Techstars Austin introduced its first startup class this week, with entrepreneurs innovating in health care, retail, and wearable technology, among other sectors.
More than 850 startups applied for the 10 slots available for the three-month accelerator program. The companies will end the program by participating in a demo day in late October.
Boulder-based Techstars announced Austin as its seventh expansion city in MayLINK, and it brought Jason Seats, who managed Techstars Cloud down the road in San Antonio, to head up the operation in Austin.
Techstars gives each startup $18,000 in seed funding, provides office space, and offers the companies a $100,000 convertible note. In return, the companies agree to give Techstars a 6 percent stake.
All in all, the startups reflect the strengths and mentors in Austin’s tech community—there’s a focus on e-commerce, for example.
But that’s the only certainty at this point. “In three months, they will change names, they will change market direction, try new strategies and find new customers,” says TechStars Austin mentor Aziz Gilani, a director at the Mercury Fund in Houston. “This is the time to figure out what you’re going to be when you grow up.”
Here is the Austin class:
Accountable offers “HIPAA compliance in a box” with online forms, help in tracking risk assessments, and employee training.
Atlas Wristband is a wearable technology that uses aircraft-grade accelerometers to map out your wrist’s movements in 3D. It can identify more than 150 exercises and can learn custom exercises.
AuManil helps retailers identify and manage their most valuable customers by using behavioral profiles. This helps to personalize service and build retention.
Filament Labs has the HealthSpark mobile app, which delivers daily content tailored to a user’s health goals, has coaching prompts to support better exercise habits, and monitors progress. The app is one of 30 apps selected by Aetna in its CarePass initiative.
Fosbury is a cross-platform digital wallet for designing, managing and analyzing campaigns on Apple Passbook and Samsung Wallet. Fosbury says it ensures retailers and others that customers always have loyalty cards and coupons with them and provides a new way to interact with customers.
MarketVibe uses customers’ shopping-cart data to help companies get more traffic, leads, and sales.
ProductGram helps sell products online. Users upload a picture and fill in the product description and price. The app pushes the product to social networks and other marketplaces.
ProtoExchange offers a cloud-based network of professional 3D printing services.
Testlio is a network of mobile testers. Customers who need apps to be tested can sign up; mobile testers can register and offer their services.
Ube helps users control their lights and electrical appliances from their smartphones. The startup has raised $300,000 in a Kickstarter campaign.
