slightly more than the $1.2 million available at the start of last year’s competition. In addition to student teams from universities across the United States, Rice says there are four international teams as well. The teams that have won the most competitions are from Northwestern University and Carnegie Mellon University.
—Speaking of student innovators, four Texas universities are sending teams to the Make the Future California event, an energy efficiency competition that features the Shell Eco-marathon. Rice, Lamar University, the University of Texas at El Paso, and San Antonio College will be four of the 100 student-led teams at the event from April 19th to the 22nd. Organizers say the 1,000-plus student participants from across North and South America have been working for months constructing ultra-energy efficient vehicles.
—Austin, TX-based SpareFoot, an online market for self-storage, announced that it has agreed to acquire SiteLink, which makes cloud-based software for the storage industry. The deal is expected to close in a month; terms were not provided in the press release. The companies also announced that Cove Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, is taking a majority stake in each business. SpareFoot CEO Chuck Gordon will become CEO of the combined company.
—Austin-based firm SpyCloud has raised a $5 million Series A funding round from existing investors Silverton Partners and March Capital Partners. The cybersecurity startup has developed software tools to prevent hackers from taking over web accounts. SpyCloud also says it can find vulnerabilities in a company’s computer network before hackers can strike. The company had previously raised $2.5 million. “The only chance businesses stand against these increasingly-proficient criminals is to know as soon as possible which accounts have been exposed and to take preventative measures well before credentials make it onto the dark web,” Ted Ross, SpyCloud’s CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.
