Category: Austin (Page 19 of 318)

Every year, there are amazing experiences created at South by Southwest.

Mr. Robot put up a Ferris Wheel at Fourth and Congress one year, and General Electric had a solar-powered carousel.

Giant Spoon created one of the most talked about experiential marketing activations ever at SXSW when it recreated HBO’s Westworld in a ghost town just outside Austin. The next year, Giant Spoon launched a Game of Thrones experiential marketing activation at SXSW.

Amazon Prime also has a history of putting on incredible events at SXSW. It has hosted a Good Omens’ Garden of Earthly Delights activation featuring angels and demons. Last year, it held a Lizzo-themed marketing activation to promote Lizzo’s show “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.” That event also had a carousel.

This year, the activations are back! Amazon Prime Video, Showtime, HBO, and the film Dungeons and Dragons all have experiential marketing activations at SXSW 2023.

Amazon Prime Video plans to establish Prime, Texas at Hotel San Jose on South Congress. The venue will highlight a variety of titles such as Daisy Jones & The Six, The Boys, Swarm, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Power, Academy of Country Music Awards; I’m a Virgo, Harlem, and Carnival Row.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson even plans to attend Prime, Texas, on Friday to accept the key to the faux town.

The town features sound and photo studios, a nail salon, a semi-permanent tattoo parlor, a plant shop, and a mysterious power room. There’s also locally sourced, Texas-inspired food and beverages with a Prime Video twist.

The venue will also feature music from Prime, Texas’ main stage from DJs CRG, TJ the DJ, Christy Ray, Disko Cowboy, and Just Jim. Amazon Prime will also have drinks at the Six Saloon and food at The Prime Cantina. “On Sunday, Chef Damien Brockway, a 2022 James Beard award semi-finalist Pitmaster will serve modern African American fare and local Southern BBQ comfort food at a Harlem-themed influencer brunch,” according to a press release. “Partnering with online thrift store Goodfair, guests will also have the chance to personalize a denim jacket in collaboration with a local artist at PRIME DenimCo., leaving with a customized item to remember Prime, Texas.”

Prime, Texas, opens at noon on Friday, March 10th, and runs through Sunday, March 12th, at the Hotel San José, 1316 S Congress Ave.

Prime Video is also hosting the Swarm Mini-Mart pop-up at the Austin Motel with an exclusive first look into the world of Swarm by co-creators Donald Glover and Janine Nabers.

Showtime is putting on Camp YellowJackets at the Fair Market. The 3-day interactive experience celebrates the release of the series’s second season, Yellowjackets. It kicks off on Friday.

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Tavern Experience will take place at The Highball at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. It will serve fluorescent “Dragon’s Brew” in the “antagonist Gelatinous Cube.” The tavern opens at 11 a.m. on Friday and runs through Sunday.

HBO Max also announced it will have an in-person activation with Coffeehouse in Austin on March 11 and 12th, featuring HBO and HBO Max content. HBO Max’s Human powers the event by Orientation and Pa’lante! Multicultural marketing initiatives. It’s focused on elevating LGBTQIA+ and Latinx communities. The event will feature invite-only and public events. HBO hasn’t published the Coffeehouse location yet.

The SXSW Pitch competition has selected 40 finalists for its 15^th annual SXSW Pitch Competition.

“Since its inception, SXSW Pitch has been front row to some of the most ambitious startups from around the world, using creative ideas to change their industry’s future,” SXSW Pitch Event Producer Chris Valentine said in a news release.

From March 11-12, SXSW Pitch will showcase 40 tech companies from eight distinct categories for two days of live pitches in front of an audience of SXSW attendees, high-profile media, venture capital investors, and a panel of expert judges. This season’s judges include industry moguls like Stacy Feld (Johnson & Johnson), Jacqueline Jennings (Raven Indigenous Capital Partners), Mingu Lee (Cleveland Avenue), Trish Costello (Portfolia), Kay Koplovitz (USA Networks), and many more.

Participating companies come from all around the world, with finalists this year representing Norway, Germany, London, Ireland, Brazil, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates, to name a few.

This year, the competition includes two Austin and one San Antonio finalist and five alternates from Austin.

Austin Finalists:

–gigaroo (Future of Work)

–EverCase (Innovative World Technologies)

Austin Alternates:

–443ID (Enterprise and Smart Data)

–Endless Health (Food, Nutrition, & Health)

–Vironix Health (Food, Nutrition, & Health)

–Tirios (Metaverse & Web3)

–Manifest.eco (Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability)

San Antonio Finalists: 

–Allosense Inc (Enterprise and Smart Data)

A new mobile phone service, REALLY, announced last week that it had received $18 million in seed-stage funding.

Adam Lyons, the founder of TheZebra.com, is the company’s founder and CEO.

“We raised this capital to create the modern telco. REALLY is a tech company. A lifestyle brand. A movement. We are building the telecommunications company that people love,” Lyons wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Polychain led the round with Floodgate founding partner Mike Maples Jr and other strategic partners.

According to Lyons, REALLY wants to be the number one online retailer for phone plans. However, he said it also plans to offer its products and services alongside others.

“REALLY is already the most comprehensive wireless comparison platform in the nation comparing over 279 plans across 50 carriers,” Lyons wrote in his post. “But we aren’t stopping there. We plan to launch our own phone service later this year for people that care about their community and privacy.”

REALLY’s mobile network and infrastructure will create a blockchain-powered telecommunications community owned by the people using it, focusing on privacy, accessibility and anonymity for a 5G network.

Among the industry experts leading the infrastructure and service build-out for REALLY are executives from AT&T, T-Mobile, GoogleFi, uShip, Indeed, Niche, and The Zebra.

“Smartphones and mobile networks have become indispensable, yet most people don’t love their service provider. We see a massive opportunity to fix this, and our mission is to create a brand in this industry that people trust and love,” Lyons said. “We are building a better, more affordable phone service allowing communities to build equity and support their neighbors by using their cell phones. Those interested in putting a mini cell tower in their home or business will also have the opportunity to earn in USD. No other network exists that truly puts the ability to create and power the network in the hands of users like this.”

REALLY Wireless is set to launch later this year.

“The ongoing and rapid adoption of Web3 and blockchain into our everyday lives has allowed for an unprecedented period of change in telecommunications,” said Maples Jr., founding partner at Floodgate, said in a news release. “Adam and the team of industry experts assembled to make REALLY a reality have proven track records of excellence in their fields. We are excited to be able to play a part in this paradigm shift in telecommunications that will redefine how the industry functions.”

DivInc, the premier startup accelerator for BIPOC and women entrepreneurs, announced the nominees for its 5th Annual Champions of Change Awards held in Austin, Texas.

The awards ceremony will occur on Thursday at Distribution Hall. This year’s theme is ‘Rise,’ a reflection of the champions who embody the organization’s mission and power initiatives that spark sincere change.

“Champions of Change is not the traditional awards recognition event. It is a celebration of the best of Austin,” explained Preston James, Co-founder, and CEO of DivInc. “The community comes together in unity to recognize awe-inspiring, unsung leaders who are creating positive change. Everyone walks away with pride knowing that we’re truly moving forward together to create a world where social and economic disparities no longer exist.”

Tickets to the event are $50 per person and are available on Eventbrite here. 

Proceeds from the event will go directly to support DivInc’s efforts in bridging the gap between underrepresented entrepreneurs and the resources they need to build profitable high-growth, high-impact startups.

“Over the years, I’ve had the honor to witness Champions of Change grow with more and more individuals at the helm of meaningful action and impact. Our future relies on their leadership to provide a safe and supportive space for underrepresented communities,” said James, “These nominations recognize the trailblazers who demonstrate exceptional dedication towards advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in Austin and beyond.”

This year’s categories include Executive of the Year, DEI Leader of the Year, Young Leader of the Year, Champion of the Year, Investor of the Year, Startup Leader of the Year, Rising Star of the Year, Spacemaker of the Year, and Non-Profit Leader of the Year.

2023 Nominees

Executive of the Year

Kana Livolsi, CEO and Co-Founder of Dos Mundos Creative

Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas

Shaleiah Fox, Chief Advancement Officer at The Thinkery

Shuronda Robinson, CEO of Adisa Communications and Austin Woman Magazine

Wendy Howell, Co-Founder and CEO of Executive Council Network

DEI Leader of the Year

Amy Maldonado, Global Inclusion Programs Coordinator at Indeed

Brion Oaks, Vice President of DEI and Operations at Charles Butt Foundation

Dr. Elizabeth Medina, Inclusion & Accountability Director at Everly Health

Rachel Lauren Pierce, Vice President of People and Culture at Dream.Org; Founding Partner at Diversified Consulting Firm

River Holley, Global Diversity, Belonging and Inclusion Specialist at AMD

Young Leader of the Year

Alyse Gamble, Public Affairs D&I Content Specialist at HEB

Ash Hall, Founder & CEO of Justice Strategies, LLC

Azteca Sirias, Founder & Executive Director at Aztech Kidz Code

Chastiny Brown, Programs Manager of 3 Day Startup

Corey Alan, Program Associate at 3 Day Startup; Community and Youth Engagement Consultant at OutYouth

Champion of the Year

Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Professor in Educational Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin

Hailey Easley, Executive Director at Austin Asian Community Health Initiative

Maria Brown-Spence, Founder of Hearts2Heal; Director of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) at SThree

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, Judge of 459th District Court

Ryn Gonzales, Director of Operations and Programs at Out Youth 

Investor of the Year

Andy Ambrose, Partner at TheFund Austin

Betty Wu Adams, Managing Director of Equity Investments at The Disability Opportunity Fund

Cat Dizon, Co-founder of Active Capital

Juan Thurman, Co-founder and Managing General Partner of SWAN Impact Fund

Sanika Bhave, VC at Capital Factory

Rising Star of the Year

Alyse Gamble, Public Affairs D&I Content Specialist at HEB

Daniela Silva, Consultant at Farmshare Austin

Dante Clemons, Co-Founder Origin Studio House

Jazz Mills, Founder and Director of Operations at Free Lunch

Nicole Cardoza, CEO & Founder at Reclamation Ventures

Nonprofit Leader of the Year

Diana Anzaldua, Founder & CEO of Contigo Wellness

Kelenne Blake-Fallon, Executive Director at Black Mamas ATX

Phyllis Everette, Founder & CEO of Saffron Trust Women’s Foundation

Rockie Gonzalez, Deputy Director at Austin Justice Coalition 

Timeka Walker, CEO of United Against Human Trafficking

Startup Leader of the Year

Carley Deardorff, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Capital Factory

Luis Gramajo and Hans Scheri, CMO and CEO of Wunderkeks LLC

Katrina Tolentino, Executive Director at Naturally Network

Sierra Pena, CEO & Co-founder of Shelfleet

Sugar Tennon, Founder and CEO of Pink Sugar Treats & Eats

Spacemaker of the Year

Diana Melendez, Esq., Co-Founder of Women of Color Collective; Attorney at Diana Melendez Law, PLLC

Dominique McLeggan Brown, Founder of The Sisters in Law LLC

Katrina and Eric Brooks, Owners of Black Pearl Books

Marissa Rivera, Founder & Community Curator, Ola Wellness _OFCOLOR

Natalie Sanders, Founder of House of LEPORE & the ORISHA mere project

Allison Jenkins Schickel wanted a robe with a built-in bra to provide support after she got out of the shower.

 When she couldn’t find one, she created it by sewing a sports bra into a bathrobe.

Schickel took the bathrobe bra combination to Fredericksburg for a girl’s weekend wine trip and her friends fell in love with it. They called it the Brobe. The name stuck.

The following year, Schickel’s friend Wendy was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer and The Brobe took on a whole new meaning. Wendy told Schickel about the need for a hospital robe that could support the drains women have after undergoing surgery. The existing robes were “ugly as hell, overpriced, and not made from a nice material,” Schickel said.

“They were only focused on the sickness,” Schickel said. “They were not focused on wellness.”

The women recovering from breast cancer surgery needed something to make them feel beautiful and to give them their power back, Schickel said. So, she created The Brobe, a “bra” and “robe” combination with pockets for ice packs, prosthetics, drains, and more.

“I wanted to do something that mattered,” Schickel said.

Schickel officially launched the company in 2012 and to date, “Brobe’s functional and fashionable post-surgery apparel has reached more than 50,000 customers and garnered sales of $2.7 million.”

Last week, Schickel launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine with the goal of raising $1.2 million. So far, the company has been bootstrapped and running on revenue along with a $150,000 Small Business Association loan from PeopleFund.

Schickel has secured three U.S. patents on The Brobe and two in the United Kingdom and two in Germany. The company was also selected as one of ten companies nationwide to participate in a 2017 fellowship cohort with the Tory Burch Foundation in New York. It also participated in the Monarq Incubator and Quake Capital’s Fall 2018 cohort in Austin.

Brobe sells direct to consumers online at retailers like Amazon. It also sells directly to plastic surgery centers, lingerie boutiques, and hospital systems.

Brobe started off focused on functional fashionable adaptive clothing for breast cancer survivors but has since expanded to helping people recovering from other major surgeries like open heart, organ transplant surgery, vasectomies, and more, Schickel said. Today, 70 percent of her sales are non-breast cancer related, she said.

The company also recently launched the Elliot Superhero Robe for children who are undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Schickel plans to use the funds raised from the crowdfunding campaign to buy more inventory because she’s not able to meet the demand for her product right now, she said. The Brobes are made in a factory in Shenzhen, China. She ran into supply chain problems during the pandemic and her inventory actually sat on a ship in the ocean for four months. Now that manufacturing and supply chain problems have subsided, Schickel is ready to ramp up production and inventory.

“I just keep pushing forward,’ Schickel said.

This year’s South by Southwest is going to be bigger than 2022, but not yet back to the pre-pandemic level, according to Hugh Forrest, Co-president and Chief Programming Officer at SXSW.

More than 51,000 people are expected to attend SXSW 2023, which runs from March 10^th to March 19^th.

There’s going to be a big increase in international attendance this year, Forrest said.

The SXSW conference features panels, sessions, meet-ups, workshops, networking, and more. It includes Interactive, Film, and Music segments and features 25 tracks of programming.

About a decade ago, SXSW added the Health & MedTech programming track, which runs from March 10^th through March 13^th, Forrest said.

SXSW added the track because SXSW is largely a reflection of what’s happening in Austin, Forrest said. And the Dell Medical School was opening, which spurred development and innovation locally in biotechnology, medical technology, and healthcare.

Forrest spoke Thursday morning at the Heath Tech Austin Future of Care Delivery Summit at Capital Factory. He said the event provided a preview of the kinds of programming that will be showcased at SXSW.

Among the sessions, there will be a discussion on how doctors are using TikTok now to reach younger audiences, Forrest said. Nick Jonas, singer, and songwriter, will be in a featured session titled “Crushing: The Burden of Diabetes on Patients” at 10 a.m. on March 13^th.

Forrest also highlighted a documentary, “No Ordinary Campaign,” which will screen on March 12^th at the Alamo Theater on Lamar. The film focuses on Brian Wallach, a former Obama White House staffer, who was diagnosed with ALS “on the same day he and his wife Sandra brought their second daughter home from the hospital.” The documentary focuses on Wallach’s fight against ALS and his fight for drug approval and research funding. Journalist Katie Couric is one of the film’s executive producers.

The Health & MedTech tracks have grown to be incredibly popular with SXSW attendees, according to SXSW. This year, the content includes everything from aging, data, and FemTech to organ transplants and virtual care.  It also includes a new area of focus on brain-computer interfaces, featured in the sessions titled “Hello World: Brain-Computer Interfaces at Scale” as well as in “Superhuman: Meet The World’s First BCI Pioneers.”

Badges are still available for SXSW at SXSW.

The intent of the healthcare system isn’t aligned with improving things, said Dr. S. Claiborne “Clay” Johnston.

“It’s not about making healthcare better,” said Johnston, the inaugural deal of the Dell Medical School, who left that job in 2021 after seven years and co-founded Harbor Health in 2022.

Austin-based Harbor Health is disrupting the way patients receive healthcare.

The first time he talked about his new venture in public was Thursday morning at the Health Tech Austin’s Future of Care Delivery Summit at Capital Factory.

Tony Miller, the other co-founder of Harbor Health, is a serial healthcare founder. He formerly founded Bind Benefits in 2016 which offered on-demand healthcare and sold to United Healthcare. Before that, Miller founded Definitely Health which sold to United Healthcare for $300 million in 2004, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Harbor Health is working with employers and Medicare to redesign benefits and care to reduce costs and improve care.

“We’re wasting a ton of money,” Johnston said.

For example, only 25 percent of people with high blood pressure are being treated for it, Johnston said. If that rose to 100 percent, then 60 percent of heart attacks and strokes could be prevented, he said.

Harbor Health is a fee-based system that focuses on preventative care and providing access to doctors through telemedicine and even text-based exchanges, Johnston said. It’s also focused on finding the best specialists for the patients, he said.

Harbor Health is redesigning the care system around things that matter, Johnston said.

The new healthcare provider has three clinics in Austin, Round Rock and Kyle.  The clinics provide primary care, chronic disease management, behavioral health, health and wellness services, and Medicare wellness exams. The multi-specialty clinic groups treat infants, children, adolescents, and adults.

Harbor Health has raised a $9.5 million Series A round of funding from two investors, according to Pitchbook. The company has 100 employees, Johnston said.

Curative started in 2020 as a company focused on improving outcomes for sepsis patients.

But then the Pandemic struck.

It quickly pivoted to become one of the nation’s largest testing centers for COVID-19 with 19,000 locations. Its test sites completed 36 million tests and 2.5 million vaccinations, said Fred Turner, the company’s CEO, and co-founder.

Now Curative’s headquarters are based in Austin with 400 employees and it’s pivoting again.

At the Health Tech Austin Future of Care Delivery Summit at Capital Factory Thursday morning, Turner shared more about the company’s new mission as a healthcare insurance provider. It’s creating a Netflix model for next-generation healthcare.

The startup has created a new employer-based health plan that offers $0 copays, $0 deductibles for in-network services, and preferred prescription drugs as long as the member completes a baseline visit to their primary care physician without 120 days of plan activation. If they don’t, then the member defaults to a plan with a high deductible plan.

At the baseline visit, the member is given a preventative health assessment, but they are also taught how to navigate the system, Turner said. Each member is assigned a “health navigator” who helps them understand their goals and needs and navigate the complex healthcare system.

After Curative’s COVID-19 testing business, Turner said he wanted to focus on something that would move the needle on how healthcare was delivered and make it better for everyone.

Fifty percent of the people in the U.S. get their insurance from large-group employer health plans. Curative is available to companies with more than 50 employees in Austin. It plans to move into the San Antonio market next within a few months, then Dallas and Houston later this year, Turner said.

High deductible health plans don’t work, Turner said. Those plans usually discourage people from getting preventative care like mammograms and colonoscopies or early detection of diabetes and heart disease, he said.

“By not investing in primary care and preventative care that comes back to bite you,” Turner said.

Curative’s plans offer zero cost in network and that builds trust with members, Turner said. Curative wanted to design a plan so that the member always knows what it will cost to receive care, he said.

Two percent of a healthcare plan’s members are generating 50 percent of the costs, Turner said. A dollar spent on primary care is worth way more than a dollar spent to treat a major health problem that if detected early could have been prevented, Turner said. In the long run, the plan ends up saving a lot of money and people are healthier, he said.

Curative already has 10,000 providers in the Austin area, Turner said. Its network includes major providers such as the Austin Regional Clinic, Austin Diagnostic Clinic, and all of St. David’s facilities, among others as well as 24-hour access to a local physician via telemedicine.

“We want you to go get care,” he said. “We want you to get the right care.”

Curative picked Austin for its headquarters at 900 Congress because the Curative brand is already well-known here, Turner said. In addition, Curative has a lab in Pflugerville. It also chose Texas because of its regulatory environment for new healthcare companies, he said. And Austin has a number of headquarters for large companies, he said.

To date, Curative has raised $8 million in venture funding, according to Crunchbase.

Health Tech Austin is hosting the Future of Care Delivery System Summit on Thursday at Capital Factory.

The event takes place from 8:30 a.m. until noon. The event features opening remarks from Dr. Desmar Walkes, a public health expert, family physician, and medical director for the City of Austin, and Hugh Forrest, co-president and chief programming officer for South by Southwest.

The event also features four “TED-like talks” from the following speakers: Fred Turner, chief executive officer and co-founder of Curative, Mike Geeslin, president and CEO of Central Health, the Travis County Health District, Kacie Kelly, chief innovation officer at the Meadows Institute and Dr. S. Claiborne “Clay” Johnston, co-founder and chief medical officer of Harbor Health, a vertically integrated health delivery system that launched last year in Austin.

“I thought that maybe by starting a new academic medical center we could change the health system. I was wrong,” Johnston says in a news release. “We need to design an entirely new system.”

Kelly agrees and says, “Solving the mental health crisis requires a complete paradigm shift. At the Meadows Institute, we are working with health systems, school systems, and justice systems to design and implement data-driven solutions that are available today to correct the trajectory of mental health care.”

The summit opens with breakfast at the Capital Factory, first floor of the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown, 700 San Jacinto.

The event costs $55 to attend, and advanced registration is required. Silicon Hills News has a few free registrations if you’re interested in attending email Laura@SiliconHillsNews.com.