Posts Tagged ‘spredfast’

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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Austin Technology Incubator Holds Graduation For 21 Companies, Celebrates Beginning 23rd Year of Incubating Central Texas Companies

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

One week from today, the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit unit of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin (UT), will host a graduation and alumni event to celebrate more than two decades of incubating Central Texas technology companies.  On January 26, at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center at The University of Texas at Austin, ATI will recognize the “graduation” of 21 companies who have moved on from ATI over the past few years.

ATI will also announce the winner of the Laura J Kilcrease Civic Entrepreneurship Award. And, for the first time in many years, ATI will bring
together over 300 of the hundreds of technology influencers who have been part of the ATI family as executives of portfolio companies, advisors, investors, business partners, UT student interns, and ATI staff.  This alumni gathering will celebrate the community that ATI has created and hundreds of amazing business successes ATI has had a hand in.

The 21 companies to be honored as ATI graduates on January 26 include businesses focused on information technology, wireless, clean energy, and biosciences technology.  They are:

  • Agile Planet
  • Atonometrics
  • Axelo
  • Calxeda
  • Dorsan Biofuels
  • Famigo
  • Firefly LED Lighting
  • GameSalad
  • Ideal Power Converters
  • itzbig
  • Nitero
  • Notice Technologies
  • OpenAlgae
  • Qcue
  • RFMicron
  • RRE Solar
  • Savara Pharmaceuticals
  • Spredfast
  • Terapio
  • Unwired Nation
  • WiMax.com

View the full press release at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9120155.htm.

Press interested in attending the January 26th event and/or speaking with executives from ATI or the graduating companies can contact Laura Beck at 512-786-1098 or laurabeckcahoon@gmail.com.

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Austin Technology Council Welcomes Rod Favaron and Mark McClain to its Board of Directors

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Austin Technology Council (ATC), along with Austin’s technology leaders, last week approved the addition of Rod Favaron and Mark McClain to the ATC board.   Leaders of Spredfast, an Austin Technology Incubator alumi company, and SailPoint respectively, Favaron and McClain join a group of esteemed technology leaders working closely with the entire ATC ecosystem to create new professional relationships, community value and business impact.  Highlighted by recent successes such as the May 2011 CEO Summit, and the recent California recruiting trip, ATC continues to add value to the Austin tech community, in part because of contribution by people like Favaron and McClain, and the entire ATC board.

Rod Favaron is currently President and CEO of Austin social media super star, Spredfast, focused on enterprise-class Social CRM.  He previously guided enterprise software player Lombardi from a seed stage start up company to a global BPM leader acquired IBM in 2010. 

“What we are doing at ATC right now is bringing so much value to the Austin community and to me and my business personally,” said Favaron.  “I am proud to be committed to the organization in a new and larger way as a board member.”

As CEO and Founder, Mark McClain co-leads SailPoint, an Austin security company focused on identity governance and management.   He previously founded Waveset in 2000 and grew it to acquisition by Sun Microsystems three years later, this after a leadership role at Tivoli through its acquisition by IBM. 

“I’ve been an active part of the Austin technology business community for more than a decade and I’m excited about the value ATC is driving today,” said McClain.  “The Austin business community is special, and frankly, quite rare, so I’m thrilled to be part of the leadership of an organization that will help us accelerate our growth, while keeping hold of the things that make us unique.”

About the Austin Technology Council:

With more than 5,000 members and friends, serving more than 850 C-level executive members, and supporting 200-plus member companies, the Austin Technology Council (ATC) has been focused on the growth and success of the Austin tech community since 1994.  Members reap the benefits of premier professional development; insight and feedback from peers; the best in industry data to help grow businesses; and opportunities to give back to the Austin community through charitable initiatives.  Current ATC board members are leaders at companies or organizations like Austin Technology Incubator, CacheIQ, Gazzang, IBM, PeopleAdmin, Samsung, Silicon Labs, Spinal Restoration, Tokyo Electron America and Vinson & Elkins.  More on ATC can be found at www.austintechnologycouncil.org or @ATCouncil on Twitter.

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Austin Technology Council Hosts Top Talent Roadshow in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, Over 30 Austin CEOs Representing Live on September 13 and 14

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Austin Technology Council, along with Austin’s technology leaders, made a commitment at a May 2011 CEO summit, to take the best of our city live to the San Francisco and Silicon Valley areas to recruit top technology talent. Today, the Austin Technology Council proudly announces two Top Talent events in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, the evenings of September 13 and 14. Over 30 Austin area technology CEOs will represent their companies live, talk with candidates, and ideally fill some of the many technology jobs currently open.

Event details and registration links for candidate attendees:
·Tuesday, September 13, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., The Mighty, San Francisco: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1908395061

·Wednesday, September 14, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., Plug & Play, Sunnyvale: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2025094111

Texas overall, and Austin specifically, are among few geographies currently adding jobs, and Austin’s technology industry particularly has many job opportunities for programmers, developers, coders and engineers. The Austin technology community continues to thrive with new startups and fast growing mid-stage companies. The city attracts entrepreneurs and business leaders who want to start and grow their businesses in Austin. But there are not enough technical resources to build out the solutions these companies envision and commercialize products.

Austin currently has several dozen technology companies hiring 40 or more new programmers each. Of over 30 CEOs representing their companies at the Top Talent Roadshow, current job openings include roles like: Data Engineer, Front End Software Engineer, Information Architect, UX Designer.

At present, companies confirmed for the events include: Affinegy, Bancvue, Bazaarvoice, CacheIQ, Catapult, Calxeda, Collider Media, Creditcards.com, Gazzang, Gowalla, Homeaway, Ihiji, Less Networks, Mutual Mobile, Phunware, Ravel, SailPoint, Spredfast, Vast and Whaleshark.

Note: Affinegy, Calxeda and Spredfast are ATI alumni companies and Ravel and ihiji are current ATI member companies. The presence of these companies at the conference is one of many examples of ATI companies creating demand for jobs in Austin. “The conference complements other great work that the local startup community is doing, such as Startup Austin Live, the increased visibility of Austin tech via SXSWi, and the renewed focus on commercialization and entrepreneurship support at UT Austin,” said ATI Director Isaac Barchas, who is on the board and executive committee of Austin Technology Council.

“In Austin, we’ve fallen into a trap of fighting over existing talent, especially in engineering, programming and software development roles,” said Rod Favaron, serial Austin entrepreneur, and presently CEO of Spredfast, a white-hot social CRM company. This leadership role follows Favaron taking his previous company, Lombardi, through successful acquisition by IBM. “We will not realize Austin’s fullest technology innovation potential until we infuse new talent into this city,” added Favaron.  

“The zero-sum-game hurts the overall tech community. So we’ve decided to come together to seek out new additions to Austin to help us all grow. Fortunately, it doesn’t require a lot of convincing. But we do think it requires the technology leaders of Austin representing the city, its value, and our businesses directly to draw in the next generation.”

Austin Technology Council welcomes press to attend either or both events, and is happy to speak further or set up conversations with participating Austin CEOs, before or during the events. Advance registration is required for attendees who are encouraged to sign up at the Eventbrite links above.  For Twitter engagement before and during, please use #ATXgrow.

About the Austin Technology Council:

With more than 5,000 members and friends, serving more than 850 C-level executive members, and supporting 200-plus member companies, the Austin Technology Council (ATC) has been focused on the growth and success of the Austin tech community since 1994.  Members reap the benefits of premier professional development, insight and feedback from peers, the best in industry data to help grow businesses, and opportunities to give back to the Austin community through charitable initiatives.  Current ATC board members are leaders at companies or organizations like Austin Technology Incubator, CacheIQ, Gazzang, IBM, PeopleAdmin, Samsung, Silicon Labs, Spinal Restoration, Tokyo Electron America and Vinson & Elkins.  More on ATC can be found at: www.austintechnologycouncil.org or @ATCouncil on Twitter.

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ATI-Alum Lombardi Software’s CEO Rod Favaron Named New CEO of ATI-Alum Spredfast

Friday, February 18th, 2011

In a Feb. 16 Austin American-Statesman article, staff writer Lori Hawkins reported that Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) alum Spredfast, a developer of enterprise software for social media platforms, named ATI-alum Lombardi Software’s former CEO and technology industry veteran Rod Favaron as the new company CEO.

“Spredfast’s software lets clients manage, monitor and measure online campaigns across multiple social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging platforms…Read here for the full article.”

Favaron plans to triple Spredfast’s workforce and raise more venture capital in 2011. The new company has already raised an impressive $1.6 million from Austin Ventures in its first year.

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ABC News features ATI and member company, Spredfast, at center of Austin’s press to become “Silicon Valley 2.0″

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

ABC News tabbed the Austin Technology Incubator and its member company, Spredfast, Inc., as faces of Austin’s thriving technology-startup scene. Both ATI director Isaac Barchas and Spredfast co-founder Kenneth Cho contributed to the article.

Austin may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of technology meccas. For years it was the home of the University of Texas Longhorns, the Live Music Capital of the World and “that place where Dell started.” But Austin has quietly grown into a city that attracts — and produces — some of the most…read the rest of the article here.

UT students Travis Measley and Caitlin Mangum, both members of Austin’s ABC News On Campus bureau, cowrote the article.

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ATI Alum, Spredfast, Lands $1.6 million from Austin Ventures

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

The following note is a summary of Austin American-Statesman article was written by Melissa Rabeaux, ATI’s Marketing Communications Manager.

The Austin Technology Incubator congratulates Spredfast, for raising $1.6 million in funding from Austin Ventures. Spredfast joined the Austin Technology Incubator under the name Social Agency in October 2008, and graduated from the incubator in September 2009. ATI has worked with over 200 companies, helping them raise roughly $750 million in investor capital and create thousands of jobs.  Over the past 2 years, ATI has worked with over 40 companies, helping them raise more than $50 million in investor capital.  In addition, over that period, 6 ATI alumni companies realized liquidity events totaling over $250 million.

Austin-based Spredfast, which helps customers manage their social media efforts, has raised $1.6 million from Austin Ventures for expansion.

Spredfast’s software lets clients plan, execute and monitor online campaigns across multiple social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging platforms.

The company, which launched in January and has five employees, will use the money to expand marketing and product development, adding 10 employees in those areas over the next few months.

Spredfast was previously self-funded by founders Kenneth Cho and Scott McCaskill .

Spredfast, which was a finalist in the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference and Festival, has carried out more than 1,200 initiatives for 750 companies. A standard package costs $50 per month per initiative.

Its customers include AOL, Hewlett-Packard, TOMS Shoes and Oracle.

In Austin, HomeAway Inc. used the company’s software to manage the online components tied to its advertisement in the 2010 Super Bowl, and Truluck’s restaurant kicked off its social media outreach with the software.

“Companies are currently just blasting messages out there, guessing at what’s going to stick and not really measuring how effective their messages are,” Cho said. “Spredfast figures out the right content, the right message and the optimal time to send it out there. We can measure every piece of content that is distributed.”

Mike Dodd , a venture partner with Austin Ventures, said social media is the next big opportunity for online marketers to reach new customers. “The new social media channel needs a tools platform to manage marketers’ campaigns and measure their return on investment, and Spredfast has the best solution we have seen.”

Austin Ventures, which has been the main source of capital for dozens of local tech companies since 1979, has done fewer early-stage deals in recent years. The firm is currently investing a $900 million fund, with a third going to early-stage companies and the rest being used to buy or invest in established companies.

Spredfast, whose name plays off the idea of helping companies spread a message through social media, is competing in a field already crowded with startups, including ObjectiveMarketer of San Francisco and Radian6 of Canada.

“It’s the first inning in this market, and our goal is to build this out quickly by building new tools and possibly through acquisitions,” Dodd said.

Cho said Spredfast was pursued by a number of Silicon Valley and East Coast venture investors but chose Austin Ventures because it wanted a local partner.

“We wanted a Texas-based firm … because we want to make sure that Austin and Texas get on the map when it comes to social media,” he said. “There’s a lot of great local talent here, but Austin hasn’t really emerged as a center for social media. We want to help change that.”

http://www.statesman.com/business/technology/spredfast-gets-1-6-million-for-expansion-565781.html

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Entrepreneur’s Lounge at SXSW Interactive – March 13, 2010

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

The following post was written by Bart Bohn, ATI’s Wireless/IT Director.

bart bohn

During SXSW Interactive, Unwired Nation, the Austin Technology Incubator and Porter Novelli host the Entrepreneur Lounge.  It is the best networking at SXSWi and a great event.  We host it at the roof top deck of Fogo de Chao which is next door to the Austin Convention Center.  The meat and cheesy bread are legendary for attendees by now.  We invite entrepreneurs, investors, media, analysts and industry VIPs and expect about 250 people each night this year.  It runs nightly from Friday through Tuesday of SXSWi – yes, that means five nights of some of the best meat and drinks you can get in Austin.  Each night, I will provide a short recap capturing some of the highlights. Here’s what happened on March 13, 2010:

Celebrity Guest Host – Nova Spivak of Twine fame.

Seen and Heard –

  • At least once major VC putting the full court press on a company.  Multiple partners talking with the team most of the night – good luck guys!
  • Me getting interviewed by Bloomberg TV about startups outside of the Silicon Valley
  • Nokia giveaway and ability to really command the show – it still amazes me they were able to get the crowd to be quiet, wow.
  • Ethan Kurzweil of Bessemer Ventures (www.bvp.com) trying to be cool for a Bloomberg TV background shot – I really hope this makes the cut so I can use it for leverage later
  • The roof top deck got so crowded, there was a 75 person waiting line!
  • 8 PM – roof top still full even though the free drinks and food stopped over an hour earlier

Showcase Companies

  • Enthuze – customer relationship social network for major brands
  • Notice Technologies – platform for local advertisers to digitally reach their audience on social media, websites and mobile
  • eSee Technologies –  mobile augmented reality by leveraging location and web search via a mobile device
  • Spredfast – social media campaign management platform that allows an organization to manage, monitor, and measure its voice across multiple social media channels
  • BitVibe – marketplace for digital goods and is first focusing on the music sector.  Get to know the founders – one used to do stadium tours for several bands, great stories
  • Gendai Games – game development platform that lets the 99% of who do not code to build and publish games – fastest growing game development platform on the iPhone

Thanks to all who came and made this a great night.

Thank you to the sponsors – Nokia, City of Austin, LifeSize, CloudFlower, UKTI, KnowMore, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Digital Media Council, Bracewell & Giuliani, Texas Film Commission

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ATI Member Company Changes Name to Spredfast

Monday, January 25th, 2010

ATI Member Company Social Agency recently changed its name to Spredfast.  Spredfast is a social media campaign management platform that allows an organization to manage, monitor, and measure its voice across multiple social media channels.  They are making terrific progress with their customer relationships and partnerships!

Check out the following articles:

Spredfast: How to Keep up with the Social Web on ReadWriteWeb

Austin Social Media Startup Revving Up on the Austin Business Journal

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