9 min readJan 29, 2017

Texas-Squared Startup Newsletter #076

Texas Startup & Tech News, Opinions & Events in the Lone Star State SUBSCRIBE View in Browser

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RealCo, a startup accelerator led by Geekdom Fund’s Michael Gridley, plans to launch in San Antonio at Geekdom next month. The new program is aimed at business to business startups. The 15-month long program focuses on providing networking, capital, mentors and other resources to early stage startups. — by Laura Lorek of Silicon Hills News

SXSW Announces 2017 Accelerator 50 Finalists

Oncomfort — Houston, TX
Triseum — Bryan, TX
Litmus Health — Austin, TX
FishViews — Wimberly, TX
Makerarm — Austin, TX
SPLT — Austin, TX

Austin-based PopUp Play led by husband and wife team Amelia Cosgrove and Bryan Thomas got their day in the Shark Tank. They mentioned that they were alumnus of both Capital Factory and TechStars Austin, which probably gave famed investor Chris Sacca the final motivation to give them a $250,000 deal (also to ‘make up for Twitter’ according to Bryan).

The Austin Tech Happy Hour celebrates 10 years of bring the Austin tech community together. “It’s hard to believe that something which started out as a short email to tech friends has become something that many people proclaim to be the best networking in Austin for people in the Austin technology scene.”

The Dogwood 715 West 6th Street Austin, TX 78701
Thursday, February 2, 2017 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Austin Area

Google for Entrepreneurs Capital Factory 2016 Year in Review Motion Infographic
Keyport Launches Next-Gen Modular Multi-Tools Integrating IoT Smart Tech Alongside Keys and Pocket Tools — Link
Curb aims to make your home smarter — much smarter — Link- Crain’s Austin Mary Ann Azevedo
Our bathrooms don’t need more legislation — Capital Factory — Link
Launching a Podcast — for $110 and in 2 months Mubariz “Moby” Hayat — Link
“Startup Village” Track: March 10–16 — Hugh Forrest — Link
Machine Learning with Austin BCycle — Bonus Edition — Tim Gasser — Link
My Favorite Hackatho- Joshua Baer — Link
- Austin Startups
Well Beyond Care Wins CTAN-Rice Alliance Pitch Competition in Austin — Link
- Xconomy’s David Holley
Roomify simplifies college move-in days with delivered box of essentials — Link
3 Austin CEOs talk about their all-time favorite days at work — Link
Tech roundup: SpareFoot wins Startup Games, Buzz Points adds $1.65M and more — Link
How breakfast tacos and dive bars have contributed to the growth of this Austin travel startup — Link
Following huge year of growth, BuildFax moves into new Austin HQ to expand team — Link
- BuiltinAustin’s Kelly Jackson
How Austin’s tech scene stacks up by wage, rent, and opportunity — Link
Two companies that manufacture stand-up desks prepare to go toe-to-toe in court — Link
Female VC who helped shape Austin’s modern economy heads to Canada for next job — Link
Austin toy industry disruptors head to ‘Shark Tank’ with new business model — Link
5 Austin companies named to Fortune’s ‘Best Workplaces in Texas’ for 2017 — Link
Dow hits 20,000: These large Austin companies have biggest post-election stock gains — Link
Holt Cat roars into Austin suburb with plan for 130 jobs, $20M in construction after incentives dangled — Link
Austin-designed bot turns Trump’s negative tweets into cold, hard cash — Link
Austin’s economic expectations for 2017 unveiled in annual forecast — this time online — Link
50 startups will pitch to Richard Garriott, LA Dodgers’ CFO at 2017 SXSW Accelerator contest — Link
In the Office: Computer chipmaker shrouds its Austin production space in layers of security (Video) — Link
Prominent business leaders appointed to UT, Texas A&M systems’ boards — Link
Austin company that makes computer chips for outer space has new CFO — Link
Austin silicon chip maker doubles down on IoT growth after California acquisition — Link
Austin’s Pluckers Wing Bar is on a hot streak in Houston — Link
Austin consumer goods accelerator opens pipeline to connect startups to industry leaders, VCs — Link
East Austin co-working space opens inside former Pepsi bottling plant — Link
- Austin Business Journal
Talking Australia and Texas Technology Collaboration on Australia Day — Link
Well Beyond Care Wins Rice Alliance Austin-CTAN Pitch Competition — Link
Samba TV’s Austin Engineers Create Interactive Television — Link
Austin-based Tiger Pistol Makes a Big Noise for Small Businesses — Link
Four Austin Startups are Finalists in the SXSW Accelerator Pitch Competition — Link
- Silicon Hills News’ Laura Lorek
Capital Factory Will More than Double Its Events Space in 2017 — Link
Austin-Made AR App Turns Any Magazine into a Cornhole Board — Link
Austin’s Silicon Labs Acquires San Jose-Based IoT Company — Link
- Austin Inno’s Brent Wistrom & Billy Utt
Why Austin entrepreneur Andrew Busey is giving up his car to try full-time ride hailing — Link
Taking a look at salaries in Austin’s tech sector — Link
Blogging, survivor of social-media shakeout, lives on at BlogathonATX event — Link
The three argument techniques to avoid on Facebook — Link
How an Austin dentist is trying to make a better bite-measurement tool — Link
- Austin American-Statesman

Dallas / Ft. Worth Area

Start-Up Scene Moving to South Dallas with New Center — Video
EquipmentShare Gets $26M to Leverage Data Analytics in Construction — Link
- Xconomy’s Angela Shah
Health Wildcatters Gives Health Tech Startups the Texas Treatment — Link
Pixie Point trackers lead you in the right direction if you lose your stuff — Link
- Dallas Morning News
Facebook’s $1B high-tech hub in Fort Worth closer to being up and running — Link
California data center firm enters Texas with regional foothold in DFW — Link
‘The Uberization of healthcare is coming’: Uber, Axxess, and Airbnb talk tech in Plano — Link
The story of Masergy — from 2000 founding to 2016 acquisition — in the words of CEO Chris MacFarland — Link
RealPage to acquire Dallas-based apartment research firm for $75M — Link
MoneyGram to keep Dallas HQ in $880 million deal with Jack Ma fin tech firm — Link
Venture capital chief: IPO activity ‘atrocious’ — Link
How Dallas’ tech scene stacks up by wage, rent, and opportunity — Link
- Dallas Business Journal
Photo Recap: D CEO‘s Technology Event — Link
DFW Data-Center Market, Nation’s Fourth Largest, Poised for 2017 Growth — Link
JLL Research: Dallas Is a ‘Money Magnet’ for Millennials — Link
- D Magazine
Capstone Makes Smart Water Meters Even Smarter — Link
Mary Kay Summit Speaker Vanderveldt’s ‘Secret Sauce’ for Success — Link
Private Management Taking Over Frisco Incubator NTEC — Link
On Tap: Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit, Collidathon, & TechFest — Link
Waterside: Creating a ‘Conscious Place’ in Fort Worth — Link
The District Incubator to Bring DEC Model to Fair Park Area — Link
UTSW Researchers ID Gene That Fights Tumors — Link
Toyota Introducing $1M Grant to Solve North Texas Mobility Issues — Link
UTD Creates Seed Fund for Startups — Link
Need a Business Plan? Trey Bowles Says These 6 Elements are Essential — Link
Dallas Library Gets $5K Grant for STEAM Programming — Link
Amazon Plans 3rd Fulfillment Center in Coppell — Link
Booster Fuels, UTD Partner on Campus Fuel Delivery — Link
Frisco High Student Begins Elementary Coding Program — Link
Unique Makerspace on Tap for Walsh Development — Link
TriTex: The Dronepreneur’s Guide to Navigating the Skies — Link
- Dallas Innovates

Houston / South Texas Area

The Business Makers — Women Mean Business — The Circular Board’s Carolyn Rodz [Video]
Gimmal Receives Growth Investment from Rubicon Technology Partners — Link
Yale Researcher, Houston Entrepreneur Form Drugshoppe, A New ‘Drug Generator’ R&D Model — Link
Fannin Wins Prestigious SBA Tibbetts Award for 2016 — Link
Five Questions For … Erik Halvorsen of TMC’s Innovation Institute — Link
- Xconomy’s Angela Shah
Houston HR technology company raises millions as it looks to hire — Link
Houston law school ranks high on list for best ROI — Link
Here are the 10 Houston cos. with the worst and best performing stocks in 2016 — Link
Houston ranked as the most malware-infected city in the U.S. — Link
Three Houston companies named to Fortune’s best places to work list — Link
Houston among first cities for Wal-Mart’s new car-buying program — Link
- Houston Business Journal
Combined Arms, Center for veterans services opens — Link
Mobile upgrades a touchdown for Super Bowl fans — Link
- Houston Chronicle

San Antonio / West Texas Area

Polish Subsidiary of San Antonio Firm Gets $4.6M for Endometriosis — Link
RealCo Accelerator Opens in San Antonio for Internet Tech Startups — Link
- Xconomy’s David Holley
Business Group’s Report Says Broken Education System Will Sink Texas Economy — Link
Local Game Developers Play an Expanding Role in PAX South — Link
- The Rivard Report
These are the tech jobs that pay women the most (slideshow) — Link
2016 Business Person of the Year: SA techie Brad Parscale helped move the needle in presidential election — Link
SwRi and Texas A&M partner to test self-driving cars in San Antonio — Link
Texas Biomed scientist gets millions to research global threat — Link
- San Antonio Business Journal’s Kristen Mosbrucker

Not Exactly Texas, But Still Worth a Look

Local v. Out-of-State VCs José Ancer Silicon Hills Lawyer — Link
We’re looking for the best small businesses in America. SCORE and Sam’s Club celebrate these businesses through the American Small Business Championship and the SCORE Awards. Share your unique story to win $25,000 or other amazing prizes. Apply
The Optimal Seed Round Construction To Maximize Series A Success — Tomas Tunguz Link
Companies that exit grow revenue by 73% from the prior year — Blossom Street Capital — Link
Invoiced SaaS Pricing Models Infograph — Link
Pricing Mistakes Are Impacting Your Bottom Line — OpenView — Link
Top 10 character traits of successful entrepreneurs — The American Genius — Link
Why the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative just bought an AI startup — The American Genius — Link
Let’s make Series A terms more logical by moving to object-oriented capital
Gil Penchina — Link
Free Stuff For Startups — tools and products with free plans to help you get started — Hiten Shah — Product Hunt
All the Public Startup Pitch Decks in One Place — Startup Grind — Medium

Upcoming Events Around Texas

Austin | Dallas | Houston | San Antonio — Powered by Tech Events Network

Pitch-a-Kid: Where entrepreneurs pitch to kids!
Sunday, February 19, 2017, from 1pm to 3pm
Norris Conference Center
2525 W. Anderson Lane, Suite 365
Austin, Texas 78757

2017 Startup Career Fair
Saturday, February 18
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
TMCx 2450 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77021

Houston American Marketing Association Academy February 2017 Event

Understanding Gen Z Shoppers and Real-world Strategies to Identify the Right Segment for your Product

Friday, February 10, 2017
7:30 AM — 10:30 AM
United Way Community Resource Center
50 Waugh Drive Houston, Texas 77007
Real World Strategies for Segmentation Speakers: Dirk Van Slyke & Michael Griebe Co-founders, Statistical Vision

Food + City Challenge Prize 2017

The Food+City Challenge Prize is an international startup competition that encourages innovation in the urban food system.

Saturday, February 4, 2017
11:00 AM — 4:30 PM CST
McCombs School of Business, Atrium, University of Texas at Austin

Pitch With Purpose

Pitch With Purpose is a pitch competition for women entrepreneurs leading high-growth, scalable businesses that support the resolution of the world’s most pressing problems, presented in partnership with United Nations Foundation. The final deadline to apply is February 15, 2017. The competition will be held at the Circular Summit, March 30–31, 2017 in Houston.

Galvanize Februrary Marketing Madness Series

Every Wednesday in February from 6:30pm — 8:30pm
Topics: Branding & Engagement, SEO & Analytics, Growth and PR.

This newsletter is about news and opinions about Texas Startups.

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