OutboundEngine, which makes marketing and business development software, has raised $11 million in a Series B round. The Austin, TX-based startup’s software automates marketing duties for independent small businesses such as real estate agents, mortgage brokers, plumbers, and electricians. The startup creates content for the business while managing e-mail and social media channels on both … Continue reading “Automated Marketing Software Nets Austin’s OutboundEngine $11M”
Author: Angela Shah
Angela Shah was formerly the editor of Xconomy Texas. She has written about startups along a wide entrepreneurial spectrum, from Silicon Valley transplants to Austin transforming a once-sleepy university town in the '90s tech boom to 20-something women defying cultural norms as they seek to build vital IT infrastructure in a war-torn Afghanistan. As a foreign correspondent based in Dubai, her work appeared in The New York Times, TIME, Newsweek/Daily Beast and Forbes Asia.
Before moving overseas, Shah was a staff writer and columnist with The Dallas Morning News and the Austin American-Statesman. She has a Bachelor's of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, and she is a 2007 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. With the launch of Xconomy Texas, she's returned to her hometown of Houston.
New McNair Ignition Fund Pledges $3M to Boost Houston Tech Startups
As many as 30 Houston tech startups could receive $25,000 in investment next year thanks to the McNair Houston Ignition Fund. The fund is sponsored by the McNair Group, a financial and real estate firm owned by Houston Texans owner Bob McNair. McNair is investing $1 million a year for three years to boost tech … Continue reading “New McNair Ignition Fund Pledges $3M to Boost Houston Tech Startups”
Houston Venture Capital Firm Mercury Fund Closes $105M Third Fund
Houston’s Mercury Fund has raised its third fund, totaling $105 million in commitments. The closing of Mercury Fund III, which made its first investment in October 2013 and its last a year later, brings the firm’s total capital under management to more than $200 million. This latest fund will make initial investments of between $100,000 … Continue reading “Houston Venture Capital Firm Mercury Fund Closes $105M Third Fund”
Start Houston, Presidio Unveil New Network to Fund Local Tech Startups
Start Houston, a co-working space, is going beyond demo days and other events to support the city’s tech startups: Now it’s going to invest money in them. Start has partnered with Presidio Venture Capital, also in Houston, to create the Start Investment Network, which will make seed investments of between $25,000 to $50,000 in Houston … Continue reading “Start Houston, Presidio Unveil New Network to Fund Local Tech Startups”
Texas Cancer Center Seeks to Speed Discovery with Applied Research
To commercialize more discoveries from biomedical research labs, professionals in life sciences should take a cue from the physical sciences, where engineers convert basic science into real-world products. So says, Lynda Chin, chair of the department of genomic medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, which hosts the Institute for … Continue reading “Texas Cancer Center Seeks to Speed Discovery with Applied Research”
TX Roundup: Need, Experiment Engine, Bigcommerce, Bellicum, CS Disco
Over your turkey-weekend hangover? Let’s set the table with the latest innovation news in Texas, including new money raised, expansions, and the filing of the first IPO for a Houston biotech company in 14 years. —Need, a Dallas-based e-retailer, is getting a little brother. Matt Alexander, Need’s CEO and founder, told me about plans for … Continue reading “TX Roundup: Need, Experiment Engine, Bigcommerce, Bellicum, CS Disco”
Dallas E-Retailer Need to Expand With Foremost, Plans to Raise Funds
Black Friday is just days away and Matt Alexander, founder and CEO of e-commerce site Need, says he’s not only ready for the onslaught of holiday shoppers, he’s busy hatching a retail sibling. Alexander plans to unveil the new site, Foremost, at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Foremost will offer lower-priced clothing to cater … Continue reading “Dallas E-Retailer Need to Expand With Foremost, Plans to Raise Funds”
Dallas Startups Pitch for Better Living at Health Wildcatters Day
Hosting the second annual Health Wildcatters pitch day at the 1920s-era Majestic Theater in Dallas made sense, said the accelerator’s co-founder Carl Soderstrom, as he asked the crowd to consider the innovators who had previously graced the stage. Soderstrom gestured to a photo of Harry Houdini, wrapped in locks and chains. “The only person who … Continue reading “Dallas Startups Pitch for Better Living at Health Wildcatters Day”
CS Disco Raises $10M for Software That Tracks Lawsuit Documents
Houston-based CS Disco announced on Thursday that it has closed on a $10 million Series B round of funding. The company makes software that enables attorneys to better find and organize the millions of documents gathered for cases during the discovery process. Bessemer Venture Partners led the round, with existing investor LiveOak Venture Partners also … Continue reading “CS Disco Raises $10M for Software That Tracks Lawsuit Documents”
Austin’s Bigcommerce Raises $50M to Expand Platform, Markets
E-retail software maker Bigcommerce announced Wednesday that it has raised $50 million in a Series C round. The Austin, TX-based company sells e-commerce software to small businesses. It’s in the middle of a growth streak, and the new funding will enable Bigcommerce to boost research and development and sales and marketing efforts to expand into … Continue reading “Austin’s Bigcommerce Raises $50M to Expand Platform, Markets”
Houston Biotech Firm Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Files for IPO
Houston biotech firm Bellicum Pharmaceuticals has filed for a $115 million IPO. The company is developing immunotherapies that allow the suppression or activation of cells administered to patients with leukemia, lymphoma, or pancreatic cancers. According to the filing, Bellicum plans to trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol BLCM. The IPO would be the … Continue reading “Houston Biotech Firm Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Files for IPO”
TX Roundup: LiveOak, Ridescout, The Food Lab, SeedInvest, Ambiq Micro
Cold arctic air blasted its way from Canada south to the Gulf of Mexico, but innovation news in Texas has not slowed down. New funding was announced for startups, food-tech finalists competing for $30,000 in prize money were unveiled, and a veteran entrepreneur gave back to others who may follow in his path. Here is … Continue reading “TX Roundup: LiveOak, Ridescout, The Food Lab, SeedInvest, Ambiq Micro”
Austin’s LiveOak Invests in San Antonio, Dallas Security Startups
LiveOak Venture Partners has made a new pair of investments in startups related to cyber and operational security. The larger of the investments, $3.5 million, goes to Razberi Technologies, a suburban Dallas maker of a plug-and-play video surveillance system. “You take a megapixel camera and plug into our device with a cable and you have a … Continue reading “Austin’s LiveOak Invests in San Antonio, Dallas Security Startups”
UT Food Lab Finalists: Robotic Chefs, Edible Insects, Virtual Farmers Market
Even the most fundamental of human endeavor, say, eating, can benefit from innovation. That’s the spirit behind the Food Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, an initiative that seeks to take an entrepreneurial look at how we grow, distribute, and eat food. “We’re bringing people to the table who normally don’t get together: … Continue reading “UT Food Lab Finalists: Robotic Chefs, Edible Insects, Virtual Farmers Market”
Austin Investor Sees Opportunity in City’s Cognitive Computing Niche
Manoj Saxena spent seven years at IBM Watson’s Austin headquarters leading its cognitive computing efforts. Now, at the helm of the Austin branch of The Entrepreneurs’ Fund, he hopes to use that expertise to help startups in an emerging realm of technology. “The goal with Austin is to create a hub of cognitive computing companies,” … Continue reading “Austin Investor Sees Opportunity in City’s Cognitive Computing Niche”
Rice Consortium Helped Spark Biotech Researchers’ Inner Entrepreneur
Operations at the Houston Area Translational Research Consortium, or HATRC, are winding down for closure in June, but, in its two years of existence, the biotech initiative helped to overcome a roadblock in life sciences commercialization that lingered for decades. So says Cindy Farach-Carson, vice president of translational bioscience at Rice University and scientific director … Continue reading “Rice Consortium Helped Spark Biotech Researchers’ Inner Entrepreneur”
Texas Roundup: “Moon Shots,” TeVido, TMCx, Clarify & Spanning
This last week was an especially busy one for the biotech community in Houston, from using big data to fight cancer to nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs at the Texas Medical Center. In Austin, meanwhile, Clarify raised a seed round, Spanning’s founders found an exit with EMC, and TeVido BioDevices worked on creating a … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: “Moon Shots,” TeVido, TMCx, Clarify & Spanning”
MD Anderson Showcases “Moon Shots” Progress in Fight Against Cancer
Through its “Moon Shots” program, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center aims to use big-data techniques to radically change how cancer is treated—and, perhaps, help find a cure. The goal is decades old, of course, but the institute hopes new technologies will enable its teams to make significant progress in patient care in … Continue reading “MD Anderson Showcases “Moon Shots” Progress in Fight Against Cancer”
TeVido Taps 3D Printing Technology to Build a Better Nipple
Thirty-four years ago the five-year survival rate for women with breast cancer was 74 percent. Today, that number is 99 percent. The good news in increased life expectancy also exposed a gap in innovation in breast reconstruction surgery. “The better the survival rate, the more important long-term quality of life is,” says Laura Bosworth, CEO … Continue reading “TeVido Taps 3D Printing Technology to Build a Better Nipple”
Panel: Houston Needs Seasoned CEOs to Build Robust Biotech Ecosystem
There is a buzz among Houston’s biotech and life sciences community. In recent weeks, both the Texas Medical Center and Johnson & Johnson have announced ambitious programs aimed at boosting commercialization in a way never before seen in the state. And last week, during the FreshAir conference—a University of Texas System initiative designed to connect … Continue reading “Panel: Houston Needs Seasoned CEOs to Build Robust Biotech Ecosystem”
Houston Meets the Xconomists, Spotlights Energy, Biotech Innovation
A golden early evening served as host for our second annual Houston “Meet the Xconomists” reception last week when we welcomed nearly 70 of the city’s innovation leaders. Xconomy publisher Jim Edwards joined me, along with Kamille McIver-Girton, Texas’s director of business operations, to welcome our Xconomists to Carrabba’s, a landmark Italian restaurant in Houston. … Continue reading “Houston Meets the Xconomists, Spotlights Energy, Biotech Innovation”
Texas Roundup: Mozido, BeatBox, Spinlister, J-Labs, Macheen, Cratejoy
Golden days and cooler evenings have returned to Texas and homes are dressed in their Halloween finery. But there’s no spooky vibe among Texas’s entrepreneurs. Here is the latest innovation news throughout the state. —Mozido, an Austin, TX-based developer of cloud-based mobile payment systems and marketing software, said it has secured a two-part round of … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: Mozido, BeatBox, Spinlister, J-Labs, Macheen, Cratejoy”
J&J to Open J-Labs Incubator at Houston’s TMC to Boost Biotechs
Young Houston biotech companies will, by late next year, have a new partner in Johnson & Johnson. The pharmaceutical giant said today that that it will house one of its J-Labs, formerly known as Janssen Labs, at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. J&J, which runs such programs in San Diego and Boston, will now … Continue reading “J&J to Open J-Labs Incubator at Houston’s TMC to Boost Biotechs”
Social Site Pink Petro Aims to Raise the Energy Industry’s XX-Factor
Katie Mehnert wants to leverage social media to support women in the energy industry. An energy veteran who has worked for both BP (NYSE: [[ticker:BP]]) and Shell (NYSE: [[ticker:RSDA]]), she is now developing Pink Petro, a Facebook-like website that she says is the first to be customized around women working in the oil and gas … Continue reading “Social Site Pink Petro Aims to Raise the Energy Industry’s XX-Factor”
Texas Roundup: DNAtrix, Nanolinea, Wireless Seismic, Illumitex, TMCx
Today, Nantucket is more known as a bucolic summer retreat, an island of sun-dappled cobblestone streets and historic markers. But I realized during my travels there last week that the island is also an example of the ebb-and-flow of innovation. Before it became a tourist destination, Nantucket was, during the 18th and part of the … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: DNAtrix, Nanolinea, Wireless Seismic, Illumitex, TMCx”
Biotech Startups Tap Spider Genes in Quest to Spin Silk Gold
A modern-day Silk Road is emerging, and traffic on it is building up. These explorers aren’t traversing routes across continents, but instead are seeking scientific and agricultural alchemy to produce a sort of holy grail in apparel: commercial amounts of spider silk. Spider silk is a multi-purpose fiber able to be transformed into surgical bandages, … Continue reading “Biotech Startups Tap Spider Genes in Quest to Spin Silk Gold”
Texas Medical Center Makes Pitch to Boost Houston Biotech Startups
The Texas Medical Center is slated this week to unveil its new life sciences accelerator, to be housed in a former Nabisco cookie factory near its main Houston campus. The accelerator is part of a larger effort by the medical center, which is considered one of the world’s largest, to play a more active role … Continue reading “Texas Medical Center Makes Pitch to Boost Houston Biotech Startups”
Austin Biotech Savara Nets $10M to Develop Cystic Fibrosis Drug
Savara Pharmaceuticals has raised $10 million in a bridge loan to further evaluate its drug candidate for cystic fibrosis. The therapy, called AeroVanc, is designed to be the first inhaled antibiotic to address methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, lung infections in people with CF. The drug is currently in a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical … Continue reading “Austin Biotech Savara Nets $10M to Develop Cystic Fibrosis Drug”
Roundup: Pristine, Xeris, Silvercar Raise Funds, SafeNight Debuts
Here is the latest innovation news from Texas. —AdBm Technologies, an underwater noise abatement technology company in Austin, TX, raised $1.3 million in a Series A round, the company reported Thursday. AdBm says its system uses encapsulated air bubbles tuned to specific frequencies and in special configurations to capture and mitigate noise generated in, for … Continue reading “Roundup: Pristine, Xeris, Silvercar Raise Funds, SafeNight Debuts”
App Leverages the Crowd to Help Domestic Violence Victims in Crisis
A Dallas social venture group has created an app to harness crowdfunding to help domestic violence victims. And, now, after a year-long pilot in California, the company is bringing the app to North Texas. Aidmatrix, which makes supply chain management software for humanitarian organizations, developed the SafeNight app, which allows users to donate money to … Continue reading “App Leverages the Crowd to Help Domestic Violence Victims in Crisis”
Big Delta Systems Say Spray-On Batteries Are the Future of Power
Big Delta Systems say batteries don’t only have to be square. Or rectangles and circles. Entrepreneurs at the Rice University startup say they have developed technology that performs as a battery but is able to be molded into an infinite number of shapes and styles. “The battery takes up around 40 percent of a device,” … Continue reading “Big Delta Systems Say Spray-On Batteries Are the Future of Power”
Austin’s Spiceworks Finds Niche Bringing Together IT Professionals
Imagine if LinkedIn invited its users to an “in-real-life” family reunion. That’s the idea behind SpiceWorld, an annual gathering hosted by Spiceworks, an Austin, TX-based company that describes itself as both a LinkedIn and an iTunes for IT professionals at small to mid-sized companies. These system administrators are frequently single practitioners in law or accounting … Continue reading “Austin’s Spiceworks Finds Niche Bringing Together IT Professionals”
Roundup: New A&M Center, Funds for Ortho Kinematics, Encore Vision
Here is the latest innovation news from Texas: —Texas A&M University Thursday opened a national pandemic influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in Bryan, TX, the first part of a Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, which is a cluster of research and development institutions that the university is currently building. GSK is the largest … Continue reading “Roundup: New A&M Center, Funds for Ortho Kinematics, Encore Vision”
Austin’s Famigo Helps Parents Police Kids’ Internet, App Browsing
Software to keep the Internet kid-friendly is a big business. One Austin startup wants to bring those guardrails to the app store as well. Famigo has developed software that outfits mobile devices with a vetted app directory culled from among the millions available on both Apple and Android systems. “It locks down the devices and … Continue reading “Austin’s Famigo Helps Parents Police Kids’ Internet, App Browsing”
LeadingReach Aims to Close Healthcare’s “Weakest Link,” Referrals
Innovation in healthcare can come from the unlikeliest of places. That seems to be the case at LeadingReach, an Austin, TX-based medtech firm: The startup was founded out of a marketing agency. LeadingReach wants to shore up what it calls the weakest link in healthcare delivery: the referral. The six-month-old startup sells Web-based software to … Continue reading “LeadingReach Aims to Close Healthcare’s “Weakest Link,” Referrals”
TX Roundup: New funding for FieldAware, Sandlot Solutions, & Oyokey
Here is the latest innovation news from around Texas. —Tom Goodman, product development officer for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, was in Houston Wednesday speaking to a meeting of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs. Goodman, who took his position at CPRIT the past March, gave the group a general overview the grant … Continue reading “TX Roundup: New funding for FieldAware, Sandlot Solutions, & Oyokey”
A Chat With Sanjiv Sidhu of Business Management Software Maker o9
Big data, meet artificial intelligence. At least, that’s the idea put forth by Sanjiv Sidhu, founder and CEO of o9 Solutions, a Dallas-based software company. O9 makes software that it says helps executives better sort through the noise of big data and then helps them interpret it in order to determine next steps for the … Continue reading “A Chat With Sanjiv Sidhu of Business Management Software Maker o9”
Texas Startup Communities Expanding, Accelerating Into a Whole
The state of Startup Texas is in a fever of activity. In the last week and through mid-September, half a dozen accelerators have either announced new classes of entrepreneurs or are hosting their pitch days as the newly fledged startups seek funding and customers. Half of the programs did not exist just a year ago. … Continue reading “Texas Startup Communities Expanding, Accelerating Into a Whole”
RideScout and Austin’s Growing Transportation Startup Ecosystem
Perhaps it makes sense that a hub of transportation innovation takes shape in car-crazy Texas. A booming economy has brought droves of new migrants seeking work and clogging the roads. And while Texas’s metro centers are attracting urban pioneers to revitalized inner-city communities close to work, most still make ever-longer commutes. And that’s prompting Texans … Continue reading “RideScout and Austin’s Growing Transportation Startup Ecosystem”
Austin’s RideScout Bought by Daimler Car-Rental Service Car2Go
RideScout, an Austin, TX-based transportation aggregator app, announced Wednesday the startup has been acquired by Car2Go North America. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. RideScout, which founder Joseph Kopser describes as “Kayak for ground transportation,” developed an app that offered users real-time information on transportation options, including bus and rail service, taxis, and car-sharing … Continue reading “Austin’s RideScout Bought by Daimler Car-Rental Service Car2Go”
Texas Roundup: New Funds for Bellicum, AirStrip, and Green & Grow
Here is the latest innovation news from the Texas ecosystem: —Mizzen+Main, a two-year-old Dallas startup that sells men’s apparel made of moisture-wicking material, raised $1.2 million in a seed round Thursday. Investors include VegasTechFund—started by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh—and Dallas entrepreneurs such as Hunter Hunt of Hunt Consolidated Energy and Chris Kleinert of Hunt Consolidated … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: New Funds for Bellicum, AirStrip, and Green & Grow”
Houston’s Bellicum Nets $55M to Boost Trials for Cancer Treatment
Houston biotech firm Bellicum Pharmaceuticals announced Wednesday it has raised $55 million in a Series C financing. Bellicum said 11 biotech and public mutual funds participated in the round, including RA Capital Management, Perceptive Advisors, Jennison Associates, and others. All of Bellicum’s previous investors, including AVG Ventures and Remeditex Ventures, joined in this fundraising as … Continue reading “Houston’s Bellicum Nets $55M to Boost Trials for Cancer Treatment”
Texas Roundup: CPRIT, Saranas, SailPoint, Leto Solutions, Bearch
Here is the latest innovation news around Texas: —San Diego-based Curtana Pharmaceuticals is making the move to Texas after receiving a $7.2 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The agency, known as CPRIT, awarded 101 research, prevention, and product development grants totaling about $107 million on Wednesday. Curtana, which was … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: CPRIT, Saranas, SailPoint, Leto Solutions, Bearch”
Saranas is Building a “Check Engine Light” For Internal Bleeding
This year about 20 million patients in the U.S. will undergo a procedure in which a doctor will thread a catheter into a blood vessel to treat a cardiac ailment, say, or provide dialysis or chemotherapy. But in five percent of these “vascular-access procedures,” the catheter accidentally punctures the vessel, causing a slow leak of … Continue reading “Saranas is Building a “Check Engine Light” For Internal Bleeding”
Austin Identity Management Software Maker SailPoint Sets New Course
Many startups grow by gobbling up competitors or by becoming part of a bigger company. Austin, TX-based SailPoint is pursuing a strategy that allows it to do both. On Wednesday, the maker of identity management software announced it sold a majority stake to Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm located in Chicago and San Francisco. … Continue reading “Austin Identity Management Software Maker SailPoint Sets New Course”
Student Entrepreneurs Debut in Houston’s First “Bayou Showcase”
Rice University and the University of Houston hosted their first joint demo day, featuring a dozen startups working on everything from water purification to a thinking club to improve a golfer’s putting to a social video-conferencing network just for college students. The program was the first time both Houston universities worked together in nurturing their … Continue reading “Student Entrepreneurs Debut in Houston’s First “Bayou Showcase””
Texas Roundup: New funds for Castle, Quarri, Omni Water, & Pivot3
“Always be pitchin’.” That’s the mantra of student entrepreneurs from the University of Houston and Rice University today as they practice for a first joint demo day this afternoon. We’ll report back on the event tomorrow, but, in the meantime, here are news highlights from the Texas innovation community in the past week. —Castle Biosciences, … Continue reading “Texas Roundup: New funds for Castle, Quarri, Omni Water, & Pivot3”
Houston Cancer Diagnostics Firm Castle Biosciences Raises $11.8M
Castle Biosciences, a maker of biomarker-based tests for rare cancers, said Wednesday it has raised $11.8 million in a Series E investment round. The money will largely be used to expand the clinical availability of its gene expression profile test for patients with cutaneous melanoma. The tests were first made available last year. Castle, which … Continue reading “Houston Cancer Diagnostics Firm Castle Biosciences Raises $11.8M”
Austin’s Besomebody Finds Market in Individuals’ Passions
Kash Shaikh wants to help people make money by pursuing their passions. His vehicle for that mission is a startup called Besomebody. Shaikh spent 10 years at Procter & Gamble, working on social media campaigns for everyday household products sold by the multinational giant. But it was doing the same for GoPro where he says … Continue reading “Austin’s Besomebody Finds Market in Individuals’ Passions”
Startups from China, Argentina, & Mexico Come to Dallas’s VentureSpur
Dallas accelerator VentureSpur announced Wednesday that it has selected seven startups as part of its second class beginning Aug. 18. The startups, which feature mobile and e-commerce companies, hail from home in Texas to China, Mexico, and Argentina. The accelerator started three years ago in Oklahoma City and last year ran a program there as … Continue reading “Startups from China, Argentina, & Mexico Come to Dallas’s VentureSpur”