data.world – This startup, which launched in July with $14 million in venture funding, seeks to solve the problem of making data fast and easy to find online. It also wants to make that data easy to use to solve problems. It bills itself as a “social network for data people.” The company is founded by serial Austin entrepreneur Brett Hurt, founder of Bazaarvoice and three former HomeAway executives.

EverlyWell – This health tech startup launched in April with $2.5 million in seed funding. It is doing at-home healthcare diagnostics tests. Julia Cheek is the CEO. The startup is creating diagnostic tests for food sensitivity, fertility, hormone health and more aimed at consumers. In September, the company presented at the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt and earned a spot as one of six finalists in the competition.

Twyla – This startup has created a new way to buy art online. It officially launched in October. HomeAway Co-founder Brian Sharples is one of the company’s co-founders. The startup raised more than $19 million led by GV (formerly Google Ventures) and joined by IVP and Redpoint Ventures. Twyla lets consumers discover and buy art online by providing access to limited-edition artwork by leading contemporary artists. The company also displays its artwork at select “showrooms,” including boutique hotels such as South Congress Hotel in Austin and Soho House West Hollywood.

Medici – This startup created an app that allows doctors and patients to communicate with each other. It launched in November and received $24 million from 10 private investors. The app is first offered in Austin. It allows patients to securely text with their doctor, vet, therapist and more through a HIPAA-complaint app. Clinton Phillips is the company’s founder and CEO. The company plans to expand its offices from the U.S. and Europe to South Africa. The app is available for free through the Apple App Store, Google Play and the Medici website.

Meretz – This startup, based at Capital Factory, created an app that provides rewards to gamers for exercising throughout the day. Eric Abrahams is the company’s CEO and co-founder. The startup has five employees including many veterans of the gaming industry. The app launched in February and currently is in beta testing. It’s a free platform that makes money from game developers who pay fees for Meretz users to connect to their games.

Think we missed an Austin-based startup that launched this year that is the best of the best and should be on this list? Please let us know in the comments.

For the first time in five years, the Central Texas Angel Network has restructured its funding cycle and its first deadline to apply is coming up on Jan. 4th.

CTAN streamlined its application process so that all deals now fall into five categories: business to business software, business to consumer software, hardware, life sciences and consumer products/other.

The goal is to capture more deals and side deals into the funding cycle, reduce time to decision to less than 10 weeks from up to 16 weeks, increase member engagement and eliminate redundancy, said CTAN Executive Director Claire England.

“The process is to get to an answer faster,” England said.

CTAN decided to do the overhaul of its processes after looking at the practices of other angel groups, surveying its members, surveying entrepreneurs and holding member focus groups, England said.

The Angel Resource Institute, in a 2015 report, named CTAN as the most active single chapter in the nation.

Interestingly, over the past two years, CTAN’s deal flow has almost tripled, England said.

“We’ve gone from having about 20 companies per funding cycle to having about 60,” she said. “We’ve had 60 in the last two funding cycles. That is one of the biggest reasons why we needed to make this adjustment and restructure our process. That’s tough for members. About 60 percent of our members work full time. And they don’t have the time to review 60 startup applicants. That was part of the impetus.”

CTAN’s funnel for deal flow was too narrow for that level of activity, England said.

All the people moving to Austin and the growth that the city has seen in its entrepreneurial ecosystem has led to the increase in the number of deals being pitched, England said. Also, in 2016, CTAN opened its applications to companies nationwide. Although members have a preference to invest in Texas companies, now they can invest in companies based outside of the state, England said.

“Our visibility has increased,” England said. “One of the board’s goals over the past couple of years has been expanding our partnerships and collaboration in the startup ecosystem.”

CTAN has not been impacted yet by the change the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enacted in 2016 to make equity based crowdfunding available nationwide. It might just be too early for it to have an impact locally, England said.

“I remain excited about the possibilities of online platforms and syndication in the future,” England said. “The more funding that is out there for entrepreneurs the better.”

Under the new process, in the first week, companies apply to CTAN through Proseeder, its online platform. During that process, they get to classify their companies into one of the five categories, participate in a short workshop to learn about the funding process and participate in mentor hours to meet member investors in a speed dating style format.

“They should come to that funding cycle forum for their round,” England said. “They are going to increase their odds of making it through the cycle successfully if they have met a member to advocate for them.”

During the entire ten-week process, companies go through screening, pitching, if they are selected, and due diligence and closing with legal counsel if an investment deal is made.

In 2016, CTAN members invested in more than 40 companies including both portfolio and new companies, England said. In 2015, CTAN members invested in 43 companies. CTAN has more than 165 members.

Silicon Hills News is once again producing an Austin Technology Calendar featuring some of the best and brightest in the local technology community.

And we’re throwing a party to celebrate at Galvanize with drinks, food and entertainment. This party will sell out. So it’s best to get your tickets right now while they are the cheapest and plentiful. Plus, we’ll provide a discount code – Flash50 for 50 percent off to first 20 ticket buyers. This offer is only good for 24 hours from this post. It’s first come, first served. So if you want a discounted ticket, it’s best to buy one today. And if you can’t make it to the event or we sell out, you can still buy a wall calendar for $30 and we will deliver it to you. Just click on the Eventbrite link.

Silicon Hills News would also like to thank our sponsors for the event: Galvanize, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Procore Technologies and Temple Health & Bioscience District. We still have room for one more sponsor for the event. Please contact Laura Lorek if you are interested in being part of the calendar or the party.

John Davidson took the photos for the calendar again this year. To find out who is featured, you will have to attend the event. We look forward to seeing you there.

The calendar started in 2015 following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Silicon Hills News has another Kickstarter campaign going on right now to launch its Ideas to Invoices podcast.

The people featured in the calendar in the past included:(2015) Lauren Foster with Stretch Recipes, Bob Metcalfe, founder of Ethernet, 3Com and professor of Innovation at the University of Texas at Austin, Laura Bosworth, cofounder of Tevido Biodevices, Handsome founders John Roescher, Adam Deutsch and Brandon Termini, the OneSpot team, Clarify.io Paul Murphy, Keith Casey and team, Ryan Farley with Lawnstarter, EvoSure Founders Matt Floran and Brian Wood and the local head of Drizly, Albert Smith. And the people featured in 2016 included: Michele Skelding, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Robyn Metcalfe with Food+City, Ben Lamm with Chaotic Moon, Joseph Kopser wtih RideScout, Natalie Cofield with Urban CoLab, William Hurley with Honest Dollar, Scott Owens with DoStuff Media, Amos Schwartzfarb with Techstars, Bob Fabio with eRelevance, Jeanne Ann Booth with UnaliWear and Robert Palmer with PotentiaMetrics.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your ticket now. And remember to enter the code Flash50. This event is going to sell out.

Here’s the top 10 list of what the stats report as the most popular stories for the Austin technology community in 2016 on the Silicon Hills News website.

1. Indeed Plans to Hire 1000 Employees in Austin
2. Condé Nast Plans to Go Big in Austin
3. OJO Labs Lands $5.8 Million in Venture Capital
4. Stealth Startup Magic Leap Officially Opens its Austin Office
5. 12 Startups Named to Austin A-List
6. Indeed.com Hits a Record 200 Million Unique Visitors in 31 Days
7. Spiceworks Cuts 12 Percent of its Workforce
8. Kentucky Liquor Company Buys Austin’s Deep Eddy Vodka
9. Google Fiber Seeking Digital Inclusion Fellows in Austin and San Antonio
10. 15 Student Run Startups Pitch at 10th Longhorn Startup Lab Demo Day


And here’s another 15 stories that Silicon Hills News thought were also important even if they didn’t get as many eyeballs.

11. Dell Medical School a Catalyst for Austin Startups
12. Lyft and Uber Cease Operating in Austin After Proposition 1 Fails to Pass
13. Dell Technologies Completes its Merger with EMC
14. Experian Buys Austin-based CSIdentity for $360 million
15. New Funds Seek to Provide More Money for Austin Entrepreneurs
16. Firefly Space Systems Lays Off Staff and Explores a Possible Sale
17. KUKA Opens a Robotics Studio in Austin
18. The startup Studio at UT Showcases Professor-Led Startups
19. Goldman Sachs Buys Austin-based Honest Dollar
20. data.world launches with $14 million in funding
21. Outbound Engine Raises $16 Million in VC Funds and Plans to Add 200 Employees
22. Department of Defense Launches an Innovation Experiment in Austin
23. DivInc Seeks to Make Austin the Most Diverse Ecosystem in the Country
24. moovel Moves Austin Team to Portland Headquarters
25. Ten Life Sciences Companies to Watch in Austin

Extra bonus story: Say Hello to Waymo Driverless Cars in Austin – One of the biggest developments in Austin is the birth of the autonomous car industry. Google, which just spun out Waymo, its driverless car company, conducted the first fully autonomous ride on Austin city streets. Even though the ride took place in October of 2015 – Google didn’t release the details until recently.

Editor’s note: And if you like the work Silicon Hills News does and want to support our expansion in 2017 please become a backer on our Kickstarter campaign or a supporter of our Thunderclap. Thank you!

Silicon Hills News launched its Ideas to Invoices podcast project on Kickstarter on Dec. 12 and met its goal in two days.

On Dec. 20th, Kickstarter designated the Ideas to Invoices podcast as a “Project We Love” in the journalism category. The crowdfunding portal hand picks a select group of projects from the thousands submitted to highlight on its site with a blue strip and a heart. Funders can still join the project as a backer.

“This is a huge honor and helps validate all of our hard work behind this project and the Silicon Hills News site, which is the only woman-owned bootstrapped news site covering the technology industry in Austin and San Antonio,” said Laura Lorek, founder of Silicon Hills News and podcast host.

The Ideas to Invoices podcast is Silicon Hills News latest venture. It will launch next month and feature weekly interviews with the best and brightest technology entrepreneurs, investors and other leaders in Austin and San Antonio. It will also tackle a variety of topics including autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, clean energy, diversity in tech, coworking spaces, holograms, space industry, biotechnology and more.

“We’re seeking to give a voice to our community,” Lorek said. “We report on so many interesting people, products and companies. This is another way for their stories to reach an even wider audience.”

Silicon Hills News launched its Kickstarter campaign with a goal of raising $1,075, and funders have already exceeded that benchmark. Funders will be receiving a variety of exclusive perks including being named on the air as a backer and opportunities to sponsor the podcast. Silicon Hills News has also announced stretch goals for its Kickstarter campaign to do live monthly events and produce even more original programming.

To pledge to the campaign, please visit Kickstarter.

Silicon Hills News is a five-year-old technology news site that reaches more than 35,000 unique monthly visitors, has more than 12,000 social media followers and newsletter subscribers. It has produced six editions of its 32-page print magazine, which was launched with a successful Kickstarter. It is also producing its third annual Austin technology calendar featuring local entrepreneurs. It also launched that project with a successful Kickstarter campaign. Silicon Hills News, an independent news organization which launched with a $12,000 grant from New Media Women Entrepreneurs in 2011, successfully uses crowdfunding to engage its audience and launch new products.

Lorek, a graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism, is a veteran technology journalist who has worked at five newspapers and a technology magazine.

Michele Skelding is stepping down from her role as senior vice president of global technology and innovation at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

In that role for the past three years, Skelding has spearheaded the Chamber’s efforts to develop Austin as a top global region for technology innovation, company formation and expansion. She has also worked to increase access to private equity and venture capital locally.

“I am extremely fortunate for the opportunity to have represented Austin, one of the greatest cities in the world, and grateful for the challenges and the inspiration to make an impact in a community that has given me so much,” Skelding said in a news release. “My relationships with the leaders in the community are my most valuable asset and priority, and their support and recognition are what continue to fuel my inspiration.”

“I know firsthand that innovators are a key part of Austin’s strong economic ecosystem and will continue to drive the future of Austin, not only as one of the most desirable cities, but as a leading city of innovation,” Skelding said.

Skelding has worked tirelessly to promote and support Austin’s entrepreneurial community. She has also served in leadership positions with the Central Texas Angel Network and as a mentor and advisor for Tech Ranch Austin, Incubation Station, now SKU and at Capital Factory.
Skelding has helped connect Austin entrepreneurs to angel investors, experienced professionals and venture capitalists.
“Michele embodies the spirit of collaboration that makes Austin such a special and successful place,” Hugh Forest, Director, SXSW Interactive, said in a news statement. “It has been a pleasure working with her to develop and execute the Austin A-List initiative and partnership with SXSW, and to view the impact the program has had for dozens of Austin’s most impressive startups. Michele’s vision for the future of our community will continue to facilitate the creation and growth of Austin’s best ideas. We are lucky to have her in our corner.”

Skelding has also served on the board of the Austin Technology Council and the board for the Central Texas Regional Center of Innovation & Commercialization and on the Innovation Advisory Committee for Texas State STAR Park.
And Skelding served as a key advisor of former Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s Innovation Zone Group, established to explore and catalyze the opportunity for an Innovation Zone, leveraging the new Dell Medical School and Dell Seton Medical Center investment into a larger economic development project for the city.

“Michele shines a light on the innovative spirit of Austin and its powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Leffingwell said in a news statement. “Her work to link industry, academics, entrepreneurism and innovation will continue to pay dividends for our city for many years to come.”

Skelding has held several leadership positions at various technology companies in Austin. Before the chamber, she worked as senior director of global business development, marketing and communication for Appconomy, a mobile app software company based in both Shanghai and Austin. She also held senior positions with Lifeproof Cases, First Mobile Technologies, G-51 Capital, Augmentix Corporation, Dell and with AT&T’s executive leadership development program.

“For my future endeavors, supporting creativity and innovation will be instrumental in ensuring that legacy continues. And although I do not have plans to announce my next move at this time, I plan to stay in Austin,” Skelding said.

Sync1 Systems, a financial technology startup, has launched in Austin.

The startup, a Credit Union Services Organization, received $4 million in private equity and debt financing and it also merged with FI-Mobile, an Austin-based provider of mobile banking solutions.

The company is creating a new loan origination platform focused on credit unions which it plans to launch early next year.

Austin serial entrepreneurs Steve Maloney, Bruce Callen and Dan Chaney founded the company. Previously, they founded Teres Solutions, a credit union leading technology provider, which CRIF acquired in 2008.

“The founders of Sync1 Systems understand the unique needs of credit unions and their customers. They also have the technology expertise and business acumen needed to help organizations like ours succeed in the competitive world of lending,” Richard Epley, CEO of Auto Financial Group, said in a news release.

“On the heels of the financial crisis of 2008, the world of credit union lending was transformed. Consumers are now digital, lending requirements are changing once again, and the marketplace for customers has broadened,” Steve Maloney, CEO of Sync1 Systems, said in a news release. “For nearly two decades, we’ve helped credit unions to successfully navigate these shifting tides. Sync1 Systems is an entirely new technology platform architected form the ground up to help credit unions succeed in this new world.”

By LAURA LOREK
Reporter with Silicon Hills News

Pharmaceutical researchers have file cabinets filled with information on potential drugs that have not yet been thoroughly tested.

A cure for Parkinson’s disease, ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Alzheimer’s disease, may be in one of those files.

Those untested drug compounds linger because the process from drug discovery to the marketplace is a long and onerous one that can take up to 15 years for a drug to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. Initially, the drugs go through an expensive vetting process which includes laboratory and animal tests to check for toxicity and how well they work before the drugs gets to human trials.

The high cost of those initial laboratory tests is the problem Professor of Mechanical Engineering Adela Ben-Yakar is tackling with her startup, Newormics, a biotech company that offers precision drug discovery and toxicity analysis using small animal models such as roundworms.

The roundworms are contained in a large-scale chip. With the technology, drug researchers can screen potential drugs faster and cheaper.

Newormics was one of three professor-led startups to demonstrate its technology during the monthly Startup Studio hosted by Bob Metcalfe, the director of the Innovation Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Metcalfe also announced $200,000 in gifts for Innovation Grants that will go to professors working to commercialize their technology.

The Newormics screening platform includes the microfluidic chip, storage device, camera and microscope. It has raised $5.5 million to date, primarily through grant research funding.

Next up, Computer Science Professor Peter Stone presented Cogitai, an artificial intelligence software company.

The startup, founded in 2015, is developing and commercializing core artificial intelligence technologies that learn continually from their experience. The company received a strategic investment from Sony Corp. earlier this year.

In addition to Stone, Cogitai’s founding team members include Mark Ring, CEO, Satinder Singh Baveja, a professor at the University of Michigan and Chief Technology Officer. Stone is the company’s president and Chief Operating Officer. Cogitai has 15 employees.

DeepMind, which was bought by Google in 2014, is also in this space, Stone said. There are small number of other companies that are trying to do this, Stone said.

Cogitai is going beyond reinforced learning in the artificial intelligence industry and going to a continually learning model, Stone said.
People build up skills by learning through experience, Stone said.

“The way to get artificial intelligence is not to program it in but to enable the computer or the robot to experiment to experience actions and learn about the effects,” Stone said.

“We believe this is the next wave of artificial intelligence,” Stone said.

The goal is to create machines that understand the world like humans do, he said.

The company is building a platform to capture general knowledge and skills from experience and create a global database, Stone said. The company’s initial markets are household robots, autonomous vehicles and Internet of Things applications. It has had conversations with people in healthcare and personal fitness industries to commercialize the technology, Stone said.

“This is not a small ambition,” Stone said.

Cogitai is aiming to become the world leader in knowledge about actions that can then be transferred to robots and machines, Stone said.

Lastly, Chris Rylander, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of mechanical engineering, presented Opticlean, a laparoscopic cleaner along with Dr. John Uecker associate professor of surgery and perioperative care at the Dell Medical School.

Dr. Uecker explained the problem surgeons encounter when doing laparoscopic surgery, the scope can become obstructed with blood or tissue and a surgeon generally must remove the instrument and clean it and then re-insert it into a patient. These can happen several times during a procedure. The problem takes time and can lead to complications. Opticlean’s laparoscopic cleaner solves the problem inside the patient. A claw like device scrapes across the lens and removes debris while the instrument is being used in surgery. Other devices have been created that attempt to address the problem, but none of them have been effective, Uecker said.

The Opticlean device, created by graduate students in the Medical Device Laboratory at UT Austin, saves surgeons time and money, Rylander said. One device fits multiple scopes, he said. It is also disposable. They have received a provisional patent on the device.

The researchers may license its technology to existing medical device makers or it may manufacture the device itself, Rylander said. It is classified as a type one medical device which is the easiest one to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, Rylander said. They would market the device in the areas of urology, gynecology and gastrointestinal tract, he said.

Surgeons perform three million laparoscopic surgeries a year. They incur an estimated $1.5 billion in economic loss from the scopes becoming impaired and needing to be cleaned, according to Opticlean.