Happy New Year!

A little late to post the January events this year. But that’s because of the 2020 Austin Silicon Hills News Austin Calendar. It’s made it back from the printers and it’s being prepared for its debut at the sixth annual SHN Calendar Party. This year, the party is being held at The Riveter from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23rd. Please join us to meet the 12 startup founders and advocates featured in the 2020 calendar. If you don’t have tickets yet, get your tickets soon because we will sell out.

Thank you to our sponsors for the calendar and event including The Riveter, (our venue host) the Austin Chamber of Commerce, BuildGroup, InnoTech Austin, Kronologic, Sana Benefits, Egan-Nelson Law Firm, Silicon Hills Lawyer, Kronologic.ai and Active Capital. And In-Kind Sponsors: MassChallenge Texas. We still have room for a few more sponsors to make the event spectacular. Please sign up on Eventbrite.

See you there!

Jan. 15th

Leadership Team: Executing a High-Performance Decentralized Team Strategy

When: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Max’s Wine Dive, 207 San Jacinto Blvd., #200, Austin, TX

What: Engineering scarcity, strong competition, migration policies among other factors are affecting current talent and product strategies even in the fastest-growing organizations. We will encourage a dialogue to discuss the execution and dynamics of decentralized teams, using talent from all over the world, while maintaining their culture and service on top. For more info.

Jan. 16th

The Agents of Change for DEI

When: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Where: The Riveter, 1145 W. 5^th Street, Austin, TX 78703

What: A new year brings change and action. If you’re a head of DEI, HR professional, recruiter, or hiring manager, we invite you to join our interactive DEI event featuring an all-star lineup of panelists. For more info.

Jan. 16th

TeXchange Austin

When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Capital Factory, 701 Brazos St. Austin, TX

What: Fireside Chat with Chris Palmisano, COO of Rocket Dollar, With the rise in demand for startup capital, there have been “new” mechanisms for fundraising that have evolved to meet the ever-growing needs of the community. For more info.

Jan. 16th

Insure Tech ATX

When: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: NFP, 1250 S. Capital of Texas Highway, No. 600, Austin, TX

What: Topic: Creating B2B Relationships in InsurTech, FinTech, and Beyond. Speakers: Mark O’Leary & Rachelle Oribio. For more info.

Jan. 21st

Austin Music Tech Meetup  

When: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Capital Factory, 701 Brazos St., 16^th Floor

What: Jason Fox, Founder and CEO of music app Earbuds, will be recounting his founder story of his journey from the NFL to startups as well as the experience of going through the Techstars Program in Austin. For more info.

Jan. 22nd

Winter Job Fair at Capital Factory  

When: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Capital Factory, 1st Floor, 701 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701

What: Join us for 2-hours of networking focused on connecting Capital Factory companies to individuals seeking employment within the Austin tech and startup community! Come meet our budding startups, learn about available opportunities and drop off a resume. This event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. For more info.

Jan. 23^rd

Austin Technology Council: Roundtable Breakfast

When: 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Where: Newmark Knight Frank 2530 Walsh Tarlton Lane, Suite 200, Austin, TX

What: Sales leadership: the impact of client harassment on your team. Monthly breakfasts targeted to specific groups within the Austin technology community to come together in a small group of 25-40. These events include a featured speaker who kicks off open discussion amongst attendees. For more info.

Jan. 23^rd

Silicon Hills News 2020 Austin Tech Calendar Party

When: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: The Riveter, 1145 W. 5^th Street, Austin, TX 78703

What: Join us for Silicon Hills News’ 6th annual Austin calendar party. We’ll have drinks, light bites, entertainment by The Specials, specialty coffee drinks by Cactus Cafe Coffee and lots of fun and networking with the best and brightest in the Austin technology community. And we’ll introduce the startups and startup advocates and leaders featured in the Silicon Hills News 2020 desktop calendar.  For more info.

Jan. 25th

Data Day Texas

When: Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center – 1900 University Avenue – Austin, TX 78705

What: Originally launched in January 2011 as one of the first NoSQL / Big Data conferences, Data Day Texas each year highlights the latest tools, techniques, and projects in the data space, bringing speakers and attendees from around the world to enjoy the hospitality that is uniquely Austin. Since its inception, Data Day Texas has continually been the largest independent data-centric event held within 1000 miles of Texas. Our most recent editions have drawn over 1000 attendees. For more info.

Jan. 29th

Big Ass Social Happy Hour

When: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Hanger Lounge, Fourth & Colorado

What: BASHH is Austin’s relaxed mixer filled with professionals of all backgrounds that feel awkward knowing each other online but not offline. The ties come off a 6:00 pm, and there are no speakers or panels, no lame pitches, no egos; all are welcomed to relax and have happy hours! For more info.

In 2019, Austin-based private companies raised $1.7 billion, up almost 28 percent from 2018, another record year, according to the latest MoneyTree Report from PwC and CB Insights.

The report found investors did 151 deals in 2019, up almost 22 percent from 2018.

And in the fourth quarter of 2019, Austin-based startups raised $295 million, up 34 percent from the same quarter a year ago in 37 deals, up 37 percent, according to the report.

RigUp landed on the MoneyTree report for the top ten investment deals of 2019 twice. It earned the top spot with its $300 million Series D investment announcement in the third quarter and claimed the ninth spot with its Series C investment round of $60 million in the first quarter.

Other Austin companies on the top 10 investment list in Texas last year included SparkCognition with $100 million raised in the fourth quarter and Siete Family Foods with $90 million raised in the first quarter. Austin-based ScaleFactor also made the list with $60 million raised in the third quarter.

Overall, Texas’ venture capital investment in 2019 hit $3 billion, up 30 percent from 2018, according to the MoneyTree report.

The report found investors made 267 deals in 2019, down slightly from 275 deals a year earlier.

In the fourth quarter, venture capital investment was $499 million, up almost 4 percent from the same quarter in 2018.

The top five deals in the fourth quarter included a $100 million venture capital investment into Spark Cognition of Austin. And The Zebra reported receiving a $39 million Series C round of funding to claim the second-largest deal of the quarter. Shipwell of Austin with a $35 million round came in third. And Houston-based Expedi landed $25 million to claim fourth place followed by San Antonio-based Airstrip Technologies with $21 million.

Overall, Texas ranked fourth nationally for deal activity behind California, New York and Massachusetts. Those three states rake in 77 percent of all the venture capital in the United States, according to the MoneyTree Report. Texas ranked ninth for overall investment dollars.

Nationally, U.S. VC funding fell in 2019 nine percent to $108 billion, still the third biggest year ever. And in the fourth quarter, U.S VC-backed companies raised $23 billion, down 16 percent compared to the third quarter.

Other significant trends include a drop in the number of $100 million-plus rounds, which fell to 38 companies in the fourth quarter, compared to 58 in the third quarter and 67 in the second quarter, according to the MoneyTree report. Still, 2019 saw the most $100 million-plus rounds ever with 213, raising $47 billion in 2019, the second-biggest year of mega-round funding.

U.S. technology initial public offerings fell for the second straight quarter, though year over year exits remain higher. In the fourth quarter, 20 U.S. VC backed companies had an IPO exit, compared to 22 in the third quarter. Overall, 90 technologies had IPO exits in 2019, compared to 86 in 2018.

And at the end of 2019, the U.S. has a record number of unicorn companies with 199 VC backed private companies valued at $1 billion or more, up from 149 at the end of 2018.

The Top 10 Venture-Backed Deals in Austin in 2019

Year	Qtr	Company Name	Round	Amount ($M)
2019	3	RigUp	Series D	300
2019	4	SparkCognition	Series C	100
2019	1	Siete Family Foods	Growth Equity	90
2019	3	ScaleFactor	Series C	60
2019	1	RigUp	Series C	60
2019	1	Outdoorsy	Series C	50
2019	2	EverlyWell	Series A	50
2019	1	DISCO	Series E+	50
2019	3	TurnKey Vacation Rentals	Series E+	48
2019	2	FloSports	Series C	47

Source: MoneyTree Report from PwC and CB Insights.

Carl Deckard, 58, one of the pioneers of 3D printing died in Austin over the holidays.

Deckard died on Dec. 23, according to his obit.

Deckard was one of the inventors of “Selective Laser Sintering,” the technology at the forefront of 3D printing.

Deckard developed the technology at the University of Texas at Austin while he was working on his undergraduate degree and later his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in the UT Mechanical Engineering Department.

Deckard eventually spun out a company, DTM, to commercialize the technology.

For years, Deckard’s patents “were some of the highest revenue-generating intellectual property out of UT Austin,” according to the university.

And Deckard’s innovation helped give birth to a new industry, the 3D printing industry, which is worth nearly $16 billion last year and is projected to reach nearly $24 billion by 2022, according to The Wohlers Report.

Today, 3D printing is used for all kinds of applications including making dental crowns, hip replacement joints, printing pizza, chocolate sculptures and other food, toys, jewelry, and even for printing human tissue and recreating human organs.

Deckard was one of Austin’s innovators who made a huge contribution to the technology industry locally and globally.

Silicon Hills News was lucky enough to interview him at a  25th annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, the world’s leading research-focused summit on 3D manufacturing, held at UT Austin in August of 2014. Here’s the full story from that event.

Deckard also co-founded another company in 2012, Structured Polymers, which created a proprietary scalable process for commercializing high-performance polymer powders for 3D-printing. Evonik, a German company acquired Austin-based Structured Polymers in January of 2019 for an undisclosed amount.

“Carl held 27 patents and was profiled by Fortune magazine as one of five modern technology pioneers, inducted into the Manufacturing Hall of Fame by Industry Week, and named a Master of Manufacturing by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers,” according to his Obit.

“He is survived by his sons, Thomas; Michael and wife Chelsea; sister, Lucy; and ex-wives Sally and Kimberly. A celebration of his life will be held in January. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Austin Pets Alive at austinpetsalive.org/donate,” according to his Obit.

Telemedicine has come to the pet market.

Austin-based Televet, an online platform that connects veterinary clinics to existing clients, announced that is has raised $2 million in seed-stage funding.

Dundee Venture Capital and Mercury Fund, co-led, the round with participation from GAN Ventures. Founded in 2015, TeleVet has raised $2.3M to date.

The company plans to use the money to hire key employees and on product development to meet the demand for its telemedicine platform and apps.

TeleVet is focused on connecting the nearly 33,000 veterinary clinics and more than 160 million pet owners in the United States. It has created a communications platform that allows veterinarians to interact with their customers through texts, emails and video calls.

Televet is designed to give veterinarians more flexibility in their daily schedule by responding to clients online. The service also provides greater access to clients living in rural areas with limited veterinarian clinics.

“Over the past four years, we’ve become extremely close to our customers and the industry,” TeleVet Co-Founder and CEO Steven Carter said in a news release. “Running a veterinary practice can be stressful. You’re expected to be constantly available and always have the answers. We want to show veterinarians that we don’t just care about your practice, we care about you.”

Veterinarians can integrate TeleVet into their existing office workflow, instantly receiving and scheduling virtual consultations, online appointment scheduling, digital prescriptions and more. It also has partnerships with Embrace pet insurance, Vetsource for home prescription delivery and Covetrus’ practice management software.

“We’re bullish on the pet technology space, particularly solutions like TeleVet that serve both sides of the market. Pet owners have spent roughly $18 billion annually on veterinary care in the last two years, making veterinary care the fastest-growing category in Pet Tech,” Allie Esch at Dundee Venture Capital said in a news release. “TeleVet will power the next generation of veterinarians who are quick to adopt digital technology, recognizing that revenue, retention rates and care can improve through tech adoption.”

“TeleVet provides a modern, mobile experience for veterinarians and practice owners,” Blair Garrou, Managing Director at Mercury Fund, said in a news release. “Now pet owners can communicate with their vet as easily as they do with any other service provider. With more than 30,000 veterinary practices in the U.S., there’s a huge opportunity ahead for TeleVet.”

ePayPolicy, a digital payment processor for the insurance industry, announced last week that it has received a significant investment from Serent Capital, a private equity firm with offices in Austin and San Francisco.

Austin-based ePayPolicy, founded in 2014, did not disclose the amount of the investment. The company plans to use the investment to accelerate its growth, according to a news release.

ePayPolicy provides an easy-to-use, end-to-end solution with integrations into the most widely used agency management systems

ePayPolicy allows agencies and others in the insurance industry to implement electronic payments in days, dramatically reducing the number of paper checks they process while also simplifying their accounting reconciliation with automated data entry.

 ePayPolicy has more than 2,300 customers and it processes more than $2 billion in payments annually

“This investment from Serent is a game-changer in our ability to take our product to the next level in user experience, product offerings, and service enhancements. We’re already the preferred electronic payments solution for 27 state associations and are excited to now bring our product to the rest of the country,” Todd Sorrel, Co-Founder of ePayPolicy, said in a news release.

“ePayPolicy’s customer references and satisfaction scores are some of the best we’ve ever seen. We knew immediately this was a team that knew how to create outstanding products,” Kevin Frick, Partner at Serent Capital, said in a news release. “We’re incredibly excited to partner with Todd and Milan to expand ePayPolicy’s market reach and continue to drive exceptional value for their customers.”

ePayPolicy is Serent Capital’s 9th payments investment and 10th investment in the insurance market. Serent previously invested in Diamond Mind, Real Green Systems, KEV Group, and Payliance. Serent has also been active in the insurance market with investments in Intygral, Next Gear Solutions, Senior Dental Care, and Aftermath.

argodesign is expanding again.

This time the Austin-based design firm is opening a studio in New York. Mehera O’Brien will run the studio as head of creative.

argodesign launched its European studio in Amsterdam last March.

“Our New York studio centers around cross-pollinating technology with the traditional approach of user-centered design,” O’Brien said in a news release. “argo looks at invention in a slightly different way, employing technology as a transformative medium for designing products humans want and need to use. We’re excited to extend this to the New York market and beyond.”

The New York design team has previously worked at the top design firms of frog, Dalberg, Gensler, and Method. Their focus is on global health, community impact, and enterprise product design.

“The last 18 months have been an incredible time of growth for argo, expanding into Europe and doubling the size of the company in less than a year,” argo Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Mark Rolston said in a news release. “It’s the culmination of our first five years focusing on strong creative culture and doing great work. Our vision is to build something bigger than any one of us. New York is one more step in building that legacy.”

Argodesign, founded in 2014, sold in 2018 to $22 billion IT company, DXC Technology, for an undisclosed sum. Since then, the company has been expanding into new markets. Its clients include CognitiveScale, Magic Leap, United Rentals, and Sam’s Club.

Billie, a startup that makes shaving products for women, just got acquired by P&G.

The companies did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

Billie, founded in 2017 in New York, is a portfolio company of Austin-based Silverton Partners. That same year, Silverton Partners led a $6 million seed-stage investment for the company with participation from returning investors including Female Founders Fund and Lakehouse Ventures. To date, Billie had raised $35 million, according to Crunchbase.

Georgina Gooley and Jason Brayman founded the company that focused on female body care. It offers a subscription-based, direct to consumer brand that sells 5-blade razors, shaving cream, body wash, body lotion, and other goods. Gooley and Brayman will continue to run the company which caters to Millennial and GenZ consumers.

P&G said the deal complements its existing portfolio of products focused on women including its Venus, Braun, and Joy brands.

“We’re thrilled by the prospect of joining P&G to bring high-quality products at affordable prices to women around the world,”  Gooley, co-founder of Billie said in a news release “Their ability to create global household brands that have stood the test of time is a testament to their brand-building expertise; together, we’ll be able to create an even stronger brand for womankind.”

 “The impact and consumer connection Georgina and Jason have been able to make with Billie in a short period of time has been remarkable,”  Gary Coombe, CEO of P&G Global Grooming said in a news release. “The combination of Billie’s high-quality, naturals-focused razors and body care products, and P&G’s highly-skilled and experienced people, resources, technical capabilities and go-to-market expertise will allow us to further reach Millennial and GenZ women through a fresh, bold attitude.”

“The combination of brands, talent and expertise will strengthen P&G’s Grooming business and accelerate growth for Billie, as well as fuel the development of additional products designed for the specific needs of women,” according to a news release.

Billie donates 1 percent of its revenue to women’s causes including Every Mother Counts, which focuses on making pregnancy and childbirth safe for women.

By LAURA LOREK, Publisher of Silicon Hills News

SKU, a consumer-packaged goods accelerator, on Tuesday officially kicked off its SKU 8 cohort.

The seven companies accepted into the 14-week program are Aura Bora, Blenders & Bowls, Cheddies, Esker, Ladybird Provisions, Mushroom Revival, and Paleo Powder Seasonings.

More than 150 people attended the SKU launch party held at WeWork SXSW Center at 1400 Lavaca Street Tuesday evening. WeWork has established its WeWork Food Labs at the center in partnership with SKU.

“We continue to grow up and expand out the Austin network,” Kirstin Ross, managing director of SKU said during a presentation at the event.

SKU, founded in 2011, has made great strides in expanding out of the Texas market with the completion of its Beyond SKU program last year in New York, which ran from September through Demo Day on Dec. 3^rd.

This year, SKU plans to expand even further with the launch of SKU Impact, an accelerator program partnered with Finnovation, an impact accelerator, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In Austin, SKU has a track record of success with 44 companies going through its seven accelerator programs. And 84 percent of those companies are still in business, Ross said. Its alumni include Siete Family Foods, Austin Eastciders and EPIC Bar.

Part of SKU’s secret sauce to success is its network of trusted mentors, Ross said. SKU’s mentors include Clayton Christopher, founder of Sweet Leaf Tea and Deep Eddy Vodka, Doreen Lorenzo, former president of Frog Design and Quirky and Mike Dodd, general partner at Silverton Partners.

Among the latest startups for SKU 8 is an Austin favorite, Blenders & Bowls, which specializes in natural fruit smoothies and organic bowls of acai topped with hemp granola, fresh fruit, and local honey.

In 2011, Erin Thompson and Kara Jordan moved from Hawaii to Austin and launched Blenders & Bowls from a food truck. They opened their first brick and mortar location in 2012 and now they have five locations throughout Austin. With the acceptance into the SKU accelerator, they plan to launch a consumer-packaged version into grocery stores soon.

“Over the last few years people have always asked us how do I make these at home,” Thompson said. “So, we’ve always had this idea of packaging them and being able to sell them in the stores. This year, everything kind of happened. It was like a serendipitous moment….Now we’re full steam ahead and packaging our blends so people can make bowls at home.”

Blenders & Bowls plans to launch in grocery stores this year, Thompson said. It first plans to sell the blends from its retail locations, she said.

Paleo Powder Seasonings, based in Giddings, founded 2013, offers grain-free seasonings and seasoned coating mixes also known as breadless-breading, said Dustin Gersch, founder and owner.

“I grew up in a small Texas town, ate a lot of food, played football in high school and college,” Gersch said.

After college and no longer playing football, Gersch entered the workforce and weighing 315 pounds wasn’t healthy, he said.

In 2010, he started doing CrossFit and he began following a Paleo diet. He went from 315 pounds down to 258 pounds.

His CrossFit coach told him to beware of the ingredients in spices. Gersch cooked a lot and many of the convenience seasonings had gluten, sugar or MSG ingredients. That’s when he made his first seasoning recipe. During the next three years, he met people who suffered from auto-immune diseases and that’s why he developed a season that had no inflammatory spices – Paleo Powder AIP – autoimmune protocol.

Paleo Powder’s all-purpose seasonings are in 2,800 stores nationally including H-E-B, Walmart, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegmans and Albertsons and more.

“We want you to add flavor to the food you are eating and help you stick to your program,” Gersch said.

He applied to SKU to have access to experts in the Consumer-Packaged Goods industry to help him strengthen his knowledge and help shape the company’s direction moving forward, Gersch said.

Esker Beauty, a line of skincare products, relocated from Los Angeles to Austin.  Shannon Davenport founded the company in 2018 after spending more than a decade in the research industry focused on beauty, design, art and consumer trends in New York and Los Angeles. She saw a real need for plant-based skincare products and decided to launch Esker to meet that need. Esker products are available at Nordstrom, Anthropologie, Goop and online and they have been featured in Vogue and Self Magazines.

Davenport launched the business and gave birth to her daughter around the same time. Austin is her husband, Greg Foley’s hometown, they located here last year to be closer to family.

In the SKU accelerator, Davenport is looking forward to learning from mentors who have scaled their brands, raised money, and have a lot of expertise in the CPG industry, she said.

Mushroom Revival, based in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, is in the process of relocating to Austin for the SKU program. Alex Dorr, its owner, and founder couldn’t be at the launch party, but his mom, Marjorie Dorr, who lives in Austin and is on the company’s board, represented Mushroom Revival at the event.

“Mushrooms are just now being explored and seen for all of its benefits for increased energy, better night sleep, clear mind as well as clearer skin, “ Dorr said.

The company was born out of finding a better cure for Lyme disease. Her son got the disease and struggled with achy joints, depression and other symptoms. He didn’t like all the high doses of antibiotics he was prescribed. The only medicine that alleviated his symptoms was mushroom medicine, Dorr said.

“It was mushrooms that got him out of bed and revived his health,” she said. He then went on to study mushrooms and all its beneficial properties and that led him to create Mushroom Revival, she said. Mushrooms are also good for the planet and can be used to clean up toxic waste, she said.

“The Fungi kingdom is really just blossoming here in the U.S.,” she said.

Another Central Texas startup, Cheddies, which creates a high protein, all-natural cheese chip, is from San Antonio. Brothers Francisco and Tomas Pergola founded the company in 2016 to create healthier chips for snacking. Cheddies is now available at H-E-B, Amazon and more than 150 convenience stores.

Other Startups in SKU Track 8 include Aura Bora, based in San Francisco, which creates sparkling water from herbal extracts with ingredients like lemongrass, peppermint, lavender, cactus and basil, and Ladybird Provisions, based in Austin, which makes pre-made butter coffee bombs like Pure Focus that contain organic coconut oil and grass-fed butter and promises to promote healthy brain function and stimulate the metabolism.

Silicon Hills News had a great year in 2019 with hundreds of thousands of visitors to our website and social media feeds, several thousand downloads of our Ideas to Invoices podcastand more than 1,000 people attending our annual events and monthly lunch and learn gatherings.

And 2020 promises to be even brighter.

We’ll be kicking off the New Year with our annual calendar party, this year it’s being held at The Riveter in downtown Austin on Jan. 23^rd.

But before we move onto 2020, let’s look back at 2019 and see what stories our readers thought deserved the most attention. This ranking of the top 10 includes one story from late in 2018 on Sana Benefits, a healthcare company that moved from San Francisco to Austin that year and continued to rank in the top 10 for 2019.

Also, our most-viewed story is our roundup of the hottest startups to watch in 2019. We will be releasing our list of hottest startups to watch for 2020 on New Year’s Day. So, make sure to come back and check it out because your startup might even be on the list.

1. 25 Hot Austin Startups to Watch in 2019

2. Spredfast and Lithium Rebrand to Khoros and Select Austin for its New Headquarters

3.  H-E-B to Build a New Tech Center in San Antonio and Hire 500 Employees

4.  ICON Unveils a New Large Scale 3D Printer to Build Affordable Homes

5.  Paradromics Moved from Silicon Valley to Austin and is Creating a Brain Modem

6.  OJO Labs Acquires Austin-based RealSavvy

7.  Zoho Plans to Go Big in Austin but Also Wants to Keep Things Weird

8.  Health Insurance Startup Sana Benefits Moves Headquarters to Austin

9.  Austin’s Spiceworks is Bought by Ziff Davis

10.    OJO Labs Raises an Additional $45 Million in Venture Capital