Category: San Antonio (Page 50 of 62)

Top People to Talk to About the Thriving Startup Scene in Silicon Hills

June 13, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Damon Clinkscales recently complied this list when he tweeted out a question to the Austin high-tech community asking for recommendations of the top people to talk to about the Austin startup scene.
I agree with all the recommendations. My list in Austin is as follows:

Josh Baer, founder of multiple companies including OtherInBox, Capital Factory and author of Austinpreneur.
Jason Cohen, founder Smart Bear Software, founder of Capital Factory and founder of WP Engine.
Damon Clinkscales, software engineer and founder of AustinOnRails.
Bill Boebel, founder of Webmail.us, angel investor and manager at Capital Factory.
Julie Huls, president of the Austin Technology Council.
Bryan Menell, director of the Collaboratory at Dachis Group, founder of AustinStartup.com and the monthly High Tech Happy Hour.
Josh Dilworth, founder and CEO of Jones-Dilworth, Inc., an early-stage technology marketing firm.
Kevin Koym, entrepreneur and founder of Tech Ranch Austin.
Eve Richter, emerging technologies coordinator at City of Austin/Economic Development
Robert Reeves, founder at Datical, cofounder of Phurnace Software and formerly director of IT and Wireless at the Austin Technology Incubator.
Jeff Harbach, executive director of Central Texas Angel Network
Rudy Garza, angel investor and founder and managing general partner of G-51, also known as TexasSuperAngel on Twitter.
Andrew Busey, successful serial entrepreneur, now venture partners with Austin Ventures.
Jacqueline Hughes, founder of Austin Startup Week
Laura Beck, owner of StripedShirt and seasoned technology PR professional who knows everyone.
Lori Hawkins, veteran technology reporter at the Austin American Statesman. She pens the Starting Blog.
Bob Metcalfe, co-founder of Ethernet, 3Com, professor of innovation at UT and cofounder of 1SemesterStartup.

Austin has a thriving high-tech startup scene. So many people contribute to the collaborate environment in the city and that makes it tough to name just a few.
In fact, I was just interviewed for an article in Fast Company Magazine on the startup scene in both Austin and San Antonio and I listed many of the people on Clinkscales list. But I also told the reporter that it was tough to make up a list because so many people in Austin help startup entrepreneurs.
I also listed the top people for the San Antonio area. They are as follows (and again I know I will leave off important people so please list them in the comments sections to add to this list.)

Graham Weston, chairman of Rackspace, founder of Geekdom and investor in lots of startup companies.
Pat Condon, founder of Rackspace, supporter of Geekdom and angel investor in startup companies.
Dirk Elemendorf, founder of Rackspace, supporter of Geekdom and angel investor in startup companies.
Jason Seats, founder of Slicehost, managing director of TechStars Cloud and angel investor.
Alan Weinkrantz, high-tech public relations professional who runs his own firm and splits his time between the startup scene in San Antonio and Israel.
Dr. Luz Cristal Glangchai, assistant professor and associate director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Trinity University and manager of 3DayStartup San Antonio.
Nick Longo, founder of CoffeeCup Software and director of Geekdom, a collaborative coworking space for high-tech entrepreneurs in downtown San Antonio.
Vid Luther, founder of ZippyKid, a WordPress hosting site.

WhaleShark’s RetailMeNot Releases iPhone App for Coupons

June 13, 2012 / / 4 Comments

The largest online coupon site, RetailMeNot.com has released its first iPhone app that lets consumers retrieve coupons while shopping inside stores.
The app is free and features “hot deals” from popular stores updated daily. The app contains more than 1,600 in-store mobile exclusives where consumers need to simply show cashiers the coupons on their iPhone
“With over 17 percent of our total site traffic coming through handheld devices, our new iPhone app is significant for two reasons: First, it provides consumers with an enhanced savings experience when accessing RetailMeNot through our mobile channel, which continues to grow by 200% every month year-over-year; second, with millions of busy, on-the-go consumers increasingly using their mobile device to make an online or in-store purchase, now is the time to double down on our investment in developing better mobile technology,” Cotter Cunningham, CEO and founder of WhaleShark Media, the operator of RetailMeNot.com, said in a news statement. “This first iPhone app is only our initial offering, and we plan on significant improvements and new features to come to support consumers interested in saving money while using mobile devices to shop online or within retail stores.”
In a survey with Ipsos Research, RetailMeNot found that 56 percent of U.S. adults have a smartphone and 62 percent of them download mobile apps.
About 71 percent of adults under 35 have smartphones, compared to 56 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 42 percent of those older than 55.
Smartphone owners are more likely to have incomes of more than $50,000 a year and 67 percent have children and college degrees and 66 percent work full time.
More than a third of adultas have used their smartphone or tablet to shop for or research a product or service.

RetailMeNot Coupons app for iPhone from RetailMeNot on Vimeo.

Startech Foundation Accepting Applications for Texas Emerging Technology Fund

June 12, 2012 / / 0 Comments

The Startech Foundation, based in San Antonio, serves as the South Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization, and in that role it is accepting applications from South Texas startups seeking financing from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund.
That state fund provides early stage seed funding for technology startups, university faculty and others that have an emerging technology ready for commercialization.
“The state of Texas has about $50 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund to invest into Texas innovation startups in the next 15 months,” Jim Poage, president and CEO of Startech, said in a statement. “With almost $43 million already invested into South Texas, several companies and universities have already taken advantage of the available funding from the ETF, more should do the same.”
To apply, please contact Erica Amaya at Startech at 210.458.2713 or ea@startech1.org for more details. The application deadline is midnight on July 24.

Austin Hacker Creates Apollo Armband Solar Generator

June 12, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Every once in awhile I browse Kickstarter looking for cool projects by Austin inventors.
That’s how I stumbled upon Zimmer Barnes’ Apollo Armband Solar Generator project.
He came up with the idea of the solar armband generator while he had a broken arm. He rigged up a solar panel to the cast to create a generator for his mobile phone and other products.
So many of his friends and strangers liked the idea that he decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to mass produce the devices. He’s seeking to raise $3,200 and he already has 22 backers who have pledged $2,401. He’s got seven days to go to meet his goal.
Barnes is a member of the ATX Hackerspace, which is a community of people who love to make things.
Barnes also describes himself as a activist for “what’s come to be known as the “Real Life Superhero” movement. Over the last six years I’ve gone on a wild variety of missions, from doing park clean ups to breaking up fights; delivering aid to homeless camps living underground to removing gang graffiti; time indexing violent crime and mapping the data to trying to get mugged in one of Brooklyn’s most dangerous neighborhoods.”

BuildASign wins the Startup Olympics Summer Games

June 10, 2012 / / 0 Comments

BuildASign won the first ever Austin Startup Olympics Summer Games.
The company, co-founded by Dan Graham, received a $10,000 prize to donate to its charity of choice.
BuildASign chose Austin Pro Bono, a nonprofit that connects lawyers and other professionals to nonprofit organizations.
“SpareFoot took home the silver this year, earning $5,000 for Kure It Cancer Research. Our charity of choice was founded by a self-storage business operator to support kidney cancer research,” according to the company’s blog post. Adlucent earned the Bronze, finishing in third place. It earned money for Austin Pets Alive.
The other startup teams participating each won $500 to donate to their designated charities. Boundless Network designated Capital Area Food Bank; uShip picked Communities in Schools of Central Texas; Spredfast selected Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas; Mass Relevance selected Austin Children’s Shelter and WhaleShark designated Austin Children’s Museum.
uShip won the Startup Olympics Winter Games held last January at its headquarters.
The Summer Games kicked off shortly after noon on Saturday at the Krieg Softball Complex with the running of the torch by uShip’s Co-Founder Jay Manickam, which Sparefoot’s Co-Founder Chuck Gordon received on a podium. After the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, Gordon released about a dozen white doves to a cheering crowd and announced the official beginning of the games.
Adlucent won the first event, the 400 yard relay followed by BuildASign and uShip.
Altogether, the games consisted of seven events: kickball, tetherball, tug-of-war, basketball, the relay sprint, 400 meter sprint and the advance sprint which consisted of a relay team performing various tasks including dizzy bat, egg and spoon race, sack race and the three legged race.

Geni Glynn with Sparefoot and Summer Games organizer

“These games are a lot more competitive,” said Geni Glynn, spokeswoman with Sparefoot, who helped organize the games. She was comparing the summer games to the winter games which raised $2,300 for charity. This time, a lot more prize money for charity was at stake.
In fact, Sparefoot had rules for its competitors such as no alcohol until after the competition, Glynn said. Sparefoot also had to contend with much larger teams. Sparefoot with 45 employees was the second smallest startup to compete. Mass Relevance with 35 employees was the smallest.
About 300 competitors and their supporters were expected to attend the games, Glynn said. She expected several hundred more for the after party that was held at the field around 6 p.m. at the end of the competition.

Jay Manickam, cofounder of uShip

uShip, the defending champs, did not put any restrictions on its employees, said Manickam. He says the games started off as just a fun idea among some friends, but it quickly took off.
“There’s a groundswell of support and a real interest among the startup teams in giving back to the community through charity and having fun together,” he said.
The games embody the startup culture in Austin of camaraderie, competition, collaboration, hard work and giving back by supporting local charities, Manickam said.
“The ultimate goal is to make this a national competition,” Manickam said. He envisions an annual Startup Olympics competition at South by Southwest with teams from other high-technology regions like Silicon Valley, Boston and New York. He’s already received interest from other regions.

Photo courtesy of Austin Startup Olympics

Austin Ventures, Consero, SVB Financial Group & Silicon Valley Bank, KHRG, Dos Equis and Deep Eddy Vodka sponsored the event. Dos Equis provided 300 cases of beer and Deep Eddy Vodka staff showed up in a classic Volkswagon Bus packed with Deep Eddy Vodka and Sweet Leaf Tea. With temperatures soaring well into the 90s, the refreshments provided many of the athletes with the sustenance they needed to compete.

A Glimpse of the New Capital Factory Coworking Space

June 8, 2012 / / 0 Comments

The Austin Chamber last week selected Capital Factory to create a downtown coworking space for technology entrepreneurs as part of its Austin Tech Live initiative.
Josh Baer, cofounder of Capital Factory, a technology accelerator program for entrepreneurs, discusses the new space in this video.
Also this week, Paul O’Brien with Cospace announced its partnership with Capital Factory to manage the new facility.
Cospace will manage operations and provide classes and events for Austin’s tech and entrepreneurship scene.
Cospace, known in Austin as the home to entrepreneurs focused on Lean business and product development, is a collaborative business community that has supported nearly two dozen startups, facilitated the launch of more than 50 products, and hosted over 1500 students through classes in technology and entrepreneurship.

Rackspace Celebrates 6th Annual Green Day

June 8, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Victor Rodriguez
Special to Silicon Hills News

About 800 Rackers (Rackspace employees) and members of the community attended the company’s 6th annual Green Day.
Rackspace held the event on Wednesday at its San Antonio headquarters.
San Antonio Backyard Chickens brought a bunch of chickens and educated Rackers on how to produce farm-fresh eggs in their own backyards.
As for refreshments, many people enjoyed trying out grass fed beef and goat burgers from Fresh Horizons.
Many Rackers scheduled demos at North Park Lexus and Cavender after seeing the green vehicles on display, including the sold out 2013 Range Rover Evoque.
This year’s Green Day kicked off the beginning of Rackspace’s mid-week Farmers Market. Rackers have always welcomed the event with great enthusiasm.
Every Wednesday, Rackspace will host a handful of vendors in the company’s parking lot from 4-7 p.m. as a convenient way to provide Rackers with fresh and local groceries. Now, Rackers and the public can conveniently grab local produce, eggs, meats, and other treats on their way home from work.

Rackspace is a sponsor of Silicon Hills News

Megabus to Provide Service Between Austin and San Antonio

June 7, 2012 / / 1 Comment

It’s not high-speed rail, but any kind of effort to connect San Antonio and Austin and provide the free-flow of the workforce in the region is a welcome one.
Megabus.com will begin service in Texas on June 19th.
The express bus company is offering fares from $1 to travel to Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin.
Texas residents can also travel to Norman, Okla, Memphis, Tenn., Little Rock, Ark. and New Orleans for as low as $1.
In addition to affordable fares, megabus.com offers customers free Wi-Fi, power outlets and restrooms.

Federal Intelligence Researchers Court Austin

June 6, 2012 / / 0 Comments

By YASMIN GHAHREMANI
Special Contributor to Silicon Hills News

Austin’s high-tech business and academic community is being courted by the research arm for the federal intelligence community. Officials from IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity) were in town for a full-day session June 5 to meet with potential partners for R&D grants.
IARPA invests in high-risk, high-payoff research programs that will give the US an overwhelming intelligence advantage against future adversaries. Projects fall into three categories: incisive analysis, data collection, and safe and secure operations.
“We want to make it difficult for our adversaries to take down communications that we rely on for day-to-day life,” says Dr. Peter Highnam, acting director of IARPA.
Austin is the public launch site of the agency’s program to conduct round-table discussions with science and technology leaders outside the beltway. It piloted the idea in Raleigh-Durham, NC and is planning a trip to the West Coast. Highnam spent 10 years in Austin as manager and senior researcher at Schlumberger Computing Lab in the 1990s and knows its strengths as a growing technology hub with academic research muscle.

Secure chips
One of the more high-profile programs the agency is working on is called Trusted Integrated Chips. TIC aims to address the fact that the US lags in the production of very high-performance, high-volume chip foundries. Many of these fabrication plants are now in Taiwan, Singapore or China. “Our adversaries can exploit these capabilities,” says Dennis Polla, program manager of the TIC Program for IARPA. “We need to make sure the chips we use are free of bugs that can affect performance and also free of malicious circuits.”
To do so, TIC is researching a split-manufacturing system that would build security right into the chip. The transistor layers that make up 85 percent of the chip would be fabricated overseas, with the final metallization steps done at a trusted fab in the US. Those working on the transistor process would never have access to information about the design intentions of the chip.
IARPA will grant full research contracts for split-manufacturing by early July to foreign and US manufacturers. In the meantime, the agency has been working with SVTC as well as former UT professor Dim-Lee Kwong on some of the initial research for the program. Prof. Kwong is now the executive director for the Institute of Microelectronics in Singapore.
IARPA wants to see demonstrations of its split-manufacturing concept in six design systems, including mixed signal, MEMS-CMOS and power-CMOS.

fisoc Gets Venture Capital, Brings total to $5 Million

June 6, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Austin-based fisoc, Inc. has closed on a venture capital round with Greycroft Partners.
fisoc, founded in 2010, has more than 1,000 financial institutions as customers.
The company offers data analysis tools online so that banks and credit unions can offer rewards to their debit card customers enrolled in fisoc’s BuzzPoints program.
“We strongly believe that fisoc with their BuzzPoints Platform, product portfolio, management team, and a unique understanding of the intersection taking place between online financial services and social media will enable them to become a market leader,” Ellie Wheeler, Venture Capitalist at Greycroft Partners, said in a news release. “By combining financial services, social media and a rewards program for both bank customers and local merchants, fisoc is positioned to lead a transformation of the customer experience in the banking industry.”
Other investors participating in the financing round were Daylight Partners and angel investors. To date, fisoc has received more than $5 million in funding.

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025 SiliconHills

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑