Category: Austin (Page 112 of 318)

For the first time, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, known as Austrade, is officially leading a delegation to South by Southwest Interactive to promote Australian innovation and ingenuity.

The group includes seven startup companies.

“With Austin emerging as a technology hub and SXSW Interactive regarded as a coveted global launching pad for start-ups, a hunting ground for tech investors, a laboratory for innovative and forward thinking companies, makes it an ideal platform to showcase Australian capabilities,” Nicola Watkinson, Austrade’s Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner for USA and Canada said in a news release.

“Australia’s economic transition is driving opportunities in digital technologies across almost every sector of the economy,” she said.

Digital technologies are forecast to contribute $104.5 billion to Australia’s economy in 2020, up from $59.3 billion in 2014. Australia’s digital economy is also projected to expand from 5 percent to 7 percent of gross domestic product

Austrade will have more information at the Australia Lounge at the SXSW trade show from March 12 to March 15. The booth will feature a ‘Experience Australia’ virtual reality showcase of Australian nature, coastal and wildlife experiences which explains why Australia is the ideal holiday destination.

There will also be a pitch competition featuring Australian software and hardware companies on Monday, March 13th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Salon A of the Hilton Austin downtown. A networking reception will immediately follow in the same room from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

And on Tuesday, a panel session on Australia: Your Gateway to Doing Business in APAC will be held at 9:30 a.m. in the Hilton Austin downtown, Salon A.

“Australia’s economic transition has led to demonstrated strong capabilities in areas of Fintech, Edutech, Agritech and SaS,” Watkinson said. “It has seen the rise of internationally regarded companies like Atlassian, Big Commerce and Data61 emerge and are all Australian.”

Full disclosure: Australian Trade and Investment Commission is an advertiser with Silicon Hills News.

Silicon Hills News announces the launch of our new podcast: Ideas to Invoices, featuring Austin and San Antonio entrepreneurs and stories about how they built their companies.

The first three interviews are now available for download in iTunes. The latest interview features Bob Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet, Internet Pioneer, partner emeritus with Polaris Ventures, pundit and publisher with InfoWorld and now Professor of Innovation in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

The second interview features Joseph Kopser, co-founder of RideScout, the Bunker Labs Austin and now co-founder of Grayline, a corporate consulting firm.

And the first interview is with Michelle Breyer, co-founder and President of Texture Media and Naturally Curly.

I’ll be writing up separate posts featuring each of the entrepreneurs in coming weeks. We’ll be posting a new interview every week with a successful local entrepreneur so subscribe, rate and review us in iTunes. And thanks for listening.

This podcast is made possible from our successful Kickstarter campaign. We would like to thank all of our sponsors and backers.

Chowbotics, which participated in the Austin Techstars 2016 cohort, just announced it has received $5 million in funding.

The company, which is now based in San Diego, received its Series A funding from Techstars Ventures, Foundry Group, Galvanize Ventures and the Geekdom Fund.

It also changed its name from Casabots to Chowbotics.

“The use of robotics in food service is an exciting new area. We believe Chowbotics is the number one company in this emerging space and are thrilled to invest in its growth,” Jason Mendelson of The Foundry Group, said in a news release.

Chowbotics makes a robot, Sally, that prepares fully-customized, fresh salads. The robot’s technology, with patents pending, can also make other types of dishes for Mexican and Indian food.

David Cohen, Founder and co-CEO of Techstars and Mendelson will join Chowbotics’ Board of Directors.

Deepak Sekar, Ph.D., an inventor with more than 100 issued patents, to founded Chowbotics to make food preparation fun by automating tedious, repetitive tasks with robotics.

Chowbotics previously raised $1.3 million in seed funding from the Central Texas Angel Network, Techstars Ventures, Galvanize Ventures, Geekdom Fund, v1 and an owner of 15 McDonald’s restaurants.

It’s no secret that Austin has traffic and congestion problems.

So Austin seems like the perfect place for Capital Factory to team up with moovel North America, a division of Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes-Benz, to launch MobilityX, a transportation technology accelerator.

MobilityX will be part of Capital Factory, a startup accelerator and coworking space downtown. It will focus on “fostering the growth of new mobility-as-a-service companies and bring innovation solutions to the transportation sector,” according to a news release.

“We’re excited to team up with moovel to foster innovation in the transportation industry,” Joshua Baer, founder and executive director at Capital Factory, said in a news release. “This program will provide an unparalleled opportunity for transportation and mobility startups to plug into the Daimler network for industry advice, customer feedback and new business opportunities.”

The MobilityX accelerator will include access to experienced mentors from Capital Factory and to Daimler executives. Entrepreneurs will have the option to participate in events such as a “Mobility Think Tank,” hackathons, and various workshop discussions. It also includes office space.

“As an integral part of Daimler’s mobility strategy, which encompasses mobility platforms and services, moovel is excited to collaborate with the startup community to develop the next generation of mobility solutions,” said Nat Parker, CEO of moovel N.A. “Capital Factory will provide the MobilityX program the structure, resources, and pipeline of talent it needs to thrive.”

Entrepreneurs interested in applying for the MobilityX accelerator program can visit MobilityX.CapitalFactory.com.

moovel previously had an office in Austin run by Joseph Kopser, founder of RideScout. That office closed last year and moovel consolidated operations to its headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

TurnKey Vacation Rentals, one of the nation’s largest vacation rental management companies, Thursday announced it has received $21 million in funding.

The Austin-based startup received the funding from Adam Street Partners which led the Series C round along with existing investors including Altos Ventures, Silverton Partners and prominent travel industry angel investors.

To date, the company has raised $41 million in funding since its founding in 2012.

The company plans to use the funds to expand into new markets and to continue to develop its mobile technology platform.

“On the eve of the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, the timing couldn’t be better to fund the next stage of TurnKey,” Jeff Diehl, managing partner and head of investments at Adams Street Partners, said in a news statement. “TurnKey is an innovative and highly successful company that is setting a new standard for the private accommodations industry, and we’re excited to partner with the management team.”

TurnKey provides vacatioon rental management services for homeowners who rent out their houses in 40 markets in the United States. Co-Founder John Banczak, formerly with HomeAway, BedandBreakfast.com and Hotwire and co-founder and CEO T.J. Clark, formerly with Hotwire, IAC, Limohn os.com, lead the company.

“This year, TurnKey will roll out virtual tours, floorplans and 3D models of all its homes, along with omni-channel communications that enable guests to communicate via phone, email, SMS or chat,” according to a news release. “TurnKey will also launch the next generation of the TurnKey HomeDroid, an in-home tablet that has extensive information for guests, from how to use the home to the location of the nearest gas station.”

A lot of locals have left town and rented out their homes on HomeAway and AirBnB to pay for their vacations.

This is an early indicator that it’s time for Austin’s largest, and one of the world’s largest, technology, music and film conferences: South by Southwest.

This year, Hugh Forrest, director of programming at SXSW, is writing several curtain raiser posts on Medium. Check them out to stay in the loop. He even did three posts highlighting Austin speakers: part one, part two and part three. He also wrote 15 Geekiest Geeks including William Hurley, known as Whurley, co-founder of Honest Dollar and Chaotic Moon. And I don’t think he even hit them all. (Austinite and Gaming Pioneer Richard Garriott de Cayeux will do a session on explore/create and has a new book out.) That just goes to show how many innovators Austin has speaking this year.

It’s also that time of year when you look at your online calendar and realize you have to be at five places at the same time. So in this post, Silicon Hills News attempts to make life easier by highlighting ten events of interest to the Austin technology community and those outside of Austin that want to get a taste of the local tech scene. (Some require badges, most don’t – but check with the host to make sure you’re good to go.)

1. Austin Tech Happy Hour– Bryan Menell hosts this long-standing tech happy hour at the Dogwood at 715 West 6th Street starting at 5:30 p.m. tonight. This is the 10th year in a row for the pre-SXSW Austin Tech Happy Hour. It is an unofficial event so no badge is required.

2. The Austin Technology Council kicks SXSW off right with its annual party tonight at the Belmont at 305 West Belmont. The party kicks off at 6 p.m. and runs until 9 p.m. and bring your dancing shoes to kick up your heels to the band: Encore.

3. Austin Open Coffee hosts a special SXSW edition at Atlassian Austin on Tuesday, March 14 from 9 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. (Bonus: The view from the Atlassian office is spectacular and they have good coffee too!) Argh! Looks like it’s sold out. Maybe you can bum a ticket off someone if you know someone in the know.

4. One of our favorite parties of the year is an invite-only gathering called the Entrepreneur’s Lounge that takes place nightly starting Friday at Fogo de Chao, right next to the convention center. Laura Beck and Bart Bohn put on this soiree that attracts the who’s who in the Austin community and beyond. It’s a great place to grab a drink, talk about the day’s events and rub elbows with the best and the brightest in the Austin tech community. And it’s turning 10 years old this year! The only problem is there is a LIST. You have to be on the LIST to get in.

5. And that brings us to another local gathering of top VCs, startups and other distinguished guests at the Rattle Inn called Hometown Hangover Cure, put on by Austin Ventures. It takes place on Sunday starting at noon and features an awesome Bloody Mary bar and hand printed (on the spot) T-shirts and a selection of great bands. This is also an invite only affair with a LIST. So make sure to get on the LIST and RSVP.

6. New this year is the SXSW Startup Crawl, put on by Joshua Baer and his team at Capital Factory in the heart of downtown Austin, is an official event. The fun kicks off Monday night at 5 p.m. and runs until 10 p.m. at various tech offices around town. The main event is at Capital Factory and features startup showcasing their companies at tables at Capital Factory. The event even has its own App with a detailed map on all the companies participating. It’s a great way to see inside some of these fabulous offices and meet the people behind some of Austin’s most enterprising companies.

7. WeWork is offering SXSW attendees a quiet place to catch their breath and work from Friday, March 10 – March 19. It is hosting “Recharge Oasis” for $25 FOR THE WHOLE WEEK. That also allows temporary members to attend an innovation panel, and participate in daily fitness classes, lunches, cocktail experiences and several parties. Of note, on March 15th at 4 p.m. WeWork is hosting an Investor Cocktail Hour featuring Bulleit Bourbon Cocktails.

8. General Assembly and SXSW are putting on a special series of workshops on everything from how to code to data science at General Assembly Austin kicking off at 11 a.m. on Saturday and running through Sunday at 4:30 p.m. And this might be one of the greatest bargains at SXSW because all of the workshops are FREE!

9. For SXSW badgeholders, the University of Texas at Austin is hosting two days of panels, parties and exhibits at UT Live. Of note is “Transforming Ideas Into Ventures” on Saturday at noon at 3TEN ACL Live for a panel discussion on innovation. The panel features “George Georgiou, startup co-founder and named one of the top 100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era (American Institute of Chemical Engineers), Nanshu Lu, startup co-founder and named one of 35 Innovators Under 35 (MIT Technology Review), Clint Bybee, co-founder and managing director of ARCH Venture Partners and Melissa Repko, tech, innovation and entrepreneurship reporter for The Dallas Morning News.”

10. In the 2nd Street District at Galvanize Austin, the focus is on diversity and tech inclusion with the Tech Inclusion Austin event on Wednesday, March 15th starting at 5:30 p.m. and featuring talks and panels on “jobs, access and opportunity, empathy and ally ship, inclusive and accessible design, creating inclusive teams and more.”

And for your listening pleasure while you fly or drive into Austin or walk around the beautiful city, tune into hear the stories of successful entrepreneurs who have built companies in Austin with Silicon Hills News’ Ideas to Invoices podcast which just launched for South by Southwest. Download the first few episodes on iTunes and be among the first to hear it.

Correction: This article was updated to reflect the $25 cost for WeWork’s program is for the whole week, not the day.

International Women’s Day is a great day to highlight some fantastic events at South by Southwest Interactive of interest to women.

Here’s some panels to check out.

Women get less venture capital then men. But lots of people are focusing on that now with hopes of changing the status quo. Here’s two panels focused on investing in women.

FRIDAY

Empowering a Billion Women by 2020

It takes place starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 10th in Salons 5 and 6 at the JW Marriott.

The speakers include Ingrid Vanderveldt with EBW2020, Lili Hall with Knock Inc., Stephen Evans-Freke with Auven Therapeutics and Tina Tchen with the U.S. government.

“EBW is “changing the world by changing the ratio” with data driven solutions in industries that create economic and social impact for women and girls across industries and borders. Additionally, and with the help of our partners, ultimately reaching our goal of Empowering a Billion Women by 2020. In 2017 we will be leveraging our access, collection and analysis of women owned businesses worldwide to release The EBW Economic Data Platform and EBW Global Economic Reports on Women’s Entrepreneurship to bridge and accelerate the mutual investments between global brands and women entrepreneurs they seek to connect and do business with,” according to its panel description.

SATURDAY

Women in Entrepreneurship

Takes place is Salon H at the Hilton Austin Downtown starting at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 11th.

The speakers include Lauren Gilchrist with Pivotal Labs, Dyan Gibbens with Trumbull Unmanned, Congresswoman Mimi Walters and Congresswoman Robin Kelly.

“Women-led private technology companies are more capital-efficient, achieve 35 percent higher return on investment, and, when venture-backed, bring in 12 percent higher revenue than male-owned tech companies. Yet women owned businesses are significantly less likely to win VC backing, and if they do, often wind up disqualified from being deemed a women owned business by the government. What should governments be doing to encourage women entrepreneurs? What should they stop doing to discourage women entrepreneurs?,” according to the panel

Why Women in Tech Matter

It takes place at the JW Marriott. Salon A-B, Saturday, March 11 at 3:30 p.m.

Austin’s William Hurley, known as Whurley, CEO of Honest Dollar, is participating in this panel with Unoma Okorafor with Waaw Foundation, Niamh Scanlon and Doreen Bogdan-Martin with ITU.
They panelists will discuss the importance of gender balance in the field of technology. “ITU, the UN ICT agency, is leading innovative solutions to close the gender gap. This session highlights successful strategies to get more women in tech and why it matters,” according to the panel description.

SUNDAY

Elephant on Madison Avenue

It takes place on Sunday, March 12th starting at 12:30 p.m. in Ballroom EFG of the Austin Convention Center.

Speakers include Austinite Leslie Wingo of SandersWingo, Lisen Stromberg of the 3% Movement, Bradley Jakeman of PepsiCo and Michele Madansky of Michele Madansky Consulting.

“In a follow up to the SXSW 2016 Elephant in the Valley Keynote, the Elephant on Madison Avenue Featured Session will discuss sexual harassment and gender bias in the advertising industry and how it compares to tech.
The results of The Elephant in The Valley shed light on some of the conscious and unconscious biases that women in tech experience on a daily basis. After hearing about the research at last year’s SXSW Keynote, The 3% Movement decided to run a similar study to gauge how women in advertising (and especially in creative fields) are experiencing these biases. In this panel we will share some of the results from Elephant on Mad. Avenue and have a conversation about what agencies and the industry as a whole are doing to ensure more women get promoted and thrive in the agency environment. We will also consider how Silicon Valley compares to Madison Avenue for women in these industries.”

MONDAY

Beyond the Bottom Line: Setting a New Bar for VC

It takes place starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Hilton, room 400 on Monday, March 13th

This panel features Sara Brand, co-founder of True Wealth Ventures, a $20 million fund focused on investing in women-led startups, along with Jenny Abramson of Rethink Impact, Mike Nellis of the Austin Community Foundation and Pam Ryan with the Tingari-Silverton Foundation

Female Investors Talk Investing in Women
It takes place at the Hilton in room 402 starting at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, March 13th.
The panel discussion features Sukhinder Singh Cassidy with theBoardlist, Susan Lyne with BBG Ventures and Theresia Gouw with Aspect Ventures.

The Future of Connection

It takes place at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 13th at 11 a.m. in Salons 5-6 at the JW Marriott.

Julia Boorstin with CNBC interviews Whitney Wolfe, founder of Bumble, one of the fastest growing dating apps in the country. Wolfe, who formerly worked at Tinder, founded Bumble in Austin and recently was named to the Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.

TUESDAY

Badass Buying Power: The Rise of the Millennial Women

It takes place starting at 3:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency, Zilker Ballroom on Tuesday, March 14.

The speakers include Jon Birger with Fortune Magazine, Kristina Durante with Rutgers University, Edwin Beadle with American Honda Motor Co. and Samantha Skey with SheKnows Media.

“Since 2000, one-third more women than men have graduated college, a topic Jon Birger explored in his book DATE-ONOMICS. With greater education comes greater income: Wages for U.S. women age 25-34 have risen 13% since 1980 whereas men’s have fallen 20%. Indeed, Millennial women are so outpacing men in education, it’s inevitable they will be their generation’s high earners. What does this mean for the future of advertising? The rise of Millennial women portends big change in how luxury cars, jewelry and other premium products once purchased mainly by men will be marketed. Translation: opportunity for advertisers who recognize the shift—and peril for those who don’t” according to the panel description.

By LAURA LOREK
Publisher and Senior Writer with Silicon Hills News

The importance of diversity and inclusiveness to solve tough problems and to spur innovation is one of the great lessons from the film Hidden Figures.

The movie recounts the story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, brilliant African American women who worked as mathematicians for NASA. They were pioneers in the space race and they helped to launch Astronaut John Glenn into orbit in his Mercury capsule Friendship 7.

“They were able to bring these women in with different backgrounds and different perspectives. And they were able to contribute so significantly to the success of our first American being able to orbit the earth,” said Camille Alleyne, associate program scientist for the International Space Station Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. She has done rocket engineering and space craft design for more than two decades.

Alleyne spoke on a panel at SXSW.edu following the screening of the movie Hidden Figures Monday night at the Stateside Theater in downtown Austin for a packed crowd. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Journeys in Film sponsored the event.

In the film, the female NASA mathematicians, known as “computers” dealt with racial prejudice as well as gender discrimination during the 1950s and 1960s. And despite lots of obstacles, they contributed significantly to the nation’s space program.

Author Margot Lee Shetterly, the daughter of a NASA Langley researcher, wrote the book, upon which the movie is based.

“I couldn’t do what I’ve been able to do for the last 21 years without the trail these women blazed for people like me,” Alleyne said. “So I am clear that I stand on the shoulders of giants.”

Their pursuit of excellence despite all the obstacles they faced is truly “mind blowing” and “awe-inspiring,” Alleyne said.

“In the face of adversity, these women persevered,” Alleyne said. “They were determined.”

One of the best parts of the film is it exposes everyone to the vital role African American women played in the space race, said Natalie Coleman, CEO of After the Peanut, a company focused on STEM education. Throughout our society, there are more hidden figures and their stories need to be told, she said. More people need to be exposed to African American scientists, engineers and innovators, she said.

After the Hidden Figures movie came out, NASA created a Modern Figures toolkit to give educators, parents and others more information about pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Eileen Mattingly, director of education for Journeys in Film, said teachers can use the film to help kids visualize a certain era of time or a social issue.

“This film is wonderful for that,” Mattingly said. “If you want to understand what is happening in foreign policy today it’s really important to understand the history of the Cold War. And to our kids today, that’s ancient history.”

Hidden Figures helps people understand the Cold War and the pressure people were under when the Russians launched Sputnik and further ignited the space race in the U.S.

“Why did people even break the barriers that prevented people of certain racial groups or women from working at NASA?” Mattingly said. “Why did the federal government do that? Partly because of the competition.”

Teachers can also use the movie as a springboard to get kids inspired and excited about doing something, Mattingly said.

On Tuesday, Journeys in Film will host a workshop to share curriculum based on the Hidden Figures film, said Rafranz Davis, executive director of professional and digital learning for Lufkin ISD. She moderated the panel.

Hidden Figures will inspire generations to come, Alleyne said

“I literally lived the life these three women lived,” she said. “Having our story: African American women, scientists and engineers in the space program our story being told it was just mind blowing for me.”

One person can shift something into another direction, Coleman said. She encouraged people to take action and do something for their family, community, school or business.

“Because the power of one is very significant,” she said. “This movie started with one person who wrote a book and it’s going to change the shape and the landscape of America for certain for years to come.”

Atlas Wearables, a member of the first Techstars Austin cohort, officially debuted its smart fitness tracker in 2013.

A year later, Atlas launched an IndieGoGo campaign and raised $638,029, more than 500 percent above its goal, to create the Atlas Wristband, which identified exercises, reps and calculated calories burned and evaluated form.

The startup has also since raised $3.42 million in venture capital financing. Pre-school friends Peter Li and Michael Kasparian founded the company. In 2015, they made Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” list.

In November of 2015, Atlas fulfilled its IndieGoGo Atlas wristband orders and it has since created the Atlas Wristband 2: Digital Trainer and Heart Rate Band that sells for about $95 on Amazon and other retailers like Wal-Mart.

Now the company has a new product called Shape, a 24/7 Digital Fitness Coach inside a slim heart rate band. The device tracks daily activity and sleep and also tracks and guides users through personalized workouts. The band works with an app, available for both iOS and Android phones.

The device relies on metrics from Atlas Motion Tracking which is the company’s machine learning system that was built based on experience from the original Atlas Wristband, Wristband2, Atlas for Wear and Atlas Engine fitness products.

“Shape considers metrics from Atlas Motion Tracking, including form and personal bests, to find the ideal workout to help users reach their goals,” according to a news release. “Shape leverages Motion Tracking to automatically track workouts including recognizing specific exercises, counting reps, generating metrics, and logging rest intervals. For example, if a user does jumping jacks when they should be doing push-ups Shape knows, or if they’re not reaching up after they burpees, Shape knows.”

In February, Atlas launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise awareness about its latest product, Shape. It already has more than 900 backers and has raised $72,000, exceeding its goal of $50,000 with 15 days to go. Shape sells at an early bird price of $59 through the Kickstarter campaign.

The Shape product reaches a broader customer base, Li said. Since launching the Atlas wristband, the company has had thousands of users who have used Atlas nonstop and it has become a core part of their lifestyle, Li said.

Atlas has five full time developers focused on hardware and software in Austin. The company runs a lean operation, Li said.

Dropoff has expanded its same day delivery for business service to Denver, Colorado and Phoenix, Arizona.

The Austin-based startup expanded to other markets in Texas and to Florida and California last year.

With the addition of these new markets, Dropoff’s same day delivery service now reaches more than 55 million people across the U.S.

“There is usually a variety of factors in how we pick a market: population size, economy, existing carriers in that market, do we have currently have active customers in those markets. Those are things we look at,” said Sean Spector, CEO of Dropoff. “Denver and Phoenix check all those boxes.”

Dropoff provides same day deliver for everything from food to legal documents. Its clients include Sprinkles, Whole Foods, Neiman Marcus, Zazzle, AirBnB, JW Marriott and CarePoint Partners.

Dropoff is disrupting the courier industry. It has created a proprietary technology platform which includes online and mobile ordering, a native mobile app, real-time tracking and confirmations, a fast, scaleable, around the clock dispatch automation system called Intelligent Dispatch, an API for easy integration into ecommerce sites or warehouse management software.

“It’s our vision to totally reinvent the courier industry through our technology,” Spector said.
Dropoff plans to expand to more cities this year, Spector said. The goal is to expand to four to eight cities this year. It’s currently in 12 markets and its plans ultimately are to expand to 40 to 50 markets, Spector said.

“Our goal is to be that trusted brand/service in the top 40 to 50 cities in the U.S.,” he said. “We’ve taken a very thoughtful and methodical approach on how we roll out. We don’t just launch cities for the sake of launching.”

The company’s main business comes from companies in the commercial and industrial industry like large printing jobs and auto parts, healthcare, food and groceries and retail.

Same day delivery is its sweet spot. Dropoff recently delivered 10,000 Voodoo donuts to a University of Texas football game, Spector said.

Among its more unusual requests, Dropoff has picked up placentas at the hospital from mothers who have just given birth, dropped them off at a processing plant to be made into pills and taken the pills back to the mothers, Spector said.

Dropoff has 52 employees with 32 in Austin at its offices at Mopac and Ranch to Market 2244. The company, founded in 2014, has raised $7 million to date.