Let’s get caught up with the latest innovation news in Texas.
—Personify, an Austin maker of customer management software, has been sold by Rubicon Technology Partners, a private equity firm with offices in Menlo Park, CA, and Stamford, CT, to Pamlico Capital in Charlotte, NC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Personify works with associations, charities, and health and wellness organizations that have more than 20,000 clients in North America and Europe, according to a press release about the acquisition.
—Pani, an Austin startup developing smart home products to help monitor, measure, and recycle water, has raised $1 million in a seed funding round. The lead investor is Blake Chandlee, former executive vice president of global partnerships at Facebook, according to a press release. The funding will go toward making new hires and product development. Pani says its software can identify where the most water is being used—shower or toilets, say—so customers can get personalized information that could be used to curb that use.
—Chargify, a billing software company, has a new CEO in Tom Rotem, who replaces Chris Cochran, according to a company blog post. The San Antonio-based Chargify is among seven startups in the portfolio of Scaleworks, an investment firm in the Alamo City. Rotem was most recently senior vice president at Yotpo, a maker of marketing software. In the past 18 months, Chargify says it has doubled its employees and revenue, handled 23 million subscriptions, and processed $2.8 billion in transactions, the company said.
—Dallas’ Tech Wildcatters accelerator has added two new people to its staff. Vanessa Camones becomes venture principal and will be based in Silicon Valley, where she has been a longtime marketing and communications executive. Rachel Chang comes on board in the program’s Dallas headquarters where she will be a venture associate. Previously, Chang was director of events and programs at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center and lead organizer of Dallas Startup Week, the accelerator said.
—ICON Technology, an Austin startup that’s 3-D printing homes, reported raising $6.8 million in funding, according to Austin Inno. Icon unveiled its first 3-D printed home last spring at the South By Southwest Interactive festival as part of a collaboration between Icon and New Story, a San Francisco-based non-profit dedicated to building low-cost homes.
—The Alamo Angels have announced that Cat Dizon is replacing Chris Burney as executive director. Burney had led the San Antonio’s investment organization since its rebranding in late 2017. (The group was previously known as the San Antonio Angel Network.) Dizon was partner and COO for Active Capital, a San Antonio venture firm, and will remain there part-time as a venture partner, Alamo Angels said. She has previously worked at cloud computing giant Rackspace in various roles in corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, growth businesses, and staff operations. Burney will remain on the Alamo Angels board and investment committee, the organization said.
