Posts Tagged ‘mobile monday austin’

SXSW Day 4 – SXSW is a Neutron Star

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

The following is a post by Bart Bohn, Director of ATI’s IT & Wireless Incubators.

As a follow up to What is SXSW? It is wearing different shoes just so your feet hurt in different places each day.

The great, unfair advantage for Austin-based companies is that SXSW acts as a massive center of gravity that pulls in world class entrepreneurs, technologists, media and influencers.  Just on Monday alone, I saw the power of this at the MobileMonday Meetup hosted by Austin’s chapter.  With over 200 attendees from the other MobileMonday chapters around the world, the 7-8 Austin start ups that demoed got exposure that would otherwise be impossible to get – or at best, very expensive through PR and marketing.  It was also a place where start ups from around the world could demo and engage with Austin’s mobile ecosystem.  Specifically, there were 5 UK mobile companies demo-ing as well.  The net is that SXSW creates a temporary, highly intense echo chamber that can accelerate Austin’s start ups, entrepreneurs, investors, media and influencers – similar to what happens in the Bay Area day-in day-out, but perhaps more powerful as there are much more diverse set of participants.

The SXSW Accelerator kicked off yesterday with 32 great, innovative start ups presenting.  450 start ups applied, 32 selected to pitch and 4 category winners will be announced Tuesday evening.  One person commented that he was surprised how much innovation there is still in the web space.  Well, duh.  It is an open, complex system that has invaded each corner of our lives, in almost every culture and each time it evolves, a whole new wave of capabilities and problems arise.  The problems transcend just the web software world – as big data comes online, it requires advances in processing, storage and user interfaces, no just web software or database software.  So, even if the Bay Area leads the way for interactive innovation, there will still be tons of opportunity for Austin’s picks & axes approach.  And, with SXSW in our backyard, we will be able to sustain the symbiotic relationship.

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Famigo Fulfills ATI Founders’ Vision in Joining Incubator

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Austin, TX (PRWEB) January 5, 2011 - The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit arm of The University of Texas at Austin, announced today that Famigo joined as a member company of the ATI-Wireless Incubator.

Famigo offers the premier mobile social gaming platform for game developers to build, market and distribute family content. As seen with Hot Potato, Rad Ribs and the latest Famigo app, Tic Tac Toe, Famigo’s toolset enables developers to make true multi-player games that include real social interaction all with one-day integration, saving time and money.

The four-man team found its start in the spring of 2009 when co-founders Q Beck and Matthew Sullivan — ATI associates at the time — joined forces to build on Beck’s idea at the ATI-hosted 3 Day Startup, a weekend-long event through which 40 UT-student entrepreneurs build companies. Emerging successful from the weekend and picking up steam through Austin-based business accelerator Capital Factory’s inaugural class, Famigo has continued to flourish and is on its way to the successful path of other UT-student-led startups Phurnace Software and Qcue.

“With the progression we’ve gone through, we’re an example of how the system is supposed to work,” said Beck. “We went from being UT students and associates at the ATI, to entrepreneurs through 3 Day Startup, to member company. The ATI is sitting on a heap of talent in Austin, and in particular with UT. We’re a snapshot of the Incubator’s vision to nurture students into successful entrepreneurs.”

Having both worked at the ATI under ATI-Wireless director Bart Bohn as student associates prior to Famigo, Beck and Sullivan said their membership stage is an important next step for maintaining the relationship with the ATI directors. “As individuals and as a company we’ve gained a lot from our relationship with the ATI,” said Beck. “Being able to work with Bart Bohn and Director Isaac Barchas, with their out-of-the-box thinking and strong relationship with Austin’s startup community and general business community, is invaluable.”

In their first weeks as an ATI member, Famigo is showing the relationship a clear win-win for both them and the Incubator. The team took home first prize out of 13 startups at the 2010 Texas Wireless Summit’s MobileMonday ATX Showcase and earned a trip to the February 2011 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

“It has been fantastic to watch Famigo’s progression from the first brainstorm pitch to its development as one of Austin’s leading startups,” said Bohn. “ATI is excited to support the Famigo team as it takes a leadership position in the digital family media market.”

About the Austin Technology Incubator

The Austin Technology Incubator is a nonprofit unit 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 over 200 companies, helping them raise close to $750 million in investor capital.  ATI is a key program of the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. For more information, visit www.ati.utexas.edu.

About Famigo Games

Famigo is an Austin-based mobile social gaming platform just for families. Famigo makes it easy for developers and brands to build, market and and distribute mobile family content. The Famigo platform and family accounts leverage family interaction to increase sales through recommendations and user-driven social marketing. Famigo gives developers the tools to create true multi-player games, which create real social interaction and save developers time and money with one-day integration. For more information, visit www.famigogames.com.

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Fourth Annual Wireless Seed Stage Forum to Connect Startups and Investors

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

wssf_logo-squareThe fourth annual Wireless Seed Stage Forum looks to continue its position as the premier stage for wireless startups to pitch to leading venture capitalists, angels and strategic investors. The Austin Technology Incubator’s Wireless Incubator, in partnership with the Central Texas Angel Network, is proud to host this year’s Forum, December 1, 2010, at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas.

The Forum will match promising early stage wireless and mobile startups with vetted angel, venture capital, corporate and public investors. The WSSF is seeking early stage companies in the wireless industry or leveraging wireless technologies in other markets.

In the Forum’s first three years, nearly 50 percent of participating companies have gone on to receive funding, representing various sectors of the wireless industry. Companies have successfully presented from several sectors, including biomedical, smart grid, healthcare, mobile gaming, location-based advertising, wireless infrastructure, wireless hardware and others.

Recently, five WSSF alumni announced significant funding events

  • Edioma, a company that brings web-based language instruction to mobile devices, closed a $650,000 VC series-A funding round this summer, led by Cottonwood Technology Fund and Austin-based Daylight Partners (class of 2007).
  • Calxeda, the ARM-based, low power server company and ATI-graduate, announced a $48 million investment led by Battery Ventures, which included Flybridge Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners, and three strategic investors (class of 2008).
  • GameSalad, maker of the do-it-yourself iPhone game development platform and an ATI-member company, closed a DFJ Mercury led $1.2 million VC Series-A round this summer (class of 2008).
  • Tabbed Out, maker of the web-based application that lets you pay your tab from your smart phone, closed a $750,000 seed round in late 2009 and recently announced a $2M Series A from NEA (class of 2009).
  • Spacetime Studios, the 3D mobile MMO gaming company – and winner of the “Best Pitch” at the 2009 WSSF, recently announced an undisclosed amount of Series-A funds from Insight Ventures.

The Wireless Seed Stage Forum is specifically seeking to fill the funding gap between $100,000 and $2 million in required funding. If you are a start-up that is currently raising a seed round, or is preparing for a Series A round in the next 6 – 12 months, and has the below items, you could be a strong candidate:

  • Has a pre-production or demonstrable product
  • Seeks less than $2 million in a first round of external funding
  • Is recently established (less than 2 years old) and has a small headcount (less than 10 full time employees)

For more information, please visit http://seedstageforum.com.

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Texas Wireless Summit Showcases Austin as Premier Wireless Innovation Hub

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

tws_logo_squareMore than 250 wireless industry leaders piled into the AT&T Conference Center Tuesday to see the forefront of wireless research and startup innovation, gain insight on industry trends, and for the first time in the Texas Wireless Summit’s eight-year history, see Austin’s hottest wireless-application startups compete.

With 16 on-the-move startups and more than 20 thought leaders taking the stage to speak, TWS managed to display under one roof the full breadth of Austin’s wireless innovation community, demonstrating the city’s position as one of the key global innovation hubs in the wireless industry. The Austin Technology Incubator’s Wireless Incubator partnered with UT’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group to host the Summit, taking support also from the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and the City of Austin.

The keynotes and panels drove the day’s content, giving attendees the edge on the overall trajectory and potential pitfalls the industry faces in years to come. Speakers from leading industry players Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs and Qualcomm and leading research institutions UT-Austin, Virginia Tech and NYU Poly took on hot-button topics like “The Too Much Data Paradox,” “Augmented Reality,” “Smart Grid” and “The Future of Cognitive Radio.” Leading wireless venture capitalists — from Sevin Rosen Funds, Qualcomm Ventures and New Enterprise Associates — also weighed in through a panel discussion, representing together nearly $4 billion of investment experience and funds.

Further contributing to the conversation, four of Central Texas’ most promising startups took five minutes each to present their innovations to the Summit audience. Together representing more than $100 million of investor backing, Austin-based startups Blacksand Technologies, Unwired Nation and Nitero, along with Dallas-based Mavenir Systems, took the stage to complement the big-name industry veterans like Huawei Technologies and Paratek Microwave.

In addition to providing front row seats on the industry’s direction, TWS partnered with MobileMonday Austin and App Circus to create the first-ever MobileMonday Austin Showcase. The interactive competition pitted against one another 12 of Austin’s front-of-the-pack wireless application innovators, five of which have closed their VC series-A round and five others an angel round to represent nearly $15 million of investor capital on one floor.

TWS attendees interact with Austin’s most innovative wireless application developers in the first-ever MoMo ATX Showcase.

TWS attendees interact with Austin’s most innovative wireless application developers in the first-ever MoMo ATX Showcase.

Famigo Games, maker of a set of tools and services to help mobile-game developers build for families, took first prize and earned a trip to Barcelona, Spain, in February to compete at the Mobile World Congress, edging out location-based mobile marketer QRANK, who placed second. Famigo is an ATI-Wireless member company whose leaders emerged from UT’s student-entrepreneur community, meeting for the first time at the spring of 2009 edition of 3 Day Startup, a weekend-long company-building lock-in for UT students.

The same lobby space spent the earlier part of the day occupied by some of UT’s most innovative as 22 of WNCG’s student research groups lined the room to display their findings. The research shown at the summit represents a grand total of $21 million in commitments to the WNCG group.

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Texas Wireless Summit hosts Texas’ hottest wireless startups

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

tws_logo_squareMore than industry-expert keynotes and trend-predicting panel discussions, the Nov. 16 Texas Wireless Summit will put the spotlight on Central Texas’ most compelling wireless startups by bringing the CEO’s to you. The following four companies will have seven minutes of exclusive stage time to present to the entire summit audience.

  • Blacksand — CEO John Diehl will pitch his Austin-based fabless semiconductor company, which specializes in combining analog with digital circuits in silicon to optimize both sensitivity and power for wireless devices.
  • Nitero — CEO Pat Kelly will present for the Austin-based semiconductor company, which is currently running in stealth mode. Come to TWS for an exclusive peek at what they’re doing under the radar!
  • Unwired Nation — CEO Eric Smith will pitch for his Austin-based and ATI-Wireless-member company, which boasts in Kinita™, a platform that leverages a customers existing web apps to deliver native apps across major smartphone platforms.
  • Mavenir Systems — CEO Pardeep Kohli will present for his Dallas-based company, whose products and services enable telecomm carriers to handle more voice, video and text data.

“The Texas Wireless Summit has consistently showcased a unique mix of researchers, startups, and thought leaders from large wireless companies, not to mention venture capitalists and wireless regulators,” said Jeff Andrews, director of UT’s Wireless Networking and Communications group and TWS keynote speaker. “This year for the first time, we’ll have a dedicated startup session featuring four dynamic Austin-area startups, and another with venture capitalists, that will highlight the strength of the industry during the economic downturn.”

More than 10 other Austin-based wireless startups will demo and display their innovations as MobileMonday Austin, a group that exists to connect wireless consumers to industry and academia, is partnering with TWS this year to create the MoMoATX Showcase, a forum for Austin’s most interesting mobile applications to interact with the Summit audience.

The MoMo showcase still has slots available. Participating companies will receive one complimentary registration and discounts on additional registrations. Email Enrique at MoMo Austin for more information.

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Nielsen Company to discuss latest research at MoMo Austin event

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

MoMoAustin_logoMobileMonday Austin will give Nielsen Company an Austin venue to showcase their newest research on smart phones, tablets and the new application economy.

The media research company will headline the next MobileMonday event, “Mobile

Applications and Connected Devices,” Nov. 1 at Austin’s Cool River. The event is sponsored by Nokia and the 2010 Calling All Innovators North America developer contest, presented by Nokia and AT&T.

Event Information:

Topic: Mobile Applications and Connected Devices — New Nielsen Company research on the changing media consumption landscape

When: November 1, 2010 | 5:30pm – 8:00pm

Where: Cool River (4001 W Parmer Ln, Austin, TX 78727-4105)

Please note that seating is limited; please register and reserve your seating and enter the raffle to win a new Nokia N8.

For registration and more information, please visit the MobileMonday Austin website at http://www.mobilemondayaustin.com/.

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Eighth Annual Texas Wireless Summit Provides Open Door to the Core of Wireless Innovation

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

The Austin Technology Incubator, a not-for-profit commercialization unit of the University of Texas, is partnering with UT’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group to host the eighth annual Texas Wireless Summit, Nov. 16 at the AT&T Conference Center in Austin, Texas.

The Summit will highlight technologies emerging from industry players, startups and research groups at the core of the wireless industry’s continued innovation explosion. Keynotes, panels and presenting companies will drive the day’s discussion.

Speakers will represent industry leaders — from Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs to Grid Net to Texas Instruments — and academic institutions at the forefront of wireless research — from The University of Texas to Polytechnic University of New York to Virginia Tech University. The conversation will cover the industry’s most pivotal topics, including “The Too-Much-Data Paradox,” “Inside Out: The Future of Mobile Broadband,” “The Future of Multi-band Wireless Devices,” “Smart Grid,” “The Future of Cognitive Radio” and others.

“Texas Wireless Summit provides an intimate college campus setting where attendees can spend quality time with influential technical and business leaders to learn the future of the wireless industry. Attendees will learn about all of WNCG’s research activities and see the most promising wireless startup companies in Central Texas. Simply put, the Summit provides access to wireless research and product leaders that cannot be found anywhere else in one place,” said Ted Rappaport, WNCG Founding Director and TWS 2010 panel moderator.

In between the keynotes and panels, four premier Central-Texas wireless startups — Blacksand, Nitero, Unwired Nation and Mavenir Systems — will take the stage to present their technologies to the Summit audience.

More than 10 other Austin-based wireless startups will display their innovations as MobileMonday Austin, a group that exists to connect wireless consumers to industry and academia, is partnering with TWS this year to create the MoMoATX Showcase, a forum for Austin’s most interesting mobile applications to interact with the Summit audience. Participating companies will receive one complimentary registration and discounts on additional registrations.

WNCG will present the group’s latest research and compelling wireless innovations in two demonstration and poster sessions, in which they will line the Summit floor to exhibit their research and field questions from interactive attendees.

“In addition to the wealth of expertise we’re able to draw in through our speakers, WNCG’s research showcase and the startup presentations have established themselves as distinctive features of the Summit. The trend-predictive technologies unveiled by both WNCG and the selected startups year-after-year make TWS the go-to event for all interested in the trajectory of the wireless industry,” said Bart Bohn, ATI-Wireless Director.

There will be around 200 leading members from all areas of the mobile industry in attendance, including many investors and business development representatives from key potential partners. In addition, RCR Wireless, the premier news source for the wireless communications industry, has come on as a TWS partner to provide built in media connectivity.

You can follow and join Texas Wireless Summit conversation on Twitter with #TWS.

About the Austin Technology Incubator

The Austin Technology Incubator is a nonprofit unit 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 over 200 companies, helping them raise close to $750 million in investor capital.  ATI is a key program of the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin.  For more information, visit www.ati.utexas.edu

About Wireless Networking and Communications Group

The Wireless Networking & Communications Group (WNCG) is an interdisciplinary center for research and education at The University of Texas at Austin with an emphasis on industrial relevance. WNCG exists to create a collaborative environment which supports basic research and promotes technical innovation, imagination and entrepreneurship in wireless networking and communications and applications thereof. In addition, WNCG seeks to provide a highly relevant education and opportunities for students wishing to pursue careers in wireless networking, communications and related areas. For more information, visit www.wncg.org.

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