Author: LauraLorek@gmail.com (Page 332 of 352)

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3 Day Startup Austin Kicks Off Friday

March 28, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 0 Comments

By Luke Carrière
Special Contributor to Silicon Hills News

On Friday, 45 student entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds will participate in the 30th iteration of 3 Day Startup in Austin, a highly energetic, often sleepless, weekend where big ideas are turned into viable companies over the course of three days.
3 Day Startup liberates students from the classroom, and creates an environment where budding entrepreneurs can learn by doing. Over the course of a weekend, students pitch their business ideas, vote on the projects they find the most compelling, and ultimately self organize into project teams to create a prototype, perform market research, and formulate a business strategy. Participating students hail from myriad backgrounds including computer science, engineering, business, law and design, to create the skill set necessary to jumpstart a company. The weekend event is hosted by Austin Technology Incubator.
The culmination of the event is 7:00pm on Sunday April 1st, when students pitch their start-ups to a wide array of Austin entrepreneurs. RSVP here.
3 Day Startup began with a simple idea: start a technology company over the course of three days. Over the last three years it has evolved into a popular event campus-wide with a highly competitive selection process. Companies that have emerged from previous 3 Day Start Up events include: Famigo , Forecast, and HootMe. 3 Day Startup was started by students and is run by students.

$80 Million Texas Emerging Technology Fund Available to Tech Startups

March 28, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 0 Comments

San Antonio-based Startech Foundation is now accepting applications to the Texas Emerging Technology Fund from south central Texas based technology startups.
The program is aimed at providing seed stage funding for technology startups, university faculty and others focused on emerging technology.
“Funds may be used for any legitimate business purpose but the primary focus of the fund is to facilitate those technologies that are ready to come off the lab bench and get into the marketplace,” Jim Poage, president of Startech, said in a news statement.
Companies interested in applying should contact Erica Amaya or at 210-458-2713 for details. Startech will be accepting applications until 11:59 p.m. on April 17.

You’re Invited to TechStars Cloud Demo Day on April 11th

March 27, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 1 Comment

In January, entrepreneurs from all over the country arrived in San Antonio for the first ever TechStars Cloud.
Nicole Glaros, one of the program’s directors, moved to San Antonio with her family for the three month program.
Jason Seats, the other director, says the program is coming to a conclusion with TechStars Cloud Demo Day on April 11th at the Charline McCombs Empire Theater at 226 N. St. Mary’s Street.
At the event, 11 TechStars Cloud teams will give eight minute company pitches to the audience which will include investors, TechStar mentors, family and friends as well as community members.
To reserve a seat, you’ve got to RSVP on Eventbrite because the event is expected to be at capacity.
Angel and other investors can also contact Jason Seats directly about reserving a seat at the event.
TechStars Cloud Demo Day runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with an after party at the Weston Center Terrace starting at 7 p.m.

UnboundID receives $12.5 million in funding

March 27, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 0 Comments

UnboundID announced Tuesday that it has closed on a $12.5 million investment from OpenView Venture Partners.
The Austin-based company plans to use the money to expand into new markets and to develop new products, according to a news statement.
“The company is already solving the big data problem facing many of the world’s largest consumer brands and cloud vendors,” OpenView Managing Director Adam Marcus said in a news statement. . Their platform enables marketers to get a single view of their customers at every touch point, which we believe will be mission critical going forward.
UnboundID sells software that lets companies manage their customers’ data online.

Startup Weekend Austin sells out but wannabe attendees vie for a ticket

March 27, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 0 Comments

Startup Weekend Austin kicks off Friday and runs through Sunday.
The event features a group of people who come up with business ideas and then spend 54 hours together hammering out the details and launching the companies.
The event, which takes places at HubAustin Coworking at 4930 S. Congress Ave, is so popular that it has a huge wait list. So the organizers are giving away a ticket to the person who creates the best 60 second pitch video. The tickets aren’t cheap either. They range from $75 for a designer to $99 for nontechnical participants and developers. Caleb Smith created a rap video to compete for a ticket. Brian Curliss created an online matchmaking dating video pairing himself up with Startup Weekend Austin. You can find all of the videos here.
And even though the event is sold out, the public can still attend the final Startup Weekend Austin pitch session on Sunday, where the newly formed ventures will present their ventures to a panel of judges. To attend the demo pitches, make sure to RSVP here.

Austin Technology Council adds new board members

March 27, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 0 Comments

Austin Technology Council, announces the addition of Dennis McWilliams of Apollo Endosurgery, Lynn Atchison of Homeaway, John Arrow of Mutual Mobile and Adam Berman of TVA Medical to its board.
“These executives reflect the fast growth areas of Austin technology – bio tech and medical, mobile and wireless, consumer and Web 2.0 technologies,” according to a news statement.
Other members of the board include Susanne Bowen, CEO of PeopleAdmin, Rod Favaron, CEO of Spredfast, Mark McClain, CEO of SailPoint Technologies, Gary Sabins, CEO of Spinal Restoration and Manoj Saxena, general manager of Watson Solutions, IBM.
The Austin Technology Council’s advisory board also includes Rob Bridges, managing director, Wortham Insurance and Kevin Timmons, CTO Cyrus One.
“As the voice of technology in Central Texas, it is critical that our board reflects the present – and future – of this region,” ATC President Julie Huls said in a news statement. “Having a greater representation in bio tech, mobile and consumer tech is a statement that we will be strengthening our efforts to increase growth in the areas we believe are important to the region’s future.”
The Austin Technology Council, founded in 1994, has more 6,000 members including 230 member companies.

Kinnser Software gets $40 million investment

March 26, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 0 Comments

Austin-based Kinnser Software announced Monday that it has received a $40 million investment from Insight Venture Partners.
The company plans to use the money to expand its software business and for a national sales and marketing campaign.
“Kinnser provides services to more than 55,000 users working in more than 900 home health agencies and therapy providers nationwide,” according to the company. “Revenue at Kinnser has grown more than 80 percent annually since the company was founded in 2003.”
Kinnser made INC. magazine’s list of the fastest growing private company for 2010 and 2011.

San Antonio-based BiO2 Medical raises $13.7 million

March 26, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 0 Comments

San Antonio-based BiO2 Medical announced it has raised $13.7 million.
The medical device maker also converted a $1 million State of Texas Emerging Technology Fund investment in its latest founding round.
San Antonio’s Targeted Technology Fund and BiO2 Medical’s investment bankers Pasadera Capital led the investment.
The financing gives the company the ability to complete design testing of its catheter and launch a human clinical study in Colombia.
“This Series B funding has been instrumental to the recent successes of BiO2 Medical, and specifically the Angel Catheter program,” Christopher E. Banas, BiO2’s chairman and CEO, said in a news statement.
“BiO2 Medical’s Angel Catheter, named after its inventor and BiO2 Medical’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Luis F. Angel, is a central venous catheter and Inferior Vena Cava filter combination device, intended to protect against potentially fatal Pulmonary Embolism in critically ill patients,” according to the company.

Avnet Acquires Austin-based Ascendant Technology

March 26, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 0 Comments

Avnet announced Monday its plans to acquire Ascendant Technology, based in Austin.
Phoenix-based Avnet, an electronics component maker, did not disclose terms of the deal.
Ascendant Technology, an information technology consulting firm, helps businesses create ecommerce, web content management, cloud computing and other solutions. It had revenue of approximately $90 million in 2011.
Founded in 2003, Ascendant Technology has more than 500 employees. The acquisition, pending customary regulatory approval, is expected to close within 45 days.
Avnet’s stock, traded under the symbol AVT on the Nasdaq market, closed up nearly 2.5 percent at $36.83.

Austin Startup Bloomfire gets $10 million in financing

March 26, 2012 / LauraLorek@gmail.com / 1 Comment

A Web app firm, Bloomfire Inc. has landed $10 million in financing from Austin Ventures and Redpoint Ventures.
The Austin-based startup has created a productivity web app targeted at companies and their employees.
The product sounds like a corporate Pinterest-like application with an interactive component that allows employees to share documents, videos, pictures and charts online in real time. The application can be used as a training tool.
“Bloomfire addresses old-school productivity problems with a new-school approach, using social software to create and share valuable information within an enterprise,” Chris Pacitti, general partner at Austin Ventures said in a news statement. “It essentially allows you to clone your best sales people, reducing costs, improving productivity and accelerating new business opportunities that drive your bottom line.”
A group of seasoned entrepreneurs founded Bloomfire including CEO Craig Malloy, who founded and sold LifeSize to Logitech, CTO Dave McCann, formerly an executive at LifeSize and Chief Evangelist Josh Little, former national training manager at Stryker Instruments.