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The Austin Technology Incubator’s Influence Continues to Permeate the Austin Startup Scene

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

For the last 3 years, Stacey Higginbotham, GigaOm, has wrote about the up and coming Austin startups to watch for during SXSW and the Austin Startup Crawl. Of the list of 30 companies compiled in 2010, 2011 and 2012, 8 companies, notably more than 25 percent, are currently or have been connected in some way to the Austin Technology Incubator, a not-for-profit unit of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin that harnesses business, government and academic resources to provide strategic counsel, operational guidance and infrastructure support to its member companies to help them transition from early stage ventures to successful technology businesses. Since its founding in 1989, ATI has worked with hundreds of companies, helping raise close to $1 Billion in investor capital.    

Here is the list of the ones to watch, a little background information and their connections to ATI:

Calxeda, a.k.a. Smooth-Stone, a successful ATI alumni company, offers a processor platform for hyperscale servers that will allow data centers to slash IT costs and energy consumption by as much as a factor of 10.  Calxeda, with its industry-disrupting ultra-low power processors powering servers and data centers, closed an impressive $48 million funding August 2010, and launch its first product with global impact via a partnership with Hewlett Packard November 2011.

GameSalad, a.k.a. Gendai Games, and successful alum of ATI, is an online community that empowers everyone to express and share their ideas through games. GameSalad provides a platform used by creators to rapidly design, publish and distribute original games that have been played by millions of people worldwide. It is currently the number one platform for iOS development and boasts 300,000 developers. 30,000 games have been built with the GameSalad Creator since its 2007 founding. Now at 60 employees and growing, all this was accomplished with just a little over $7 million funding since inception.

Ordoro participated in the SEAL program as UT Austin business students before joining ATI in 2010. Ordoro is a Web-based order and inventory manager. With just a login and a password, online retailers can use Ordoro to process orders, print shipping labels, drop-ship orders and track their real-time inventory at all times. Ordoro helps small and medium online retailers grow their business by spending less time processing orders, tracking inventory and dealing with confusing IT systems.

Ravel, an ATI member company, provides the tools to rapidly discover and integrate knowledge from disconnected data. Ravel’s KnowledgeStream and GoldenOrb products are used by company consultants and clients to acquire, transform, integrate, and utilize large data sets from enterprise databases and web sources.

Wheel InnovationZ, founded by serial entrepreneur Srini Gurrapu, CEO, and a new member of the Austin Technology Incubator, Wheel InnovationZ is privately funded, and still in stealth mode, with its 1.0 product in the hands of early adopter customers by summer 2012.  Wheel is building a Unified Application Store that helps enterprise manage the demands – and needs – of users accessing a variety of applications on a variety of devices.  Wheel will truly enable the ‘any app on any device’ vision with both local and cloud based access with a Unified Application Store enterprise management platform that reduces TCO, and improves security and productivity.

Hurricane Party, free mobile app that helps friends find, share, and create spontaneous parties; moving online experiences offline to make social networking more social, participated in ATI’s 3 Day Startup in 2010.

Macheen is a leading enabler of “Internet Included,” connected devices. Its multi-tenant cloud-based platform makes it easy to sell and market pre-connected devices that sustain profitable relationships with the consumers who buy them. Macheen enables new business models for device makers, retailers and network operators alike. Macheen CEO, Richard Schwartz, is on the Wireless Advisory Board formed in 2011, and was a featured speaker at ATI’s 2011 Texas Wireless Summit (TWS).

ATX Innovation, the company behind the TabbedOut app, participated in the ATI’s 2009 Wireless Seed Stage Forum (WSSF). The TabbedOut app is a secure and easy-to-use mobile payment solution that allows patrons to open, view and pay their tab with a smart phone, eliminating time waiting in line to close your tab and the need to even take your credit card out of your wallet, let alone give it to a stranger. TabbedOut is securely integrated directly into the merchant’s point of sale (POS) system.

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3 Day Startup Call for Spring 2012 Applicants

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

3 Day Start Up liberates students from the classroom, and creates an environment where budding entrepreneurs can learn by doing. Over the course of a weekend, students pitch their business ideas, vote on the projects they find the most compelling, and ultimately self-organize into project teams to create a prototype, perform market research, and formulate a business strategy. Participating students hail from myriad backgrounds including computer science, engineering, business, law and design, to create the skill set necessary to jumpstart a company. The weekend event is hosted by the Austin Technology Incubator.

3 Day Startup (3DS) is currently accepting applications for its spring event, Friday, March 30 at 2pm until Sunday, April 1 at 10pm.

Application deadline: March 1st. Rolling Admissions

Info sessions will be held on February 6 & 16th at 5:00pm in JGB 2.216. If you have any questions contact Rishi Shah at rishi09@gmail.com.

There will be sponsors, mentors, press coverage, and of course, the invited participants don’t pay for anything. The culmination of the event is when students pitch their start-ups to a wide array of Austin entrepreneurs. Past mentors include:

  • Bob Metcalfe, Professor of Innovation, Murchison Fellow of Free Enterprise at the University of Texas at Austin;
  • Gary Forni, Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN);
  • Josh Baer, Capital Factory & OtherInbox;
  • Zaz Floreani, Austin Ventures

Companies that have emerged from previous 3 Day Start Up events include: Famigo (famigogames.com), Hurricane Party (hurricaneparty.com), and HootMe (hoot.me). 3 Day Start Up was started by students and is run by students.

When asked about the influence of 3 Day Start up on their academic and professional careers, previous participants have said the following:

“3DS takes all kinds of people from their respective little boxes and encourages them to bring their talents together to make something great.” – Jeff Zhao, BBA Finance, 3DS Spring ’11

“3DS has been by far the best experience I’ve had thus far as a graduate student. The weekend is intense and sometimes grueling but it’s also just a lot of fun. “- Rene Pinnell, MS Design, 3DS Fall ’09

“At 3 Day Startup, we learned by doing. Instead of sitting in an auditorium, I worked with forty like-minded people to go through the process of launching something great. The next time I go to a seminar on entrepreneurship, I’m going to sit in the middle of the front row, watch the PowerPoint presentation, and think to myself, ‘I’ve done that.’” – Rishi Shah, Plan II Honors, 3DS Fall ’10

If you’re interested, apply at http://austin.3daystartup.org/apply/. Check out our website at http://austin.3daystartup.org or our Facebook Page or Twitter. Questions? Email austin@3daystartup.org.

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Austin Technology Incubator Recognizes Gary S. Farmer, Heritage Title and Exchange, with the Prestigious Laura J. Kilcrease Civic Entrepreneurship Award

Friday, January 27th, 2012

Last night, at a special graduation and alumni event, the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit part of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin (UT), also bestowed on Gary Farmer the Laura J. Kilcrease Civic Entrepreneurship Award.  As 21 stellar Austin technology companies were recognized for their participation in, and graduation from, ATI, Farmer was also recognized for his amazing contribution to the Austin community.  Farmer joins esteemed past winners of the award, which began in 1998, including Michael Dell, Luci Baines Johnson, Dr. Neal Kocurek, William G. Bock, Pike Powers, Lee Walker, and Governor Rick Perry.

“Gary completely exemplifies this Civic Entrepreneurship Award,” said Laura Kilcrease, ATI’s founding Director and Managing Director at Triton Ventures.  “I’ve got to believe he has somehow found the secret of the 25 hour day because this man balances a beautiful family life, successful business career, and literally more charity and civic commitments than you could begin to list.  Gary is an Austin treasure and we are so proud to recognize his countless contributions to our Austin community.”

Initiated in 1989 by Dr. George Kozmetsky and founded by Laura Kilcrease, over more than two decades, ATI has worked with over 200 start-up companies, helping them raise close to $1 Billion in capital.  Kilcrease, who made time in her own busy career, to dedicate to growing other companies through ATI, has had a lasting impact on Austin.  Her involvement in the Austin community – business and beyond – began in earnest in 1989 with the start of ATI, but continues today through her own personal leadership, as well as the award which bears her name.

Gary Farmer is an ideal recipient of the Laura J. Kilcrease Civic Entrepreneurship Award as he epitomizes the meaning of this award for being both a successful entrepreneur by building and growing his own businesses in Heritage Exchange Corporation and Heritage Title Company; along with his outstanding civic entrepreneurship work with Opportunity Austin.  But more than that, Farmer too has found time to dedicate to others, in a variety of civic and charitable endeavors.

Farmer is currently active on the following boards:

·         The University of Texas Chancellor’s Council

·         The UT Development Board

·         The Director’s Council for UT’s Department of Theatre and Dance

·         The Greater Austin Economic Development Corporation

·         The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

·         The Real Estate Council of Austin

·         The Greater Austin Crime Commission

·         The Colorado River Foundation

·         The Trust for Public Land

·         The American Heart Association

·         Boy Scouts of America

·         Capitol Area Council

·         Children’s Medical Center Foundation, and

·         The National Multi Housing Council.

Farmer is also the Immediate Past Chair of Greater Austin Economic Development Corporation and Opportunity Austin (1.0 and 2.0), among other former chairman roles. Farmer has also chaired five Capital Campaigns, which have raised approximately $55,000,000 for community endeavors.  Additionally, Farmer has served on three Mayoral Task Forces dealing with the economy, the environment and healthcare.  In 2009, Boy Scouts of America honored Farmer with its Distinguished Citizen Award and in 2006, the Greater Austin Chamber named Farmer its “Austinite of the Year.”  In 2005, the Austin Business Journal honored Farmer with the W. Neal Kocurek Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award and in 1998; Farmer received the Sam Walton Business Leader Award by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.  Last but certainly not least, Farmer and his wife are UT graduates now enjoying all three daughters at UT as well.

Contact:

Laura Beck for ATI

laurabeckcahoon@gmail.com

512-786-1098

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Austin Technology Incubator Graduates Six Clean Energy Companies: Atonometrics, Dorsan Biofuels, Firefly LED Lighting, Ideal Power Converters, OpenAlgae and RRE Solar

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Tonight, at a special graduation and alumni event, the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit part of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin (UT), will graduate 21 companies.  Of those 21, six companies were part of ATI’s Clean Energy portfolio, including Atonometrics, Dorsan Biofuels, Firefly LED Lighting, Ideal Power Converters, OpenAlgae and RRE Solar.  These companies have collectively achieved remarkable business successes and have created hundreds of jobs for Texans.

Over 20+ years, ATI has developed and refined industry specific capabilities, currently organized into Information Technology, Wireless, Clean Energy and Bioscience sectors. In each industry sector, ATI brings its portfolio companies deep domain expertise and market- and technology-specific networks of advisors and investors. Tonight’s graduation event showcases successes in all four sectors, including six remarkable companies in clean energy.

Founded in 2001, the ATI Clean Energy Incubator (CEI) is one of the longest-established clean energy incubators in the United States and has a privileged position since UT does more energy research than any other university in the world. Through a strong partnership with the local electric company, Austin Energy, CEI has historically focused on electricity-related startups and is continuing the leadership role as a founding participant in the Pecan Street Project, which is running a $30 million smart grid/smart premises demonstration project in Austin. Currently, CEI is working successfully across the clean energy and clean tech spectrum with companies in the important spaces of water, energy management & efficiency, transportation, and green building technologies.

CEI has always invested in building the clean energy/clean tech ecosystem in Central Texas.  With Austin Energy, CEI hosts the annual Clean Energy Venture Summit, the premier clean energy investment conference in Texas.  The team also partners with the CleanTX Foundation to host CleanTX Forums and Solar Energy Entrepreneur Networking (SEEN) events in Austin. CEI is supported by the City of Austin, the Texas State Energy Conservation Office and the US Department of Energy. The six Clean Energy graduates include:

Atonometrics is a leading supplier of test and measurement technology for the solar photovoltaics (PV) industry.  The company has a worldwide presence with customers in Europe, Asia and North America.  Germany’s leading PV national laboratory, Fraunhofer, has adopted Atonometrics’ products in their PV lab.

Dorsan Biofuels was an early-stage biotech company with a proprietary technology for creating fungal biocatalysts capable of producing advanced biofuels and chemicals from agricultural, municipal and industrial waste materials.  Dorsan Biofuels raised enough angel money and SBIR funding from the US DOD to perform the research required to secure the IP and successfully completed a sale of those assets to Novozymes A/S, a large multinational producer of high-value chemicals, in December 2011. Dr. Kay Hammer returned to ATI as CEO of Dorsan Biofuels after also being the co-founder, along with Robin Curle, of one of the very first portfolio companies for ATI 20+ years ago. In 1991, Hammer co-founded Evolutionary Technologies International (ETI) – the first spin-out from MCC – to commercialize the results of a 3-year research project to build an enterprise solution to data integration management.

Firefly LED Lighting, founded in 2009, provides patented Firefly LED lighting to numerous commercial properties and residences with long life and high efficiency, using only 10% of the electricity versus incandescent lamps. With up to 60,500 hours of light output, Firefly LED lamps are the brightest, most energy efficient LED lights on the market. Made here in the USA in Texas, Firefly lighting is in large hotels, government buildings, restaurants, commercial properties and universities. Notably, the Texas-based, revenue generating company received a $3 million ETF grant and is bringing manufacturing jobs to the state.

Ideal Power Converters (IPC) makes electric power converters critical to clean energy installations, especially commercial-scale solar. Its PV inverter, as one example, reduces the weight and size of conventional inverters by 90%, disrupting this multi-billion dollar market. Recognized by the State of Texas with a $1 million ETF investment, and $2.5 million from the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, production of these lightweight systems will also create thousands of clean tech jobs in Central Texas.

OpenAlgae enables low-cost recovery of oils from algae – a solution that requires novel technologies and disciplines ranging from biology to engineering, physics to water management. Algae processing requires a series of difficult separations. The difficulties lie not in the separations, but in doing each separation in a cost-effective, scalable way. OpenAlgae efficiently and cost-effectively concentrates algae from water and recovers oils from algae without using solvents or drying. Founded in 2008, OpenAlgae is owned by the Board of Regents of The University of Texas at Austin and Organic Fuels Holdings, Inc., Houston, Texas.

RRE Austin Solar develops large-scale solar farms and plans to become a 500MW+ solar developer within 5 years. It is developing the largest solar energy farm in Texas, the Pflugerville Solar Farm, where it will produce 60 MW. RRE wants to provide renewable energy through solar PV and become a change agent of clean energy perception.

“It is amazing to be part of ATI during a phase of explosive growth of clean energy and technology companies here in Central Texas.  It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with these six early-stage clean energy companies and assist in getting them to the point of where they are today,” said Mitch Jacobson, Clean Energy Co-Director. “We are very proud of these six companies who are helping to solidify Austin’s and ATI’s leadership in the clean energy and clean tech industry. We look forward to watching their continued success and helping more companies prosper in this very exciting industry.”

Contact:

Laura Beck for ATI

laurabeckcahoon@gmail.com

512-786-1098

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Austin Technology Incubator Graduates Seven Wireless Companies Including Axelo, Famigo, GameSalad, Nitero, RFMicron, Unwired Nation and Wimax.com

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Tonight, at a special graduation and alumni event, the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit part of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin (UT), will graduate 21 companies.  Of those 21, seven companies were part of ATI’s Wireless portfolio, including Axelo, Famigo, GameSalad, Nitero, RFMicron, Unwired Nation and Wimax.com.  These companies have collectively achieved impressive business successes, such as garnering $20 million in funding and collaborating on an international scale.

Over 20+ years, ATI has developed and refined industry specific capabilities, currently organized into Information Technology, Wireless, Clean Energy and Bioscience sectors. In each industry sector, ATI brings its portfolio companies deep domain expertise and market- and technology-specific networks of advisors and investors. Tonight’s graduation event showcases successes in all four sectors, including seven amazing companies in wireless.

ATI, in partnership with UT’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG) and the City of Austin, launched its Wireless program in 2006, ahead of the smart phone/iPhone/Android explosion. Now, as the world approaches 50 billion connected devices, ATI continues to build on the wireless expertise in Austin with its current companies and these seven successful graduates. ATI-Wireless and WNCG also co-host the Texas Wireless Summit and works with the Central Texas Angel Network to host the Wireless Seed-Stage Forum annually. In addition, ATI-Wireless has a special relationship with the Wi-Fi Alliance, the international wireless standards and certification organization, which moved to Austin in part due to support from ATI and was housed at ATI until it outgrew its facilities in 2010.  ATI-Wireless also works closely with MobileMondayAustin, the second oldest chapter in North America of the global MobileMonday network.  The seven Wireless graduates include:

Axelo is developing breakthrough hardware and firmware solutions for 3D motion-sensing products. Axelo, Inc. patented the first 3D motion-based PC controller, which led to a successful solution for spatial disorientation and motion sickness. Currently, Axelo is embedding its technology into sports headwear to provide a preventable solution for contact sports traumatic brain injuries. ‘Letters of Intent’ have been procured from two leading manufacturers of sports equipment.

Famigo makes mobile technology work for families. Famigo creates a better mobile experience for parents and kids by providing them will the tools to discover, manage and enjoy content & apps on smartphones and tablets. Famigo simplifies app discovery through our reviews and recommendations on Famigo.com and makes Android devices kid-safe with our free app, Famigo Sandbox. Famigo’s proprietary technology captures and crowdsources user behavior to provide the best reviews and recommendations available. Famigo’s products have received praise from outlets like Forbes.com, WSJ Online, Killer Startups, The Next Web, TechCrunch, Vator News, VentureBeat, Austin Chronicle, and Famigo Sandbox was rated CNET’s 2011 Best App of the Year for Parents.

GameSalad is an online community that empowers everyone to express and share their ideas through games. GameSalad provides a platform used by creators to rapidly design, publish and distribute original games that have been played by millions of people worldwide. It is currently the number one platform for iOS development and boasts 300,000 developers. 30,000 games have been built with the GameSalad Creator since its 2007 founding. Now at 60 employees and growing, all this was accomplished with just a little over $7 million funding since inception.

Nitero, a fabless semiconductor company with a design center in Melbourne, Australia and headquarters in Austin, Texas, has developed a standards-based, next-generation 60GHz Wi-Fi solution for smartphone, tablet, Ultrabook™ and gaming platforms, bringing multi-gigabit-per-second video and data transfer with extreme low power and latency. Nitero is a great success story demonstrating the power of collaboration between experienced Austin entrepreneurs and top Australian universities and research institutions, such as the University of Melbourne and National ICT Australia. In 2011, Nitero raised an additional $1.6 million after receiving a $1.4 million grant from Commercialisation Australia.

RFMicron is the first in the wireless tracking industry to offer a complementary hardware and software package, consisting of RFVlink, a web-based software platform and RFMicron’s own passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip, configured with RFMicron’s proprietary Chameleon technology; allowing any reader to read RFMicron tags from 30 feet on any material, and anywhere in the world. RFMicron joined ATI in 2007, and in 2010 garnered $1.5 million in funding and added three directors to its board. RFMicron was named one of the Most Promising IT and Web Companies at the 8th Annual Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship IT and Web Venture Forum in Houston in 2010.

Unwired Nation has evolved ahead of the wireless space since its founding in 2004. Today, Unwired’s platform helps B2B web application companies with unique customer branding requirements transition to native apps across all major mobile platforms. Unwired Nation’s ability to rapidly deploy mobile apps leveraging customer’s existing web applications and customer relationships has attracted companies like VoiceTech and Q2ebanking, leaders in pharmacy and financial services, respectively. It also attracted $6.5 million in funding, which closed at the end of 2011.

WiMax.com provides equipment, resources and tools that enable operators to deploy high-speed 4G wireless broadband networks. The company is technology agnostic and works with most fixed broadband wireless technologies. The company also provides news, analysis, expert opinions and case studies on the industry at www.wimax.com.

“These seven wireless companies continue the incredible legacy of wireless technology innovation in Austin and demonstrate that ATI-Wireless retains a prominent role in the next wave of technologies – whether hardware or software,” said Kyle Cox, Wireless Director.  “ATI-Wireless has a great partnership with UT from its relationship with WNCG to its support of several courses and events for students.  ATI-Wireless has also helped the Austin community to become a prominent source of innovation while the wireless industry has rapidly evolved in the last several years.”

Contact:

Laura Beck for ATI

laurabeckcahoon@gmail.com

512-786-1098

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Austin Technology Incubator Graduates Two Bioscience Companies: Savara Pharmaceuticals and Terapio

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Tonight, at a special graduation and alumni event, the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit part of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin (UT), will graduate 21 companies.  Of those 21, two companies were part of ATI’s Bioscience portfolio: Savara Pharmaceuticals and Terapio. Both have had a tremendous impact on the growing bioscience community in Austin, hiring dozens of workers and raising millions of dollars in funding.

Over 20+ years, ATI has developed and refined industry specific capabilities, currently organized into Information Technology, Wireless, Clean Energy and Bioscience sectors. In each industry sector, ATI brings its portfolio companies deep domain expertise, market- and technology-specific networks of advisors and investors. Tonight’s graduation event showcases successes in all four sectors, including two remarkable companies in bioscience.

Founded in 2008 in partnership with the City of Austin, ATI-Bioscience works closely with other members of the Central Texas and statewide life science ecosystem, including BioAustin, Central Texas Life Science entrepreneurs, the University of Texas faculty and students and regional hospital and healthcare groups.  ATI-Bioscience recently completed a study, supported by the regional community and the Economic Development Administration, to quantitate the need of wet-laboratory space to support life sciences companies in Central Texas.  ATI-Bioscience has also partnered with UT’s College of Pharmacy to create an on-campus wet lab facility, UTech Dorm Room, which can be accessed by early-stage life sciences companies in Austin.  The ATI-Bioscience hosts symBIOsis, a quarterly educational series, co-sponsored with the Rice Alliance, to bring the entrepreneurial, commercial and academic life sciences communities together. The two Bioscience graduates are:

Savara Pharmaceuticals is developing the first inhaled antibiotic for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients targeting the highly contagious “super bug” Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA is dramatically increasing worldwide.  Savara’s Aerovanc has recently completed its first clinical with encouraging results.

Terapio is a biopharmaceutical company developing the RLIP76 protein as a medical countermeasure for radiation exposure and chemical threats to civilian, military and first responder populations. The RLIP76 protein works though the oxidative stress pathway and protects as both a prophylactic and post-exposure treatment. Terapio tapped the unique talents and network at ATI to help secure Texas ETF, federal grant and venture capital funding totaling over $7M in less than two years.

“We are extremely excited and pleased about our first bioscience graduate companies,” said Cindy WalkerPeach, PhD, Bioscience Director. “Terapio and Savara are exceptional healthcare-focused companies that will not only have a positive impact on patient care but will favorably impact regional economic growth as well.”

Contact:

Laura Beck for ATI

laurabeckcahoon@gmail.com

512-786-1098

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Austin Technology Incubator Graduates Six IT Companies Including Agile Planet, Calxeda, itzbig, Notice Technologies, Qcue and Spredfast

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Tonight, at a special graduation and alumni event, the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit part of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin (UT), will graduate 21 companies.  Of those 21, six companies were part of ATI’s Information Technology portfolio, including Agile Planet, Calxeda, itzbig, Notice Technologies, Qcue and Spredfast.  These companies have collectively achieved impressive business successes over their years, as varied as $48 million in funding to closing customers such as AARP and the San Francisco Giants to acquisition by its industry’s leader.

Over 20+ years, ATI has developed and refined industry specific capabilities, currently organized into Information Technology (IT), Wireless, Clean Energy and Bioscience. In each industry sector, ATI brings its portfolio companies deep domain expertise and market- and technology-specific networks of advisors and investors. Tonight’s graduation event showcases successes in all four sectors, including six remarkable companies in IT, ATI’s broadest category, and the core of what the incubator has focused on since inception in 1989.  The graduating, and current, ATI IT companies are proving that Austin’s legacy in semiconductors, hardware and enterprise software is evolving and keeping relevant in this Web- and social-oriented world. The six IT graduates include:

Agile Planet, a developer of intelligent robotics software for industrial automation, has launched its products in partnership with the world’s leading automation vendors, Yaskawa and Rockwell Automation, and has commercialized robotic technology developed at University of Texas.

Calxeda, with its industry-disrupting ultra-low power processors powering servers and data centers, closed an impressive $48 million funding August 2010, and launch its first product with global impact via a partnership with Hewlett Packard November 2011.

Itzbig took a 180 degree shift to the Monster.com era of job searching with its approach to job matching – recruiting tools for job boards and major employers – ultimately getting acquired by JobTarget, the largest third-party operator of niche job boards in the world.

Notice Technologies is tackling the new wild west of social media, helping its customers analyze and create value from tools like Facebook and Twitter, and its new social data mining technologies are currently being introduced.

Qcue’s dynamic pricing software helps sports teams, venues and promoters set better prices up-front and adjust based on real-time shifts in the market.  Qcue clients represent 85 percent of all dynamically priced tickets and include teams such as the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and the Utah Jazz.

Spredfast built a social media management system for brands and agencies such as AARP, Bayer, HomeAway and Nokia.  Its social business software is gaining such traction that the company closed a $12 million round of funding just a few months ago.

“The companies graduating from our IT portfolio are mind-blowingly impressive, all in different ways,” said Robert Reeves, director, ATI IT Portfolio.  “These companies are particularly special to me because I was where they are tonight at ATI’s last graduation with Phurnace Software.  The entire ATI process – from selection to cultivation to graduation – is a rare experience only a few companies share, and we welcome tonight’s IT graduates to our alumni network.”

Contact:

Laura Beck for ATI

laurabeckcahoon@gmail.com

512-786-1098

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The Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition

Friday, November 11th, 2011

Thinking of starting a venture? Want a jump start on getting going or raising venture capital?

The Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition Semifinals will be held on Feb. 1, 2012. The top four finalists will compete in the Finals on Feb. 15, 2012 and the winner will represent UT Austin in the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition (aka Moot Corp) in May. The Texas Competition is open to all graduate level University of Texas at Austin students and follows the same rules and guidelines as the Global Competition.

Register your intent to compete at vlic.utexas.edu by December 19.

Timeline:
Dec. 19  Intent to compete due
Jan. 24   Semifinals business plan due
Feb. 1    Texas Semifinals
Feb. 7    Finals business plan due
Feb. 15  Texas Finals

Be a part of the tradition of great UT Austin student-lead start-ups that trace their fundraising directly to the Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition. Recent competitors in the Texas Competition include Qcue (2008, funded by Texas Emerging Technology Fund), MacuCLEAR (2007, funded by Regent Technologies), eVapt (2007, funded by Applied Reasoning), Phurnace Software (2006, funded by Lone Star Ventures), Bigfoot Networks (2005, funded by Venio Capital Partners), uShip (2004, funded by Benchmark Capital), Chipotle Business Group (2004, funded by Texas Emerging Technology Fund), and Halsa Pharmaceuticals (2001, funded by Texas Emerging Technology Fund).

Contact Ann Whitt at Ann.Whitt@mccombs.utexas.edu
or 512-232-6597 for more information.

 

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3 Day Startup Starts Up Again…

Monday, October 17th, 2011

On October 21st, 40 student entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds will participate in the fifth iteration of 3 Day Start Up, a highly energetic, often sleepless, weekend where big ideas are turned into viable companies over the course of three days. 3 Day Start Up liberates students from the classroom, and creates an environment where budding entrepreneurs can learn by doing. Over the course of a weekend, students pitch their business ideas, vote on the projects they find the most compelling, and ultimately self organize into project teams to create a prototype, perform market research, and formulate a business strategy. Participating students hail from myriad backgrounds including computer science, engineering, business, law and design, to create the skill set necessary to jumpstart a company. The weekend event is hosted by Austin Technology Incubator.

 The culmination of the event is 7:00pm on Sunday October 23rd, when students pitch their start-ups to a wide array of Austin entrepreneurs including:

  • Bob Metcalfe, Professor of Innovation, Murchison Fellow of Free Enterprise at the University of Texas at Austin;
  • Gary Forni, Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN);
  • Josh Baer, Capital Factory & OtherInbox;
  • Zaz Floreani, Austin Ventures

When asked about the influence of 3 Day Start up on their academic and professional careers, previous participants have said the following:

“3DS takes all kinds of people from their respective little boxes and encourages them to bring their talents together to make something great.” – Jeff Zhao, BBA Finance, 3DS Spring ’11

“3DS has been by far the best experience I’ve had thus far as a graduate student. The weekend is intense and sometimes grueling but it’s also just a lot of fun. “- Rene Pinnell, MS Design, 3DS Fall ’09

“At 3 Day Startup, we learned by doing. Instead of sitting in an auditorium, I worked with forty like-minded people to go through the process of launching something great. The next time I go to a seminar on entrepreneurship, I’m going to sit in the middle of the front row, watch the PowerPoint presentation, and think to myself, ‘I’ve done that.’” – Rishi Shah, Plan II Honors, 3DS Fall ’10

3 Day Start Up began with a simple idea: start a technology company over the course of three days. Over the last three years it has evolved into a popular event campus-wide with a highly competitive selection process.  Companies that have emerged from previous 3 Day Start Up events include: Famigo (www.famigogames.com/), Hurricane Party (www.hurricaneparty.com), and HootMe (hoot.me).  3 Day Start Up was started by students and is run by students. For more information on 3 Day Start up, please visit our online media guide at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5rzbSUfJv8 or go to http://3daystartup.com/.

For information about the event happening at Austin Technology Incubator, October 21-23, please go to: http://austin.3daystartup.org/

Contact: Suzanne Burley                                                       

Phone: 201-759-1115

Email: sburley@ati.utexas.edu

 

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