Mid-Size Cos to Battle in Startup-Style Games, for Charity

Foosball, beer pong, table tennis, giant Connect Four—not exactly what you’d call Olympic events, right? They are if you’re a startup in Austin, TX.

The Startup Games hosted its fourth annual Olympic-style event for charity in January, in which small, early-stage businesses were pitted against one another to raise money for charities of their choice. Now, the Austin-based nonprofit is hosting a version of the event that it calls Startup Games: Level Up, for larger businesses. It is taking place tomorrow at Noon at 300 Pressler St. on the edge of downtown Austin.

While prior Startup Games have focused on smaller businesses such as RideScout, WP Engine, and SpareFoot (the three-peat champions from 2013 through 2015), tomorrow’s competition is targeting companies with 250 to 1,000 employees. Those so far slated to participate include RetailMeNot, Bigcommerce, BuildASign.com, Drilling Info, Main Street Hub, and HomeAway. Each business has selected a specific charity to which it plans to donate winnings.

The event is open to the public, with the suggested donation of a canned food for the local food bank and $10 for charity in lieu of an admission fee. The nonprofit also plans to expand its games beyond Central Texas, hosting events later this year in San Antonio, New York, and Chicago, it said in a statement.

Author: David Holley

David is the national correspondent at Xconomy. He has spent most of his career covering business of every kind, from breweries in Oregon to investment banks in New York. A native of the Pacific Northwest, David started his career reporting at weekly and daily newspapers, covering murder trials, city council meetings, the expanding startup tech industry in the region, and everything between. He left the West Coast to pursue business journalism in New York, first writing about biotech and then private equity at The Deal. After a stint at Bloomberg News writing about high-yield bonds and leveraged loans, David relocated from New York to Austin, TX. He graduated from Portland State University.