “Austin is an incubator for technology and entrepreneurship, and we are excited to be back in the mix. Our local team is […]

Billionaire Mark Cuban is leading a $1.5 million seed round investment into Austin-based Meta SaaS, which runs a platform for managing software as a service subscriptions for companies. The startup announced the investment this week which also includes Bazaarvoice and data.world Founder Brett Hurt and participation from Barracuda Networks, Capital Factory, Deep Space Ventures and […]

Austin is known for innovative startups. And the Austin Chamber of Commerce shines a spotlight on the best and brightest every year at its annual A-List Of Hottest Startups Awards. The event, which takes place next Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, is one of the city’s […]

A bill that would let the state of Texas govern transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft passed the Texas Senate this week and is now awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature to become law. Texas HB 100 would regulate all transportation network companies, also known as ride hailing companies, operating in Texas and require them […]

Usabili.me this week officially launched its app that lets companies remotely moderate conversations online with customers in a few simple and easy steps. The Austin-based startup is aiming the product at the design and research community that wants to improve website performance and other products. The cloud-based subscription service provides fast and easy feedback from […]

Google announced Wednesday in a blog post that it has acquired Austin-based Owlchemy Labs, a virtual reality game developer. “Together, we’ll be working to create engaging, immersive games and developing new interaction models across many different platforms to continue bringing the best VR experiences to life,” according to the Google blog post. The financial terms […]

Opcity, which has created a data and analytics driven technology platform for real estate agents and brokers, Wednesday announced it has raised $27 million in funding. Icon Ventures, based in Silicon Valley, led the Series A round with participation from Georgian Partners and LiveOak Venture Partners. As part of the funding deal, Tom Mawhinney, of […]

Dropoff, the same day delivery service, announced this week it has raised $8.5 million in additional funding. The Austin-based startup, founded in 2014, plans to use the money to expand to 35 additional markets in North America, according to a news release. Last week, Dropoff announced it had entered three new markets: San Diego, Fort […]

NarrativeDX, an artificial intelligence platform that lets healthcare providers communicate with patients, announced Tuesday it has raised a round of funding. The Austin-based startup, founded in 2014, didn’t reveal the funding amount but reported it was led by LiveOak Venture Partners, Cultivation Capital and HealthX Ventures. Last year, in a profile on the company by […]

Austin-based eRelevance Corp, which makes a marketing platform for small to medium sized businesses to engage customers, Tuesday announced it has closed a $5.1 million round of funding. The company, founded in 2013, plans to use the funds to accelerate its growth by hiring more sales and marketing staff and to further develop its marketing […]

By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News Plato said: “Those who tell the stories rule society.” That is why fake news is so harmful to everyone. At Silicon Hills News, the news is real. For the past six and a half years, I’ve worked without a paycheck to bring technology news to the people […]

Lepide announced Wednesday that it has selected Austin for the site of its new global headquarters. The company, founded in 2005, also has offices in London and New Delhi and employs 236 people worldwide. It expects to have more than 50 people in its Austin office located at 600 Congress Avenue within the next 18 […]

EverlyWell, the Austin-based healthcare testing platform, announced Wednesday that it has received $2 million more in venture capital funding. The company, founded two years ago by Julia Cheek, the company’s CEO, has received $5 million in total funding. NextGen Venture Partners led the round with participation from Jack Novak, SoGal Ventures, Full Tilt Capital and […]

Bitfusion, an Austin-based startup, announced Tuesday that it has received $5 million in venture capital funding. Vanedge Capital led the Series A round with participation from new investor Sierra Ventures and existing investors Data Collective, Resonant VC and Geekdom Fund. Bitfusion, which participated in the 2015 Techstars Cloud program in San Antonio, makes specialized software […]

The Central Texas Angel Network, known as CTAN, is once again one of the most active angel investment networks in the country, by number of deals done in 2016, according to the 2016 HALO report. The Angel Resource Institute, along with PitchBook, released the annual report last week. In 2016, the most active angel groups […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher and reporter with Silicon Hills News The latest presentations at the Innovation Center’s monthly StARTup Studio at the University of Texas at Austin show the variety of problems professor led startups are tackling. They included an acoustic monitoring technology to improve coffee roasting, a handheld laser device to shape bones and […]

By LAURA LOREK Publisher and Reporter at Silicon Hills News At South by Southwest, Guy Goldstein came up with the idea for WriterDuet when meeting with screenwriters and filmmakers. Goldstein created a platform, similar to Google Docs, to allow writers to collaborate on projects. Today, WriterDuet has more than 25,000 monthly users with 2,000 new […]

Optimizely, based in San Francisco, announced Wednesday it has purchased Austin-based Experiment Engine. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Experiment Engine, a graduate of the Austin Techstars program, creates tools and services that help companies test products online. Claire Vo, Experiment Engine’s CEO and Founder, will join Optimizely and continue to manage […]

CM First Group, a software company, announced it has raised $1.2 million in funding. The Austin-based company plans to use the funds for the expansion of its software tools and services. The Central Texas Angel Network and Lone Rock Technology Group with Capital Factory participating led the investment. CM First appointed Clint Whitaker of CTAN […]

Factom, a blockchain technology company, announced Tuesday that it has closed on $8 million in funding. The Austin-based startup closed its Series A round with additional investment from Peeli Ventures, Harvest Equity and a number of Austin investors. In October, Factom announced it had closed its Series A round with $4.2 million in investment from […]

The Central Texas Angel Network reported its members invested $14.2 million into 43 companies in 2016. CTAN members made 15 new investments and 28 follow on investments into existing portfolio companies. That compares to $13.3 million invested in 43 companies in 2015. The nonprofit organization also saw a 40 percent increase in 2016 in the […]

Austin-based LeanDNA, a data and analytics platform for factories, on Monday announced it closed on a $4.5 million round of funding. Austin-based Next Coast Ventures led the Series A round. LeanDNA received a seed stage investment from Rony Kahan, co-founder of Indeed. LeanDNA, founded in 2011, plans to use the funding to expand sales, marketing, […]