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AUSTIN-MADE APOLLO ROBOT TO ASSIST MERCEDES-BENZ MANUFACTURING

March 17, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Apollo, a humanoid robot designed and made in Austin, will soon assist in
Mercedes-Benz’s manufacturing line.

Apptronik, which makes Apollo, signed a deal with Mercedes-Benz to provide its
Apollo humanoid robots in logistics to bring parts to the production line for
workers to assemble, according to a news release. Apollo will also deliver the
totes of kitted parts later in manufacturing.

Apptronik’s Apollo humanoid robots can be used in Mercedes-Benz’s existing
plants, so the carmaker can deploy them immediately without redesigning its
plants. This allows the carmaker to automate some physically demanding,
repetitive, and dull tasks for which it is increasingly hard to find reliable
workers.

“When we set out to build Apollo, an agreement like the one we’re announcing
today with Mercedes-Benz was a dream scenario,” Jeff Cardenas, Co-founder and
CEO of Apollo, said in a news release. Mercedes plans to use robotics and Apollo
to automate some low-skill, physically challenging, manual labor—a model use
case that we’ll see other organizations replicate in the months and years.”

Apollo is a 5-foot, 8-inch-tall robot that weighs 160 pounds and can lift 55
pounds. It is built to operate alongside people in industrial spaces. According
to the company, Apollo’s computing power allows leading AI companies to solve
use cases outside the ones that Apptronik will initially solve.



“To build the most desirable cars, we continually evolve the future of
automotive production. Advancements in robotics and AI have also opened up new
opportunities for us. We are exploring new possibilities with the use of
robotics to support our skilled workforce in manufacturing. This is a new
frontier, and we want to understand the potential both for robotic and
automotive manufacturing to fill labor gaps in areas such as low-skill,
repetitive, and physically demanding work and to free up our highly skilled team
members on the line to build the world’s most desirable cars,” Jorg Burzer,
board member of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, production, quality, and supply chain
management.

Apptronik, founded in 2016, spun out of the University of Texas’ Human Centered
Robotics Lab. The company initially developed general-purpose robots for NASA.

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MICHAEL DELL REFLECTS ON HIS ENTREPRENEURIAL ODYSSEY AT SXSW, EXPRESSES
CONFIDENCE IN AI AND DELL’S NEXT 40 YEARS

March 15, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Michael Dell sold stamps at auctions to make extra money as a kid.

At 16, he started driving his parents’ old station wagon to the Harris County
courthouse to collect data on marriage licenses to target newlyweds and sell
newspaper subscriptions. He then hired some of his high school buddies to check
the filings in the surrounding counties and get more addresses.

“It worked really well,” Dell said.

It was the humble beginning of what would later become the global computer maker
Dell Technologies, which reported revenues of $91.1 billion in 2023. Round
Rock-based Dell is also one of Austin’s largest technology companies, with more
than 14,000 local employees. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dell
has become the world’s 12th richest person, with a personal fortune of $104
billion.

At 19, Dell started his eponymous computer company in his freshman dorm at the
University of Texas. He later dropped out. This year, the company turns 40 years
old, and Dell, 59, spoke about his entrepreneurial journey during a fireside
chat on Thursday at South by Southwest. The featured session: “Businesss, Life
and the Magic of Austin: A Conversation with Michael Dell.”

Dell said he’s learned a lot throughout the years, especially how to build a
team, surround himself with intelligent people, and keep learning

“I learned that integrity and reputation are the most valuable things, and it
takes a long time to build them up, and it’s really easy to destroy them,” Dell
said.

He said Dell’s success was due to its customer-focused approach. He learned from
customers’ challenges, problems, opportunities, and unmet needs.

Dell said making mistakes, iterating, trying new things, and experimenting
contributed to the company’s success.

Dell said he was fortunate to attract great people to sign up for Dell’s grand
adventure, and Austin was a great place to attract people.

Today, Dell is the leader in infrastructure products and server storage, but its
first couple of attempts at creating those products could have been more
successful, Dell said. Dell had its version of Unix, and that turned out not to
be a great idea. Dell also tried to get into the smartphone business, but that
did not work. In his latest book, “Play Nice, But Win,” Dell recounts many
failures and learnings, he said.

Dell said it’s OK to make mistakes but not repeat them; learn from them.

Dell said he remembered going to Japan a lot in the ’80s, and they were
developing amazing things, but nobody needed them. Dell iterated into this idea
of pragmatic innovation. The customer can’t consistently articulate what the
future solution is, but they can usually articulate the pain or the problem
they’re having and trying to solve, he said.

“But you have to be agile, flexible, and continually adaptive because you’re
going to get it wrong. Just accept that, deal with it, and be able to change
quickly and iterate,” Dell said.

Along the way, Dell Technologies went from a public company to a private one. At
one point, people threatened to take the company away from Dell.

Going private was a way of liberating the company, reinvigorating the
entrepreneurial spirit, and accelerating Dell’s transformation,” Dell said.

He said There were awkward moments when Dell was curious if he was supposed to
go to the office or talk to the management team. The uncertainty inflicted on
Dell’s team and its customers was painful, but Dell managed to get through that.

“Going private was a way of accelerating the transformation, and then a couple
of years later, we got to the point where we were experiencing once again strong
positive growth and momentum, and so returning to the public markets allowed us
to simplify the capital structure and the ownership structure,” Dell said.

Dell said another part of Dell’s success is creating a good company culture that
fosters innovation. The culture that allows Dell to develop great products, he
said.

He said that bringing artificial intelligence to the enterprise is Dell’s
enormous priority for the future.

“And it’s a big platform shift, and it’s just beginning,” he said.

Dell’s customers also want to bring AI to their data and not the data to their
AI in a public cloud, so that’s undoubtedly a massive priority, he said.

“That’s on top of all the things we’re doing around modern data centers and
multi-cloud edge, which is a really big deal because you know everything in the
physical world is becoming intelligent and connected,” Dell said. He said about
75% of enterprise data is still on-premise or on devices and the edge.

Dell also sees AI empowering creators. He says he’s a technology optimist. AI is
happening ten times faster than the Internet.

“In almost no time, we will have 5 billion people with PCs and phones accessing
AI, and that’s pretty cool,” Dell said. And if you think about this, the cost of
having a cognitive superpower as your friend enabling whatever you’re trying to
do is approaching 0, and that’s a really interesting thought.”

Dell said AI will tremendously impact education, healthcare, science, and every
aspect of humanity.

“Nobody knows what the true impact of AI will be, Dell said. “But I’m very
excited about it and optimistic because technology has always been about
enabling human potential, making us healthier, making us safer, making us more
successful in everything we’re trying to do.”

Dell also said AI regulation should encourage innovation rather than slow it
down.

“Any time you have an emergent technology that’s evolving super-fast, it’s a big
challenge for regulators because if you think about regulation, let’s say last
year regarding AI, just look at the dizzying pace of improvement that occurred
last year. It’s gonna be hard for the regulators to imagine how fast it’s
evolving,” Dell said.

In addition to the technology, Austin has evolved incredibly, doubling in size
every decade for the past four decades, Dell said.

“But I think it’s kept a lot of its character, and it’s been an incredible
attractor of people with talent,” Dell said.

Dell said technology has played a major role in all the great things that have
happened in the world and certainly here in central Texas.

SXSW started with music, then moved to film and television, and now it is
interactive with technology. In Central Texas, you have this great combination
of innovative businesses, Dell said. Texas’ great universities and 1.6 million
college students fueled the region’s growth.

“I believe entrepreneurs go where their ideas can flourish and are welcome,”
Dell said. Talent goes where there’s opportunity. Capital goes where it’s
treated well, and it turns out Texas is a great place for that.”

Dell said Austin has been a hub of innovation. It has attracted the best and
brightest minds, new ideas, companies, and opportunities.

Dell also mentioned that the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation started 25 years
ago and that they donated to Austin.

“Much more to come on in the future, by the way,” Dell said.

Dell said the last 40 years have been incredible and exciting.

“But I think it’s all just the pregame show for what’s to come,” he said. “When
I think about the future and all the technology will play in the world, I think
about the incredible innovations we’re already starting to see in healthcare
driven by technology. As we use all this cognitive power and explore the
mysteries of the universe, maybe with the combination of quantum technology,
wow, there’s never been a better time to be alive right now.”

When asked where he sees Austin in 25 years, Dell said it will continue to grow.

“Will it double every decade for the next three decades? I don’t know, maybe,”
Dell said. We certainly have land in the broader area to do that, and if you
think about the overall country, populations have been moving South and
southwest for quite some time.”

Dell said Texas has been an amicable environment, and that’s why all this
migration and growth are happening. Dell said the University of Texas and other
universities in Texas have played a critical role in its development.

” If you find great companies, there’s always a great university nearby,” Dell
said.

Dell said finding the right balance between growth, development, and livability
is essential, and Austin has managed that pretty well.

“All the things that make our city great and wonderful, all the things that I
loved when I first came here a little over 40 years ago, and a lot of those
things are still there,” he said.

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LISA SU: A DECADE AT AMD’S HELM, TRANSFORMING TECH, FILMS, AND FUTURE WITH AI

March 13, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Lisa Su has led Advanced Micro Devices as its Chief Executive Officer for a
decade to much success.

AMD’s revenues were $5.5 billion in 2014 and $22 billion last year.

Among its other accomplishments, today, an AMD CPU powers the world’s fastest
supercomputer, Frontier, at Oak Ridge National Labs.

Although the company’s headquarters are based in California, Su lives in Austin
and runs AMD from its sprawling campus on the Southside.

On Monday, she joined Ryan Patel on stage as the keynote speaker at South by
Southwest. She talked about AMD’s role in technology innovation, its commitment
to partnerships and open collaboration, and its vision for the future of
Artificial Intelligence and computing.

To start, Su recounted her time as a student at MIT and her love of
semiconductors from the beginning of college.

“Yes, that’s true; I was a nerd at heart,” Su said.

In one of her first jobs in college, she worked in a semiconductor lab, making
tiny chips the size of a dime or quarter.

“I was just amazed at everything you could do with them,” she said. “I was in
semiconductors when it wasn’t sexy, and I would say I don’t know that it’s sexy
now, but it’s sexier.”

AMD’s chips and technology are used in Hollywood to make films. In a surprise
appearance, director David Conley appeared on stage to discuss AMD’s technology
in filmmaking. The night before, he was at the Academy Awards, where his film
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, won best animated short film.

“It’s so great to be working with the best in the industry, and that’s what we
enjoy,” Su said.

She said making feature films requires special effects that require tremendous
computing power, and AMD chips are used in the process. Films like Avatar 2 used
AMD chips.

Conley said he wanted to highlight the work that AMD is doing to help filmmakers
create images that are more fantastic than they could have even thought about 30
years ago.

“These images are possible because we have a partnership with a company like AMD
that gives us the leverage and the insights. They work with our teams, and we
work with their teams to help optimize everything,” Conley said.

Conley said using AI in the entertainment industry is still a sensitive subject.
Many people misunderstand it.

“I also want to make sure that artists understand that AI is a tool and that
this is not about replacing artists,” Conley said. He said the future of films
is more active entertainment with the intersection of games because gaming
visual effects and movie-making are all the same.

“I want to jump from video games to movies,” he said. “I want to go from active
entertainment to passive entertainment, and I want to go into real-time
entertainment, and that is where films are going to be in three to five years,
and we’re not going to be able to do that with the help of companies like AMD
where we get real-time processing and real-time rendering and a lot of AI.”

AMD also partners with Adobe to optimize hardware and software for content
creators. Generative AI can bring the whole content creation process to the next
level, Su said. It gives creators more products so they can do more at a higher
quality in less time.

Su said AI is the most critical technology that has come on the scene over at
least the last 50 years. AI, and generative AI, has become the most important
thing, and there’s a good reason for that, frankly, she said. ChatGPT came on
board 14 months ago, and it just captured everyone’s imagination, she said.

“AI has always existed, but the ability to make AI so simple that you can just
say, hey, you know, I want to know what I should do in Austin, TX, this weekend,
for example, having that possibility only comes with a tremendous amount of
computing power,” Su said.

Su showed one of AMD’s latest generation processors, a generative AI chip called
MI 300, which has 153 billion transistors.

AI PCs aim to ensure that everyone has their own AI capability and doesn’t have
to go to the cloud. But they can operate off their data. You can ask it
questions, and it’ll answer for you faster in a private manner because maybe you
don’t want your data going everywhere, Su said.

“It’s just the beginning of what I think is the ability to make us much more
productive,” Su said.

AMD also partners with Microsoft, leading the way with Copilot, which runs Azure
in the cloud. AMD is also partners with HP and Lenovo.

“Our goal is to make this super easy for all of you guys to use, and that’s the
promise of AI PCs,” Su said.

“One of the things about AI that I’d like to say is that people are worried that
AI is going to replace people’s jobs and stuff like that,” Su said. That’s not
the way I think about it. Companies that learn how to leverage AI will win over
companies that are not leveraging AI.”

Su said AMD wants to be at the forefront of using AI in every aspect of its
business. “We’re using it to design chips,” she said.

Su said AMD is using AI to design faster chips and make them more reliable. It
is also using AI to build better software. Su told AMD’s engineering team to
increase the number of products the company can produce annually using AI. AMD
also uses AI in HR, finance, and customer service.

This is a way of moving up the food chain because we’re allowing our team to
have AI do some of the less fun things so that we can add higher value for our
employees.

Su said everyone needs an AI strategy. It’s OK if it’s not perfect because
everyone is learning.

“I’m learning new things about what technology can do and how we need to shape
our entire ecosystem, our work, and our next-generation products as well, so
that’s what makes it fun,” Su said.

Su uses Microsoft Copilot to summarize meetings and track action items, but she
doesn’t use it to write her emails. She said she’s still experimenting with the
software.

Su said AI is moving incredibly fast, and AMD’s approach is to have an open
ecosystem and support open source.

“We believe that no company has the answer to everything,” she said.

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AUSTIN’S WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS TASK FORCE WANTS TO MAKE AUSTIN THE BEST PLACE IN
THE GALAXY TO LAUNCH AND GROW A BUSINESS

March 13, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Only one percent of VC capital invested in Austin goes to women founders.

Carla McDonald said that’s despite Austin being number six in the country
regarding deal count and dollars invested.

“There is something very broken here,” said McDonald, who chairs Austin Mayor
Kirk Watson’s Task Force for Women Entrepreneurs.

McDonald said that only 21 percent of all Small Business Administration loans go
to female founders.

McDonald said the Austin Women Entrepreneurs Task Force’s primary focus is
getting more funding for female founders. She spoke Sunday with other task force
members at Capital Factory on a panel focused on the mission to make Austin the
leader in female entrepreneurship.

Jennifer Cuello, partner with EisnerAmper, moderated the panel, which included
Sara Brand, founding general partner of True Wealth Ventures; McDonald, founder
of Dynabrand Ventures; Mellie Price, executive director of Texas Venture Labs at
the University of Texas McCombs School of Business; and Patricia Green, a
professor with Babson College.

According to panel members, Austin seeks to become the best place for women to
launch and grow their companies.

McDonald said the primary objectives of the Austin Women’s Task Force are to
identify the community pillars that support female entrepreneurs, including
education institutions, companies, nonprofit organizations, and more, and to
make Austin the best city in the world to found and build companies.

“There is a real opportunity for Austin, which has entrepreneurship in its DNA,”
she said.

The Austin Women’s Task Force comprises 21 women, including McDonald, and
reflects the ethnic and racial diversity of the community. She said it comprises
leaders in their field and pragmatic thinkers. The recommendations to the Mayor
have to be workable and actionable.

“The final thing is that I wanted people with a long history of advocating for
female entrepreneurs,” McDonald said.

Price, an entrepreneur who has been in Austin for 35 years, said local
organizations have done great work to lay the foundation for female founders.
She is also a co-founder of Capital Factory.

Another trailblazer is Brand, who founded True Wealth Ventures with Kerry Rupp
in 2016. Two years later, they closed their first $20 million fund, which was
the largest fund ever raised with a gender diversity focus, Brand said. Today,
one-third of True Wealth Ventures’ investments are in Texas, with over $60
million worth of assets under management.

Entrepreneurship has also been the focus for Greene, who released one of the
first reports on women in venture capital in 2004 with the Kauffman Foundation.
She was also an entrepreneurship professor at Babson College, where she became
the founding national academic director of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 small
businesses. She also served as global academic director for 10,000 women,
helping women in developing countries. She was the director of the Women’s
Bureau for the U.S. Department of Labor, where she worked to build a platform
for women entrepreneurs. Now, she’s back in Austin, investing in and advising
startups.

Greene said that many small businesses led by women are working on a new product
or service but don’t know where to go for help with innovation, prototypes, IP,
and other related matters.

The Women’s Task Force is interested in promoting diversity, inclusion, equity,
and economic development. McDonald said that if women entrepreneurs are
supported in Austin, they will contribute an additional $6 billion to $12
billion in gross domestic product locally.

Price also said having the right funding structures available for the business
is essential. Venture Capital is fantastic for the right company, at the right
time, with the right objective.

McDonald said the Austin Women’s Task Force plans to get its report to Mayor
Watson by March 25th. The report includes 12 pragmatic and actionable
recommendations to address the needs of female founders, she said. Those needs
include access to capital, access to a broader network, and access to affordable
goods and services that help them build their businesses, she said

“Success looks like making a difference,” McDonald said. “This is a call to
action for the entire community. Success would look like everyone leaning in and
recognizing this is something everyone needs to solve. This is the right thing
to do.”

Brand also believes that women should be investors. She says that getting more
female general partners is the fastest way to change the dynamic of the two
percent of all VC dollars invested annually going to female founders.

“When a woman is at a firm, they are twice as likely to invest in a female
founder,” Brand said. “The way to get more female GPs is to have more female
LPs. For our fund one, we found out that 80 percent of our LPs were women in
Texas.”

Brand said that by 2050, women will control two-thirds of investible assets. She
said it’s essential to get capital to women entrepreneurs, and the way to do
that is to get more women investing in a fund.

McDonald sees a bright spot in Angel investors providing funding to female
founders. She said Angel investors invested $23 billion in 2023, so it’s an
essential part of the ecosystem.

According to the panelists, if investors were looking at the data, they would
invest in women founders all day. Statistics show that women-led startups use
less capital, exit faster, and provide good returns to investors.

Despite that, some conservative groups have targeted funds granting capital to
black women founders. In particular, the American Alliance for Equal Rights has
filed a lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm
that only funds Black women founders, accusing the fund of racial discrimination
in its grant program.

In November 2023, America First Legal sued Hello Alice, a Houston-based company
that helps small businesses get funding and services, over a program with
Progressive Insurance Co. that gives grants to Black-owned commercial vehicle
companies.

When asked about the backlash, McDonald said, “This is a wrong that needs to be
righted.”

“It’s motivating and infuriating,” Brand said.

“It also makes the work we are doing all the more important,” McDonald said. The
solutions are not one-offs; rather, they are woven into the fabric of this city,
so no entity can attack it like they are doing with these funds.

“If we do this right, everybody wins,” she said.

During the Q&A, Barbara Jones Brown, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Free
Returns, said she raised $5 million for her startup, 80 percent of which came
from women and 70 percent from black women.

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SPACE JUNK POSES A RISK TO LIFE ON EARTH

March 13, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

When Moriba Jah started tracking space junk orbiting the Earth, there were
26,000 objects ranging in size from a cell phone to the space station.

Of those, 1,200 were working satellites providing services.

“Everything else was garbage,” Jah said. “So, 96% of all human-made objects at
that time were junk.”

He saw pollution on Earth and in the oceans, and he saw the same thing happening
in space, which prompted him to become a space environmentalist.

So much debris now hurtles throughout our orbit, and it worsens daily. The space
race began in 1957 when the Russians launched Sputnik, the first human-made
object in orbit.

Today, Jah is tracking upwards of 50,000 objects ranging in size from cell
phones to the space station, out of which a little over 5,000 are working, and
everything else is garbage, he said.

Out of the 5,000, half are working satellites that belong to Starlink, a company
founded by Elon Musk, who also founded SpaceX and Tesla.

“If you didn’t know, he’s launching 60 to 100 satellites every three weeks,” Jah
said. “So, in a busy year, we used to launch a satellite a month. Maybe we’re
launching over 12 satellites per week, on average, to provide the Internet and
all these other things.”

Jah spoke in a fireside chat with Neo4j’s Sudhir Hasbe at South by Southwest
Tuesday morning in a session titled “How the Tech That Tracks Space Junk Will
Save Life on Earth.” Jah is the co-founder of Privateer, based in Maui, Hawaii.
His co-founders are Steve Wozniak, Co-founder of Apple, and Ripcord CEO Alex
Fielding. Privateer maps satellites and debris in Earth’s orbit. Jah is also an
associate professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at
Austin and the winner of a MacArthur Fellowship called the Genius Grant. He
received the grant for creating the world’s first real-time streaming of
near-miss collisions and activity in space.



The privatization of space travel has led to more and more companies putting
satellites in orbit. Jah said that more regulation is needed to govern how they
operate once they get there and what happens when they no longer function. On
average, a satellite lasts five years, he said.

To track objects in space, Jah set up ASTRIAgraph, which assigns a dot to every
human-made object it detects. The data can be accessed through Wayfinder, a
program Jah created to allow everyone access.

At SXSW, Jah projected all the objects orbiting Earth on a giant screen in real
time. He showed what he calls a “super spreader event,” in which an object
explodes in space and creates a massive trail of debris. There are 2,000 more of
these “ticking time bombs in orbit,” Jah said.

Jah showed a dot identified as junk; its removal from space would cost an
estimated $20 million.

“Most of the stuff that we put up there either never comes back, or it takes
decades to centuries to burn up in the atmosphere, and it pollutes the
atmosphere,” Jah said.

Jah said part of the problem is that satellites are not recyclable and reusable.
All that junk threatens other objects in space and the Earth.



“When things die in orbit, they continue to go at very high speeds because we
don’t have this off-ramp kind of stuff, and so we just send up another thing and
another thing,” Jah said. So these orbital highways are becoming congested
mostly with dead stuff, and bad things happen when two things meet at the same
place simultaneously with different speeds, he said.

Jah can’t track things the size of a bullet or a speck of paint. Still, those
debris objects exist in space and can travel 15 times the speed of a bullet and
damage a satellite or astronaut on a spacewalk, Jah said. If that happens, “It’s
game over,” Jah said.

Jah said the data he relies on for ASTRIAGraph comes from everyone from amateur
telescope operators to the U.S. Department of Defense and other governments,
like a Russian Database.

If a company launches another satellite, it must know which objects are where
and at what speed they are moving; Jah said all those calculations must be done
to continue space exploration. Jah said there are no standards or taxonomies for
cataloging junk in space.

Jah’s company is spinning out Gaiaverse, which will take ASTRIAGraph and link
data and information from the land and sea with air and space because Mother
Earth, Gaia, is a holistic system of systems, Jah said.

“Indigenous populations inspire my work,” Jah said. “Indigenous people still
believe that all things are interconnected in an intergenerational contract of
stewardship with the planet.”

Jah wants to provide humanity with evidence of the interconnectedness so he can
delay the knee-jerk response of saying that’s not my problem.

“If you look deep enough, you will see that true independence doesn’t exist, and
while we may escape some of the consequences in our lifetimes, the people we
love and those they engender will not,” Jah said. “Our collective decisions are
currently leading to our self-extinction.”

Through the Gaiaverse, Jah hopes to raise consciousness and allow people to
recognize they have the power to control outcomes and make better choices
regarding the stewardship of the planet.

Jah’s Privateer Space company also works with the National Geographic Society to
create the Glint Evader. It will collect satellite data to develop software that
predicts and helps astronomers anticipate when sunlight reflecting off
satellites may interfere with their observations.

Jah expressed frustration at the absence of government funding to solve the
space junk problem. He emphasized the need for a collaborative effort.

Jah said there’s a huge need for space regulation. People must learn to live
with space debris as a reality and work in a circular space economy where
satellites are reusable and recyclable.

“We have to learn how to live within the filth of our bathwater, so to speak,
and we can clean up some stuff,” Jah said.

Jah said it’s not if but when a black swan event will occur in space that brings
global awareness to the problem posed by space junk.

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UBER SAYS AUSTIN IS ONE OF ITS TOP CITIES AND PLANS TO HAVE ALL DRIVERS USING
EVS BY 2040

March 12, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Ridesharing companies have had a difficult time historically in Austin.

In 2015, Uber and Lyft didn’t operate during South by Southwest because of
regulatory hurdles.

Ridesharing companies shut down operations the following year after Austin
voters passed a proposition requiring driver background checks. The companies
appealed to the Texas legislature, and Austin’s Mayor Kirk Watson, who served in
the Texas Senate then, voted against Uber.

“We’re in a different place now,” Watson said Monday morning at a featured
session at SXSW: A Conversation with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Khosrowshahi said he wasn’t with Uber then, but looking back at what happened,
he said Uber’s communication with local and state leaders could have been more
collaborative.

Today, Austin is one of Uber’s top cities, Khosrowshahi said.

Watson said Austin embraces new people, ideas, and concepts. Its ethos is to
keep Austin weird, which means keeping Austin open to new ideas, he said. The
key is that disruptors must embrace communication and collaboration with city
leaders and citizens, he said.

“As the new ideas come into play, people will need to make sure they focus on
the values and that they communicate and collaborate,” Watson said.

In addition to traditional Uber rides, Uber offers micro-mobility choices
through its app, Watson said.

Uber has a partnership with Lime that allows consumers to book an eScooter ride
on the app. Khosrowshahi said Uber is about multi-modal transportation and
giving consumers a choice. He said scooters are popular with people who must go
less than three or two miles.

Watson said Austin wants every tool in the toolbox for transportation, including
scooters. “People are voting with their feet.”

Watson said that in 2023, there were over 130,000 rides in just under 130,000
miles of travel in Austin. Most of the trips were around three-fourths of a
mile.

Watson said Austin’s universities serve as a fountain of youth for the city,
providing many young people who are focused on sustainability and want better
transportation options.

Austin is compelling and aggressive in protecting the environment, Watson said.

Transportation is at the center of sustainability for the city, Watson said.

It’s evident that transportation is the hub of a multi-spoke wheel,” Watson
said. “If we do transportation right, we do the environment right. If we do
transportation right, we do affordability right.”

Watson said one of the biggest pushes for sustainability in the city is
preserving Austin’s light rail system, Connect, which is under assault.

“It’s key to protecting the environment,” he said.

“Unfortunately, in Texas, the word Rail is a four-letter word,” Watson said.

Watson said that Austinites are asking for clean transit.

Khosrowshahi said Uber Green is a big part of its offerings. However, when it
comes to paying a premium for a green offering, consumers believe it is an
investment that the government and private industry should make.

Khosrowshahi said Uber will be emissions-free and all-electric in Europe by 2030
and worldwide by 2040. Uber has the largest fleet worldwide, with over 125,000
electric vehicles. Uber also invests over $800 million to fund drivers’ switch
to EVs and is helping to build the charging infrastructure in cities. In Austin,
he said, the penetration of EVs is almost 9 percent.

Watson said that with the growth of Austin, autonomous vehicle technology offers
a lot of potential.

“I see a lot of promise in those vehicles, but we’re not there yet,” Watson
said.

Watson has been in office for 14 months. He said that for the first six months,
some autonomous vehicle group wanted to come in and meet with him to tell him
how they would change the world. But autonomous vehicles present safety issues,
he said.

“Safety is the number one issue,” he said.

Watson said autonomous vehicles were not responsive to emergency vehicles and
were parked in the wrong places. Cruise recently halted its AV rides in Austin
and nationwide after safety issues arose in California.

“Accessibility is also an issue,” Watson said.

Human drivers cause more than 35,000 fatalities on the road nationwide every
year, Khosrowshahi said. So, should an AV be as safe as a human being or five or
ten times safer? Khosrowshahi asked Watson.

Watson said he didn’t know. But he compared riding in the back of an AV to
riding on a motorcycle. He was impressed with the vehicle’s operation and
attention to potential road hazards.

Khosrowshahi said Uber doesn’t have its own AV technology but partners with
others, and those partners want to be multiple times safer than human drivers.

Khosrowshahi said Uber is focused on affordability worldwide. It also wants to
build an on-demand logistics Uber delivery network that will allow local
businesses to deliver packages to consumers on the same day. He said Uber wants
to empower every business to send packages. AVs will be part of that.

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UT IS PROMOTING AUSTIN’S LIFE SCIENCES INDUSTRY AND SEES IT AS THE NEXT BIG
THING

March 11, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Austin aims to be one of the nation’s top hubs for the life sciences industry,
which includes biotechnology, biochemistry, genetics, cellular biology, medical
devices, and more.

To that end, a prestigious panel gathered Friday afternoon at SXSW at Antone’s
Night Club on Fifth Street, which the University of Texas took over and renamed
the Hook’ Em house.

Jay Hartzell, president of the University of Texas at Austin, said the life
sciences industry is one of the most significant opportunities for the
University of Texas and the Dell Medical School. In April 2023, UT announced
plans for the UT Austin Medical Center with the University of Texas MD Anderson
Cancer Center and a UT Austin hospital.

Hartzell led the SXSW panel, which included Jim Breyer, founder of Breyer
Capital, Andre Esteva, Founder and CEO of ArteraAI, Thomas J. Cahill, Newpath
Partners LP, and Claudia Lucchinetti, Dean of the Dell Medical School and senior
vice president for medical affairs at UT Austin.

“What we are seeing for the first time is the depth and maturity of AI and
computation applied to the life sciences and healthcare,” Breyer said.

In addition, visual computing is becoming increasingly important in healthcare,
he said. If healthcare workers harness these technologies, they will save
people’s lives and improve lives so people live longer and better, he said.

Lucchinetti said technology’s impact on healthcare is transformative. It’s more
than fixing a broken healthcare system; it’s about reimagining healthcare.

“You also think about what people want from healthcare, and they want a much
more personalized, tailored experience,” she said. Data is the rocket fuel.”

Lucchinetti said the convergence of AI, computers, data, and machine learning
leads to an accelerated discovery rate. The other significant change is that in
medical school, students used to have to memorize a lot of information, but now
that’s not the case anymore, she said.

“The EQ side of training our future physicians is even more important,”
Lucchinetti said. Doctors also need to know data science. The workforce training
across the board is changing. The healthcare industry is not prepared for the
transition to human and machine care delivery, she said.

“The opportunities are endless,” she said.

Austin can learn a lot from Boston, the country’s number one life sciences hub,
with 253 startups and 145 percent growth, Cahill said. The Boston life sciences
hub grew partly through government incentives, including $115 million in tax
deductions for biotech companies that are still being used today.

Cahill founded Arena BioWorks, a biomedical research institute in Boston. Breyer
could open a second office in Austin. It’s like a Bell Labs for biotech, Cahill
said.

Today, Breyer said that some of the nation’s top cancer scientists don’t even
use computers. But in five years, he said most patients will not go to a
specialist who doesn’t rely on deep AI and computational systems.

Breyer said these technologies are essential for drug discovery. They also
enable doctors, nurses, and patients to understand more fully what’s wrong and
what can be done about their health to live longer and better.

Also, today, few people own their medical data, but five years from now, 90
percent of all people should have the right to their medical data and the
medical data of their close relatives, Breyer said.

“You need to see the data, and that just doesn’t exist today,” Breyer said. “Put
it in the hands of patients, doctors, and nurses, and great things will happen.”

Good data is essential to healthcare discoveries, Cahill said. Finland is the
best place in the world right now for the availability and quality of health
data, he said. Cahill encouraged Austin to create its own data bank that would
attract researchers and companies. He said he often travels to Helsinki to
access its health data vaults.

In the late 1970s, Finland’s leadership started taking blood samples and patient
data from everyone. Cahill said that the Finnish databank has led to most
discoveries about genetics and disease, especially in the autoimmune space.

“The general public is not seeing it right away – CRISPR solved sickle cell
disease – one of the biggest health issues – 6 percent of the population carries
that,” Cahill said. “It’s going to be gone in the next ten years because of
these drugs. That happened in Boston, and you can do a similar thing here with
the leadership.”

Lucchinetti said she’s most excited about the potential to bring engineering and
technology to medicine in concrete ways that solve medical diseases like MS,
which she sees as an electrical engineering problem.

“Solving the greatest unmet needs of our patients in healthcare will require a
transdisciplinary approach,” Lucchinetti said. There’s something special here at
the University of Texas at this time in Austin.”

Breyer moved to Austin four years ago. He said what makes the city special is
the ability to gather 10 people from UT, VCs, technologists, healthcare experts,
and other disciplines around a dinner table to discuss ideas.

“That doesn’t happen in most other places where it’s a mix of skills and
tremendous comradery,” Breyer said.

Esteva, founder and CEO of ArteraAI, said the four key ingredients for a health
sciences startup hub are venture capital, entrepreneurs, talented engineers, and
a top-tier research university, and Austin has all of them.

ArteraAI, based in San Francisco, created tests for prostate cancer. Esteva
formed a company in 2021 that raised $110 million and has 100 employees.

Hartzell urged Esteva, a graduate of UT, to move back to Austin and even
jokingly offered him two tickets to the UT vs—Georgia Football game.
.

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COLOSSAL WORKS TO BRING BACK THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH BUT ALSO HOPES TO SAVE OTHER
SPECIES

March 11, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Most people separate de-extinction from species preservation, said Ben Lamm,
Colossal Biosciences Co-founder and CEO.

“But the problem is that conservation works. It just doesn’t work as fast as we
need it to, and how fast we are destroying the planet,” Lamm said.

He said de-extinction is a way to look at a systems problem rather than just
preserving land or stopping poaching.

“We have to invent crazy technology that we can bring back animals that we are
losing every single year,” Lamm said. “I think it’s pretty important for us to
have a de-extinction toolkit and not need it rather than not have a
de-extinction toolkit and need it.”

Lamm spoke Friday afternoon at South by Southwest in a session titled “How the
Science of De-Extinction is Helping to Save Species.” Actor Seth Green
interviewed Lamm. The talk was similar to one he gave at SXSW in 2023. Still,
the company has had some scientific breakthroughs since then and hired a
documentary film crew to film the process from lab to rewilding extinct species
like the Woolly Mammoth, Thylacine, and Dodo Birds back to their natural
habitats.

Colossal Biosciences, founded in 2021, has raised $235.5 million to de-extinct
species. Lamm founded the company with George Church, a Harvard geneticist and
pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic biology. Colossal also spun out Form
Bio, a software platform, which raised $30 million. The company is based in
Dallas but has offices in Austin, Boston, Santa Cruz, California, and Melbourne,
Australia.

Lamm said Colossal is building technologies and tools behind de-extinction that
create a higher framework that all conservationists can use. He said no research
and development dollars are going into the conservation category, so everything
Colossal does is free to that community.

To that point, this week, Colossal Biosciences announced that their Woolly
Mammoth team had achieved the first global induced pluripotent stem cell
breakthrough.

The IPSC cells represent a single-cell source that can propagate indefinitely
and give rise to every other cell type in a body. According to the company, the
IPSCs extend far beyond this de-extinction project and hold tremendous potential
for studying cell development, cell therapy, drug screening, and synthetic
embryos.

Lamm said this allows Colossal to take stem cells, perform a fundamental
process, and turn them into new products.

He said, “We can make unlimited numbers of rhino heads and never have to put
that animal at risk.”

Lamm said early critics of Colossal’s research are beginning to see its
benefits. The company publishes everything it does in science papers and makes
it available to other scientists.

“Everything we do is open source, Lamm said.

Green asked about the rewilding part of reintroducing Woolly mammoths,
Thylacines, and Dodo Birds back into the environment, which are the three
species Colossal Biosciences is working on.

Colossal Biosciences will not be able to change the environment overnight, but
these species can restore pieces that have been removed from the ecosystem and
add incredible biodiversity, Lamm said. For example, Yellowstone reintroduced
wolves in the national park, and Lamm said the rewilding experience had been
highly successful.

Lamm said Colossal plans to make about 100 Woolly Mammoths. The Mammoth embryos
will be implanted into Asian elephants, serving as surrogates. The elephants
share 99.6 percent of the genetic makeup of a Woolly Mammoth.

Lamm said a Colossal lab uses ex-utero embryos and engineers them to grow
outside an animal.

Lamm said that eliminating an animal from the environment can have a detrimental
ripple effect throughout the ecosystem.

For example, he said there used to be 50 million beavers, but now there are 5
million. If the ecosystem adds 5 million more beavers, those wetlands they
create will capture more carbon than the carbon-capture air systems people spend
billions of dollars on worldwide, Lamm said.

“The planet works well,” Green said. “It’s just these humans that have jacked it
up.”

Lamm predicts the biodiversity economy will mature in the next ten years.
Increasingly, people are putting a value on protecting animals, he said.

Man hunted the Thylacine into extinction in 1936. It was the largest apex
predator. They are about the same size as a wolf at eight pounds, Lamm said.
They clean up the ecosystem, he said. If you lose an apex predator, you have
many sick animals, Lamm said. For example, some of the Tasmanian Devil
population in Australia have legions on their faces and carry a transmissible
cancer today, he said. He said that if Thylacine existed, it would have
eliminated the sick animals before they became widespread and problematic.

Green asked Lamm about the ethical implications of creating tools and technology
that can manipulate genetics and modify traits and the threat of eugenics.

Lamm said that genetic engineering is not allowed in the United States. But in
China in 2019, a scientist used CRISPR technology to edit a set of twin girls’
genomes to prevent them from contracting HIV from their fathers.

Lamm said global regulation is needed when manipulating human genomes. He said
Colossal doesn’t work on humans, only on endangered species.

Colossal recently hired James Reed, director of the Oscar-winning Netflix
documentary “My Octopus Teacher,” and his company Underdog Films, to produce a
multi-year docuseries. They have exclusive access to follow Colossal as it works
to bring back the Woolly Mammoth, the Thylacine, and the Dodo Bird and to rewild
them into their natural habitats.

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THE WAY WOMEN ARE SEEN IN MOVIES AND TV MATTER AND MORE DIVERSITY AND
AUTHENTICITY IS NEEDED, SAYS HIGH-PROFILE SXSW PANEL

March 10, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

On International Women’s Day, attendees at South by Southwest stood in line for
more than an hour to get into the main ballroom, and hundreds of others piled
into the overflow ballrooms.

They turned out in masses for the keynote session “Breaking Barriers, Shaping
Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen.” The panelists included Meghan
Markle, the Duchess of Sussex; Model and Movie Star Brooke Shields; Journalist
Katie Couric; Sociologist and Pop Culture Expert Nancy Wang Yuen and Errin
Haines, Editor at Large with The 19th News.

“This is the day where we celebrate just how far we’ve come,” Haines said. “But
we also reflect on the work that we still have yet to do in a lot of our fields,
whether that’s media, entertainment, or the movies – women’s representation
still falls short, particularly for women of color and from others, so we’re
here today to talk about those gaps and what we’re going to do to fill them.”

The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and the non-profit organization
Moms First released a report on March 7th titled “Rewriting Motherhood: How TV
Represents Moms and What We Want to See Next.” The report discusses the support
moms need to thrive. Haines asked Markle about the report, which Markle and her
husband, Prince Harry, supported with funds from their Archewell Foundation and
others.

Markle said she was interested in supporting the report to help understand women
and their stories, lived experiences, and shared experiences. She also wants to
ensure that women’s portrayals in the media reflect who they are and how they
move through the world.

Markle said there’s a lot of work to be done to support women and moms,
beginning with paid leave and equal pay. Women still earn only 62 cents for
every dollar a man earns in the same job.

One of the findings of the report is that on television, moms are represented as
thin young, white, and not working outside of the home, which is a patriarchal
fantasy, said Wang Yuen.

“This is not our real lives, and it erases the fact that the U.S., out of all
the wealthy countries, is ranked second to last when it comes to childcare and
parental leave policies,” Wang Yuen said. She said finding secure, affordable
childcare for her first baby in graduate school was harder than researching and
writing her dissertation.

Movies and television are perpetuating negative or wrong stereotypes when they
could be perpetuating positive images and representation, Wang Yuen said.

Markle said that representation is a critical driver for social change.

“We can all agree that representation matters. If you’re a young girl and you
see yourself in a position of power, strength, or leadership, you can believe
that that is possible,” Markle said. “If you look out on the screen or you look
out in the world and you see no one that looks like you, it is incomprehensible
for most people to imagine that they can have that level of success or joy or
strength or whatever it may be.”

It’s also not a zero-sum game, Markle said.

“Just because someone else has the same advantage you do doesn’t mean you’re
losing anything,” Markle said. “And it actually creates an environment that is
so fair but also inclusive where people feel as though they have a seat at the
table as they should.”

Markle also recounted a story about when she was 11 years old and saw a TV
commercial for dishwashing liquid that proclaimed women all over America were
fighting greasy pots and pans. At the time, the boys in her class said, “Yeah,
women belong in the kitchen.”

“And at 11, I just found that infuriating,” Markle said. She wrote a letter to
P&G and got them to change the commercial from women to people. It just goes to
show that if you know that there’s something wrong and you’re using your voice
to advocate for what is right, that can really land and resonate and make a huge
change for a lot of people.”

In a moment that drew a lot of laughter, Shields pointed out that “this is one
of the areas where we are different. When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute.”
She played a child prostitute in the ’70s movie “Pretty Baby.”

A recent study from the University of Southern California Annenberg found that
of the 100 top-grossing movies in 2023, the year of Barbie movie, only 30
featured female-identified lead or co-lead actors, Wang Yuen said.

“That’s a number that hasn’t been that low since the mid-2010s,” Wang Yuen said.

 “There are actually less women on screen in the year of Barbie,” she said. “I
feel like we are living in the world of Ken.”

Courts and lawmakers have rolled back reproductive rights across the country;
they’ve eliminated affirmative action in higher education and eliminated
diversity, equity, and inclusion centers across the country, Wang Yuen said.

A disturbing study that came out of the U.K. recently showed that Generation Z
boys and men are more likely than boomers to believe that feminism does more
harm than good, Wang Yuen said.

Pretty Baby, the documentary about Shield’s life, came out on Hulu last year. It
painted a picture of what it was like to be a young girl working in Hollywood in
the 1970s and 1980s. The documentary is about the sexualization of young women
in the U.S., and Shields was at the center of it.

“I was promoting it, and I was doing it, and I was lucky because I was
surrounded by a very strong mom,” Shields said.

The community around here protected her from bullying and becoming a statistic
of Hollywood.

“Hollywood is predicated on eating its young,” Shields said. “That’s what it
wants to do. It wants to build you up and  then devour you.”

From a young age, she learned the importance of education. She went to Princeton
University and got her degree because she knew no one could take that away from
her.

“It’s gotten better but we still have a long way to go and one of the things the
documentary I think did was start the conversation,” Shields said.

Today, Shields, 58, said the documentary doesn’t come from anger but from a
place of understanding and harnessing lessons learned to help women now. Shields
said that social media can make life difficult for young women today because
social media networks constantly bombard them with messages.

Couric said she entered the T.V. news business in 1979 when she joked, “Harass
was two words instead of one, and it was not a particularly hospitable place for
women.”

She joined the Today Show as co-anchor in 1991 and negotiated a 50/50 division
of labor with her co-host, Bryant Gumbel. At the time, she was 34 years old and
five months pregnant.

“I think just making that demand eventually, I think I had as much power and
took on important jobs on the Today Show,” Couric said. She knew little girls
were watching, and she was a role model for them.

The industry has changed a lot over Couric’s career.

“I think we’ve made tremendous progress. I mean, I think we have miles to go
before we sleep, but you know, if you look at the 19th, what you all are doing
is amazing,” Couric said.

Couric said the presidents of the ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and Fox news divisions
are all women, and two of them are women of color.

“Unfortunately, this is happening as linear television is declining and its
significance and as these outlets gravitate towards streaming,” Couric said.

She said the heads of the major streaming platforms are five white guys. Digital
media is much, she said. She said only 20 percent of editors of the most popular
international online publications are women. Women make up 50 percent of podcast
listeners, but 79 percent of the podcast hosts are men.

“So, there are still a lot of inequities that we have to approach, but we’re
definitely making progress,” Couric said.

Haines also cited the USC Annenberg Study that found that only three of the top
100 grossing films of 2023 had a lead female actor who was 45 or older. She
asked Shields about whether that tracked with her experience in Hollywood today.

“It definitely tracks with my experience. I mean, the interesting thing is that
I have. We don’t just feel this ageism in Hollywood. At 58, you’re too old to be
the ingenue, but you’re not quite the granny yet, and they don’t know what to do
with you,” Shields said. So, if you’re not a sexy woman at the bar, you’re in
depends or dentures, she said.

The industry needs to quit pigeonholing women into dated stereotypes and portray
them as they are with their depth of knowledge and experience.

“There’s just so much richness that can be given to roles when you have an actor
who can bring that level of experience,” she said.

She said that even in the beauty industry, it’s not all about anti-wrinkle
cream.

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LIVEOAK VENTURES DONATES $1 MILLION IN GRANTS TO LOCAL NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

March 6, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

LiveOak Ventures announced this week that it has awarded $1 million in grants to
20 local nonprofit organizations through its LiveOakGives program.

LiveOak Ventures began the program five years ago.

According to its blog post, LiveOak’s grants to nonprofit organizations reflect
its “ethos that the “rising tide should raise all boats,” not just the tech
community.

The LiveOak Gives program leverages its network to support “local non-profit
organizations that focus on the vulnerable populations across Texas in three
categories: children, the elderly, and families/women trapped in poverty,”
according to LiveOak Ventures. The nonprofit organizations selected for grants
go through an application process “that looks for alignment with the firm’s
values and priorities around supporting vulnerable groups and the ability for
the grant to make a material difference on the magnitude of services and
capabilities of the organizations.”

In addition to the monetary donations, LiveOakGives also recognizes and
advocates for the organizations through its social media channels and community
events. That has led to more volunteers, donations, and organizational support.

LiveOakGives selected the following nonprofit organizations for grants this
year:

AGE of Central Texas is a center for older adults to socialize with their peers
during the daytime.

Chariot provides transportation to adults 60 and over for medical appointments,
grocery shopping, and other errands.

Friends of Children connects children with unique talents to a paid,
professional mentor called a Friend. They hire and train Friends whose full-time
jobs are to support our youth’s success from as early as age four through high
school graduation.

Women’s Fund, founded in 2004, focuses on the needs of women in Central Texas by
providing grants for housing, education, childcare, and women’s health.

In addition, LiveOak Ventures launched LiveOak Scholars this year to assist
Texas high school seniors interested in studying business or STEM fields at a
Texas university. The program will be administered through the Austin Community
Foundation.

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FROM A FERRIS WHEEL TO ROYALTY, SXSW 2024 RETURNS TO AUSTIN AND IS BIGGER THAN
EVER

March 5, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Audible is bringing a Sonic Ferris Wheel, game booths, and concessions to South
by Southwest on Friday.

It’s one of the big activations at this year’s show.

The Audible Sound Experience will be at Third and Congress Avenue from Friday,
March 8th, through Sunday, March 10th, and offers a carnival experience. It also
includes an exclusive After Dark Party with a live performance by
Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum-selling dance music duo The Knocks, in
partnership with creative collective House of Yes.

Audible is owned by Amazon, which always puts on incredible activations at SXSW.
A few years ago, they had a merry-go-round to promote Lizzo’s Big Girls show.

In addition to the carnival, Amazon Prime Video gives festivalgoers an immersive
first look at its newest original series, Fallout. This year, it’s again taking
over Hotel San Jose to create a post-apocalyptic terrain with activities like
lassoing wasteland creatures, a shooting gallery, and encounters with rival
factions.

Other SXSW sights not to be missed include Smirnoff’s Pop-up pickleball courts
and Poo-Pourri spray’s 30-foot inflatable turd at the Camp Funk Experience.

Other activations include the Paramount’s The Lodge at the Clive Bar on Rainey
Street. It’s the second year they’ve taken over the Clive Bar. This year,
Paramount has put installations on the first floor dedicated to The Chi, Mean
Girls, and Halo. Other floors are focused on Ink Master, with temporary airbrush
tattoos, the iconic bridge of the U.S.S. Discovery, and more focused on Star
Trek: Discovery. There’s even a space focused on Lawmen: Bass Reeves. The
activation was well done last year and worth visiting, so it should be a fun
time again.

South by Southwest 2024 kicks off in Austin on Friday, but SXSW Edu is already
underway. This year, a crossover day, Thursday, is where people with SXSW badges
can attend SXSW Edu programming. It’s a twofer on March 7th; all SXSW badges are
admitted to SXSW EDU content.

There are so many incredible panels, parties, and performances this year, and
Hugh Forrest, Co-President of SXSW and Chief Programming Officer, has been
highlighting panels and speakers on LinkedIn. If you’re not following him, you
should be. He’s got the scoop on everything.

SXSW is also full of surprises.

This week, SXSW announced the opening day keynote titled “Breaking Barriers,
Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen,” on March 8th, which
is International Women’s Day, featuring Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, Katie
Couric, Errin Haines, Brooke Shields and Nancy Wang Yuen.

Also, Forrest advises local attendees to pick up their badges early. “You can
pick up your SXSW badge beginning Monday, March 4. Early week badge pick avoids
all the stress of longer lines!” Forrest posted. More information can be found
here.

UT at SXSW also has some great panels on brain implants, robotics, and Austin as
the next hub for Life Sciences. UT’s programming is taking place at Antone’s
Nightclub, which it has dubbed the Hook “Em House.

And there are more than 60 sessions focused on AI. Forrest created this list of
the 60+ sessions in the AI track (March 11-15).

Forrest also highlighted a lot of content focused on Quantum computing.

Silicon Hills News tends to focus on Austin, San Antonio, and overall
Texas-based content during SXSW; this year’s festival has plenty of it.  Forrest
highlighted Austin-based sessions in one of his LinkedIn posts linked to this
filtered list of Austin-based content.

And here are some excellent guidepost lists:

The Austin American Statesman has a comprehensive curated list of free stuff for
the badgeless at SXSW.

Festival Saviors has a list of top attractions, musical and otherwise, at SXSW.

Are you looking for more activations and places of interest for badge holders
and badgeless? Check out this list put together by ATXGossip.

Marc Nathan, a super-connector in the Austin startup scene, created the SXSW VIP
Insider’s Guide, a comprehensive digest of tips, resources, and private events
during Austin’s second and third weeks of March. 

Marisa Vickers of Builders + Backers also has a great list here.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE IDEAS TO INVOICES PODCAST WITH AUSTIN SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR
ARUNI GUNASEGARAM

March 4, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Serial entrepreneur Aruni S. Gunasegaram is a veteran of Austin’s technology
startup industry.

Gunasegaram has worked at SecureAuth,  Khorus, SailPoint, WP Engine, Querium,
and other local companies. She also served as director of operations at the
Austin Technology Incubator.

Gunasegaram was also a co-founding parent of the Magellan International School,
a nonprofit language immersion International Baccalaureate school. She was also
an adjunct lecturer on entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin
McCombs School of Business and is currently an MBA project coach.

Gunasegaram was co-founder/president of Isochron Data, a web and mobile
application company targeting the vending and packaged ice industries (aka the
“internet of things”), where she coordinated closing the company’s first $1
million in revenue, raising $15 million in equity financing, as well as built a
team of employees, board members, and advisors. She co-founded Babble Soft, a
web and mobile application company targeted at new parents. 

Gunasegaram talks about lessons learned from her entrepreneurial journey in this
episode of the Ideas to Invoices podcast. Here are some key takeaways from the
discussion. The entire podcast is embedded below and can be found on all popular
podcast platforms.

1. Customer-Centric Approach: Gunasegaram emphasizes the importance of starting
a successful business by understanding the customer’s needs and pain points.
Successful companies often begin by providing solutions that improve people’s
lives.

2. Human Connection in Customer Support: Despite advancements in technology and
automation, maintaining a personal touch in customer support remains crucial.
Gunasegaram highlights the challenge of balancing automation with personalized
customer interactions, stressing the importance of the human touch in customer
satisfaction.

3. Common Challenges Across Industries: Aruni identifies a common challenge
across various industries, including cybersecurity, data privacy, and education
technology, which is maintaining a personal touch while leveraging technological
advancements. She emphasizes the significance of being the customer’s advocate,
especially during challenging situations.

4. Experience at Austin Technology Incubator (ATI): Gunasegaram discusses her
role at ATI and how it shaped her perspective on supporting entrepreneurial
CEOs. She highlights the importance of having a supportive network for
entrepreneurs, acknowledging the stress and challenges they face, and the need
for community events and networking opportunities.

5. Importance of Mentorship and Networking: Gunasegaram emphasizes the
significance of mentoring and networking in an entrepreneur’s journey. Informal
mentorship, leaning from experiences and building meaningful connections
contribute significantly to personal and professional growth.

6. Support for Female Entrepreneurs: Gunasegaram acknowledges the gender
disparity in venture capital funding and advocates for more representation of
women in decision-making roles within VC firms. She emphasizes the need for
education, mentorship, and system changes to address this imbalance.

7. Focus on the Journey: Gunasegaram’s perspective on entrepreneurship
emphasizes the importance of embracing the journey, learning from failures, and
constantly evolving. She recommends books like “The Alchemist,” “The Monk and
the Riddle” and “Siddhartha” for their insights into the entrepreneurial
journey.

8. Future plans: Gunasegaram expresses her interests in supporting other
entrepreneurs, investing in exciting companies, and exploring her creative side,
including singing, songwriting, and publishing.

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FROM WIMBERLEY TO ANTARCTICA: DOCUMENTARY EXPEDITION PLANS TO RAISE AWARENESS ON
CLIMATE CHANGE’S GLOBAL IMPACT

March 2, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Wimberley, Texas, is more than 8,500 miles from Antarctica, but what happens
there affects the local environment here.

“Mother Earth is our home; it’s a special place, and we need to protect it and
understand it,” said Filmmaker James Douglas Cooper. “Whether we are standing on
dirt here in Wimberley or on ice in Antarctica, it’s the same planet.”

National Geographic Photographer Rodney Bursiel is collaborating with Cooper to
create a documentary on Antarctica called ‘Frozen in Time.”

On February 26th, Bursiel and Cooper hosted a fundraiser at the Montesino Ranch
in Wimberley. More than 200 people attended the event, which featured music by
Ruthie Foster, Jimmie Ray Vaughan, the Doc Carter Band, and Donovan
Frankenreiter—the evening also featured a silent auction that raised thousands
of additional dollars for the upcoming expedition.



“We’re at the beginning of the journey,” Cooper said. “We’re going to do
something you’ve never seen before. We’re going to introduce you to places you
have not seen before. We’re going to raise awareness for what’s going on and
that we’re losing this beautiful white ice and how it’s impacting people back
here.”

The filmmakers and photographers plan to take an eight-person boat to the area.
Cooper said they intend to dive extensively in the new, undiscovered regions. He
said the project will create a documentary, a book, and more. They plan to begin
shooting next year, Cooper said.

They will track humpback whales, orcas, leopard seals, penguins, and more,
Bursiel said.

“We’re documenting Antarctica, something that we are losing. It’s changing by
the day, and we want to go capture this and see it before it’s gone because it
could be gone in our lifetime,” Bursiel said.

The project seeks to create an awareness, Bursiel said.

Bursiel lives in Wimberley and has an art gallery downtown. In 2017, he won a
National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year award. He specializes in
wildlife photography and has photographed famous musicians, including Willie
Nelson, Paul Simon, Edie Brickell, Ruthie Foster, Kelly Willis, ZZ Top, and
others.

For more information, visit Rodney Bursiel’s website and sign up for his
newsletter. He plans additional fundraising events.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE IDEAS TO INVOICES PODCAST WITH GARY STEPHENS, CEO AND
CO-FOUNDER OF VENDIDIT

March 2, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Vendidit, a software platform for the secondary market for retail returns,
launched in early February.

Vendidit spun out of Renew Logic, which Gary Stephens co-founded and serves as
CEO. John Paul DeJoria, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Patron Tequila and
Paul Mitchell, is his business partner in both companies.

Stephens’s previous career included working on the Windows 95 launch team, being
head of Windows NT updates under Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, and building a
third electronics recycling company to $400 million from scratch. His positive
contributions to ethical business practices and industry improvements led to
testifying before Congress in 2018 about innovative, diverse employment
policies. Beyond tech, Gary’s diverse passions include race car driving,
piloting, and philanthropy – particularly helping dog rescues.  

Here are the key takeaways from the podcast interview:

 1. Renew Logic’s Focus: Renew Logic specializes in the secondary market,
    particularly in dealing with end-of-life cycle products and overstocked
    items from various industries, such as electronics, home improvement, and
    consumer goods.
 2. Partnerships and Environmental Focus: The company has partnerships with
    other businesses, including former competitors, to ensure that electronic
    devices and other products don’t end up in a landfill. They are passionate
    about protecting the environment and are growing their business in this
    segment.
 3. Impact of the Global Pandemic on Returns: The COVID-19 pandemic has
    significantly increased the volume of merchandise returns, with nearly a
    third of all purchased items being returned. This surge in returns has
    highlighted the inefficiencies in the market for connecting buyers and
    sellers in the aftermarket.
 4. Challenges in the Reverse Logistics Industry: The reverse logistics industry
    has historically been inefficient, with little attention paid to efficiently
    managing returned merchandise. Vendidit aims to address this gap with its
    software solutions and marketplace platform.
 5. Positive Reception and Growth: Vendidit’s software solution has received a
    positive reception, with many stakeholders surprised by its efficiency and
    ease of use. The company has experienced rapid growth since its launch.
 6. Austin as a Startup Hub: Austin, Texas, is an ideal location for startups
    due to its supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem, diverse talent pool, and
    community of like-minded individuals concerned about the environment. Gary
    emphasizes the importance of building relationships and plugging into the
    local community.
 7. Philanthropic Endeavors: Gary is passionate about philanthropy, particularly
    animal rescue and welfare. He uses his piloting skills and resources to
    transport rescued animals to their forever homes, advocating for responsible
    pet ownership and spaying/neutering.
 8. Entrepreneurial Advice: Gary advises aspiring entrepreneurs to be resilient,
    surround themselves with supportive peers, and plug into local resources and
    networks. He emphasizes the importance of tenacity and leadership in
    achieving entrepreneurial success.
 9. Recommended Book: Gary recommends “Make It So,” a leadership companion book
    based on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The book
    contains valuable leadership lessons that translate into practical insights
    for business leadership.

The podcast is embedded below; you can also listen to it wherever you get your
podcasts.

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BODYCAM STARTUP HALO LANDS $20 MILLION IN FUNDING

February 29, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

HALO, a bodycam company with offices in both Austin and Dublin, Ireland,
announced the closing of a $20 million funding round this week.

Volition Capital, based in Boston, led the Series A round.

HALO makes a subscription-based bodycam and cloud-based digital asset platform.
According to the company, the global market for body-worn cameras is projected
to reach $30 billion by 2030.

In addition to law enforcement customers, bodycam technology is popular with the
private sector. HALO’s customers are retail, healthcare, transportation, private
security, and other industries. According to the company, the technology is used
to de-escalate incidents, deter crime, capture clear video evidence, and enhance
employee and public safety.

HALO’s technology allows for live streaming events, and the uploaded videos can
easily be searched, categorized, and shared, according to the company.

“We started HALO with a mission to fundamentally transform the safety and
security sector and provide innovative technology that safeguards lives and
businesses,” CEO Fiona Shanley said in a news release. “Various social and
economic realities have escalated demand for effective and reliable security
solutions that maximize tech budgets and most importantly protect people. This
investment will enable us to continue to scale globally. We plan to invest
substantially in further innovating our product, ensuring that we stay at the
forefront of our industry and continuously meet the evolving needs of our
customers.”

HALO plans to use the funds raised to advance its hardware and software
platform, including adding new AI and analytics features. It will also be used
to hire more U.S. and European employees. It will also fund market, use case,
and partnership expansion.

“There are several converging trends driving increased demand, adoption, and
growth potential of bodycam and digital asset management solutions in the public
and private sectors,” Tomy Han, Volition Capital Partners, said in a news
release. “Technology, including hardware and software, has become a critical
part of safeguarding lives and businesses. The use cases for bodycam solutions
have expanded well beyond traditional law enforcement.”

He said that with its subscription-based SaaS model and experienced leadership
team, HALO is well-positioned to meet these sectors’ diverse and flexible needs
globally.

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5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT

February 28, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Kirsten Ostherr, professor and founder of Medical Future Labs at Rice University

Health Tech Austin hosted Tuesday’s Future of Health Summit at the downtown
Austin Public Library. These are some key takeaways from some of the speakers.

 1. Using Tech for Better Health Outcomes: A National Science Foundation-funded
    Engineering Research Center called PATHS-UP at Texas A&M University studies
    biomarkers to detect cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It’s part of a
    10-year, $40 million grant from NSF involving scientists, clinicians, and
    industry. Chris Finberg, Innovation Director at PATHS-UP, is spearheading
    the effort. They are studying inserting a rice-grain-sized monitor under
    patients’ skin to monitor glucose and macronutrients continuously. The
    researchers are holding a digital health workshop, 2024 PATHS-UP, on August
    27 and 28th at Rice University.
 2. The Humanity Behind the Technology: Kirsten Ostherr, professor and founder
    of Medical Future Labs at Rice University, focuses on the humanity behind
    technological advances in healthcare, focusing on patients, clinicians, and
    underserved communities. “Because technology alone cannot solve our most
    pressing social, cultural, and ethical problems in health,” according to
    Ostherr. For example, people need to start focusing on the root causes of
    disease and prevention. Every year, $1.1 trillion is spent in the U.S. on
    healthcare for diet-related diseases, Ostherr said. More focus should be on
    food as medicine. Ostherr also warned of the risks of unregulated AI in
    healthcare, including inflated bills, denied claims, inaccurate records,
    inappropriate care, biases that could exacerbate health disparities, and
    other concerns.
 3. Show Me the Money: Claire England, investment partner in Austin with GPG
    Ventures, said a lot of venture capital is available in Texas looking for
    good deals to invest in. According to its website, the firm typically
    invests between $100,000 and $1 million in early-stage ventures. Its
    portfolio of investments includes several medical devices, diagnostic,
    therapeutic, consumer health, and health IT startups.
 4. The U.S. Healthcare System is a Mess: Charles Silver, professor and endowed
    chair at UT School of Law at Austin, co-authored a 2018 book, “Overcharged:
    Why Americans Pay Too Much for Health Care,” and spoke about why Americans
    are paying more. The U.S. spends twice as much per capita on healthcare
    compared to other developed countries, according to Silver. He said that
    Medicare is insolvent and contributes significantly to the U.S. deficit,
    including $446 Billion in 2023. He noted that healthcare providers’ lack of
    pricing transparency contributes to the problem. He pointed to the Surgery
    Center of Oklahoma, which provides transparent pricing for all procedures on
    its website, and said all hospitals should provide upfront transparent
    pricing.
 5. SXSW kicks off next week and has tons of healthcare programming: Hugh
    Forrest, Co-President and Chief Programming Officer of SXSW, gave an
    overview of the Health & MedTech Track at SXSW 2024, sponsored by Johnson &
    Johnson. The full schedule can be found here.

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ADDRESSING BIAS IN HEALTHCARE AI: EXPERT WARNS INCORRECT ALGORITHMS COULD COST
LIVES

February 28, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Incorrect algorithms in healthcare can mean life or death to patients.

Unfortunately, AI systems designed to help healthcare workers streamline patient
care operations might exacerbate biases against people of color, according to
Craig Watkins, executive director of IC2 Institute at UT-Austin.

Watkins spoke Tuesday morning at the Future of Health Summit, a half-day
conference hosted by Health Tech Austin, at the Austin Public Library’s special
events center downtown.

“We need to design systems and AI that are not intended to replace healthcare
workers but to augment their work,” Watkins said.

Watkins is one of the principal investigators for UT Austin’s Good Systems Grand
Challenge, which examines the social and ethical impacts of artificial
intelligence. His research focuses on two core questions: How are bias and
systems in inequities expressed in health artificial intelligence? How are
researchers designing AI systems to address some of the system factors driving
the behavioral health crisis in the U.S.?

Healthcare technology powered by AI needs to work in ways that don’t replicate
the bias that exists in society, Watkins said.

Watkins cited a ProPublica investigative series from 2016 that looked at machine
bias in software used by law enforcement to target criminals that are biased
against Blacks. Watkins also cited a New York Times article that showed false
facial recognition software incorrectly matched an eight-month pregnant Black
woman to a carjacking.

“Facial recognition has a significantly higher error rate with people of color,”
Watkins said.

AI systems are beginning to undermine healthcare, he said

Fixing racial bias in an essential COVID diagnostic tool that measures oxygen in
the blood could have helped people of color during the COVID-19 pandemic receive
better healthcare, Watkins. He said the diagnostic tool needed to be more
accurate when measuring the oxygen level in the blood of people with darker
skin.

In another case, Chat GPT-4 was significantly less likely to recommend advanced
imaging (CT, MRI, or abdominal ultrasound) for Black patients when compared to
their Caucasian counterparts, Watkins said.

And it takes work to correct the bias in existing AI systems, Watkins said. In
an experiment using medical X-ray images, Watkins said AI algorithms could
detect race even when all markers had been removed.


“Researchers still don’t know how these algorithms can predict race when they
remove all markers,” Watkins said. “These models behave in ways we cannot fully
understand or comprehend.”

At UT Austin, Watkins and his research team created an AI-powered chatbot to
support parents dealing with postpartum depression. His team focused on training
a system that could respond in high-stakes situations the way a healthcare
provider might respond.

Watkin’s team is also spearheading an effort to design an AI-based chatbot to
deal with mental health issues. His team is part of the Texas Health Catalyst
program at the Dell Medical School. The focus is to reduce suicide and homicide
rates among young people.

“The future of all this is evolving as we convene here today,” Watkins said.
“How do you design systems that are inclusive?”

To address the issue further, UT Austin is hosting a conference on April 4
called “Health AI for All.”

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HYVE MANAGED HOSTING OPENS NORTH AMERICAN HUB IN AUSTIN

February 18, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Hyve Managed Hosting announced it has opened its North American hub in Austin.

Hyve, based in Brighton, UK, provides infrastructure and management services,
including private clouds, dedicated servers, colocation, and security services.

Major brands in the company’s portfolio include Capital, Caffe Nero, RSPCA,
Superdrug, and U.S.-based customers such as Orders in Seconds Inc., Virium
Technology, and CBHV.  

Stoney Reynolds is heading up the U.S. region for Hyve. Reynolds previously held
leadership roles in sales and marketing at companies such as Trend Micro,
FutureCom, Nortel, and NEC.

“The cloud has so much potential to accelerate business growth, but
organizations lack the in-house knowledge and skillsets needed to get there,”
Reynolds said in a news release. “That’s why they’re turning to managed service
providers like Hyve. We have a massive opportunity in the U.S. market to empower
businesses to innovate through a secure, reliable, and ‘always-on’
infrastructure. I can’t wait to be a part of this exciting new chapter in the
company’s story.”  

Hyve’s U.S. expansion follows a substantial period of growth for the company,
which has seen revenue grow by 51% over the last three years and its global
headcount increase by over 30% in 2023. The company also moved to its new,
larger headquarters in Brighton, UK, and was recognized for “Excellence in
Service” at the 2023 Storage, Digitalization, and Cloud Awards (SDC).  

“Over the last several years, Hyve has been working hard to refine its
best-in-class cloud hosting architecture, which is reflected by our recent
successes and industry recognitions,” Charlotte Webb, marketing and operations
director of Hyve Managed Hosting, said in a news release. “The U.S. is a key
component to our continued growth in 2024, and we are building a strong team in
the region to further cement Hyve as a global leader.”  

Hyve Managed Hosting’s U.S. team is located in downtown Austin in one of
Industrious’ newly opened premium flexible workspaces, of which Hyve has become
a founding member.

Hyve plans to hire additional employees in the U.S. over the next year. It is
also exploring additional opportunities for expansion within Europe, and APAC,
including Germany and Australia.  

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MERIT MEDICINE RAISES $2 MILLION

February 18, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Austin-based Merit Medicine, a health tech startup, announced it has raised $2
million.

Austin-based LiveOak Ventures led the seed stage investment.

Merit Medicine, founded in 2022, uses AI insights from millions of patients in
extensive datasets to generate predictions for each employer.

Ali Panjwani founded the company and serves as CEO. He previously worked at
Genentech, BridgeBio Pharma, Coherus Biosciences, and Aetion.

“Large self-funded employers cover over a quarter of the US population today,”
Panjwani said in a news release.

And employer contributions to healthcare comprise roughly $600 billion of annual
healthcare spending in the United States, Panjwani said. “Using AI insights from
millions of patients, Merit Medicine ensures a smoother, more predictable budget
for employers’ catastrophic healthcare spend, leading to more people getting
affordable access to the care they need when they need it.”

“Stop-loss carriers, responsible for insuring employers against substantial
claims arising from these drugs and treatments, handle extensive information to
calculate the premiums for employers,” according to a news release. Self-funded
employers rely solely on their employee population.

“Self-funded employers are faced with rising healthcare costs and significant
financial risk based on the health of their employee base,” Mike Marcantonio,
who is leading the investment for Live Oak Ventures, said in a news statement.
“Unfortunately, they have very few tools today to evaluate this risk and plan
for it.  When I met the Merit Medicine team, I was inspired by their mission to
help employers address this risk by using AI to predict high-cost specialty drug
usage and rare, chronic, and complex conditions.”

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AUSTIN-BASED PERIGON RAISES $5 MILLION

February 8, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Austin-based Perigon has closed on a $5 million seed stage round of financing
led by LiveOak Venture Partners.

Josh Rickel, co-founder, said the company plans to use the money to hire key
employees and further develop its technology.

In 2022, Rickel founded Perigon with Joshua Dziabiak, a serial entrepreneur who
previously co-founded The Zebra in Austin. They wanted to make sense of public
web data and news information. They named the company Perigon, a math term that
means a 360-degree view, to make companies aware of what’s happening around
them, Rickel said. They call it contextual intelligence or the ability to adapt
to new information and situations.

Rickel said Perigon helps businesses and government agencies cut through the
Internet’s noise, understand real-time data, and make better decisions.
Perigon’s platform seeks to eliminate misinformation and synthetic content and
provide companies with helpful information. The company scrapes data from more
than 130,000 sources on the web and organizes it to answer queries.

“Perigon is committed to turning the chaos of the web into an organized system,
making it possible for AI to understand and interpret the world’s events as they
happen,” Dziabiak said in a news release. “It’s all designed to serve people
with more context and diverse perspectives on the key issues that shape our
world, in business and life.”

Perigon already has more than 70 customers, including government agencies,
financial services companies, startups, and consumer products, Rickel said.
According to a news release, environmental agencies have used Perigon’s platform
to learn about environmental, health, and security risks. The platform also
provides valuable insights to financial institutions and trading platforms
looking for real-time data on economic trends.

Rickel said Perigon’s platform harnesses AI to update and make sense of all the
data. The data is consistently updated and delivers real-time results.

“We are excited about the market opportunities that arise from unlocking
contextual insights from public information at scale for business practitioners
and consumers,” said Krishna Srinivasan, founding partner of LiveOak Venture
Partners. “In a short period of time and with limited investment, Perigon has
leveraged AI and powerful models to deliver value directly to end-users and
through APIs by dozens of demanding customers all over the world. We believe
that repeat entrepreneurs Joshua Dziabiak and Josh Rickel are the right pair to
lead this ambitious endeavor and seize this massive opportunity.”

Perigon has over 20 employees, including a team of engineers in Ukraine. It’s a
virtual company with employees worldwide, including Algeria.

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COLOSSAL BIOSCIENCE HIRES NEW CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

February 7, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Colossal Bioscience, the startup bringing the woolly mammoth and other extinct
species back to life, announced it has hired Emily Castel as its new Chief
Marketing Officer.

Castel previously served as chief marketing officer, president, and brand
officer of Teton Ridge, an omnichannel entertainment company.

Castel brings her global entertainment and consumer brand experience to
Colossal, where she will lead international efforts to scale the company’s
brand, experiences, consumer products, and emerging media properties.

“It is important for Colossal to bring the importance of our scientific
achievements and focus on de-extinction and conservation education to consumers
in all mediums,” Ben Lamm, Colossal CEO, and Co-Founder said in a news release.
“Emily is the global brand leader who is best suited to bring Colossal there
given her extensive entertainment background, knowledge of global consumer
marketing, and proven track record in franchise marketing.”

Castel previously ran a creative consultancy in Hollywood, FIVE33, which
included clients Disney, Pixar, Universal and Paramount. She ran global
marketing strategies for numerous entertainment properties, including the
one-billion-dollar Tim Burton’s Alice & Wonderland, the Pirates of the Caribbean
franchise, and JJ Abrams’s 2013 Star Trek.

In 2013, Castel joined Legendary Entertainment as Chief Marketing Officer after
Legendary acquired FIVE33.  While on the executive team, Castel oversaw all
movie, TV, and entertainment launches, including global marketing, licensing,
consumer products, and event activations. Castel successfully worked with
distribution partners Warner Bros and Universal on Legendary-produced IPs,
including Pacific Rim, Godzilla, Jurassic World, Warcraft, and Kong: Skull
Island. Castel led the development of the MonsterVerse franchise mythology,
which has gone on to gross $2 billion worldwide.

After leaving Legendary in 2017, Castel launched her UK-based consultancy Castel
Creative, where she served as founder and CEO.  During that time, she focused on
adding strategic value to brands and IPs, including the Kingsman franchise and
Rocketman for Marv Studios, while maintaining an advisory role at Legendary
Entertainment.

Now at Colossal, Castel will lead a growing team of brand and consumer hires,
including the newly appointed EVP of Design, Chris Klee. An award-winning design
team leader, Klee was formerly the Chief Creative Officer of Hypergiant
Industries.

“I look forward to building the Colossal brand into the market leader in the
space and continuing the inspiring work that the team has been undertaking,”
said Castel.  “I’m excited to start the next chapter of my career with the
world’s first de-extinction company. It is an opportunity to drive innovation in
the sector, using entertainment to inspire global communities to engage in
Colossal’s pioneering mission to preserve species and further their existence on
earth.” 

Since launching in September 2021, Colossal has raised $225 million in total
funding led by the United States Innovative Technology Fund (“USIT”), with
participation from At One Ventures, West River Group, Paul Tudor Jones, Breyer
Capital, Animal Capital, Bob Nelson, Tim Draper, Victor Vescovo, In-Q-Tel,
Builders VC, Peak6, among others.

Colossal was founded by emerging technology and software entrepreneur Ben Lamm
and world-renowned geneticist and serial biotech entrepreneur George Church,
Ph.D.  Colossal creates disruptive technologies for extinct species restoration,
critically endangered species protection, and the repopulation of critical
ecosystems that support the continuation of life on Earth. 

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SXSW PITCH ANNOUNCES FINALISTS AND ALTERNATES, INCLUDING 10 AUSTIN AREA STARTUPS

January 26, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Ten Austin area startups made the SXSW Pitch competition’s list of finalists and
alternates for its 2024 competition.

It’s the 16th year for the SXSW Pitch competition, which showcases innovative
global startups. To date, finalists involved in the competition have raised more
than $23 billion in funding since 2009, according to Pitchbook.

The event occurs from March 9-10th at the SXSW 2024 Conference & Festivals in
Austin. KPMG is the sponsor of SXSW Pitch.

The categories for 2024 include Artificial Intelligence, Voice & Robotics;
Enterprise & Smart Data; Entertainment, Media & Content; Extended Reality and
Web3; Future of Work; Food, Nutrition, & Health; Innovative World Technologies;
and Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability and Student Startup.

Austin had two finalists in the Artificial Intelligence, Robotics & Voice
categories. They include Autonomize, which created AI for healthcare workers and
healthcare institutions. The other Austin finalist is Nava AI, which created an
AI assistant that helps immigrants navigate the complexities of the U.S.
immigration system.

In the Enterprise and Smart Data category, Aiki of Austin is a finalist. It
created a system prioritizing student safety with dynamic two-way communication,
connecting occupants and first responders.

Applix of Austin is a finalist in the Extended Reality and Web3 category. It
created an AR-based automated visual quality inspection app for automotive,
industrial, and medical tech firms.

Connected Athletics of Round Rock is an alternate in the category. The company
empowers athletes to forge meaningful connections and form relationships with
key influencers to optimize their sports careers during/after their eligibility.

In the future of work category, Layerpath is an alternate. “Layerpath
revolutionizes team efficiency with AI-powered interactive product demos. Our
platform enhances self-serve help experiences and boosts software adoption among
customers and employees,” according to the SXSW website.

In the Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability category, Austin-based
Terralytiq is an alternative. It is a climate tech startup specializing in
enterprise decarbonization through its SaaS platform.

In the Student Startup category, MACH Transit of Austin is a finalist. “MACH’s
pilot product is a levitating camera vehicle utilizing maglev to maintain zero
contact with its guideway, enabling the capture of ultra-stable footage at over
200 mph.” Paradigm Robotics of Austin is also a finalist for creating a robotic
platform to provide mission-critical situational awareness for firefighting,
disaster response, industrial/manufacturing, and other industries. Merge
Conflict Studio is also an alternate. It is a minority-led video game
development studio focusing on centering marginalized perspectives and
environmental awareness.

Go to the SXSW site for the full list of finalists and alternates.

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WORLD LOGIC DAY IN AUSTIN ENGAGES COMMUNITY LEADERS TO ADDRESS THE WORLD’S
PROBLEMS

January 24, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

In Austin, Logictry hosted World Logic Day on Sunday at the Long Center
downtown.

According to one of the organizers, the event featured more than 300 speakers,
and an estimated 850 people attended a Friday event and the day-long Sunday
event. Logitrcy’s co-founders Chris Fronda and Chelsea Toler organized World
Logic Day and a handful of other co-hosts.

“As co-hosts, Logictry is enthused to spearhead this catalytic forum bridging
innovation and collaborative community engagement,” Fronda said.

World Logic Day began as a movement organized by UNESCO in association with the
International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences.

Emily Gupton, COO of FOLIO and Community Partnerships Director for Austin Women
in Technology, is also a Co-Chair for World Logic Day Austin. “I am deeply
passionate about community and collaboration as a cornerstone to rise the tides
together,” Gupton said in a news release. “UN World Logic Day brings local and
global communities together to drive solutions to real-world problems.”

World Logic Day focuses on the importance of logic in addressing contemporary
challenges.

Logictry began hosting the United Nations Austin World Logic Day in 2019, and
the event has grown dramatically since then. Logictry also unveiled its
Logic.Wiki, which shares how AI, business leaders, creators, and community
builders are partnering together to share knowledge.

The event started Sunday morning with a keynote on “Innovation and Impact:
Charting the Course Ahead.” Quite a few of the following panels focused on
artificial intelligence and its effect on the educational industry, healthcare,
and business. Other panels discussed community building.

“In the face of this new wave of AI, we are all a little uncertain of the
future, but together we can utilize tools like Logic.Wiki and communities like
our Logic Circle to leverage this moment for positive change,” Chelsea Toler,
co-founder of Logictry, said in a news release.

One afternoon panel focused on YouTube content creators. Collectively, the five
panelists had more than 30 million followers. Kenzie Yolles, a 15-year-old
beauty, makeup, and fashion content creator, has a manager.



The event concluded with a panel of changemakers, five women who were
highlighted in the most recent issue of Austin Women Magazine. Austin Women
Magazine compiled a World Logic Day Changemaker List.

“I see logic bringing a brighter future for all when sustained by character,”
Sofia Sunaga, Co-Founder and Director of Intergen.Family and Co-Chair for World
Logic Day Austin said in a news release. “Logic, coupled with character
development, invites us to step deeper into the realm of AI, creating a future
where human logic and ethical development go hand-in-hand.”

The event engaged people of all ages to discuss change and the problems that
must be solved. Chief among them was Anika Chokhavatia, student leader, founder,
and co-chair for World Logic Day. “We are the emerging leaders of tomorrow, and
it is our responsibility to be aware of the changing world and our place in it,”
Chokhavatia said in a news release. “This initiative fuels the future we hope to
build. I’m particularly looking forward to the Responsible AI, Consumer
Protection, AI Innovation, and Business panel, exploring concepts of
accountability and bias in shaping our worldview.”


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ADVICE FOR FEMALE FOUNDERS FROM NILIMA ACHWAL

January 23, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

In the latest Ideas to Invoices podcast episode, Nilima Achwal, founder of The
Female Founders Lab, provides insights from her entrepreneurial journal.

Previously, Achwal founded Iesha Learning, a technology education platform to
teach sexual education to junior high school students in India. She also
launched and ran SEED, a social enterprise incubation program at Villgro
Innovations Foundation in Chennai. In addition, she was a Kiva Fellow in Bolivia
and wrote business case studies at the University of Michigan.

In this discussion, Achwal gives her views on entrepreneurship and her
commitment to fostering a more inclusive and humanistic approach in the business
world.

Some key takeaways from the podcast:

1. Inspiration for Female Founders Lab: Achwal moved to Austin about half a year
ago to focus on expanding the coaching accelerator she founded in 2019. She was
inspired by the city’s tech ecosystem, which she described as vibrant and
collaborative. The atmosphere embraced her like a big hug.

2. Background in Impact Ventures: Achwal has spent 15 years in the impact
venture space, working with startups focused on healthcare, education, food
systems, media, the future of work, and sustainability. She spent six years in
India and has experience in various aspects of the technology industry and
startups.

3. Motivation behind Female Founders Lab: Achwal’s motivation to start Female
Founders Lab stemmed from her challenges as a founder. She sought to create a
more holistic and deep approach to accelerator programs that focused on
founders’ whole selves and aligned their vision with tangible results.

4. Challenges Faced as a Female Founder: Achwal highlighted the challenges
female founders face in finding mentors and role models. She discussed the
importance of creating a space where female founders can be authentic and not
feel compelled to conform to traditional, masculine business norms.

5. Importance of Diversity and Inclusion: Achwal emphasized the intrinsic value
of diversity in reducing risk in business. She expressed concern about the
“hijacking” of the diversity and inclusion narrative by political forces and
stressed the importance of aiming for excellence rather than artificially
creating diversity.

6. Advice for Women Starting Businesses: Achwal advised women not to get
distracted by external noise and to focus on tuning into their vision and
values. She highlighted the significance of authenticity and encouraged women to
trust their intuition and feelings to gauge if they are on the right path.

7. Fundraising Strategies for Female Businesses: Achwal discussed female
founders’ challenges in securing venture capital funding. She advocated for
values-aligned investors at the early stages and suggested leveraging angel
investors for initial funding.

Achwal also recalled a lesson from her experience as an entrepreneur. She faced
huge challenges making inroads in the Indian education industry with her sex
education product. She highlighted the importance of surrendering to a larger
plan and releasing external pressures. Ultimately, she struck a deal to license
her product to Tata, the largest IT company in India. Her perseverance led to a
breakthrough, demonstrating the power of staying the course and trusting the
process.

You can listen to the entire podcast below or wherever you get your podcasts.


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AUSTIN STARTUPS SEE UPTICK IN FOURTH QUARTER VC FUNDING BUT OVERALL DEALS AND
DOLLARS ARE DOWN FOR 2023

January 14, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Austin startups raised more than $1.12 billion in venture capital in the fourth
quarter of 2023,  an almost 10 percent increase from the same quarter a year
ago, according to the latest Pitchbook-National Venture Capital Association
Venture Monitor Report.

The fourth quarter VC funding is also an almost 46 percent increase from the
$607 million Austin startups raised in the third quarter of this year.

The number of deals funded in the Austin Round Rock metropolitan area also hit
126 deals in the fourth quarter, an almost 11 percent increase from 114 in the
fourth quarter of 2022.

For all of 2023, Austin startups raised $3.8 billion, down 30 percent, compared
to $5.5 billion for 2022. The number of deals funded in the Austin Round Rock
metropolitan area also dropped to 416 in 2023, down 15 percent from 492 deals in
2022.

The top deal financed in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $300 million to Firefly
Aerospace, based in Cedar Park, creating rockets for commercial launches to
orbit.

The second largest deal was Infinitum Electric, which makes electric motors and
received $200 million in venture funding. The third largest funding went to Mach
Industries, a defense startup developing hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial
vehicles, weapons, and generators, and received $84.1 million.

Deal, fundraising, and exit activity were down for the fourth quarter, according
to the National Venture Capital Association. But the market isn’t in crisis,
according to Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of the NVCA.

“Rather,  the market has changed,” he wrote in a statement. “From interest rates
to foreign conflict, the world looks very different than it did two years ago,
and a new set of problems needs to be solved for.”

Overall, startups nationwide attracted $170.6 billion in venture capital, down
$71.6 billion from 2022.

Top Austin VC Deals in the Fourth Quarter

Firefly Aerospace.   $300.0 million

Infinitum                   $200.0 million

Mach Industries          $84.1 million

Saronic                         $55.0 million

Paradromics                $50.1 million

Source: Pitchbook

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HARBOR HEALTH RAISES $95.5 MILLION TO EXPAND HEALTHCARE SERVICES IN CENTRAL
TEXAS

January 13, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Austin-based Harbor Health, a primary and specialty clinic group, recently
announced that it has secured an additional $95.5 million in funding.

General Catalyst led the round of funding with participation from Alta Partners
and *VC. To date, Harbor Health has raised more than $128 million.

The company plans to use the funding to provide more primary care services and
specialty care offerings.

Harbor Health was founded by Dr. Clay Johnston, Eric Scott (from 8VC), and Tony
Miller.

“We realized in order to maximize the impact of our innovations, we needed to
combine our efforts into one enterprise as a vertically integrated ‘pay-vider’ –
both a payer and a provider,” Johnston said in a statement. “We have built a
geographically dense care model that is organized around integrated practice
units and focused on member health conditions. This new investment and our rapid
growth confirm our innovative care model is working, and we’re meeting more
people where they are with collaborative, team-based care.”

Harbor Health is creating a new healthcare model that puts consumers in control
of their health.

“Eventually, we see a future where current care design and benefit design models
become obsolete, replaced by a health-producing and health-promoting system that
follows people along their life journeys,” Miller said in a statement.

This new approach and the history of success by both Johnston and Miller have
attracted attention in the marketplace and from investors.

 “There’s a strong appetite for a fresh approach to healthcare delivery among
employers that prioritizes outcomes, enhances consumer engagement, and is
proactive by design,” Chris Bischoff, Managing Director at General Catalyst said
in a statement.. “We believe Harbor Health is providing ease of access to the
largest covered population in the U.S. and bringing much-needed change as the
company seeks to transform value-based care for the commercial sector. This
aligns with our Health Assurance thesis. We look forward to supporting Tony,
Clay, and the Harbor Health team in this new phase of growth.”

Harbor Health has eight locations in Central Texas, with more planned this year.
It also launched two mobile health units. It employs 43 clinicians. Harbor
Health touched consumers more than 25,000 times in Austin in 2023 with in-clinic
appointments, virtual appointments, mobile clinics, and other modes of
communication.

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FROM FROG DESIGN TO ARGODESIGN: MARK ROLSTON’S JOURNEY OF INNOVATION,
CREATIVITY, AND AI INSIGHTS

January 13, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

When frog design fired Doreen Lorenzo for doing great work for a client but not
charging enough, Mark Rolston decided to leave the firm and start his own
company.

It was the “actual kick in the pants to do it right then,” Rolston recalled.

He worked at frog for 20 years since 1994 and wanted to “remake what I enjoyed
about frog” and roll it out into the marketplace. argodesign encourages a
“culture of open willingness to argue” and challenges each other’s work to get
the best possible solution and products. argodesign focuses on creating products
that interact with technology.

Lorenzo, assistant dean of the School of Design and Creative Technologies at the
University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts, interviewed Rolston at
BigIdeasATX, a monthly event series hosted by Silicon Hills News. Unnanu,
evisio, and Swyft sponsored the event.

Rolston founded argodesign in 2014, and in 2018, he sold to a $22 billion IT
company, DXC Technology, for an undisclosed sum. Rolston, who has a more than
30-year career in the design industry, has worked with some of Austin’s most
innovative startups, including Apptronik on its Apollo robot for NASA and ICON
on its massive 3-D printer for houses and other structures. argodesign also
works with Dreamworks, Sam’s Club, and others. argodesign has offices in New
York, Amsterdam and Munich.

During an hour-long talk at argodesign’s headquarters in downtown Austin,
Lorenzo asked Rolston about topics such as AI, creativity, copyright, technology
evolution, and AI’s future.

Here are five key takeaways from the talk:

 1. Shift in Technology and Product Development and AI in Software Development:
    Rolston talked about the evolution of the products being developed, from
    stereos and toasters to software and mobile apps. He discussed the
    challenges of creating AI tools for developers to make sense of AI at scale.
    He mentioned a shift toward dynamic, on-the-fly application creation,
    exemplified by the mention of Google’s Gemini.
 2. Velocity of Change and Creativity:
    Lorenzo and Rolston talked about the rapid pace of technological change and
    its impact on creativity. They explored ideas on the potential for AI to
    create dynamic, ephemeral applications based on user requests.
 3. Copyright Issues:
    Rolston said there is a need for potential regulation in the context of
    copyright, mainly as AI generates content inspired by existing works. He
    said there are challenges in existing copyright law, and there is a need for
    a rewrite to address AI-generated content.
 4. Creativity and Human-AI Collaboration:
    Rolston acknowledged the role of humans in creativity and the belief that
    creatives will find ways to protect their work in the digital space. He
    believed that AI could enhance the creative processes and contribute a new
    form of collaboration.
 5. Complexity of Emotion in AI and AI as a Tool for Empowerment: Rolston said
    detecting emotion in AI is a complex problem. Humans often attribute
    emotions to machines that are programmed to react like Furbys, according to
    Lorenzo. Rolston has a vision of designing AI systems that empower
    individuals to participate actively in conversations and the world around
    them.

Watch the entire talk in the YouTube video embedded below for more information.


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HANDRAISE LANDS $6.3 MILLION IN FUNDING TO CREATE AI-POWERED PR PLATFORM

November 16, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Former TrendKite Founder and CEO Matt Allison has raised $6.3 million in seed
funding to launch Handraise.

Austin-based Handraise will create a platform powered by artificial intelligence
to help companies increase the impact of their press coverage.

Allison built TrendKite into a top media monitoring and analytics platform,
which Cision acquired in 2019 for $225 million.

“As we worked with the world’s foremost PR and communications professionals at
TrendKite, I realized there is a massive opportunity to help everyone involved –
brands, communications professionals, journalists, and news consumers – get more
out of the news by connecting the right audience to the right content,” Allison
said in a news release.

“TrendKite was known in the industry for delivering on its promises of being
consultative thought partners to its customers,” Allison said. “We helped our
customers prove their value through our intuitive analytics and domain
expertise. We’ll deliver on those same promises at Handraise while using
generative artificial intelligence to help our customers measure their business
impact and amplify it.”

Handraise is leveraging large language models to deliver simple yet profound
insights without manual effort. This allows users to focus on strategy and
impact.

“We were excited to learn that Matt and his former TrendKite colleagues are back
together building a new product in the PR technology market,” Morgan Flager,
Managing Partner at Silverton Partners, said in a news release. “Matt and his
team of industry veterans are experts in the space, and we’re thrilled to back
them again.”

Silverton Partners, Floodgate, Bill Wood Ventures, Firebrand VC, Aperiam
Ventures, Active Capital, Sputnik ATX VC, Capital Factory, and a handful of
world-class angel investors back Handraise.

“The ongoing advancements in generative AI are creating opportunities we’ve
never seen before in the earned media space,” Mike Maples, Jr., Co-Founding
Partner at Floodgate and early investor in Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, and others,
said in a news release. “We believe the Handraise team is best suited to
leverage their industry expertise and unique implementation of AI to unlock the
power of news for everyone.”

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SAMSUNG AUSTIN SEMICONDUCTOR DONATES $1 MILLION TO TAYLOR ISD FOR A CAREER AND
TECHNICAL EDUCATION CENTER

November 15, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Circuit board close-up, with Samsung and TI chips

Samsung Austin Semiconductor announced Tuesday that it has donated $1 million to
the Taylor Independent School District for a new career and technical education
center.

The money will pay for equipment, staff, and training needed for classrooms,
dual credit labs for coursework, robotics and automation, and other
manufacturing-related program-specific laboratories at Taylor ISD’s new CTE
building at Taylor High School. The new center is scheduled for completion in
the fall of 2025.

“This new investment from Samsung Austin Semiconductor underscores our shared
commitment to the next generation of advanced manufacturing talent,” Jennifer
Garcia-Edwardsen, superintendent of Taylor ISD, said in a news release. “Our
students have enjoyed working as interns and learning about the semiconductor
industry. We look forward to our continued long-term partnership in ensuring
that our scholars are inspired, equipped, and empowered to achieve their unique
potential.”

The district offers 16 CTE programs that provide hands-on experience in various
careers, from engineering to health science.

 In November of 2021, Samsung Austin Semiconductor announced Taylor as the site
for a $17 billion manufacturing facility. Since then, Samsung has provided tours
of its facility to students, hosted a summer internship program, provided
funding for teachers, and awarded a one-time grant of $250,000.

 “We are excited to expand our relationship with Taylor ISD and invest in the
vital resources necessary to provide an effective learning method about the
semiconductor industry,” said Samsung Austin Semiconductor president Bonyoung
Koo in a news release. “We believe our partnership can help build the future
workforce of Texas, and we look forward to supporting education that will
encourage students to consider a career in the semiconductor industry; our
partnership is important for Taylor, our state, and the nation, and the impact
will be felt worldwide.”

 “This collaboration and Samsung presence in Taylor will provide opportunities
for our scholars to find great employment in their hometown,” Rachelle Finck,
director of Behavioral Health & Student Services at Taylor ISD, said in a news
release.

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TURNING TRASH INTO TREASURES: THE STARTUP ROCKSTARS AND ORIGIN TALE OF SXSW

November 10, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

The founders of SXSW got the idea for the event from New Music Seminar or NMS, a
New York-based music festival in the mid-80s.

NMS always featured many Austin-based bands, said Hugh Forrest, Co-President and
Chief Programming Officer of SXSW. After a plan to organize NMS South in Austin
fell through, the four founders created South by Southwest during Spring Break
of 1987. They picked that week in March because it was the slowest week of the
year for the music venue.

It started with just 700 people. Today, SXSW has 60,000 badge holders and
hundreds of thousands of consumers.

Forrest started the discussion Thursday afternoon at Austin Startup Week on “Why
& How Startups Rock SXSW” by providing a “very brief look at the SXSW origin
story.”

“I love telling the SXSW origin story, particularly when talking to startups,”
Forrest said. “As with a lot of origin stories, SXSW happened more by
coincidence than by design.”

The big takeaway from SXSW is that entrepreneurs turn trash into treasures,
Forrest said. He said there’s a lot to learn from SXSW’s origin story.

“Find something that everyone has overlooked and create intense value,” Forrest
said. “Or find an idea that no one has thought of before and create intense
value. Or execute on a great idea that no one has executed on effectively
before.”

The key is to “persist, persist, and then persist even more – and don’t take no
for an answer,” Forrest said.

The four founders of SXSW were Roland Swenson, Louis Jay Meyers, Louis Black,
and Nick Barbaro.

“These four SXSW founders paved the way for so much more March entrepreneurism,”
Forrest said,

Among the great entrepreneurs to emerge from SXSW, Forrest included Johnny Cash
in 1994,  

Foster the People in 2011, Billie Eilish in 2017, Grimes in 2012, and other
musicians.

Another takeaway from SXSW is that entrepreneurs are rockstars and vice versa,
Forrest said.

There are a lot of similarities between entrepreneurs and musicians, and that’s
why SXSW has survived for so long, Forrest said.

“SXSW always focuses on Creativity, authenticity, originality, and innovative
ideas,” Forrest said. Those are the traits and characteristics that define
successful SXSW bands and startups, he said. Forrest said they want to be on the
same stage and intermingle at SXSW. He also encouraged everyone to reconsider
and broaden their idea of what an entrepreneur is today.

“What can you learn from other creative types that will help you as a startup,”
Forrest asked. The mission of SXSW is to help creative people achieve their
goals, he said.

The event has attracted big names like President Barrack Obama and Vice
President Joe Biden through the years. It has also been a launching pad for
companies like Twitter, Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Workweek, Meerkat, ICON, and others.

At SXSW, entrepreneurs are even more critical than celebrities, Forrest said.



Chris Valentine, event manager for the SXSW Pitch competition, gave a quick
presentation on the SXSW Pitch competition. Applications for SXSW Pitch are due
on Sunday. There’s still time to apply at SXSW.com/Pitch, Valentine said.

Since 2009, SXSW Pitch has showcased 647 startups, which have raised a combined
$23.2 billion in funding. Google, British Telecom, Apple, and others have
acquired seven percent of those startups.

SXSW Pitch competition alums include Klout, ICON, Hipmunk, Tubemogul, Siri,
Foodspotting, and Tango.

More than 700 startups apply for the SXSW Pitch competition every year,
Valentine said. Of those, 45 finalists are selected to compete in nine
categories, he said.

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STARTUP VALUATIONS TAKE A HIT AS INVESTORS DEMAND PROFITABILITY: AUSTIN’S
EVOLVING VC LANDSCAPE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP REALITIES

November 9, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Startups’ Valuations are down, and entrepreneurs must do more with less money
and focus on their core business to become profitable.

The days of startups valued at 20 times revenue are over, and now, it’s more
common to have five-, six– or seven-times revenue as a valuation, according to
Mike Dodd, general partner of Silverton Partners.

He spoke on a panel during Austin Startup Week’s discussion on “The Shift of the
VC Fundraising Landscape: What This Means for Texas Entrepreneurs” Wednesday
morning at Capital Factory. Charlie Plauche, general partner of S3 Ventures,
moderated the panel, which also included Venu Shamapant, founding partner of
LiveOak Venture Partners, Kerry Rupp, general partner of True Wealth Ventures,
and Tom Ball, Cofounder and managing partner of Next Coast Ventures.



“There was just a matter of time before this bubble burst,” Dodd said.

But the situation could be more dire. Dodd said the panel had $1 billion worth
of “dry powder” or venture capital funds looking for an investment. Many of the
firms raised significant funds a year or two ago, and they have been more
discerning in the last three quarters of making investments.

That shows in the latest VC data on the Austin-Round Rock metro area. Austin
companies completed 78 deals worth $589.9 million in the third quarter, down 33
percent in value and nearly 20 percent in deal volume from the same quarter a
year ago, according to the latest Pitchbook-National Venture Capital Association
Venture Monitor report.

In the first three quarters of 2023, Austin companies have raised nearly $2.8
billion in 290 deals.

“Austin will likely reach 400 completed deals for the third consecutive year in
2023,” according to the report. “That figure would be just a 20 percent decline
from the 2021 high, making Austin one of the more resolute VC ecosystems of the
major markets.”

“It’s been an entrepreneur-friendly environment for a while, but it’s shifted in
the last ten months. It’s more investor-friendly,” Dodd said.



“It’s a very cyclical business,” said Ball, managing partner of Next Coast
Ventures. Ball emphasized that there has never been a better time to start a
business.

“You are in it for longer than the average marriage in America,” Ball said. “As
long as you have a good idea and can fund it, it’s good.”

Ball said Next Coast Ventures has pushed all of its portfolio companies to reach
profitability to survive. Three to four years ago, VCs told startups to pursue
growth at all costs, and now they need to be profitable, Ball said.

“It’s a tough environment as an entrepreneur with all the different advice you
get,” Ball said.

Entrepreneurs must focus on their core business, Rupp said.

Also, debt isn’t available like it was a few years ago, Shamapant said. He said
the days of getting a low-interest loan from Silicon Valley Bank are gone.

Companies that have moved here need to know that things are going to get better,
said Plauche, general partner of S3 Ventures.

Dodd said that Austin VCs have a lot of capital to focus on Austin investments.

In the past five years, Austin has seen a flood of people move from the
California coast to Austin, and that’s been good for the ecosystem, Dodd said.

“I’m a bit of an Elon Musk fanboy,” he said.

In addition to relocating Tesla’s headquarters to Austin, Musk has brought
SpaceX, the Boring Company, and Starlink operations here, and that’s good for
everyone, Dodd said. He said that brings in many talented people, and some might
decide to launch their own business.

“It’s better than it’s ever been,” Dodd said. “It may not look like that in your
shoes right now because it’s hard to get capital. But I think we’re in a great
spot.”

Silverton has made five new investments in the last three months; before that,
it had yet to do any in the previous ten months, Dodd said.

Next Coast Ventures has also closed on five new deals in the last three months,
Ball said.



Shamapant said he’s been in Austin for 24 years, and the venture capital
industry is the healthiest it has ever been. Austin Ventures used to be the only
venture capital firm in town two decades ago; now, there are dozens of firms, he
said.

“Money has a lot better chance of getting to you when there are multiple firms
in the market,” Shamapant said.

Austin needs to focus on its infrastructure to deal with the influx of new
residents and companies, Shamapant said. In particular, there is a need for
affordable housing.

“Inflation has hit here hard,” Ball said.

Californians have also driven up compensation levels, and startups need more
capital at an early stage to build a company, he said.

“Every deal is going to need more money,” he said.

Plauche, general partner of S3 Ventures, asked the panelists what startup
metrics they look at when deciding to invest.



At the early stage, many of the metrics True Wealth Ventures looks at in
startups are qualitative, Rupp said.

“The first metric is the team,” she said. She said that it’s a bit more than
just math at the seed stage.

“We don’t invest until we see efficacy that something improves health,” Rupp
said.

Next Coast Ventures looks at the team and product market fit, Ball said.

LiveOak Venture Partners also looks at the team and product market fit,
Shamapant said.

Silverton Partners focuses on product usage, Dodd said.

“If the usage is pretty high and becomes part of the daily workflow of the
customer, then you are onto something,” he said. 

Rupp said seed investors and series A investors want a well-thought-out plan for
how the entrepreneur uses the money.

“It’s kind of a long exercise of iterating around what can I do with the capital
to get to the next stage,” she said. “You need to have a plan that makes sense
to the investor around the assumptions you’ve made.”

Raising money is like being a plane, Ball said. And he said the entrepreneur has
to take the plane apart and put it back together again before it crashes.



Q3 2023 Top 10 VC Deals in the Austin-Round Rock Metro Area

SpyCloud                          $110 million      
  Software                          Series D

Hidden Layer                    $50 million        
  Software                         Series A

One Model                        $41 million           Software           
             Series B

Black Ore                           $40 million           Commercial Services   
Series A

Diligent Robotics              $26.5 million        Computer Hardware    Series
B2

Osano                                 $25 million           Software
                        Series B

Chipletz                              $23.2 million        Computer Hardware
   Series B

CertifID                               $20 million         
 Software                         Series B

Terminal Industries          $17 million    
      Software                         Seedstage

SkyFi                                    $14.4 million       Commercial Services
   Seedstage

Source: Q3 2023 Pitchbook-NVCA Venture Monitor

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CRUISE HALTS “ROBOTAXIS” IN AUSTIN AND NATIONWIDE

October 28, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
A Cruise self-driving car was undergoing testing in the SoMa District of San
Francisco.

Cruise, an autonomous vehicle company of which General Motors owns 80 percent,
announced Thursday the shutdown of its Robotaxi operations in Austin.

“The most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public
trust,” Cruise wrote in a post on Twitter. “Part of this involves taking a hard
look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise, even if it means doing things that
are uncomfortable or difficult.”

Cruise shut down its autonomous vehicle operations everywhere, including San
Francisco and Phoenix.

“In that spirit, we have decided to proactively pause driverless operations
across all of our fleets while we examine our processes, systems, and tools and
reflect on how we can better operate in a way that will earn public trust,”
Cruise posted.

The move comes after the California Department of Motor Vehicles ordered Cruise
to halt its operations in the state after an accident with a pedestrian and
another vehicle involved a Cruise Robotaxi which dragged the pedestrian forward,
according to a story in Reuters.

Axios Austin reported earlier this year that 19 complaints were filed with city
officials about Cruise’s Robotaxis. No deaths or injuries were associated with
those complaints, which included Cruise cars stopped on the road and Cruise cars
being unable to recognize a traffic officer’s hand signals.

At SXSW in March of this year, Mary Barra, GM’s Chair and CEO, spoke in a
session on “Self-Driving Cars: From Science Fiction to Scale.” At that time, she
said she believed AVs are the future of transportation and an essential part of
General Motors’ business.

Shortly after that, Cruise’s robotaxis service started to scale up in the Austin
market, which was already testing the vehicles.

Cruise contends that AVs provide increased safety and mobility for those who
cannot drive.

At SXSW, Kyle Vogt, Cruise CEO, said that Cruise had built its cars for dense
urban areas, forcing them to solve problems such as construction zones, traffic
light outages, and road blockages. He said the company had solved most of the
technical and scientific risks.

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GOOGLE FIBER IS LOOKING FOR 20 GIG INTERNET TESTERS IN AUSTIN

May 20, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Google Fiber is looking for testers in the Austin market to see what they can do
with 20 Gig Internet.

The applications can be drug development, virtual reality, artificial
intelligent humanoid robot assistants, flying cars, or something else.

According to Google, an organization or company might be an excellent candidate
to test a symmetrical 20 Gig connection if it is downloading or uploading
massive datasets, conducting research that needs significantly more bandwidth,
or doing future-focused technology that needs lots of bandwidth.

“We are interested in finding firms that are doing things I haven’t even thought
of yet,” said Nick Saporito, head of Multi-gig & Commercial Product.

Google launched a test for its 20 Gig product with the University of
Missouri-Kansas City’s School of Science and Engineering.

“They’ve been doing a lot of things at their School of Science and Engineering
from tackling big data sets to making virtual reality less virtual and more
reality,” Saporito wrote in a blog post.

“But we know that’s just the beginning (like our recently launched 5 Gig and 8
Gig products),” Saporito wrote. “That’s why we’re looking for eight
more organizations  — businesses, non-profits, educational institutions — to
help test 20 Gig in Austin, Huntsville, Raleigh-Durham, and Salt Lake City.”

Austin currently has 1 Gig and 2 Gig products, and Kansas City has 5 Gig and 8
Gig available, Saporito said.

“Texas markets will get them later this year,” he said.

Google Fiber is currently available in Austin and San Antonio. Google began
offering Google Fiber in Austin in December of 2014, and a year later, it
announced plans to bring Google Fiber to San Antonio.

“We are very aggressively expanding the market in San Antonio and Austin and in
Texas,” Saporito said. “We are very happy with how our Texas markets perform.”

“The 20 Gig is really a nice experiment for us,” Saporito said. “We have the
technical capability to do it so why not test it out.”

The 20 Gig experiment is designed to generate as many technical learnings as
possible, Saporito said. The second piece is understanding what future-looking
use cases are for 20 Gig. Markets, he said.

“What’s coming down the pike in terms of Internet usage?” he said. “That’s
really what we’re after here.”

Apply to be a 20 Gig tester here 

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CLOUD SECURITY COMPANIES EAGLE EYE NETWORKS AND BRIVO RECEIVE $192 MILLION
INVESTMENT FROM SECOM

May 17, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Eagle Eye Networks, specializing in cloud video surveillance, and Brivo, which
provides cloud-based access control and smart space technologies, Wednesday
announced it received a $192 million investment from SECOM CO., LTD.

SEACOM, a security integration company, is investing  $100 million in Eagle Eye
Networks and $92 million in Brivo. Both Austin-based companies are majority
owned by Dean Drako.

Drako founded Eagle Eye Networks in 2012 and serves as CEO. He acquitted a
majority stake in Brivo in 2015 and is its chairman.

“The SECOM investment underscores that cloud and AI are the future of physical
security,” Drako said in a news release. “Both Eagle Eye and Brivo will use a
significant portion of the investment to further develop AI that dramatically
improves the security of enterprises and businesses globally.”

Eagle Eye Networks and Brivo integrate with many third-party technology
providers, including the leading property management and Proptech platforms.

In addition, Eagle Eye and Brivo provide a fully integrated solution that global
businesses use to manage risk, identify threats, and respond. The companies’
joint capabilities deliver real-time AI-enabled video and access control events
analysis, optimizing safety and security.

Eagle Eye Networks will use the investment for continued development of its
AI-based analytics capabilities such as Eagle Eye Smart Video Search, Smart
Alarms, and Vehicle Intelligence, and to expand its worldwide operations.

Brivo will use the investment to grow sales and marketing, accelerate product
development, scale support and operational functions, and evaluate strategic
acquisitions. Brivo will also use the additional investment to continue
expanding in Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. It will also enhance the
smart spaces and AI functionality in the Brivo Access Platform for its
enterprise, multifamily, and commercial real estate customers.

“SECOM has a proud history of innovation going back to Japan’s first online
security system for commercial use in 1966,” Sadahiro Sato, SECOM Managing
Executive Officer. “We’re committed to delivering services and systems that
deliver safety, peace of mind, and business efficiency. Our investment in Eagle
Eye Networks and Brivo, the market leaders in cloud physical security, is an
investment in our three companies’ mission: to provide the best technology
possible to keep businesses and communities safe.”

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NEWCHIP ENTERS INTO BANKRUPTCY LIQUIDATION

May 13, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

By Laura Lorek, publisher and senior writer of Silicon Hills News

Newchip entered into bankruptcy liquidation last week.

The Austin-based company rebranded as Astralabs, doing business as Newchip and
Newchip Accelerator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on March
17th, listing $1.7 million in total assets and $4.8 million in total
liabilities, according to its filing. But last week, the bankruptcy judge forced
the company into Chapter 7 liquidation, according to a letter posted by its
co-founder and CEO, Andrew Ryan.

“I deeply regret to inform you that our company Newchip Accelerator after 6 +
years of supporting startups globally, has faced a series of unfortunate events
which have significantly impacted our operations,” said Ryan, formerly known as
Ryan Rafols.

Among its top unsecured creditors, the company lists Apex Funding Source of
Miami with a $536,000 claim, Clear Finance Technology Corp. of Ontario, Canada,
with a $1.5 million claim, and Iruka Capital of New Jersey with a $594,000
claim. All of those were listed as “merchant cash advances,” alternative
financing for small businesses where the borrower pays the interest upfront, and
the lender takes a percentage of the company’s future revenue until it’s paid
back.

In addition, Newchip received more than $776,000 in taxpayer funds under
COVID-19 relief programs. It lists the U.S. Small Business Administration as a
top 10 unsecured creditor with a claim of $500,000 for a COVID-19 Economic
Injury Disaster Loan.

Newchip also received two Paycheck Protection Program loans for $141,289 in
March of 2021 and $135,100 in April 2020, which were both forgiven.

Newchip raised $7.9 million in funding from accredited and nonaccredited
investors, according to Crunchbase. However, the company has a history of
losses. It filed documents with the SEC reporting a net loss of $197,884 for
2016 and a $748,999 loss in 2017. And in 2020 financial filings, it claimed $4.5
million in tax loss carryforwards.

In 2020, Newchip reported earning $2.6 million in revenue from selling its
accelerator program to startups and $781,000 in 2019, according to its
consolidated financial statements.

Silicon Hills News has been in contact with more than a dozen startups that
claim the company took their money and didn’t deliver on the promises of the
accelerator program. And one startup founder, Angela DiMarco, co-founder of
Uniquely Phenom Collaborations in New York, said she paid $7,500 to go through
Newchip’s accelerator and was pleased with the program.

“The education part of it was like getting an MBA, and where can you get an MBA
for $7500, you know,” DiMarco said. “I went from not knowing what a KPI was to
now being very comfortable that I can walk into a room full of investors and
negotiate a term sheet.”

But DiMarco said she wouldn’t get that chance with Newchip to pitch to
investors. She was supposed to do her three-minute elevator pitch to investors
last week, which didn’t happen. She said she paid an additional fee for that
opportunity and would try to get her money back.

In Vancouver, Washington, John Laine is not a happy customer.

In 2020, Laine gave a testimonial in favor of the company during the
accelerator’s onboarding process. He hadn’t yet started the program, but when he
did, he was hugely disappointed. Laine has asked the company numerous times to
remove his name and testimonial from its marketing materials, but they have not.

At the time, Laine had a fintech startup and wanted to learn about crowdfunding.
So he paid $3,800 of a $20,000 fee to participate in the accelerator.

“I did the program for less than a week and a half, and I realized I was duped,”
he said. “It’s the crappiest version of online education you can produce.”

Laine contacted his credit card company and canceled the rest of the
installments.

“Every business owner I’ve ever known is an optimist, and they prayed on that
optimistic personality,” Laine said.

Newchip promised him that they would commit a minimum investment of $100,000
into his startup and that they did that for every startup that went through its
program. But, unfortunately, he never got an investment.

Laine said they prayed on a particular avatar, a founder looking for a solution
to bring their company forward.

Jari Kemppinen, the founder of Soulbotix, based in Australia, which builds
custom ChatGPT-powered metahumans, joined the Newchip accelerator in February
and paid $6,000 for the “courseware that gets you nowhere.”

“Seeking funding in Australia is a hopeless endeavor,” Kemppinen wrote in an
email. However, he was attracted to Newchip because it was based in the US and
offered remote learning and participation without relocating. He also liked the
company’s promised connections and introductions to Newchip’s extensive VC
investment portfolio. Unfortunately, once Kemppinen joined the program, he found
little help from Newchip.

“I found that they lacked one-to-one communication, and I was left alone to
navigate an enormous amount of content without any help,” Kemppinen said. “They
just seemed to rely on founders looking after themselves.”

Kemppinen has yet to get any introductions to investors and would like a refund.

This experience disheartens him. “I am beginning to think the startup funding
ecosystem is corrupt and not worth it,” he said. Too much work needs to go into
creating so much documentation to gain some funding, he said. “Making solid
partnerships, being honest, and working with your customers and partners is
easier. That is what will make you money.”

A former Newchip employee said the company hired Garibay Ventures, based in
Austin, to send spam emails to thousands of startup founders worldwide to
recruit new startups for its paid program with the promise of investor
introductions.

Ahmed Zobi, CEO and founder of Syntr Health Technologies, based in Irvine,
Calif., received one of those emails from Anthony Garibay, CEO and Founder of
Garibay Ventures, who claimed to be an investor.

Garibay Ventures said it recently partnered with Newchip’s accelerator to “get
extra exposure to their investors (which I am a part of),” according to the
email. The email included a link to the Newchip accelerator application.

In November 2020, Zobi paid $4000 to participate in the Newchip program. Newchip
told him the actual cost of the program was $30,000, but they were granting him
a scholarship for $26,000. But when he got the 12-page contract from Newchip, it
included a clause that gave Newchip warrants or the right to buy a certain
number of shares in the startup at a set price. Zobi showed it to his lawyer,
who advised him not to sign. He didn’t. And Newchip never followed up to make
sure the contract got signed. Zobi participated in the program but got little
value out of it. His assigned mentor emailed him and said he was traveling to
London. He ghosted him after that. The mentor never responded to follow-up
emails or meeting requests, Zobi said.

“At the end of the day, I knew something was off because they never even asked
for the contract back,” Zobi said.

“I think they just cared about getting as many startups signed up as possible,”
Zobi said.

Other startups that paid to participate in Newchip’s global accelerator program
are complaining on social media, primarily LinkedIn, that the company took their
money and left them without resources. In addition, some former employees are
alleging harassment in the Newchip workplace and a hostile work environment,
according to a former employee.

Newchip started in 2016 as a marketplace aggregating the best deals from various
equity-based crowdfunding platforms. It also was selected to participate in the
Sputnik ATX accelerator program in Austin.

Newchip was not an equity crowdfunding platform itself. But it billed itself as
the “kayak of funding,” Its website allowed nonaccredited investors to invest in
deals for as little as $100 at a time.

The company said it made money from deal listing fees, investment commissions,
exchange transaction fees, data analytics, and partners.

Travis Brodeen co-founded Newchip with Ryan Rafols, who has since changed his
name to Andrew Ryan.

In 2018, Newchip raised $647,000 from more than 160 nonaccredited investors at a
$15 million valuation on the equity crowdfunding platform Wefunder. Its goal was
“to be the NASDAQ for the alternative investment market.”

But somewhere along the line, according to a former employee requesting
anonymity, things went wrong.

The Newchip Accelerator has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau and two
complaints from 2022 claiming the company lied to them. One complaint stated the
startup paid $6,000 to participate in the program with a money-back guarantee
that if they didn’t raise funds through Newchip, the accelerator would refund
their money. However, the startup did not raise funds, and Newchip refused to
repay its money.

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DO YOU NEED VENTURE CAPITAL TO BUILD A BUSINESS?

May 13, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Special Contribution by Evisio

Every startup in the world has one thing in common: a dream. From humble
beginnings in a basement or garage, entrepreneurs set out to build the next big
thing. It’s a tale as old as time and has always been part of the American
dream.

For most entrepreneurs, there’s inevitably one major obstacle blocking the path
to making this a reality – funding. No matter how great the offering is, growing
a business without money is hard. But how far are you willing to go to make it a
reality?

One Austin man is betting the house on his success – literally. Michael Ramirez,
the founder of SEO technology company Evisio.co, has decided to forgo the
traditional route of seeking funding from venture capitalists. Instead, he has
listed his home on the market to secure the cash he needs to scale his business.

Rather than sacrificing equity in the company he has painstakingly built from
the ground up with outside investments, Ramirez decided to grow his startup via
“bootstrapping” (i.e., pulling yourself up by your bootstraps).  

While venture capital, or VC, tends to get a lot of attention, largely thanks to
the success of companies like DoorDash, Airbnb and Uber, many founders are
unaware there are non-traditional ways to fund their startups.

Before we provide some alternative methods for VC funding, let’s take a closer
look at the traditional role VC has played, the recent impact events have had on
the field, and discuss other ways entrepreneurs like Ramirez are finding ways to
finance their startups – without giving up a chunk of their business.  

What is Venture Capital?

Venture capital is a form of private financing in which an investor, investment
bank, or other financial institution puts capital into a startup or small
business in exchange for a piece of equity. This investment can come in many
forms, including operational capital, technical expertise, or management
experience.

In many cases, VC is used as a short-term investment, where investors provide
cash for startups to grow and build infrastructure and then exit once the
company has reached a position where it can be sold to a corporation or receive
equity in institutional public-equity markets.

While shows like Shark Tank and movies like The Social Network have reaffirmed
the romantic image of a group of unknown entrepreneurs taking their business
from the basement to the peaks of Silicon Valley remains, in reality, less than
1% of startups receive outside investment capital.

What has led to this more cautious approach? And what does it mean for aspiring
business magnates? Let’s find out.

The State of VC Investments in 2023

On Friday, March 10, 2023, one of the world’s most prominent VC institutions,
Silicon Valley Bank, fell victim to panic, resulting in the third-biggest bank
failure in United States history. It was a problem that caught many investors
off guard – but it shouldn’t have.

Investopedia estimated 97% of the bank’s deposits were not federally insured,
which was particularly problematic for the tech sector, which has been hard hit
by the aggressive rise of interest rates in an attempt to offset inflation.

The total damage of the fallout remains to be seen. Still, the highly
interconnected nature of VC could lead to far-reaching concerns for both
investors and the companies they have invested in, including the risk of
companies being unable to pay employees or investors being unable to secure
funds.

As a result, it seems likely that VCs will become less risk-tolerant, which
means startups will find it more challenging to secure funding as VC investors
become more selective.

This is far from the only issue with using VC to fund business growth. The field
is also a largely insular community. According to a study by Richard Kerby, more
than 80% of U.S. venture capitalists are men, and 70% are white. The study also
indicates that nearly half of all VC investors studied at either Harvard or
Stanford.

This has had the unintended consequence of creating what is known as “pattern
matching,” in which investors make decisions about future investments based on
past experiences.

In other words, because VC has typically included a lack of diversity in race,
gender, and alma mater, it has created a cycle where white men from top
universities continue to dominate the field.

This landscape makes it challenging for founders to secure funding and
successfully scale once it has been secured. That’s why some entrepreneurs are
thinking outside the box when it comes to financing their businesses.

Why a Local Entrepreneur is Selling His Austin Home to Bootstrap His Startup

Many founders are looking for ways to avoid the VC model and instead are seeking
ways to bootstrap their startups, which is considered one of the safest and
healthiest ways to scale. The primary means of accomplishing this depends on
either the business generating enough revenue to fuel its growth or the founders
successfully securing another type of investment, either from their assets, via
their friends and family, or finding another traditional source of capital like
a bank.

But there’s the issue – most people don’t inherit a fortune from a distant
uncle, win the lottery  or have some other source of behind-the-scenes funding.
Solving this problem requires outside-the-box thinking to find nontraditional
ways to secure financing – exactly what Evisio’s Michael Ramirez has done.

A self-described “serial entrepreneur,” Ramirez was not born into the lap of
luxury. Growing up in inner-city San Antonio, he saw his share of financial and
social struggles and made it his mission to change his family’s economic status.

“Despite our economic hardships, my parents taught me how to be resourceful,
fight through tough times and see opportunities where others don’t,” he said.
”For example, when I was laid off from my first job out of college, I asked one
of the company’s owners if he’d hire me as a contractor. Most people wouldn’t
think to do that, let alone have the guts to ask.”

His hustle mindset led him to move to Austin, where he graduated from The
University of Texas at Austin, started his marketing agency, became an SXSW
speaker, and now bootstrapped his own marketing Saas company in Evisio.co.

“Starting with my SEO agency (which I still operate), I was constantly seeking
ways to streamline the process of getting webpages to the top of Google
rankings,” Ramirez said.”That’s when an idea struck me like a thunderbolt, and
Evisio was born.”

A platform designed to streamline every aspect of search engine optimization and
improve results, it’s suitable for every level of SEO expertise, from old pros
to absolute novices. Ramirez was immediately confident this was a winning idea.

“But that brought me back to the funding problem,” he said. “I first wanted to
prove the concept before taking on debt and giving away a lot of equity. But I
didn’t have the cash to fund it myself, and unfortunately, my family is not
independently wealthy. So, I had to get creative.”

This didn’t happen by chance, however. Ramirez worked multiple jobs to save
money as he researched properties in Austin that would make a good investment.
He then used his savings to build the first MVP (most viable product) and update
the home. Once satisfied that he had improved the house’s value, he listed it on
the market with the idea of using the proceeds to scale this venture.

“Is it risky? Sure. But if I’m not willing to go all in for this, why should I
expect anyone else to?,” he said. “But by the way, if you know anyone looking
for a beautiful 4-bedroom, 3-bath home in the heart of South Austin, send them
my way,” he added with a smile.

Why Some Entrepreneurs Don’t Want VC

Despite making the headlines, most startups aren’t using venture capital. In
some cases, this is because of shaky business models or over-saturated markets
that make a business unappealing to investors. In others, it’s a conscious
choice.

Some of the more common reasons why founders may choose not to seek VC include:

 * A loss of control – By surrendering equity to investors, founders can lose a
   portion of control over where their business is headed. Venture capitalists
   are not usually silent partners, which means they will have a share in how
   the business grows.
 * Forced timelines – Rapid scaling is not something every business is suited
   to, but the clock starts ticking when an entrepreneur accepts money from VC
   investors.
 * Unnecessary distractions – Securing VC funding takes a lot of time and
   energy. This can take you away from other equally important tasks during the
   crucial first two years of a business’ life. 
 * A poor fit – Things like geographical limitations, scalability issues, and
   the need for physical inventory can make VC a poor fit, particularly for
   companies not in the tech world. 

So, how do the 99% of startups that fall outside the realm of VC investors grow?
By bootstrapping, of course.

Alternatives to Venture Capital

Entrepreneurs will go to extreme lengths to fund their dreams and retain company
equity. But not everyone is a gambler. Some people are naturally more
risk-averse. Luckily there are still lots of funding opportunities – without
sacrificing control.

Here are some ideas for financing your business:

 * Selling assets – You don’t have to sell your house to fund your company as
   Ramirez did, but if you have other assets you don’t mind parting with, this
   is a route to consider. This could be anything from the mint condition Mickey
   Mantle rookie card your dad left you, your summer home, or your stock in
   Microsoft. Just remember you’re gambling on yourself here.
 * Government loans – While the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) only
   makes direct loans to help businesses recover from declared disasters, it
   does back loans designed to help small businesses get the needed funding.
 * Government grants – The SBA provides limited grants to small businesses and
   federal funding to states and eligible communities to promote
   entrepreneurship.
 * Programs for minorities – With a commitment to supporting the development of
   minority-owned businesses, the SBA has funding and resources earmarked for
   businesses owned and operated by African Americans, Asian Americans, Hasidic
   Jews, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
 * Incubators – Business incubators provide specialized programs to help new
   entrepreneurs learn and grow their businesses. These come in many forms,
   including academic institutions, nonprofits, and for-profit property
   development companies. These programs do not generally directly provide
   funding, but they can point you in the right direction.
 * Bank loans – Most banks offer small business loans and financing to provide
   startups with a cash infusion. However, many business owners have found
   approval challenging, as traditional banks are unwilling to issue high-risk
   loans.

VC is Not for Everyone

Venture capital funding can be a godsend for certain companies. Companies we
know and love, like Facebook, Amazon, and Apple, were all backed by VC. But it’s
not the right choice for every business. In his book Lost and Founder, author
and entrepreneur Rand Fishkin provide honest advice about when a startup should
consider taking VC money based on his experience building Moz.com.

With the constant threat of a recession looming, investors are taking a more
careful approach to startups, which may lead to some businesses being left out
in the cold.

Luckily, there are options. Work through yours and make a careful decision about
your next steps. Ramirez does not doubt that selling my house will provide
returns many times over. But if you’re not as bold as he is, there are still
many sources of funding you can employ.



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HYPERGIANT GALACTIC SYSTEMS AWARDED $61.4 MILLION U.S. AIR FORCE CONTRACT

May 4, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Hypergiant Galactic Systems has received a $61.4 million Small Business
Innovation Research Phase III contract from the U.S. Air Force.

The company, based in Blanco, received the contract to provide user interface
and user experience development services for cloud-based command and control.

Hypergiant will perform the work in Blanco by May 4th, 2026. Hypergiant Galactic
Systems is a subsidiary of Hypergiant, based in Austin. Mike Betzer,
Hypergiant’s president, and CEO, lives in Blanco, about 50 miles South and West
of Austin, where Hypergiant Galactic Systems is based.

Air Force Life Cycle Management, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the
contractor.

In 2021, the U.S. Air Force named Hypergiant Galactic Systems and 28 other
companies as awardees on a potential $950 million contract. The contract is to
build and operate systems across land, air, sea, space, electromagnetic
spectrum, and cyber domains as part of the Joint All Domain Command Control
program. In addition, the companies will compete to provide software and other
solutions to the Department of Defense. The contract runs through May 2025.

Founded in 2019, Hypergiant’s customers include Sumitomo Corporation, Boeing,
Schlumberger, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the United States Department of Defense.
In addition, Hypergiant sells AI services, software, and solutions. The company
has raised undisclosed venture funding from Sumitomo Corp. of America, Perot
Jain, and other investors.

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CHARTERUP OPENS ITS SECOND HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTIN AND PLANS TO HIRE OVER 100
EMPLOYEES

May 4, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

As a kid, Armir Harris immigrated to the United States from Albania.

Harris learned the ins and outs of the transportation business at a young age
from his uncle.

“I picked up the ground transportation business at the dinner table,” Harris
said. “I had no plans on going into the transportation or bus industry at all,
but shortly after college, my uncle got sick. He had a limousine and bus
company, and I had to take over.”

At 23, Harris stepped in and then, in 2012, founded a company called Shofur, a
charter bus service.

“As I started to scale Shofur, I realized that there were much bigger problems
we weren’t solving in the industry,” Harris said.

Mom-and-pop operators with ten buses or less make up more than 80 percent of the
nation’s bus companies, Harris said.

“There is very little transparency and very little to no accountability in the
industry,” Harris said.

In 2018, Harris founded CharterUP, a real-time marketplace for charter buses
with an Expedia-like model to provide customers with a better experience, Harris
said. The company also sells its software to 600 bus operators on its platform.

This week, Atlanta-based CharterUp opened a second headquarters in Austin. It
plans to hire more than 100 employees locally, Harris said. In addition,
CharterUp announced it had hired Brian Showers as the company’s Chief Technology
Officer, Nick Donelson as its vice president of product, and Evan Hopkins as
vice president of supply.

Austin will serve as the company’s tech and product hub. However, the company’s
sales, customer success, and finance operations will remain in Atlanta.

CharterUP’s customers include school athletics departments, government agencies,
and corporations. The company takes a percentage of all transactions booked on
its marketplace. It also licenses its software to bus companies to run and
manage their fleets.

“We’ve been profitable almost every quarter since the inception through
bootstrapping,” Harris said.

CharterUP’s reached $150 million run rate revenue in 2022 through bootstrapping,
Harris said. In October, the company raised $60 million, in a Series A round
from Tritium Partners, a private equity firm based in Austin.

In the past five years, CharterUP hired many technology and product employees
who lived in Austin, and it made sense to make this its second headquarters,
Harris said.

“Austin kind of grew organically, and as I got to spend more and more time in
Austin, I realized that Austin was a thriving tech hub, and many companies were
moving their headquarters to the Austin region as well,” Harris said. “So we
recently decided to move our technology and products or technology headquarters
to Austin, where I spend most of my time.”

CharterUP is also seeing increasing demand for its services in Texas, Harris
said. CharterUP serves Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and El
Paso and is expanding into McAllen, Brownsville, and throughout the Lower Rio
Grande Valley.

The company has rolled out more than 160 buses in the Austin and San Antonio
markets.

“You should be able to see them rolling around with the CharterUP logo on the
buses,” Harris said.

Another thing driving demand is corporations moving people from outer suburbs to
work in Austin and shuttles between San Antonio and Austin. Harris said the
growth for corporate shuttles between Austin and San Antonio had grown over
280%.

CharterUP’s customers in Austin include H-E-B, the University of Texas at
Austin, and Austin ISD. Harris said it recently signed a contract to provide
Samsung with corporate shuttles. Tesla is also a customer, he said.

“One of the reasons why we also decided to move our technology headquarters to
the area is we were confident that commerce and tech companies are still going
to continue to move to the Austin market, and over time, Austin will grow as
that will grow and will thrive as a tech hub,” Harris said.

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SAASTOCK USA IS COMING TO AUSTIN

April 13, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

SaaStock is Europe’s largest conference focused on Software as a Service or
SaaS.

It takes place in Dublin, Ireland.

But this year, SaaStock is launching its first Austin-based SaaS conference for
a three-day event running May 31-June 2.

The conference, which is called SaaStock USA, features panel discussions and
networking. It brings SaaS founders together with funders to help them access
capital to scale rapidly.

SaaStock plans to make its SaaStock USA conference an annual event in Austin.

The conference first launched in Dublin in 2016, and its most recent event in
2022 saw over 5,000 attendees, many of whom were founders, executives, and
investors focused on the SaaS startup industry.

SaaStock chose Austin because of its history as a startup hub and as a host to
other technology conferences with a strong content, networking, and
entertainment focus.

SaaStock expects over 800 attendees for its inaugural event and expects to
provide Austin merchants a $1.2 million economic boost from spending on lodging,
food, and entertainment over the three-day event. The event organizers expect to
see that number exceed $10 million annually as plans to grow the event take root
over the next five years.



“We’re excited to make Austin our home for future SaaStock USA conferences.
We’ve long believed that Austin was the perfect city for the U.S. version of
SaaStock. Austin is home to a healthy SaaS startup sector and the overall
startup ecosystem is among the most active in the country. The city’s vibrant
festival and music scene fits the experiential approach we take with our
conferences, which places value on helping attendees create lasting connections
through networking at entertainment-driven venues,” Alex Theuma, CEO and Founder
of SaaStock said in a news release.

The SaaStock USA conference will feature over 50 speakers with proven experience
as startup founders, executives, and trendsetters. Some of the notable speakers
include Jason Cohen, Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of WP Engine; Mary
D’Onofrio, a Partner at Bessemer Ventures; and Godard Abel, co-founder & CEO of
G2.

Since its inception, SaaStock estimates that SaaStock Dublin has had a
cumulative economic impact of over $500 million in the form of capital
investment, M&A transactions, and new business deals over the past seven years.

“We have been attending SaaStock Dublin for 5+ years and have found it extremely
productive. Nowhere can you meet so many SaaS startups in one spot in such a
short period of time. While we’ve found several investment opportunities
attending the events, we’ve also benefited from the networking opportunities and
a chance to learn more about trends impacting the broader SaaS sector,” Kyle
Poyar, Operating Partner, OpenView, said in a news statement. 

SaaStock USA will feature some of the following events and programs:

 * SaaS.City (May 31): a one-day accelerator for SaaS workshops led by SaaS
   experts addressing five critical startup functions, including CEO/Founder,
   Marketing, Sales, Operations Efficiency, and Fundraising/Investment;
   locations to be announced. 
 * Startup Program & Global Pitch Competition (May 31 – June 2): a launchpad for
   select SaaS startups to gain valuable feedback from SaaS investors and VCs.
 * NightStock (May 31 – June 2): evening networking and entertainment includes a
   Welcome Party, Rainer Street pub crawl, and Closing Party. 

For more information about SaaStock USA or to buy a ticket, visit the SaaStock
USA website: https://www.saastock.com/saastock-usa/.



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DISCOVERING THE NEXT BIG THING: 5 HIGHLIGHTS FROM SXSW 2023

March 29, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

By Laura Lorek, Publisher of Silicon Hills News

Last year, cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens, blockchain technologies, and the
metaverse dominated at South by Southwest.

This year, the buzz was all about conversational AI, particularly ChatGPT, which
released GPT-4 during the conference. ChatGPT is a chatbot that uses
conversational AI capable of understanding, processing, and responding to human
language.

And one of its co-founders, OpenAI’s Co-Founder and President Greg Brockman,
talked to Laurie Segall, founder of Dot Dot Dot Media, about the technology in a
jam-packed keynote address.

 1. This is freakier than HAL in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. (My alma
    mater – the University of Illinois, gave birth to the fictional HAL)
    Conversational AI is a sea-change technology that will shake up the economy
    as much as the introduction of the Internet did. Key takeaways from
    Brockman’s talk were that ChatGPT is a breakthrough technology, and Open AI,
    the company behind it, has made significant efforts to make it accessible
    and user-friendly. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot launched in
    November of 2022. “ChatGPT reached its first 1 million user milestone in a
    week, surpassing Instagram to become the quickest application to do so,”
    according to a UBS report. “ChatGPT-3 uses a generative pre-trained
    transformer (GPT) to generate largely identical text to human conversation.
    GPT is part of the broader family of large language models, which are AI
    models that understand and can generate text.” On March 13th, OpenAi
    launched ChatGPT-4, which surpasses the previous version in its advanced
    reasoning capabilities. During his keynote, Brockman said, “this app really
    took off and people started using it, and we could see the gap between what
    people thought was possible and what actually had been possible for quite
    some time.” Brockman also expressed concerns about deploying the technology
    in a way that could be potentially harmful. He recalled a dinner meeting in
    2015 attended by co-founders of OpenAI, including Elon Musk, to discuss the
    future of AI and whether they could positively impact the technology. They
    saw the potential for AGI, artificial general intelligence, and felt a sense
    of urgency to steer the technology in a positive direction. OpenAI started
    as a nonprofit research lab, hiring PhDs and open-sourcing code, but later
    realized they needed to scale and raise funds to make a more significant
    impact. The company aims to align its incentives with a good outcome for
    humanity and believes AI should be an endeavor of humankind, not just one
    company or individual. But even Brockman seemed a bit scared of the
    technology and the future. He’s not the only one concerned. On Wednesday, a
    group of technologists, including Elon Musk, penned a letter requesting a
    halt to all giant AI experiments.



2. We can unlock health insights and prevent disease from more knowledge about
our genes. Personalized healthcare is based on patient genetics. I was surprised
to hear Anne Wojcicki, Co-Founder and CEO of 23andMe, talk about the company’s
healthcare focus. During the pandemic, 23andMe acquired Lemonade, which allows
the company to provide medical expertise to customers and deliver care through a
clinician group, physician consult, and pharmacy. Wojcicki noted that consumers
often feel disempowered in healthcare, while physicians increasingly recognize
the importance of genetics in patient care. She talked about the importance of
pharmacogenomics, which can help match patients with the best medications based
on their genetics. Wojcicki also noted that financial incentives could sometimes
conflict with preventive care, underscoring the importance of consumers taking
control of their healthcare. Along those lines, Wojcicki suggested patients
should bring their 23andMe reports to their doctors to inform their care.
Wojcicki also said conversational AI has the potential to predict and prevent
health conditions. She discussed the possibility of risk prediction as a means
of prevention. She said most of the AI currently used in healthcare is focused
on disease optimization rather than prevention, but 23andMe is working on tests
and research to predict behaviors that could help prevent disease.

CIA/NSA/National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency at the SXSW Creative Industries
Expo

3. Welcome to the surveillance economy. For the first time (let me know if I’m
wrong here, but I’ve never seen it before, and I’ve been going to SXSW for a
couple of decades), the National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency,
and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency all had booths along with the
National Science Foundation in the corner of the Creative Industries Expo. Also,
David Cohen, the deputy director of the CIA, and three other high-level members
of the CIA participated in a panel discussion on “Spies Supercharged: Tech and
the Future of the CIA.” “We recognize that technology is advancing very, very
quickly, the pace of technological change is greater today than it’s ever been,
and technology itself is a domain in which we need to compete with our
adversaries,” Cohen said. “it’s not just that we need to use technology to do
our business we need to understand how our adversaries are using new and
disruptive technologies against us, how they are weaponizing technology.” The
CIA was at SXSW to “find partners who want to work with us to find people who
want to come and work for us,” Cohen said. The CIA focuses on wireless
technology like 5G and 6G, quantum computing, artificial intelligence,
biotechnology and bioengineering, financial technology, and advanced power like
the next lithium-ion battery. I also learned that the CIA puts spy gear into
mascara tubes, and now I’ll never look at my makeup the same way again. At the
same conference, Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst who leaked
classified documents to WikiLeaks and went to prison for violating the espionage
act, spoke on the need for more privacy and data protection. She said it’s not
just governments monitoring communications; corporations increasingly use
sophisticated surveillance and tracking technology to learn as much about their
consumers as possible.

Cruise’s Origin AV

4. This is definitely not your father’s Buick or even my old Pontiac Firebird,
for that matter. Autonomous vehicles are on the streets today, and more are set
to come along with more electric vehicles. Cruise is an autonomous vehicle
company of which General Motors owns 80 percent. Kyle Vogt, Cruise CEO, and Mary
Barra, GM’s Chair and CEO, spoke with Emily Chang, a Bloomberg reporter, at SXSW
in a featured session titled “Self-Driving Cars: From Science Fiction to Scale.”
Vogt discussed how Cruise operates a “robotaxi” service in San Francisco and is
scaling up its testing operations in Austin and Phoenix. The technology has
moved from a science-fiction problem to an execution and scaling problem, Vogt
said. Barra believes that AVs are the future of transportation and that they are
an essential part of General Motors’ future. Vogt noted that AVs provide
increased safety, mobility for those who cannot drive, and the potential for
faster and more efficient movement of goods. There are distinct differences
between self-driving and driverless cars, and confusion arises when companies
market their products as self-driving when they are not fully autonomous, Vogt
said. The goal is to have vehicles that work for the driver rather than the
driver working for the car, Vogt said. Tesla’s marketing of its “full
self-driving” feature confuses consumers, Vogt said. Vogt noted that Cruise had
built its cars for dense urban areas, forcing them to solve problems such as
construction zones, traffic light outages, and road blockages. He said the
company had solved most of the technical and scientific risks. The need now is
for robust infrastructure and software systems to operate large fleets of
electric vehicles and balance supply and demand across the network, Vogt said.
Cruise can expand into more towns and cities as more vehicles are manufactured,
including the new “origin” vehicle. Vogt noted that its transformational design
breaks away from the traditional car shape built around the driver. He also
expressed concern about the U.S.’s approach to AV development and regulations
compared to China, which is building infrastructure and incentivizing
development. He suggests that the U.S. could be at risk of seeding leadership in
AV automotive manufacturing. Overall, the automotive industry is transforming,
with GM planning to have all of its light-duty vehicles electric by 2035, Barra
said.

5. If the HAL and AI reference didn’t freak you out enough, then you need to
know about brain implants. Brain-Computer Interfaces are being used with
paralyzed patients today to restore some motor functions and regain
independence. In a panel titled “Hello World: Brain-Computer Interfaces at
Scale,” Tom Oxley, CEO of Synchron is focused on implantable BCI devices, which
he called a neuro-prosthesis. Max Hodak, CEO of Science, who previously worked
at Neuralink, also focuses on brain interface development and restoring vision.
Synchron offers a different approach, which involves using technology that
delivers electrode senses of stimulation into the brain using the blood vessels
rather than requiring the removal of the skull to implant electrodes directly
into the brain. Technological advancements that have made BCI possible include
the miniaturization of electronics and wireless communications. But challenges
still need to be addressed, such as ensuring lower power usage and immune
barriers. The panelists also talked about the potential role of AI in BCI
technology, with many current user interfaces being mediated by AI.  AI will
likely play a role in the suite of tools enabling people to use BCI devices. In
closing comments, Oxley with Synchron said he expects to have widespread
commercial adoption of its BCI technology in the next three to five years. It is
currently conducting clinical trials in the U.S. and enrolling patients.

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GOVEXEC AND VMWARE PARTNER TO HOST IN FOCUS: PUBLIC SECTOR EVENT IN AUSTIN ON
IMPORTANCE OF SECURE CLOUD TECHNOLOGY FOR BUSINESS FUTURE

March 23, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Sponsored Post:

GovExec, the market-leading sales and marketing intelligence company for
government leaders and contractors, announced Friday their upcoming Austin event
in partnership with VMware (NYSE: VMW), the leading multi-cloud services
provider for all apps, enabling digital innovation with enterprise control.

As companies continue to scale, support a hybrid workforce, and need secure
flexibility for their operations, cloud technologies become more central to the
future of business. At In Focus: Public Sector attendees will hear from
government and industry leaders who will explore their current conditions and
the importance of secure cloud technology to serve their current and future
needs.

EVENT DETAILS

What: VMware Explore In Focus: Public Sector

When: April 5, 2023, from 9 am – 1:30 pm CT

Where: The Bullock Museum, 1800 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701

Speakers include:

 * Amanda Blevins, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the Americas,
   VMware
 * Dr. Brian Gardner, Chief Information Security Officer, City of Dallas
 * Nassos Galiopoulos, Chief Technology Officer and Deputy Chief Information
   Officer, University of Texas at San Antonio
 * Mark Silis, Chief Technology Officer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 * Abdul Subhanis, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army

“We’re really excited to bring together such a strong group of public sector IT
leaders — especially in one of the top American tech hubs,” said George Jackson,
Vice President of Events at GovExec. This event will be fun, informative, and
fast-paced. It’s a must-attend for anyone interested in cloud systems.”

To learn more about or register for the event, please click here.

About GovExec:

GovExec’s data and insights set the standard for depth, accuracy, and impact for
government leaders and contractors. GovExec provides data-driven strategic sales
and marketing intelligence solutions that accelerate revenue growth to fuel
market success. The platform is powered by the largest and most sophisticated
database in the public sector, reaching over 3.3 million government influencers
each month.

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ETHERNET INVENTOR BOB METCALFE NAMED 2022 RECIPIENT OF ACM A.M. TURING AWARD

March 22, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) has awarded the 2022 ACM A.M.
Turing Award to Bob Metcalfe, recognizing his contributions to Ethernet’s
invention, standardization, and commercialization.

This award, often called the “Nobel Prize of Computing,” is named after Alan M.
Turing, the British mathematician who laid the foundations of computing. It
carries a $1 million prize with financial support from Google.

Metcalfe, an Emeritus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the
University of Texas at Austin and a research affiliate in computational
engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science &
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, invented Ethernet in 1973 while working as a
computer scientist at the Palo Alto Research Center. He drew on ideas from
ARPAnet, particularly packet switching, and an idea from the University of
Hawaii: Aloha Network, a method for sharing a communication channel.

With the help of David Boggs, a co-inventor of Ethernet, Metcalfe built a
100-node PARC Ethernet, which was replicated within Xerox to create a corporate
internet. Metcalfe left Xerox and founded 3Com in 1979, raising venture capital
in 1981. The company shipped its first big product, Ethernet for the IBM
personal computer, in 1982 and went public in 1984.

Today, Ethernet is the main conduit of wired network communications worldwide,
with data rates ranging from 10 Mbps to 400 Gbps, and emerging technologies with
800 Gbps and 1.6 Tbps. Ethernet has become an enormous market, with revenue from
Ethernet switches alone exceeding $30 billion in 2021, according to the
International Data Corporation.

Metcalfe’s original design ideas have enabled the bandwidth of Ethernet to grow
dramatically, making it possible for every computer to be networked. Ethernet
remains the staple data communication mode, particularly when prioritizing
security and reliability.

Bob Metcalfe’s 1973 sketch of his original “Ethernet” vision. Photo courtesy of
Bob Metcalfe and the Palo Alto Research Center Inc., a Xerox Company. 

Metcalfe has received numerous honors for his work, including the National Medal
of Technology, IEEE Medal of Honor, Marconi Prize, Japan Computer &
Communications Prize, ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award, and IEEE Alexander Graham
Bell Medal. He is also a Fellow of the US National Academy of Engineering, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Inventors, Consumer
Electronics, and Internet Hall of Fame.

The ACM President, Yannis Ioannidis, said, “Ethernet has been the dominant way
of connecting computers to other devices, to each other, and to the Internet. It
is rare to see a technology scale from its origins to today’s
multigigabit-per-second capacity. Even with the advent of WiFi, Ethernet remains
the staple mode of data communication, especially when security and reliability
are prioritized. It is especially fitting to recognize such an impactful
invention during its 50th anniversary year.”

Jeff Dean, Google Senior Fellow and SVP of Google Research and AI added,
“Ethernet is the foundational technology of the Internet, which supports over 5
billion users and enables much of modern life. Today, with an estimated 7
billion ports around the globe, Ethernet is so ubiquitous that we take it for
granted. It’s easy to forget that our interconnected world would not be the same
without Bob Metcalfe’s invention and his enduring vision that every computer
must be networked.”

Metcalfe will receive the ACM A.M. Turing Award at the annual ACM Awards
Banquet, which will be held on June 10 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

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MANCHESTER AND AUSTIN FORGE CONNECTIONS THROUGH MUSIC AND INNOVATION AT SXSW
2023

March 21, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Photo by Thomas Jackson / TyneSight Photographic

By Laura Kobylecky, Special Contribution to Silicon Hills News

During SXSW 2023, The Courtyard on 4th Street was transformed into an official
SXSW venue that hosted various events focusing on British innovation, culture,
and music. One of these events brought Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater
Manchester, to the stage to talk about what’s happening in Manchester.

Burnham made connections between the growth and innovation patterns in
Manchester and Austin.  I also spoke with a citizen of Manchester to get their
perspective and watched a performance from a Manchester band at an SXSW show.

I sat down with Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, to talk further about this
connection.  Burnham explained, “The cities are so similar, to be honest.” After
“coming to Austin for the first time in 2018 to go to South By,” he was
“immediately struck by the similarities: a fast-growing city, a young city, a
music city.”

He was also impressed by Austin FC, a football club that was founded in 2018,
saying that “he loved it.” He described Manchester as “an old football city” and
said, “There’s not much about English football that I don’t know.” This adds a
particular layer of depth to his emphatic statement, ” They’ve built something
new, something exciting… it’s got all the right kind of values built into it.”
He believes that the “new fan culture” being built in Austin is something that
“England will start to look to.”

He connects Manchester’s “passion” for football and live music culture with the
culture of Manchester, stating that it’s “Something about the working class
roots of Manchester. Working people have hard lives, and they needed something
on the weekend.”

He explains, “Manchester is like Austin; we have an ecosystem of smaller
venues.” Like Austin, these venues receive support from “lots of people who go
and watch the new bands that are open-minded about music.” According to Burnham,
“you go out any night of the week in Manchester, and you’ll find a few hundred
people watching a new band.”

Burnham talks about the historical connections between Manchester, Austin, and
SXSW. He said that “South By’s founders were regularly in Manchester in that
period in the 90s and the early 2000s” and believes they were inspired by
Manchester’s conference called “In the City,” which he describes as “similar” to
SXSW.  Burnham describes this as something of a crossover and “not just by
chance” but rather a sort of “cross-fertilization.”

Manchester is also concerned about some of the same issues as Austin.
Affordability threatens the scene’s survival in both Austin and Manchester.
Burnham believes that Manchester has “got a worry actually” because it remains
“a working-class city,” but some of the working class may not be part of the
music scene.

He states, “These days if you want to make it in the music industry, you’ve got
to have money or be from a family that has money because it’s getting much
harder to break through.” He thinks this is something that “should worry us all…
because sometimes it’s those young people who come from those circumstances who
become sort of the biggest personality, the character, and if that’s lost, then
music is much the poorer for it.”

He also discusses “the risk” of Manchester perceiving “to trade on past glories:
The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Oasis, New Order, Joy Division.”
This can lead to situations where Burnham believes “we’ve kind of looked back
too much, and we need to look forward more.”

Burnham’s more personal contribution to this is “a new initiative called Mayors
Artist of the Month.” At “the last week of every month,” he has an open
application, and from this, he chooses the “’ artist of the month,’ and they get
airtime on the radio.” He says, “I promise you, I go out running, and then I
listen to them all.”

Another similarity between Austin and Manchester is that Manchester will launch
its own “new global music conference,” according to Burnham. He describes it as
“not meant to be a rival to South By,” but he does draw comparisons between the
two. This conference, he claims, “is about a forum for debate and for resolution
of some of these issues in the industry.” He sees it as something that
“counterbalances South by in many ways,” including the timing. Beyond the Music
will take place in October.

On Saturday, March 18th, I returned to The Courtyard for the British Music
Embassy. I spoke to Rob Brown, managing partner at a PR agency in Manchester’s
MediaCityUK , to see how a non-government official feels about the
Manchester/Austin connection. Brown has spent time in both Austin and Manchester
and sees a kinship between the cities, saying that “they’re both boom cities.”

He explains, “you can see in the skyline of both cities they’ve changed
immeasurably over the last ten years.” Brown says that skyscrapers may be
typical in the US, “it’s quite unusual in the UK; it’s only really London and
Manchester that have tall buildings.”

He also sees a cultural connection between the cities: “they’re both very
vibrant music capitals.” Even though “Austin has more live venues than
Manchester,” Brown still believes “you can see a great band every night of the
week in Manchester.”

Brown is excited to be here at SXSW. He’s a passionate music fan, so
enthusiastic that he’s already twice seen “The Golden Dregs,” a UK rock band. 
This is his 10th SXSW, and he’s already planning to come back again next year.

On Friday, March 17th, I saw Ist Ist, a Manchester-based band, play at The
Velveeta Room, an official SXSW venue. They played a show full of post-punk
energy with tones that ranged from heavy rock to mellow emotionality. The lead
singer, Adam Houghton, informed the audience that this band is from Manchester.

Manchester culture has made a connection with Austin at SXSW.

Photo by Thomas Jackson / TyneSight Photographic.
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BILLIONAIRE MARK CUBAN AND SBA ADMINISTRATOR ISABELLA CASILLAS GUZMAN SPEAK ON
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT SXSW EVENT HOSTED BY ZENBUSINESS

March 21, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

At South by Southwest, ZenBusiness hosted a talk on entrepreneurship with
Billionaire Mark Cuban and U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas
Guzman, the highest-ranking Latina in a government office.

Austin-based ZenBusiness, a tech platform that makes it easy for anybody to
start and run their own business, has helped form about 500,000 small businesses
since its founding in 2015, said Michael Fanuele, ZenBusiness senior vice
president, who moderated the discussion.

“Our purpose is unleashing the entrepreneur in everybody,” he said.

To start off, Fanuele asked SBA Administrator Guzman and Cuban about their first
entrepreneurship experiences.

Guzman recounted how she grew up as the daughter of a small business owner.

“My dad bought his first veterinary hospital when I was one year old in East Los
Angeles and grew it to chain of five veterinary hospitals,” Guzman said.

She spent time in his office and saw firsthand her dad’s passion for serving his
customers.

“He worked harder than anybody I knew,” Guzman said.

Her dad also did community vaccination clinics and provided free services to his
clients in need, Guzman said. Her dad ingrained in her “this grit and
determination to really fulfill whatever it is that I was working on with such
passion,” she said.

Guzman turned being seen as an underdog and being underestimated into an
advantage. Her mother fought for her to be in gifted and talented programs at
school. Her mother fought for her to have a seat at the table.

“It gave me a voice, confidence, and drive to feel that I can expect more,”
Guzman said.

In middle school, Cuban was always the kid selling something. In college, he had
side hustles, and after that, he joined Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh.

“I got in trouble because I saw an article in a magazine, and I clipped it and
sent it to the CEO of the bank, and my boss and his boss and his boss did not
like that, so you know, so I was the person that was always stepping out, so I
knew at some point that I was going to have to work for myself it was just a
question of when I would get there,” Cuban said.

Fanuele asked about the bar Cuban owned and ran at Indiana University.

Cuban ran parties at the Motley’s Pub, the hot bar on campus. When it got shut
down, he bought it.

“We opened before I was even 21, but one day, they busted us too, and it was the
best thing that ever happened to me because otherwise, I’d still be, not that
there’s anything wrong, but I’d be running a bar in Bloomington, Indiana,” Cuban
said.

After working at Mellon Bank, Cuban moved to Dallas and founded MicroSolutions,
which he eventually sold to CompuServe for $6 million. He also co-founded
AudioNet, an online streaming service, and sold it to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in
stock. Cuban then bought the Dallas Mavericks National Basketball Association
team. And since 2011, Cuban has been a “Shark” on ABC’s Shark Tank. And most
recently, Cuban launched Cost Plus Drugs, an online pharmacy providing low-cost
drugs.

Fanuele asked Cuban and Guzman to name some characteristics that define
entrepreneurs.

“For so many entrepreneurs who are starting businesses today, it’s women and
people of color. It’s this drive to try to achieve their version of an American
dream of business ownership,” Guzman said. “That drive to create prosperity, to
build wealth, to try to enter into spaces that they’ve not been able to before,
I think that’s a unique thing about what the face of entrepreneurship looks like
today.”

Other traits are grit, determination, flexibility, agility, ability to change,
resilience, and vision, Guzman said.

Everyone can be an entrepreneur, Cuban said. “We’re all problem solvers.” The
hard part is finding what you are innately good at, Cuban said.

 “Once you find something you could be good at, then it’s just a question of
fear,” Cuban said.

Entrepreneurs have to cross that line and commit themselves to do it. But it
takes a lot to act on it, Cuban said. Daymond John, CEO of FUBU and another
Shark investor on Shark Tank, calls it the power of broke, Cuban said.

“One of the defining elements of an entrepreneur is you can’t be afraid to be
broke because you will go broke at some point,” Cuban said.

Cuban recounted living with six guys in a 3-bedroom apartment and sleeping on
the floor in his early days.

“You know it was nasty, I had my one towel I stole from motel 6,” Cuban said.
“It was really disgusting, but it was the best thing ever because you know the
power of broke; you got nothing to lose, and you go for it.”

And when your buddies are stepping over you to go to their job, and you’re
starting this company, you realize that there’s only one direction to go, and
that’s up, and that’s the power of being an entrepreneur, Cuban said.

“And we all have it, but taking that first step and finding the things we’re
good at are the challenges,” Cuban said.

And the fear is warranted because half of all businesses fail in the first five
years.

The SBA can provide tools and resources so that that fear can be reduced, Guzman
said. She said that the SBA has more than 1,600 resource partners nationwide
that focus on financial and capital readiness.

And beyond SBA loans, the federal government awards more than $4 billion yearly
for research grants through SBIR.gov, Guzman said.

“Our growth model is to get you funded and also connect you to the largest buyer
in the world, which is the federal marketplace,” Guzman said. It’s a $500
billion marketplace, and at least 1/4 of that is spent with small businesses and
innovative startups, she said.  

The government grants are non-dilutive cash which means you don’t have to pay it
back, Cuban said.

“When you’re starting a business, sweat equity is the best equity,” Cuban said.

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QUANTUM COMPUTING STARTUP STRANGEWORKS COMPLETES $24 MILLION FUNDING ROUND, LED
BY HITACHI VENTURES AND BACKED BY IBM AND RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES

March 21, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Quantum computing startup, Strangeworks has announced the completion of a $24
million round of funding.

The Austin-based company previously raised a $4 million seed stage round,
bringing the total funds raised to $28 million.

Strangeworks, founded in 2018, reported Hitachi Ventures led the funding round
with investment from IBM, and Raytheon Technologies. It also had follow-on
investments from seed-stage investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Great Point
Ventures, and Ecliptic Capital.

Strangeworks, which has 21 employees, said in a news release that the investment
allows Strangewowrks to offer a broader range of technologies beyond quantum
computing, including quantum-inspired, high-performance computing, and
artificial intelligence.

“Today’s announcement represents a significant milestone for Strangeworks,” Will
Hurley, known as Whurley, the company’s founder and CEO, said in a news release.
“Five years ago, I took the stage at SXSW for our first quantum computing
keynote. Since that day, this team has stayed focused on our core mission,
continuously beating industry expectations while utilizing only a fraction of
the resources compared to the industry. Raising the Series A from these
exceptional investors in this challenging economic climate sends a clear message
to the market on where enterprise companies are placing their bets in a race to
create quantum value.”

The funding comes after Whurley’s keynote speech at the 2023 SXSW conference
using all AI-generated text and images.

Hitachi identified quantum computing as a critical technology to advance society
and developed its own quantum technologies and quantum-inspired solutions,
Norihiro Suzuki, Ph.D. and CTO of Hitachi, said in a news release.

“Quantum computing has the potential to help solve some of the world’s most
pressing problems, from fighting climate change to curing fatal diseases that
require far greater computational power than is currently available in classical
computers,” Suzuki said. “The Strangeworks platform removes barriers to access
quantum and quantum-inspired solutions creating customer value today.”

Raytheon’s investment in Strangeworks aligns with its customers’ interests, Dan
Ateya, president and managing director at RTX Ventures, the corporate venture
capital arm of Raytheon Technologies.

“We believe Strangeworks’ platform and their ability to make quantum and
high-performance computing more accessible can support a wide range of
applications in the aerospace, defense, and commercial sectors.”

‘Quantum computing is here, but exploiting its advantages requires rare know-how
and lots of capital,”  Ray Lane, managing partner of GreatPoint Ventures, based
in San Francisco, said in a statement. “Strangeworks democratizes quantum
computing by opening proprietary platforms to consumption-based usage, and this
is how large tech markets are unleashed.”

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PENTOPIX WINS BEST IN SHOW AND ENTERTAINMENT CATEGORY AT SXSW PITCH AWARDS 2023
FOR AI-ASSISTED 3D ANIMATION PLATFORM

March 17, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

By Laura Kobylecky, Special Contribution to Silicon Hills News

PentoPix won the 2023 SXSW Pitch Awards in the “Entertainment, Media & Content”
category. PentoPix also won the “Best In Show” award at this competition. 
PentoPix uses AI-assisted technology to transform text into 3D animations.

SXSW Pitch showcased innovators and tech industry pioneers, from “indie tech
companies to trailblazing startups” (1). The event featured 40 interactive tech
companies in 8 different categories. The startups pitched in front of a panel of
judges.  

I sat down with Volha Paulovich, Co-Founder & COO of PentoPix, to talk about her
experience at the Pitch Awards. When asked for the shortest summary of her
company, a demonstration of her freshly-honed pitching skills, she stated,
“PentoPix is an AI-assisted platform that brings creativity and efficiency
together by converting scripts into 3D animated videos for storyboarding and
pre-production.”

She was very excited about winning the Best in Show Award at SXSW Pitch and
said, “It’s surreal; I haven’t processed it. It’s the best outcome we could have
expected. And in startups, you never expect the best outcome to happen.”

Paulovich found the SXSW Pitch awards to be a unique experience. She explained,
“I pitch almost every day …I didn’t really think about it much, and then
coaching started, and we shook things up completely, and it was great because it
kind of never happens, and I’m really glad that we did.”

The process of SXSW Pitch involved some hands-on training. Paulovich described
the process “Every startup gets a coach we get to meet a few times.” There are a
required number of meetings “we have a minimum bar of, I think, two times, but
you can do more… I did more, for sure…probably four. The experience also
included a coach who “can guide you through the process of what it’s like on the
day or how to structure your pitch better, leave comments about slides, how to
prepare for Q & A.

Paulovich compared the experience to that of an athlete and spoke highly of her
coach, referring to them as “absolutely amazing” and the overall experience as
“something new and different.”

The SXSW Pitch experience was unique in the startup world, according to
Paulovich “And it’s a level of support that you rarely get in startups,
especially when it comes to the pitch.”  The pitch experience normally means
pitching “to an audience of investors or potential users.” For these early-stage
startups, “it’s kind of their job to find why your startup won’t work,” meaning
that “you don’t really get to hear the honest feedback because everyone is so
critical.” The SXSW experience means having a coach with “a completely fresh eye
on you,” and Paulovich described this added value as “amazing.”

When asked more about what she learned from the SXSW Pitch experience, Paulovich
described how she and her team “started tailoring things towards people we are
meeting, and it just gave us this understanding.”  She reflected, “Always there
are people who are not a match, and it’s okay. We are not a gold coin so
everyone loves you.”

She emphasized the value of targeting a pitch, stating that “there are funds
that invest in specific categories, everyone has investment criteria, and it’s
okay when you don’t match. It’s not the end of the world; we’ve got to keep
pushing, and that’s great to understand.” This wisdom came from “the exposure to
so many different walks of life and so many different startups, to so many
different investors.”

Winning this award had a meaningful effect on Paulovich and her company. She
says, “Now, since we won, we think bigger, like, a much bigger scale.” The SXSW
Pitch award is, according to Paulovich, “the top of the top.” This award
inspired her team with a vision that “we are onto something, we are doing great
things, not that I didn’t believe it before, but now we have this external
validation.”

The external validation led to some more immediate changes. Paulovich explains,
“to be honest, I was going to take a holiday after South By, and now, I don’t
feel like doing that anymore.” The encouragement from this experience inspired
the feeling that “It’s time to push and get out there and continue all the
conversations we started, connect to all the people we met, and do more.”

The motivation here came from more than just winning the award. Paulovich found
being in Austin for SXSW to be uplifting in many ways, saying that “in general,
just being here in Austin, it gives that level of motivation and inspiration.”
It makes people believe that “we can do it. We will achieve all these great
things and milestones in the future,” and this “kind of fights all the mental
health issues and all the negativity that may be involved in building a
startup.”

The SXSW experience seems to have inspired Volha Paulovich, Co-Founder and COO
of PentoPix and winner of the Best in Show Award at SXSW Pitch, and perhaps this
inspiration will be shared by others.

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STRANGEWORKS CEO WHURLEY WOWS THE SXSW AUDIENCE WITH AN AI-GENERATED
PRESENTATION ON QUANTUMAI’S POTENTIAL TO SHAPE THE FUTURE

March 15, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Five years ago, Will Hurley launched his quantum computing company,
Strangeworks, on the main stage at South by Southwest.

On Wednesday morning, he returned to SXSW to present the power of quantum
computing and artificial intelligence to solve the world’s biggest problems and
change how everyone works and lives.

“I think there’s a lot of dystopian fears out there; I think we should be
talking about the utopian stuff,” Hurley, known as Whurley, said.

He spoke on “QuantumAI: Why your future depends on the convergence of Quantum
Computing & Artificial Intelligence” to a packed ballroom of about 600 people.
Other people were turned away at the door when the room filled to capacity.

During his presentation, Whurley spoke from a teleprompter with his speech on a
handheld iPad.

He spoke on “how quantum computing and artificial intelligence are two of the
most rapidly advancing, controversial, and debated fields in technology today.”
Austin-based Strangeworks develops quantum computing software and has 21
employees. The company has raised $4 million in seed-stage funding.

“The convergence of these two technologies will play a significant role in
shaping the future of our species and the world as we know it,” according to
Whurley.

Throughout his presentation, he hinted that he was doing something different.
And at the end, he revealed that everything he said was created with ChatGPT 4,
the conversational artificial intelligent agent created by OpenAI. He said he
came up with the idea when he submitted the teaser for the talk on the SXSW
programming site. Then he used ChatGPT to come up with a presentation outline.
And a day ago, he created the entire presentation with ChatGPT and AI-generated
images. He re-did the presentation when the latest version of the software was
introduced yesterday.

All of the images on the slides were created with AI. And a magazine, “Schrody
Cat,” handed out to attendees, was created in 3 hours. “Everything written, seen
or printed in this book has been co-created with AI,” according to a statement
on the publication.

At the beginning of his presentation, he hinted that he was doing something
different and encouraged the audience to take pictures because he would tell
them about them at the end of the presentation.

He started by explaining quantum computing, a technology that uses quantum
mechanics to solve problems too complex for classical computers.

Quantum computing massively speeds up computer power and can lead to
improvements in drug discovery by a lot, Whurley said. He said it could also
lead to more efficient batteries and fix environmental problems.

Quantum computing has many applications in cryptography, weather forecasting,
and optimization of train schedules and supply chains.  

Quantum-AI technology can also have a profound social impact.

“We are building technologies that could get out of our control,” Whurley said.

The fear is of creating a machine like the T-1000, a shapeshifting android
Terminator assassin featured in the movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”

The fear is the robots will kill us or make people their pets, he said. The
technology could also lead to income inequality and economic upheaval, Whurley
said.

But it can also lead to social and economic progress, Whurley said. Monitoring
banking systems in real time can lead to greater accountability in financial
systems. It can also lead to improved technologies for sustainable energy. It
can lead to higher productivity with autonomous robots and drones for
agriculture and manufacturing, and as Whurley predicted, 100 percent
unemployment by 2060.

At the end of his presentation, Whurley also said that he stopped blogging on
March 13th, 2018, and that his website is now filled with hundreds of articles
that were AI-generated while he was on stage.

At Whurley’s book signing following his presentation, Hugh Forrest, Co-president
of SXSW and Chief of Programming, was nearby. When asked about what he thought
of Whurley’s presentation done exclusively with AI-generated content and images,
he said he didn’t see it. But he had heard it was a successful event. But he
doesn’t think technology will replace human creativity anytime soon.

“I think Whurley’s middle name is interesting and eccentric, it’s part of his
brand, and it has served him well,” Forrest said.

In 2030 when SXSW meets, everyone will understand better how to implement AI
robots as virtual assistants, Forrest said.

So much of SXSW is built on creativity, human creativity, and imagination,
that’s what makes SXSW, and that’s not going away, he said.

“We will have more assistance from more machines, more software, more hardware
in the future,” Forrest said.

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COLOSSAL AIMS TO REVIVE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS BY 2028, SAYS CEO BEN LAMM AT SXSW
CONFERENCE

March 14, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Colossal is on track to produce a woolly mammoth by 2028, said Ben Lamm, the
company’s CEO, and Co-founder.

“I think we’re on the path for that,” Lamm said during a discussion on
Colossal’s De-Extinction Mission at South by Southwest Tuesday afternoon.
TechCrunch’s Managing Editor Darrell Etherington interviewed Lamm in Salon H of
the Hilton Austin Downtown.

Colossal Co-Founder George Church is a Harvard geneticist who is spearheading
the team of 40 scientists and researchers to bring the woolly mammoth back to
life.

Lamm said the gestation period for a woolly mammoth is 22 months and can’t be
sped up. The company is using Asian elephants to carry the baby mammoth to term.
It also has built some artificial wombs to grow woolly mammoths in the lab. Some
of the other projects Colossal’s working on, like the Tasmanian Tiger, or
Thylacine, or the Dodo bird, might be brought to life sooner than the woolly
mammoth because they have shorter gestation periods, Lamm said. Thylacine has a
gestation period of less than a month.

Colossal, founded in September of 2021, is one of Texas’ unicorn companies and a
moonshot company tackling big projects like bringing the woolly mammoth back
from extinction along with the Tasmanian tiger and the Dodo, a bird species
extinct since 1662. The synthetic biology company has raised $225 million and
spun out Form Bio, a software platform, which raised a $30 million Series A
round.

Colossal has 90 employees and 40 external collaborators and labs in Austin,
Dallas, Boston, and Melbourne, Australia.

“Our goal is every animal we work on we want to reintroduce back into their
natural habitat,” Lamm said.

Colossal has been working with Alaska natives and conservationists about
introducing the woolly mammoth back to Alaska. It is also in talks with people
in Canada, Lamm said.

There are 54 mammoth genomes, and Colossal is working with the University of
Alaska to re-introduce Alaskan mammoths, Lamm said. Colossal has agreed to
provide 200 mammoths, he said.

Ben Lamm, Colossal CEO and Co-Founder

“That re-wilding process has to be very thoughtfully done,” Lamm said. “We are
looking for people to be collaborators in it.”

Colossal is being transparent and is focused on educating the public, which is
essential when doing something this big, Lamm said.

Colossal’s goal is to bring keystone species back to the environment they were
removed from, Lamm said.

Reintroducing the extinct species will benefit the whole ecosystem, Lamm said.
He mentioned the successful reintroduction of Grey wolves into Yellowstone
National Park. The wolves had been absent from the parkland for decades when the
park brought them back in 1995. Lamm said it had been one of the most successful
reintroductions of a species to an environment.

Linchpin for the ecosystem

Colossal focuses on linchpin species that are essential for the ecosystem, with
the animals going mainly extinct because mankind has a history of murdering
them, Lamm said.

Lamm said that Colossal has looked at other species, like the Steller sea cow,
which has been extinct since 1768 and would benefit kelp forests by bringing it
back. But there’s nothing “we can gestate it in,” he said.

“There are certain species we can’t go after,” he said.

Beth Shapiro, Ph.D., Colossal Scientific Advisory Board member, and lead
paleogeneticist, is heading up the work on the de-extinction of the Dodo bird
and has to create reference genomes. Lamm said it could cost between $6,000 to
$25,000 to do bird genomes.

“Before we can do ancient DNA, we have to do DNA for existing species,” Lamm
said.

Colossal isn’t trying to create clones. It is creating close proximities to
extinct species, Lamm said.

Etherington asked Lamm if he could make a real Pokémon.

“We aren’t ever going to focus on Pokémon,” Lamm said.

Humanity faces more significant climate issues and problems to solve, he said.

“After we solve all the climate issues, we can start getting weird,” Lamm said.

Etherington asked Lamm about how Colossal makes money.

Lamm said he looks at de-extinction as a systems problem and runs Colossal like
a software company.

“We look at monetizing all of the technologies that come from it,” Lamm said. He
said that Form Bio was its first spin-out company, but it plans to do more.

Colossal has gotten negative feedback, and some people think what it’s trying to
do is like Jurassic Park.  Lamm said thoughtful and informed people give
Colossal feedback that is critical. He brings them onto the company’s advisory
boards to improve their projects.

“I do not think Colossal is the solution to the biodiversity crisis,” Lamm said.
“I think we’re bringing attention to the crises.”

Environmentalists and conservationists today are massively undercapitalized.
Colossal doesn’t replace existing conservation efforts, Lamm said.  Lamm said
that Colossal didn’t take money away from conservation efforts but brought new
money into it.

“People still need to support these existing causes,” he said.

In the Q&A at SXSW, Lamm got asked several questions about what happens if
things go wrong, and Colossal creates a nightmare situation and deviates from
the original genome to create a Jurassic Park situation.

“We are trying to be very thoughtful of narrating it down versus engineering for
fun,” Lamm said.

He said Colossal also faces regulatory oversight from the Environmental
Protection Agency and others. He said it doesn’t plan to create mammoths for
food or build battle mammoths.

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SXSW 2023 INNOVATION AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

March 14, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

By Laura Kobylecky, Special Contribution to Silicon Hills News

South by Southwest announced the 2023 Innovation Award winners during an awards
ceremony at the Austin Convention Center on Monday evening.

The winners are:

Immersive

Move.ai of London, an OS Application, uses AI, computer vision, and machine
learning to capture high-fidelity motion without the traditional markers and
suits. It helps enable motion capture with things like off-the-shelf cameras and
mobile phones.

Media

For Tomorrow: an Innovation Ecosystem of Los Angeles helps connect insights,
innovators, resources, and inspiration and encourages people with actionable
on-the-ground solutions to reach out to them and join their network.  The
company strives to “create what matters.”

Convergent Gaming

Time Investigators of Bourne End, U.K., is a mystery-solving game that uses
augmented technology to further immerse players in the experience.

Audio

Nomono Sound Capsule of Trondheim, Norway, created a wireless, self-contained
recording kit for easy recording in the field and on the go. The technology
democratizes audio by enabling “anyone to capture good audio.” The award was
significant to them as there were “40 people sitting in Norway waiting in the
middle of the night with vodka” to find out the results of this competition.

Enterprise DEI Workplace

Sephora of San Francisco is a multinational retail brand with skincare, makeup,
beauty, fragrance, and hair products.

Mid-Sized DEI Workplace Innovation

Bitwise Industries of Fresno, CA, uses apprenticeships to bridge the gap between
working in the tech industry and learning. The company offers a living wage to
apprentices working on real-world projects.

Rising DEI Workplace Innovation

Included.ai of Seattle uses DEI data science to build a people analytics
platform.  Its process can help companies connect with talent from diverse
pools.

Urban Infrastructure

Power From the People of Brooklyn, NY partners with property owners to help them
secure permits and add public chargers to their properties.

Artificial Intelligence

Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder of Kalamazoo, MI, is an AI-powered bird that lets
people know when a bird visits and takes pictures. The company’s mission is to
reconnect people with nature; on average, users spend 10-11 minutes daily
looking at birds.

Renewable Design

The Pollinator™ Kit for Renewable Design of Alameda, CA, makes a kit that lets
creatives use renewable polyurethane to build and prototype.

Social Impact

The 35*2 Free Initiative of Towson, MD, creates programs that improve
college-educated black women’s economic and financial mobility.  The company
provides career coaching, financial guidance, and retroactive scholarships.

Sustainability

World’s Whitest Paint–Thinner Than Ever of Lafayette, IN, Purdue University
researchers developed the paint that helps to “fight global warming by reducing
the need for air conditioning.”

Health and Med Tech category

NeuraLight – Digitizing Neurology of Tel-Aviv, Israel, introduces “novel ways of
diagnosing and monitoring” issues like Alzheimer’s.

Patient Safety Technology

Kalogon of Melbourne, Fl, makes a smart cushion. It is helping the world live an
active seated life by improving posture, relieving pain, and increasing blood
flow.

Best in Show

GAF Beats the Heat by Cooling Streets of Parsippany, NJ. is an initiative aimed
at helping cities address urban heat at a community level by developing insights
and assessing the effects of current cooling strategies.

From a pool of hundreds, over 50 finalists were considered for the 14 different
categories.  The winners were announced in a ceremony hosted by Austin comedian
Carlton Wilcoxson, who created enthusiasm throughout the night.

The Innovation Awards also included the induction of Dan Rather into the SXSW
Hall of Fame.  He was greeted with a standing ovation. Rather said this award
was significant to him because when he was young, he saw “the lights of Austin”
as “a beacon of creativity and knowledge and infinite possibilities.” He lives
in Austin and still believes in the strength of that beacon and told the
audience, “keep dreaming, keep exploring, keep connecting.”

Before the presentation, energy was high in the line that curled around the
corner of the ballroom. Various people speculated whether they would be granted
access to the event or if capacity had been reached.

Michelle Vincent, who spoke at the SXSW session You Should Start Your Own Indie
Agency attended. She was particularly excited about the Innovation awards,
explaining that she was “running a company where we are trying to transform and
innovate, so we’re really curious to see what SXSW is doing to set the
standard.”  Her particular interests included the creative side of things,
artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and film.

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VC JIM BREYER ENCOURAGES HEALTH TECH INNOVATION AND INTERDISCIPLINARY
COLLABORATION AT SXSW FIRESIDE CHAT WITH UT PRESIDENT JAY HARTZELL IN AUSTIN

March 13, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

As great as Austin’s trajectory has been, the best is yet to come.

That’s the gist of the conversation between Jay Hartzell, president of the
University of Texas at Austin, and Jim Breyer, founder, and CEO of Breyer
Capital. They participated in a fireside chat on “Building a Hub of Academic &
Business Innovation at South By Southwest Saturday at Banger’s Sausage House and
Beer Garden on Rainey Street.

Breyer called Hartzell one of “the great presidents of a university, if not the
best president of a university in the United States.”

“I have never seen a leader doing so many tactical and strategic things for the
university, the city of Autin, and the state of Texas,” Breyer said.

In the movie, The Graduate, the advice given to Dustin Hoffman’s character,
Benjamin Braddock, is the future is plastics. Breyer referenced the movie when
giving his advice.

“My advice to all of you….study linear algebra,” Breyer told the crowd. Linear
algebra is the base of quantum technology, he said. Breyer is bullish on quantum
but thinks the technology is still five to ten years away.

Breyer also encouraged interdisciplinary thinking between mathematicians,
technologists, healthcare researchers, and more. Breyer said his mother, Eva,
was a brilliant mathematician from Budapest, Hungary. His mother and father
migrated to the United States, and his mother turned down a fellowship at
Stanford to follow his father, who received a fellowship at Yale. Breyer was
born in New Haven, Connecticut. He got his undergraduate degree from Stanford
and his MBA from Harvard. As a venture capitalist, he was an early investor in
Facebook, now known as Meta. He has also invested in Etsy, Spotify, and
Grammarly.

About 15 years ago, Breyer began focusing on med-tech startups that use
computational and artificial intelligence focused on medicine. He works with the
best medical institutions to spin out startups. The first one Paige.Ai spun out
of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  It uses artificial intelligence for
cancer diagnosis and treatment. The next spinout was from the University of
Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. So far, Breyer Capital has made ten similar
investments.

Breyer said a lot is happening with artificial intelligence and proprietary data
at hospitals and universities. It starts with a great medical team and a license
with the hospital or cancer center. Breyer said his job is to find the brilliant
30 to 40 men and women to form the startup. He said those employees are
mid-career technologists who come from other technology companies like Apple,
Alphabet, and Amazon.

“I’m always working on one or two of these,” Breyer said. “That’s what brings me
here today.”

Breyer and his wife, Angela Chao, moved to Austin from California three and a
half years ago. He had been on the board of Dell and spent years traveling to
Austin. Michael and Susan Dell are dear friends, he said.  They encouraged them
to move, and they finally did.

“We’re here forever,” Breyer said. “We love Austin, and we love the Hill
Country.”

Since opening Breyer Capital’s Austin office, the firm has invested in many
Austin-based startups, including OJO Labs, Sana Benefits, Homeward, DISCO,
data.world, ZenBusiness, and ClosedLoop.ai.

Breyer said many universities are really siloed and don’t communicate well among
the various departments.

“What Jay and the University of Texas are doing is breaking down many of those
siloes,” Breyer said. “It takes leadership to break down those silos.”

Breyer pointed to the recent hiring of Dr. Claudia Lucchinetti as the next Dean
of the Dell Medical School at UT Austin as a positive move to encourage more
collaborations. Lucchinetti previously worked at Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
Minnesota.

Not having a medical school for 100 years, Hartzell said UT doesn’t have to
break down silos.

“They can build it in a way that is collaborative,” Hartzel said. “A lot of the
university’s strengths are around robotics, AI, and technology. How do we get
companies connected with us and find ways to work with us?

That means engaging with companies that want to hire students or that have a
problem they want UT students and faculty to solve, Hartzell said.

“Universities don’t’ understand how daunting and complex it is for companies to
build relationships,” Breyer said.

Breyer said he’s never seen it work with just a research person in charge of
licensing technology.

“Innovation, entrepreneurship, the natural partnerships don’t happen,” Breyer
said. “It comes down to the leadership, faculty, and post-docs. It’s happening
here in Austin the way it doesn’t happen in other places.”



Hartzell asked Breyer what UT could do to support those collaborations.

Breyer said that UT Austin could continue attracting phenomenal talent, building
affordable housing, and working hard to find intersection points. He said the
idea is to get collisions between brilliant people to develop new ideas.
Proximity and location are essential to make that happen, Breyer said. It’s
important to have centers of excellence together.

“Not everyone needs to be around Austin, Texas downtown,” Breyer said.

Breyer suggested UT create a quantum-oriented center about 30 minutes from
downtown, and he mentioned Stanford Research Parc in Palo Alto as a model.
Breyer advised UT to own the land, and Hartzell agreed.

Another strength is Austin’s close proximity to San Antonio, Houston, and
Dallas-Fort Worth, where phenomenal hospitals and educational institutions
exist, Breyer said

MD Anderson sends data to our data scientists to build a model of a person to
predict how the treatment is going to go, Breyer said.

“I truly believe in this area of AI and medicine,” Breyer said. “With the use of
technology, we are making humans smarter.”

 One-third of prostate and breast cancer diagnoses are incorrect, Breyer said.

“With technology, I’ve seen the cycle move from 10 days to two days, and the
accuracy is 95 percent,’ Breyer said.

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U.S. REGULATORS PLAN TO COVER ALL DEPOSITORS AT SILICON VALLEY BANK AND
SIGNATURE BANK AND INVESTIGATE WHAT HAPPENED

March 13, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Tech startups at South by Southwest could breathe a little easier on Monday
after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Sunday that it would cover
Silicon Valley Bank’s depositors.

It also will cover depositors affected by the closure of Signature Bank. On
Friday, regulators took over SVB, based in Santa Clara, Calif., with $210
billion in assets, making it the second-largest bank failure in history.
 Federal regulators also took over New York-based Signature Bank with $118
billion in assets, the third largest banking failure in U.S. history.

The largest bank failure was in 2008 when Seattle-based Washington Mutual, with
$308 billion in assets, collapsed.

“Over the weekend, and at my direction, the Treasury Security and my National
Economic Council Director worked diligently with the banking regulators to
address problems at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank,” President Joe Biden
said in a statement. “I am pleased that they reached a prompt solution that
projects American workers and small businesses and keeps our financial system
safe. The solution also ensures that taxpayer dollars are not put at risk.”

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insures deposits up to $250,000 at banks.
But many startups had millions in SVB and ran payroll, accounts payable and
other expenses out of the bank. Covering the uninsured depositors at SVB and
Signature Bank ensures that the companies can access those funds to run their
businesses.

“These actions will reduce stress across the financial system, support financial
stability and minimize any impact on businesses, households, taxpayers, and the
broader economy,” according to a joint statement from the Federal Reserve, the
FDIC, and the U.S. Treasury.

In addition, the Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced that Vice Chair for
Supervision Michael S. Barr is leading a review of the supervision and
regulation of Silicon Valley Bank in light of its failure. The review will be
publicly released by May 1.

“The events surrounding Silicon Valley Bank demand a thorough, transparent, and
swift review by the Federal Reserve,”  Chair Jerome H. Powell said in a
statement.

“We need to have humility and conduct a careful and thorough review of how we
supervised and regulated this firm and what we should learn from this
experience,” Vice Chair Barr said in a statement.

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ICON PLANS TO UNVEIL A 3D PRINTED PERFORMANCE CENTER AT SXSW

March 13, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

At SXSW 2023, ICON plans to unveil a 3D-printed performance center at the Long
Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday.

The event will begin with a discussion, “a Moonshot for Affordable Housing,”
with ICON CEO Jason Ballard, Bjarke Ingels with BIG, Michaelle Addington with
the University of Texas, and Sarah Satterlee with Mobile Loaves and Fishes, at
2:30 p.m. It will be followed by a reception and concert on the terrace with
live music from Primo the Alien, The Bros Fresh, and Tameca Jones.

SunPower and Rewiring America’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) hosted a cocktail
hour at ICON House Zero to showcase its technology on Saturday. The event
featured a bluegrass band, an open bar, and tacos.

Austin-based ICON, a sponsor of SXSW, built the 2,000 square foot, three-bedroom
2.5 bath home featuring its 3D printed wall system, which replaces a building
system. Its walls are made with the company’s proprietary cement-like material
called “lavacrete.”

The house in East Austin was 3D printed by ICON’s next-gen Vulcan construction
system and designed by Lake/Flato.

ICON has a history of doing big things at SXSW. In 2018, the company won the
South by Southwest Accelerator pitch competition for its construction
technology. ICON also generated a lot of buzz when it built a 3D printed home in
East Austin in two days during SXSW using its 3D printer.

That first permitted 3D-printed house cost about $10,000 in materials. The
350-square-foot house was created as a proof-of-concept house in partnership
with New Story.

The next year, ICON unveiled its “Vulcan II” 3D printer that can quickly print
up to a 2,000-square-foot house at half the cost.

In 2021, ICON raised a $207 million Series B round of financing led by Norwest
Venture Partners, one of the largest fundraising rounds for an Austin-based
company in history.

And last year, ICON received a NASA contract worth $57.2 to develop construction
technologies that could help build the moon’s habitats, landing pads, and roads.
NASA is planning for long-term human exploration of the moon under Artemis.

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SXSW ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE 2023 PITCH COMPETITION

March 12, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

By Laura Kobylecky, Special contribution to Silicon Hills News

The 2023 SXSW Pitch competition winners are Reality Defender, Climatiq,
PentoPix, GPx, Reach Pathways, SXD Ai, Numbers Protocol, and Urban Machine.

The 15th annual SXSW Pitch competition, presented by ZenBusiness, occurred
Saturday and Sunday at the Hilton Austin Downtown. It featured 40 tech companies
from eight categories pitching in front of an audience of SXSW attendees, media,
venture capital investors, and a panel of judges. The winners were announced
Sunday night at an awards ceremony.

Reality Defender of New York, which created a deep fake platform, won the
Artificial Intelligence, Voice, & Robotics Technologies category. Enterprises
can use Reality Defender’s platform to flag fraudulent users and content. Their
presenter says they are “the only one doing this right now” regarding their
particular methods and how they detect deep fakes. 

Climatiq of Berlin, Germany, won the Enterprise & Smart Data Technologies. They
use scientific data to “build climate intelligent solutions.”

PentoPix of London, United Kingdom, which uses AI-assisted technology to
transform text into 3D animations, won the Entertainment, Media & Content
Technologies category.

General Prognostics GPx of Boston, a company allowing physicians to remotely and
non-invasively monitor blood biomarkers vital for managing chronic disease, won
the “Food, Nutrition, & Health Technologies” category. The company’s process is
similar to “continuous glucose monitoring,” minus the needles. The presenter
emphasized that similarity and talked about how it could improve the quality of
life for those individuals. 

Reach Pathways of Chicago won the Future of Work Technologies category. The
company uses a “‘metaversity’ ecosystem” to connect talent and opportunities. It
“rewards students for finding jobs and completing real-life and in-game tasks”
and gamifies the recruitment system. 

SXD Ai of New York won the Innovative World Technologies category. It is a
“tech-powered design platform” that is trying to make “creative visions into
zero fabric waste clothing” that lower cost and carbon footprint without
sacrificing beauty. Their presenter emphasized that, in the next few years, they
would like to see one-third of the clothing “that we’re wearing right now” be
zero waste. 

Numbers Protocol of Taipei, Taiwan, won the Metaverse & Web3 Technologies
category. The company claims to be “building the most comprehensive solution to
make digital media traceable and verifiable.” Its website describes the company
as “a decentralized asset network for creating community, value, and trust in
digital media.” It aims to make “digital media traceable and verifiable” to
address issues like “misinformation, copyright, and royalty distribution.”

Urban Machine of Oakland, California, won the Smart Cities, Transportation &
Sustainability Technologies. Category. The company is on a mission to build a
sustainable future and plans to do this by “salvaging millions of tons of wood
waste from construction and demolition.” They use “AI capable robots” to reclaim
“old wood for reuse into locally sourced, premium lumber products.” 

Judges evaluated the companies on Creativity, Potential, Goodness,
Functionality, and Team/People. The winner for each category received $4,000 and
a trophy, two comped badges for the 2024 Interactive Festival, and a gift bag.

SXSW Pitch 2023 also honored its “Best In Show” winner, PentoPix.

Special awards were also presented to AMA — Environmental Agents for Best
Bootstrap company. It creates “phygital” tools that integrate physical and
digital elements to “improve people’s lives and their urban environments.” 

LeadrPro won the Best Speed Pitch award. The company directly connects sellers
with software buyers. This category emphasized the unique skills and abilities
it takes to funnel the whole mission and energy into a mere minute of time. 

The “Best in DEI” (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) award went to CreditRich, a
company that “rounds up users’ spare change to pay their bills intelligently and
optimize credit scores.” Their website explains that their “mission is to reduce
poverty by giving people access to easy-to-understand financial education
materials.” Their presenter told the audience that diversity is important to the
startup scene, but currently, “less than 1% of funding goes to black founders.”
They emphasized that we must “be the change that we all want to see.” 

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SILICON VALLEY BANK’S FAILURE COULD RIPPLE THROUGH THE ECONOMY AND IMPACT AUSTIN
TECH STARTUPS

March 12, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Isabella Casillas Guzman, the U.S. Small Business Administrator, and Mark Cuban,
Billionaire Tech Entrepreneur at ZenBusiness SXSW panel Sunday morning

The Silicon Valley Bank failure can have downstream consequences depending on
how the government responds to it, said Mark Cuban, billionaire tech
entrepreneur.

“The rich people got wiped out already,” Cuban said at a South by Southwest
panel discussion Sunday morning. “What’s at stake is the depositor. If they
can’t get their money out come Monday, you ain’t getting paid. If you don’t get
paid, others don’t get paid.”

SVB, which had $209 billion in total assets and $175.4 billion in total deposits
at the end of 2022, failed on Friday. SVB is where a large share of VC firms and
VC-backed startups all across the country held deposits, according to the
National Venture Capital Association. It’s the second-largest bank failure in
U.S. history behind Washington Mutual in 2008.

The investors of SVB are out of money, Cuban said. All those people who had
deposits over the FDIC insured $250,000, that’s tens of thousands of companies
that need access to their money for inventory, payroll, and accounts payable,
Cuban said. If they don’t get access to their funds, it could have substantial
ripple effects throughout the economy, he said.

“The Feds have to come in and say we’ve got you,” Cuban said. The bank got hit
with a liquidity crunch, he said. “The federal government has to say all
deposits will be made whole. I know that’s scary, but that’s the reality.”

Isabella Casillas Guzman, the U.S. Small Business Administrator, also
participated in the SXSW panel discussion and said U.S. Secretary of the
Treasury Janet Yellen was working closely with bank regulators on the collapse.
She said that many of SVB’s depositors are small businesses and are critical to
the U.S. economy.

“This weekend is critical,” Guzman said. Regulators are working to determine the
right actions to ensure the U.S. economy remains strong.

On Sunday morning’s Face the Nation TV show, Secretary Yellen said SVB’s failure
stemmed from a rise in interest rates. And that many of the depositors were
small businesses and that the regulators were working on a solution for them,
she said. But the Federal government didn’t plan to bail out the investors and
owners of the bank.

“The problems of this bank, from reporting about its situation, suggest that
because we’re in a higher interest rate environment, assets that it holds, many
of which are Treasury assets, or mortgage-backed securities that are guaranteed
by the government lose market value, and the problems of the tech sector aren’t
at the heart of the problems of this bank,” Yellen said on Face the Nation,
according to a show transcript.

SVB’s bank failure is the buzz around SXSW, the annual technology conference
held in Austin every Spring.

 The bank backed a lot of startups locally, said Ross Buhrdorf, CEO of
Austin-based ZenBusiness.

“We ran our business out of it,” Buhrdorf said. He spoke to Silicon Hills News
Sunday morning after an SXSW panel his company moderated.

“We’re scrambling to figure out how to run day to day,” he said. “Like a bunch
of us are.”

Buhrdorf, founding Chief Technology Officer of HomeAway, which sold to Expedia
and is now known as VRBO, is also an active angel investor in Austin and has
backed dozens of companies. All of them used SVB, he said.

ZenBusiness is one of Austin’s home-grown Unicorn companies. Founded in 2017,
ZenBusiness runs an online platform to help small businesses incorporate and
stay compliant with regulators. It raised a $200 million Series C round in late
2021, valuing the company at $1.7 billion.

ZenBusiness is not exposed financially, Buhrdorf said. He said it diversified
its bank deposits in several banks before the bank failure. But ZenBusiness’
payroll is run out of there, he said.

“You don’t just change that and the next day go to another bank,” he said.

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SVB’S COLLAPSE HANGS HEAVY OVER SXSW IN AUSTIN

March 12, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Two characters from the Roku City party at SXSW Friday night

South by Southwest kicked off Friday on the same day Federal regulators took
over the failed Silicon Valley Bank.

It’s the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history behind Washington Mutual in
2008.

Silicon Valley Bank is “where a large share of VC firms and VC-backed startups
all across the country held deposits,” according to the National Venture Capital
Association. As of Dec. 31, 2022, the bank had about $209 billion in total
assets and about $175.4 billion in total deposits.

Bank customers still have access to funds up to $250,000, the amount the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp. insures. But others will have to wait to recoup their
uninsured monies.

In an SXSW panel discussion on the Silicon Heartland with CNBC Journalist
Rebecca Fannin Saturday morning, Venture Capitalist Jim Breyer said he began
hearing about problems with SVB a week ago and advised 90 percent of Breyer
Capital portfolio companies to establish an alternative bank account.

It’s too early to predict what’s going to happen, Breyer said. More details will
come to light on Monday, he said.



Meanwhile, Roku, which has an office in Austin, filed a report with the
Securities and Exchange Commission reporting approximately $487 million held at
SVB, representing approximately 26 percent of the company’s cash and cash
equivalents as of March 1st. Its deposits with SVB are largely uninsured, and it
“does not know to what extent the company will be able to recover its cash on
deposit at SVB.” But the company said it believes it has sufficient capital to
meet its needs for the next 12 months and beyond.

On Friday evening, Roku had an invitation-only party at the Riley Building
downtown, transforming it into a Roku City, a Willy Wonka and Alice in
Wonderland-type experience. It had customed characters dressed in purple outfits
handing out purple boas, berets, and sunglasses, and Roku served purple martinis
and prosecco cocktails at a rooftop bar. A DJ played music. Waiters served
purple hors d’oeurves to guests. The party was rocking despite the bank failure.

But not everyone is in the party mood at SXSW. Reign Ventures canceled its Reign
Ventures House events at SXSW because of the SVB collapse. It sent out a Tweet
with its sincerest apologies.

“We are sorry to miss you, and we are sending out our support to all the
startups and VCs being impacted during this challenging time,” according to a
statement.

It’s still uncertain what effect the bank failure will have on startups in
Austin.

The NVCA sent out a news release saying it “has been closely monitoring the SVB
situation as it unfolds to help the startup community navigate this
unprecedented turbulence.”

With the FDIC takeover of SVB, the NVCA said, “there will be immediate, short,
and long-term impacts on the startup ecosystem.”

“NVCA is discussing the potential consequences of a failure of this central part
of the financial plumbing of the innovation ecosystem with a range of
policymakers and industry leaders,” according to the news release. “The
implications for company and fund operations are far-reaching.”

The biggest concerns are startups’ inability to access their deposits greater
than the FDIC-insured amount of $250,000. That means some companies might not be
able to cover payroll.

“Without access to additional funds, or if access is delayed, companies will be
faced with difficult decisions ranging from furloughing employees to potentially
shutting down,” according to the NVCA. “These decisions could have a lasting
impact on the industry and the country.”

TechCrunch reported in a story posted on Friday that the SVB collapse is the
talk of SXSW. Some panelists were so distracted by the bank’s failure that they
kept checking their phones during panel presentations to ensure their money was
secure at their own banks.  

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AT SXSW, INGRID VANDERVELDT PROVIDES A SNEAK PEEK AT SHECONOMY VIRTUAL WORLD,
WHICH AIMS TO BOOST FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

March 11, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

In 2021, Empower a Billion Women topped the list of Austin’s fastest-growing
companies on Inc Magazine’s list.

Ingrid Vanderveldt founded the company in 2013 and launched a healthcare
business to supply personal protection equipment in response to the COVID-19
pandemic.

Vanderveldt announced last week that she had sold EBW Cares Distributors to
Shield Manufacturing, based in Alpharetta, Georgia. She discussed the deal at
her SXSW presentation Friday titled “Be The One: Unlocking the $28 Trillion
SHEconomy with AI” at the Hilton Downtown Hotel. And Alison Bagwell, CEO of
Shield Manufacturing, attended the event. Bagwell is an engineer formerly with
Kimberly Clark. She has more than 50 patents and has used the bulk of them to
drive more than $500 million in sales over the last decade, according to a news
release.

 “While the deal remains private, it is estimated to be valued at over $100
million,” according to a news release. The companies first focus will be
building its cleanroom glove facility in Sandersville, Georgia, which is
expected to produce over 2.2 billion gloves annually in its Phase I. Shield
cleanroom gloves will serve pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech, chip
manufacturing, and other controlled professional lab environments.

Vanderveldt created Empowering a Billion Women to reach one billion women across
the globe and help them start and scale ventures through mentorship, education,
and community. Vanderveldt is a former Entrepreneur in Residence of Dell and has
led ventures and initiatives that combined have driven over $1 billion in impact
reaching over 700 million people worldwide, according to Vanderveldt.

When she heard a statistic from the United Nations that it would take 300 years
for gender parity, she thought she needed to do more.  She said she wanted to
use technology to build a bridge, break down doors, and transform lives.

So she’s launching SHEconomy.com, a metaverse world built on technology,
blockchain, and using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Vanderveldt
said.

“The word Sheconomy was first coined in 2007,” according to Frost & Sullivan.
“It refers to a new economy driven by the increase in female consumers in
industries like tourism, healthcare, food, beauty and wellness, culture, media,
and entertainment.”

 “Together, we can move the needle,” she said. “We can create the new future we
want to see.”

Vanderveldt said it’s impossible to do big ideas without a team, so she has
partnered with Cristina Diaz, founder of Minero, and Bobby Henebry, founder of
HBCC LLC and Elway Capital LLC.

“As a technologist myself, it’s easy to think we can make all kinds of things
happen with data, but we need relationships, and we need to bring people
together, “ Vanderveldt said.

Today, 84 percent of women and diverse leaders running businesses don’t make
over $100,000 in revenue annually; only 3 percent will get over $1 million, and
.003 percent will get over $10 million, Vanderveldt said.

The SHEconomy World will bring people together in the virtual world to make
real-life connections, Vanderveldt said. It will launch in November, she said.
She said the focus would be on helping women connect to corporations and
investors to move the needle of their progress as entrepreneurs.

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AT SXSW, WHITE HOUSE SCIENCE ADVISOR ARATI PRABHAKAR EMPHASIZES THE CRITICAL
ROLE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN DRIVING U.S. ECONOMIC GROWTH

March 11, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

In California in the early ‘90s, a man bought a ketchup bottle, and when he got
it home, he found that it contained less ketchup than the specified weight.

That turned out to be true, said Arati Prabhakar, now Chief Advisor on Science
and Technology to President Joe Biden and director of the White House Office Of
Science And Technology Policy.

Heinz had new packaging material, and its sensors had miscalibrated how much to
fill the bottles, Prabhakar said. At the time, she was the director of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology, a 122-year-old agency.

An investigation and a consumer protection lawsuit against Heinz ensued, and
Heinz agreed to overfill ketchup bottles in the state of California for a year
to get even with consumers, Prabhakar said.

“NIST just works, and you can count on it,” Prabhakar said. “It’s the invisible
work of government in our society that just works.”

At the NIST, Prabhakar “reinforced the agency’s long-time mission in measurement
science and technology that underpins commerce and high-quality manufacturing,”
according to the White House.

Prabhakar spoke Friday afternoon in Salon B of the Hilton Austin Downtown Hotel
during a South by Southwest Panel titled “Achieving America’s Aspirations
through Science, Technology, and Innovation.” Austin Carson, founder and
president of SeedAI moderated the discussion.

Prabhakar was the first woman to lead the NIST. She later served as director of
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Prabhakar, who moved with her
family to the United States from India as a child, is the first woman and
immigrant to serve as the director of OSTP.

Prabhakar also has Texas roots. Her family relocated from Chicago to Lubbock
when she was 10. She received her electrical engineering degree from Texas Tech
University. Then she became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in applied physics
from the California Institute of Technology and earned an M.S. in electrical
engineering.

Prabhakar also spent 15 years in Silicon Valley as a venture capitalist. She
formed a nonprofit organization, Actuate, to open access to opportunity for
everyone in the technology industry and focus on climate, health, trustworthy
data, and information technology challenges.

In her new role as director of OTSP, Prabhakar said it’s one place to see the
whole chessboard of research and development in science and technology in the
U.S.

“Our job is to nurture and shape and strengthen that whole ecosystem,” she said.
“Every major technological advance, our progress in society does not come from
one technological model or place. The answer is you need all the pieces.”

And that ecosystem is getting bigger under President Biden, Prabhakar said.
Prabhakar highlighted President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, $740 Billion to
provide billions of dollars in new climate-related federal spending. It passed
congress, and President Biden signed it into law in August of 2022. And she
mentioned the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which President
Biden also signed into law in August of 2022. It provides nearly $50 billion in
additional investments in American semiconductor manufacturing.

The U.S. originated the semiconductor industry, then it globalized, and
eventually started getting very concentrated in one part of the world, Prabhakar
said. She said the pandemic showed the U.S. needs to strengthen its domestic
semiconductor manufacturing and research and development industry.

“The R&D part of the semiconductor work will keep production here,” Prabhakar
said.

Investment in research often takes years to come to fruition, Prabhakar said.

For example, in 2012, when Prabhakar was director of DARPA,  a geneticist and
Air Force Colonel warned about a future pandemic and the fact the U.S. still
didn’t know how to develop vaccines. That problem led her to kick start the
development of rapid-response mRNA vaccine platform, which made the development
of the COVID-19 vaccine fast, safe and effective.

“We at DARPA were investing for a purpose – a vaccine platform for the future,”
she said.

At the time, the mRNA research was being focused on cancer, a “tragically
forever reliable and lucrative market,” Prabhakar said.

Everyone thought it was the dumbest idea they had ever heard of to do mRNA
research on vaccines, she said. But then, testing with the Chikungunya and Ebola
viruses, people saw that it could be possible, which happened around 2018,
Prabhakar said.

That early research made it possible for Moderna to ship its first COVID-19
vaccines within 42 days from when they got the spike protein, Prabhakar said.

She said that early pivotal investment in research later made something happen
in real time.

Of course, not all investments turn out as successful as that, and that’s the
point of research and development, Prabhakar said. She recalled a launch system
that blew up on the pad and an airship that didn’t fly.

“We had many things that did not pan out quite as expected,” she said.

This year, the U.S. is requesting $210 billion for research and development,
which is a record request, Prabhakar said. But it’s needed, she said.

“We’re a big country, and we’ve got big ambitions, both public and private,”
Prabhakar said.

One goal is to boost innovations in many of the regions throughout the country.
In addition, Prabhakar said every child in America should have the opportunity
to find out if a science and technology career is for them. That’s something
that needs to happen, she said.

In the U.S., innovators, scientists, and entrepreneurs also need to continue
going after big, bold, hairy, audacious goals, she said. She said that work on
artificial intelligence, brain implants, and biological technologies would
continue to improve people’s lives. Prabhakar said there is no better time in
history to be alive than now. And continuous improvement is the goal, she said.

“I just want the future to be better than the past,” Prabhakar said.

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FREE EVENTS, PANELS, DISCUSSIONS, AND PARTIES AT SXSW 2023

March 9, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

South by Southwest is best done with an official badge. The SXSW badge lets you
into all the keynote talks, panel discussions, and some of Austin’s best
parties, movies, music, and more.

But if you don’t have a badge, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the
festivities. You can attend many badge–less events–some are free, some charge a
ticket, and almost all require an RSVP. On the eve of the big kickoff for SXSW,
it’s time to fill your calendar with events.

Don’t worry if plans change. SXSW is known for serendipitous encounters. Magic
can happen with an unscheduled meeting in a hotel lobby or bar. So be open to
talking to strangers.

And remember to use ridesharing whenever possible, wear comfortable shoes, drink
a lot of water (bring a refillable water bottle with you), bring a phone charger
or carry an extra battery pack, and be open to chance encounters of the creative
kind.

SXSW has its own list of top free events. It includes Austin Industry Day at the
Creative Industries Expo on Wednesday, March 15th. The Expo is open to all
Austin industry professionals – no credential required from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at
the Austin Convention Center.

Capital Factory House at SXSW – kicks off with the Capital Factory Startup Crawl
Friday evening at 5 p.m. No badge is required, but it does require RSVP and
tickets.

The Inc. Founders House at Foxy’s Proper Pub, 201 Brazos Street  – SXSW, runs
from March 10-13th and is open to non-badge holder entrepreneurs and features
curated conversations, cocktails, and more. Request an invitation here. March
10-13th.

Fast Company Grill at Cedar Door Bar & Grill – 201 Brazos Street is also open to
non-badge holders. It features unique content, exclusive product demos, tasting
and interactive experiences, and networking. March 10-13th.

SHE Media takes place March 11th and 12th at The Native at 807 East 4th in
Austin. It will examine the science and storytelling around women’s whole
health. Attendees will hear from experts and thought leaders, including Katie
Couric, Maria Shriver, Christy Turlington Burns, Dr. Laurie Santos, Phoebe
Robinson, Judy Greer, and more. Tickets required.

The Future of Food 2023 – SXSW event series is free and open at 1400 Lavaca
Street and features conversations, art installations, and delicious tastings.

For more free events, check out these lists:

Marc Nathan, the author of the Texas Squared Newsletter, created the Texas
Squared VIP Insider Events Guide 2023.

Texas Venture Association’s The Investors’ SXSW 2023 List

SXSW 2023 – Unofficial Events Schedule

Yoni’s OFFICIAL SXSW 2023 Curated Events + Parties List

FIESTA Calendar

Marissa Vickers with Builders + Backers SXSW 2023 List.

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BUILDERS + BACKERS, AN ACCELERATOR THAT BACKS IDEA STAGE ENTREPRENEURS, WILL BE
AT SXSW 2023

March 7, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Sponsored Post

Builders + Backers, an accelerator program and investment firm that backs
entrepreneurs at the idea stage, finds, funds, and equips builders nationwide.

“We want to put more ideas into action,” said Kathleen Hale, Partner at Builders
+ Backers.

Donna Harris, a native of Detroit, founded Builders + Backers and previously
founded 1776 Ventures and served as managing director of the Startup American
Partnership during the Obama Administration. Harris is also ranked as one of the
top 25 female early-stage investors in the United States in 2021 and 2022.

The traditional VC model doesn’t work for most entrepreneurs. It was “leaving a
lot of ideas on the sidelines,” Hale said. That’s where Builders + Backers comes
in. The 90-day virtual accelerator provides funding and support to take the idea
from the start to scaling it into a bigger venture, Hale said. Builders +
Backers gives its entrepreneurs a $5,000 investment from its Pebble Fund to test
the idea. It’s provided to the founder with a Stripe credit card. The Idea
Accelerator program and the Pebble Fund are supported by philanthropic donations
from partners and sponsors, including Heartland Forward, a think-and-do tank
based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Along with the Pebble Fund, Builders + Backers
invests in startups all the way from Seed Stage to Series C. 

Builders + Backers launched in early 2021 and has held six cohorts. To date,
nearly 400 people have gone through the accelerator and over 100 new ventures.
Everything from a nonprofit organization to a VC-ready startup has launched; as
a result, Hale said.

The economic impact is huge, Hale said.

“We need a variety of ventures to have a thriving economy,” Hale said.

An estimated 60 percent of Americans have an idea to start a business, which
equates to millions of ideas, and last year, VCs funded less than 5,000 deals,
Hale said. That’s a lot of ideas that need to be shifted through to find the
gold, she said.

“In this moment in time in the digital world, the ability to startup and test an
idea is easier than ever,” Hale said.

She said tools like Canva, Wix, Square Space, and more make testing those ideas
easy.

Builders + Backers also want to be in all of the places where ideas are, Hale
said.

Last year, Builders + Backers hired Marisa Vickers, based in Austin, as its
Director of Global Brand Growth. She’ll be at SXSW 2023 along with Hale,
Builders + Backers COO.

At South by Southwest 2023, Builders + Backers is one of the sponsors of Midwest
House, which showcases Midwest startups and innovation. It is open Friday, March
10th through Tuesday, March 14th, at Half Step Bar at 75 1/2 Rainey Street. It
is free and open to the public. On March 11th at noon to 1 p.m., Hale will
participate in a fireside chat about “Fueling Innovation: New Tools for Funding
More Ventures!” moderated by CS Freeland, founder of the Texas Venture
Association.

In addition, one of Builder + Backers builders, Narayan Iyer of Laminar
Scientific, will be featured at the SXSW pitch competition as one of the top 5
finalists for “World Changing Technologies.” Laminar Scientific is an American
Ocean Energy company that has developed several inventions and improvements in
ocean wave energy that aim to improve efficiency, reduce LCOE, simplify sea
maintenance, and reduce its frequency. Before the pitch, he will also
participate in a private panel discussion regarding sustainability for the
Austrian SXSW delegation. 

Additionally,  other Builder + Backers portfolio companies, Chris Cummings of
Iconic Moments and Clint Carlos of Soar, will also participate in panel
discussions with the Austrian delegation. Carlos of Soar will speak on
Technologies for Tomorrow for on Friday, and Cummings will speak on Trends in
Media and Creativity at a Tech Breakfast Panel on Monday.

Builder + Backer VC Associate Mychal Richardson will also be a judge for the
upcoming SXSW Startup of the Year competition held on March 12 from 11:30-12:30
PM.

At SX, Builders + Backers also promotes the Tulsa Idea Challenge with Atento
Capital and Tulsa Remote. The Tulsa Idea Challenge is a two-day entrepreneurial
workshop and competition for Tulsans to learn how to transform an idea into
action. Applications are open now, and the event will take place in downtown
Tulsa from April 27-29. Builders + Backers is partnering with Atento Capital and
Tulsa Remote on The Tulsa Challenge, which will award $50,000 to the top teams.

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AMAZON PRIME VIDEO CREATES AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE AT SXSW WITH “PRIME, TEXAS,”
ALONG WITH OTHER TV AND FILM ACTIVATIONS

March 7, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Every year, there are amazing experiences created at South by Southwest.

Mr. Robot put up a Ferris Wheel at Fourth and Congress one year, and General
Electric had a solar-powered carousel.

Giant Spoon created one of the most talked about experiential marketing
activations ever at SXSW when it recreated HBO’s Westworld in a ghost town just
outside Austin. The next year, Giant Spoon launched a Game of Thrones
experiential marketing activation at SXSW.

Amazon Prime also has a history of putting on incredible events at SXSW. It has
hosted a Good Omens’ Garden of Earthly Delights activation featuring angels and
demons. Last year, it held a Lizzo-themed marketing activation to promote
Lizzo’s show “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.” That event also had a carousel.

This year, the activations are back! Amazon Prime Video, Showtime, HBO, and the
film Dungeons and Dragons all have experiential marketing activations at SXSW
2023.

Amazon Prime Video plans to establish Prime, Texas at Hotel San Jose on South
Congress. The venue will highlight a variety of titles such as Daisy Jones & The
Six, The Boys, Swarm, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Power, Academy of Country
Music Awards; I’m a Virgo, Harlem, and Carnival Row.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson even plans to attend Prime, Texas, on Friday to accept
the key to the faux town.

The town features sound and photo studios, a nail salon, a semi-permanent tattoo
parlor, a plant shop, and a mysterious power room. There’s also locally sourced,
Texas-inspired food and beverages with a Prime Video twist.

The venue will also feature music from Prime, Texas’ main stage from DJs CRG, TJ
the DJ, Christy Ray, Disko Cowboy, and Just Jim. Amazon Prime will also have
drinks at the Six Saloon and food at The Prime Cantina. “On Sunday, Chef Damien
Brockway, a 2022 James Beard award semi-finalist Pitmaster will serve modern
African American fare and local Southern BBQ comfort food at a Harlem-themed
influencer brunch,” according to a press release. “Partnering with online thrift
store Goodfair, guests will also have the chance to personalize a denim jacket
in collaboration with a local artist at PRIME DenimCo., leaving with a
customized item to remember Prime, Texas.”

Prime, Texas, opens at noon on Friday, March 10th, and runs through Sunday,
March 12th, at the Hotel San José, 1316 S Congress Ave.

Prime Video is also hosting the Swarm Mini-Mart pop-up at the Austin Motel with
an exclusive first look into the world of Swarm by co-creators Donald Glover and
Janine Nabers.

Showtime is putting on Camp YellowJackets at the Fair Market. The 3-day
interactive experience celebrates the release of the series’s second season,
Yellowjackets. It kicks off on Friday.



Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Tavern Experience will take place at The
Highball at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. It will serve fluorescent “Dragon’s
Brew” in the “antagonist Gelatinous Cube.” The tavern opens at 11 a.m. on Friday
and runs through Sunday.

HBO Max also announced it will have an in-person activation with Coffeehouse in
Austin on March 11 and 12th, featuring HBO and HBO Max content. HBO Max’s Human
powers the event by Orientation and Pa’lante! Multicultural marketing
initiatives. It’s focused on elevating LGBTQIA+ and Latinx communities. The
event will feature invite-only and public events. HBO hasn’t published the
Coffeehouse location yet.

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SXSW PITCH COMPETITION FEATURES 40 FINALISTS INCLUDING THREE FROM AUSTIN AND ONE
FROM SAN ANTONIO

March 5, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

The SXSW Pitch competition has selected 40 finalists for its 15th annual SXSW
Pitch Competition.

“Since its inception, SXSW Pitch has been front row to some of the most
ambitious startups from around the world, using creative ideas to change their
industry’s future,” SXSW Pitch Event Producer Chris Valentine said in a news
release.

From March 11-12, SXSW Pitch will showcase 40 tech companies from eight distinct
categories for two days of live pitches in front of an audience of SXSW
attendees, high-profile media, venture capital investors, and a panel of expert
judges. This season’s judges include industry moguls like Stacy Feld (Johnson &
Johnson), Jacqueline Jennings (Raven Indigenous Capital Partners), Mingu Lee
(Cleveland Avenue), Trish Costello (Portfolia), Kay Koplovitz (USA Networks),
and many more.

Participating companies come from all around the world, with finalists this year
representing Norway, Germany, London, Ireland, Brazil, Taiwan, and the United
Arab Emirates, to name a few.

This year, the competition includes two Austin and one San Antonio finalist and
five alternates from Austin.

Austin Finalists:

–gigaroo (Future of Work)

–EverCase (Innovative World Technologies)

Austin Alternates:

–443ID (Enterprise and Smart Data)

–Endless Health (Food, Nutrition, & Health)

–Vironix Health (Food, Nutrition, & Health)

–Tirios (Metaverse & Web3)

–Manifest.eco (Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability)

San Antonio Finalists: 

–Allosense Inc (Enterprise and Smart Data)

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THEZEBRA.COM’S FOUNDER ADAM LYONS LAUNCHES REALLY, A MOBILE PHONE SERVICE WITH
$18 MILLION IN FUNDING

March 4, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

A new mobile phone service, REALLY, announced last week that it had received $18
million in seed-stage funding.

Adam Lyons, the founder of TheZebra.com, is the company’s founder and CEO.

“We raised this capital to create the modern telco. REALLY is a tech company. A
lifestyle brand. A movement. We are building the telecommunications company that
people love,” Lyons wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Polychain led the round with Floodgate founding partner Mike Maples Jr and other
strategic partners.

According to Lyons, REALLY wants to be the number one online retailer for phone
plans. However, he said it also plans to offer its products and services
alongside others.

“REALLY is already the most comprehensive wireless comparison platform in the
nation comparing over 279 plans across 50 carriers,” Lyons wrote in his post.
“But we aren’t stopping there. We plan to launch our own phone service later
this year for people that care about their community and privacy.”

REALLY’s mobile network and infrastructure will create a blockchain-powered
telecommunications community owned by the people using it, focusing on privacy,
accessibility and anonymity for a 5G network.

Among the industry experts leading the infrastructure and service build-out for
REALLY are executives from AT&T, T-Mobile, GoogleFi, uShip, Indeed, Niche, and
The Zebra.

“Smartphones and mobile networks have become indispensable, yet most people
don’t love their service provider. We see a massive opportunity to fix this, and
our mission is to create a brand in this industry that people trust and love,”
Lyons said. “We are building a better, more affordable phone service allowing
communities to build equity and support their neighbors by using their cell
phones. Those interested in putting a mini cell tower in their home or business
will also have the opportunity to earn in USD. No other network exists
that truly puts the ability to create and power the network in the hands of
users like this.”

REALLY Wireless is set to launch later this year.

“The ongoing and rapid adoption of Web3 and blockchain into our everyday lives
has allowed for an unprecedented period of change in telecommunications,”
said Maples Jr., founding partner at Floodgate, said in a news release. “Adam
and the team of industry experts assembled to make REALLY a reality have proven
track records of excellence in their fields. We are excited to be able to play a
part in this paradigm shift in telecommunications that will redefine how the
industry functions.”

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DIVINC’S CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE 2023 HONOR AUSTIN’S CHANGEMAKERS

March 2, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Preston James, Co-founder, and CEO of DivInc

DivInc, the premier startup accelerator for BIPOC and women entrepreneurs,
announced the nominees for its 5th Annual Champions of Change Awards held in
Austin, Texas.

The awards ceremony will occur on Thursday at Distribution Hall. This year’s
theme is ‘Rise,’ a reflection of the champions who embody the organization’s
mission and power initiatives that spark sincere change.

“Champions of Change is not the traditional awards recognition event. It is a
celebration of the best of Austin,” explained Preston James, Co-founder, and CEO
of DivInc. “The community comes together in unity to recognize awe-inspiring,
unsung leaders who are creating positive change. Everyone walks away with pride
knowing that we’re truly moving forward together to create a world where social
and economic disparities no longer exist.”

Tickets to the event are $50 per person and are available on Eventbrite here. 

Proceeds from the event will go directly to support DivInc’s efforts in bridging
the gap between underrepresented entrepreneurs and the resources they need to
build profitable high-growth, high-impact startups.

“Over the years, I’ve had the honor to witness Champions of Change grow with
more and more individuals at the helm of meaningful action and impact. Our
future relies on their leadership to provide a safe and supportive space for
underrepresented communities,” said James, “These nominations recognize the
trailblazers who demonstrate exceptional dedication towards advancing diversity,
equity, and inclusion in Austin and beyond.”

This year’s categories include Executive of the Year, DEI Leader of the Year,
Young Leader of the Year, Champion of the Year, Investor of the Year, Startup
Leader of the Year, Rising Star of the Year, Spacemaker of the Year, and
Non-Profit Leader of the Year.

2023 Nominees

Executive of the Year

Kana Livolsi, CEO and Co-Founder of Dos Mundos Creative

Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas

Shaleiah Fox, Chief Advancement Officer at The Thinkery

Shuronda Robinson, CEO of Adisa Communications and Austin Woman Magazine

Wendy Howell, Co-Founder and CEO of Executive Council Network

DEI Leader of the Year

Amy Maldonado, Global Inclusion Programs Coordinator at Indeed

Brion Oaks, Vice President of DEI and Operations at Charles Butt Foundation

Dr. Elizabeth Medina, Inclusion & Accountability Director at Everly Health

Rachel Lauren Pierce, Vice President of People and Culture at Dream.Org;
Founding Partner at Diversified Consulting Firm

River Holley, Global Diversity, Belonging and Inclusion Specialist at AMD

Young Leader of the Year

Alyse Gamble, Public Affairs D&I Content Specialist at HEB

Ash Hall, Founder & CEO of Justice Strategies, LLC

Azteca Sirias, Founder & Executive Director at Aztech Kidz Code

Chastiny Brown, Programs Manager of 3 Day Startup

Corey Alan, Program Associate at 3 Day Startup; Community and Youth Engagement
Consultant at OutYouth

Champion of the Year

Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Professor in Educational Leadership and Policy at The
University of Texas at Austin

Hailey Easley, Executive Director at Austin Asian Community Health Initiative

Maria Brown-Spence, Founder of Hearts2Heal; Director of Environmental, Social &
Governance (ESG) at SThree

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, Judge of 459th District Court

Ryn Gonzales, Director of Operations and Programs at Out Youth 

Investor of the Year

Andy Ambrose, Partner at TheFund Austin

Betty Wu Adams, Managing Director of Equity Investments at The Disability
Opportunity Fund

Cat Dizon, Co-founder of Active Capital

Juan Thurman, Co-founder and Managing General Partner of SWAN Impact Fund

Sanika Bhave, VC at Capital Factory

Rising Star of the Year

Alyse Gamble, Public Affairs D&I Content Specialist at HEB

Daniela Silva, Consultant at Farmshare Austin

Dante Clemons, Co-Founder Origin Studio House

Jazz Mills, Founder and Director of Operations at Free Lunch

Nicole Cardoza, CEO & Founder at Reclamation Ventures

Nonprofit Leader of the Year

Diana Anzaldua, Founder & CEO of Contigo Wellness

Kelenne Blake-Fallon, Executive Director at Black Mamas ATX

Phyllis Everette, Founder & CEO of Saffron Trust Women’s Foundation

Rockie Gonzalez, Deputy Director at Austin Justice Coalition 

Timeka Walker, CEO of United Against Human Trafficking

Startup Leader of the Year

Carley Deardorff, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Capital Factory

Luis Gramajo and Hans Scheri, CMO and CEO of Wunderkeks LLC

Katrina Tolentino, Executive Director at Naturally Network

Sierra Pena, CEO & Co-founder of Shelfleet

Sugar Tennon, Founder and CEO of Pink Sugar Treats & Eats

Spacemaker of the Year

Diana Melendez, Esq., Co-Founder of Women of Color Collective; Attorney at Diana
Melendez Law, PLLC

Dominique McLeggan Brown, Founder of The Sisters in Law LLC

Katrina and Eric Brooks, Owners of Black Pearl Books

Marissa Rivera, Founder & Community Curator, Ola Wellness _OFCOLOR

Natalie Sanders, Founder of House of LEPORE & the ORISHA mere project



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FROM A SHOWER IDEA TO A $2.7 MILLION BUSINESS: THE INSPIRING STORY OF THE BROBE

February 25, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Allison Jenkins Schickel wanted a robe with a built-in bra to provide support
after she got out of the shower.

 When she couldn’t find one, she created it by sewing a sports bra into a
bathrobe.

Schickel took the bathrobe bra combination to Fredericksburg for a girl’s
weekend wine trip and her friends fell in love with it. They called it the
Brobe. The name stuck.

The following year, Schickel’s friend Wendy was diagnosed with Stage III breast
cancer and The Brobe took on a whole new meaning. Wendy told Schickel about the
need for a hospital robe that could support the drains women have after
undergoing surgery. The existing robes were “ugly as hell, overpriced, and not
made from a nice material,” Schickel said.

“They were only focused on the sickness,” Schickel said. “They were not focused
on wellness.”

The women recovering from breast cancer surgery needed something to make them
feel beautiful and to give them their power back, Schickel said. So, she created
The Brobe, a “bra” and “robe” combination with pockets for ice packs,
prosthetics, drains, and more.

“I wanted to do something that mattered,” Schickel said.

Schickel officially launched the company in 2012 and to date, “Brobe’s
functional and fashionable post-surgery apparel has reached more than 50,000
customers and garnered sales of $2.7 million.”



Last week, Schickel launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine with
the goal of raising $1.2 million. So far, the company has been bootstrapped and
running on revenue along with a $150,000 Small Business Association loan from
PeopleFund.

Schickel has secured three U.S. patents on The Brobe and two in the United
Kingdom and two in Germany. The company was also selected as one of ten
companies nationwide to participate in a 2017 fellowship cohort with the Tory
Burch Foundation in New York. It also participated in the Monarq Incubator and
Quake Capital’s Fall 2018 cohort in Austin.

Brobe sells direct to consumers online at retailers like Amazon. It also sells
directly to plastic surgery centers, lingerie boutiques, and hospital systems.

Brobe started off focused on functional fashionable adaptive clothing for breast
cancer survivors but has since expanded to helping people recovering from other
major surgeries like open heart, organ transplant surgery, vasectomies, and
more, Schickel said. Today, 70 percent of her sales are non-breast cancer
related, she said.

The company also recently launched the Elliot Superhero Robe for children who
are undergoing treatment at the hospital.



Schickel plans to use the funds raised from the crowdfunding campaign to buy
more inventory because she’s not able to meet the demand for her product right
now, she said. The Brobes are made in a factory in Shenzhen, China. She ran into
supply chain problems during the pandemic and her inventory actually sat on a
ship in the ocean for four months. Now that manufacturing and supply chain
problems have subsided, Schickel is ready to ramp up production and inventory.

“I just keep pushing forward,’ Schickel said.

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SXSW’S 2023 HEALTH & MEDTECH TRACK TO FEATURE PROGRAMMING ON HUMAN BRAIN
INTERFACES, TIKTOK FOR DOCS, NICK JONAS ON DIABETES, AND MORE

February 24, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Hugh Forrest, C0-President and Chief Programming Officer at SXSW speaking at the
Heath Tech Austin Summit

This year’s South by Southwest is going to be bigger than 2022, but not yet back
to the pre-pandemic level, according to Hugh Forrest, Co-president and Chief
Programming Officer at SXSW.

More than 51,000 people are expected to attend SXSW 2023, which runs from March
10th to March 19th.

There’s going to be a big increase in international attendance this year,
Forrest said.

The SXSW conference features panels, sessions, meet-ups, workshops, networking,
and more. It includes Interactive, Film, and Music segments and features 25
tracks of programming.

About a decade ago, SXSW added the Health & MedTech programming track, which
runs from March 10th through March 13th, Forrest said.

SXSW added the track because SXSW is largely a reflection of what’s happening in
Austin, Forrest said. And the Dell Medical School was opening, which spurred
development and innovation locally in biotechnology, medical technology, and
healthcare.

Forrest spoke Thursday morning at the Heath Tech Austin Future of Care Delivery
Summit at Capital Factory. He said the event provided a preview of the kinds of
programming that will be showcased at SXSW.

Among the sessions, there will be a discussion on how doctors are using TikTok
now to reach younger audiences, Forrest said. Nick Jonas, singer, and
songwriter, will be in a featured session titled “Crushing: The Burden of
Diabetes on Patients” at 10 a.m. on March 13th.

Forrest also highlighted a documentary, “No Ordinary Campaign,” which will
screen on March 12th at the Alamo Theater on Lamar. The film focuses on Brian
Wallach, a former Obama White House staffer, who was diagnosed with ALS “on the
same day he and his wife Sandra brought their second daughter home from the
hospital.” The documentary focuses on Wallach’s fight against ALS and his fight
for drug approval and research funding. Journalist Katie Couric is one of the
film’s executive producers.

The Health & MedTech tracks have grown to be incredibly popular with SXSW
attendees, according to SXSW. This year, the content includes everything from
aging, data, and FemTech to organ transplants and virtual care.  It also
includes a new area of focus on brain-computer interfaces, featured in the
sessions titled “Hello World: Brain-Computer Interfaces at Scale” as well as in
“Superhuman: Meet The World’s First BCI Pioneers.”

Badges are still available for SXSW at SXSW.

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AUSTIN’S HARBOR HEALTH AIMS TO DISRUPT HEALTHCARE DELIVERY

February 24, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

The intent of the healthcare system isn’t aligned with improving things, said
Dr. S. Claiborne “Clay” Johnston.

“It’s not about making healthcare better,” said Johnston, the inaugural deal of
the Dell Medical School, who left that job in 2021 after seven years and
co-founded Harbor Health in 2022.

Austin-based Harbor Health is disrupting the way patients receive healthcare.

The first time he talked about his new venture in public was Thursday morning at
the Health Tech Austin’s Future of Care Delivery Summit at Capital Factory.

Tony Miller, the other co-founder of Harbor Health, is a serial healthcare
founder. He formerly founded Bind Benefits in 2016 which offered on-demand
healthcare and sold to United Healthcare. Before that, Miller founded Definitely
Health which sold to United Healthcare for $300 million in 2004, according to
the Wall Street Journal.

Harbor Health is working with employers and Medicare to redesign benefits and
care to reduce costs and improve care.

“We’re wasting a ton of money,” Johnston said.

For example, only 25 percent of people with high blood pressure are being
treated for it, Johnston said. If that rose to 100 percent, then 60 percent of
heart attacks and strokes could be prevented, he said.

Harbor Health is a fee-based system that focuses on preventative care and
providing access to doctors through telemedicine and even text-based exchanges,
Johnston said. It’s also focused on finding the best specialists for the
patients, he said.

Harbor Health is redesigning the care system around things that matter, Johnston
said.

The new healthcare provider has three clinics in Austin, Round Rock and Kyle.
 The clinics provide primary care, chronic disease management, behavioral
health, health and wellness services, and Medicare wellness exams. The
multi-specialty clinic groups treat infants, children, adolescents, and adults.

Harbor Health has raised a $9.5 million Series A round of funding from two
investors, according to Pitchbook. The company has 100 employees, Johnston said.

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CURATIVE LAUNCHES THE NETFLIX MODEL FOR HEALTHCARE INSURANCE IN AUSTIN

February 23, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Fred Turner, CEO and Co-Founder of Curative

Curative started in 2020 as a company focused on improving outcomes for sepsis
patients.

But then the Pandemic struck.

It quickly pivoted to become one of the nation’s largest testing centers for
COVID-19 with 19,000 locations. Its test sites completed 36 million tests and
2.5 million vaccinations, said Fred Turner, the company’s CEO, and co-founder.

Now Curative’s headquarters are based in Austin with 400 employees and it’s
pivoting again.

At the Health Tech Austin Future of Care Delivery Summit at Capital Factory
Thursday morning, Turner shared more about the company’s new mission as a
healthcare insurance provider. It’s creating a Netflix model for next-generation
healthcare.

The startup has created a new employer-based health plan that offers $0 copays,
$0 deductibles for in-network services, and preferred prescription drugs as long
as the member completes a baseline visit to their primary care physician without
120 days of plan activation. If they don’t, then the member defaults to a plan
with a high deductible plan.

At the baseline visit, the member is given a preventative health assessment, but
they are also taught how to navigate the system, Turner said. Each member is
assigned a “health navigator” who helps them understand their goals and needs
and navigate the complex healthcare system.

After Curative’s COVID-19 testing business, Turner said he wanted to focus on
something that would move the needle on how healthcare was delivered and make it
better for everyone.

Fifty percent of the people in the U.S. get their insurance from large-group
employer health plans. Curative is available to companies with more than 50
employees in Austin. It plans to move into the San Antonio market next within a
few months, then Dallas and Houston later this year, Turner said.

High deductible health plans don’t work, Turner said. Those plans usually
discourage people from getting preventative care like mammograms and
colonoscopies or early detection of diabetes and heart disease, he said.

“By not investing in primary care and preventative care that comes back to bite
you,” Turner said.

Curative’s plans offer zero cost in network and that builds trust with members,
Turner said. Curative wanted to design a plan so that the member always knows
what it will cost to receive care, he said.

Two percent of a healthcare plan’s members are generating 50 percent of the
costs, Turner said. A dollar spent on primary care is worth way more than a
dollar spent to treat a major health problem that if detected early could have
been prevented, Turner said. In the long run, the plan ends up saving a lot of
money and people are healthier, he said.

Curative already has 10,000 providers in the Austin area, Turner said. Its
network includes major providers such as the Austin Regional Clinic, Austin
Diagnostic Clinic, and all of St. David’s facilities, among others as well as
24-hour access to a local physician via telemedicine.

“We want you to go get care,” he said. “We want you to get the right care.”

Curative picked Austin for its headquarters at 900 Congress because the Curative
brand is already well-known here, Turner said. In addition, Curative has a lab
in Pflugerville. It also chose Texas because of its regulatory environment for
new healthcare companies, he said. And Austin has a number of headquarters for
large companies, he said.

To date, Curative has raised $8 million in venture funding, according to
Crunchbase.

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HEALTH TECH AUSTIN HOSTS SUMMIT ON THE FUTURE OF CARE DELIVERY

February 19, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Health Tech Austin is hosting the Future of Care Delivery System Summit on
Thursday at Capital Factory.

The event takes place from 8:30 a.m. until noon. The event features opening
remarks from Dr. Desmar Walkes, a public health expert, family physician, and
medical director for the City of Austin, and Hugh Forrest, co-president and
chief programming officer for South by Southwest.

The event also features four “TED-like talks” from the following speakers: Fred
Turner, chief executive officer and co-founder of Curative, Mike Geeslin,
president and CEO of Central Health, the Travis County Health District, Kacie
Kelly, chief innovation officer at the Meadows Institute and Dr. S. Claiborne
“Clay” Johnston, co-founder and chief medical officer of Harbor Health, a
vertically integrated health delivery system that launched last year in Austin.

“I thought that maybe by starting a new academic medical center we could change
the health system. I was wrong,” Johnston says in a news release. “We need to
design an entirely new system.”

Kelly agrees and says, “Solving the mental health crisis requires a complete
paradigm shift. At the Meadows Institute, we are working with health systems,
school systems, and justice systems to design and implement data-driven
solutions that are available today to correct the trajectory of mental health
care.”

The summit opens with breakfast at the Capital Factory, first floor of the Omni
Austin Hotel Downtown, 700 San Jacinto.

The event costs $55 to attend, and advanced registration is required. Silicon
Hills News has a few free registrations if you’re interested in attending email
Laura@SiliconHillsNews.com.

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UNNANU FOUNDER AIMS TO BUILD A BILLION-DOLLAR CONTEXTUAL SEARCH COMPANY IN
AUSTIN

February 18, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Madhu Basu, founder and CEO of Unnanu

Madhu Basu, the founder of Unnanu, wants to scale his startup to a
billion-dollar contextual search company in the next ten years in Austin.

Already, he’s been issued a U.S. patent on selecting media using weighted
keywords and he has another patent pending. He’s focused initially on applying
the technology to match job seekers with jobs through Unnanu Hire.

But he sees widespread applications of the technology across all industries.

In this episode of the Ideas to Invoices podcast, Basu discusses his company’s
plans for 2023 which include raising more than $3 million in seed-stage funding
and hiring more than a dozen employees.

Previously, Basu founded and served as CEO of PMCS Services, which provided IT
consulting, staffing, and solution services for more than 16 years. He also
co-founded IntegrateUS, Prachas Technologies, and The Fresh Vegetable Package
company.

“Unnanu is my fifth company,” Basu said. “I always found businesses to solve
other businesses’ problems.”

Basu founded Unnanu because he saw a need to map job candidates to job
descriptions contextually. He couldn’t find a way to do that. So, he built a
solution and created better contextual search technology.

“It’s actually a search problem,” Basu said.

 He named the company Unnanu, which means hello in his native Indian language.

“Why? Because our search is so intricate part of what we do, it’s kind of like
saying hello I need this,” Basu said.

Search technology has to be refined, Basu said.

“I think we have a chance to get better at that,” he said.

Open.AI with its ChatGPT technology is exploring artificial intelligence and
machine learning to provide better answers to search questions, Basu said. He
mentions a recent video from Greylock’s Intelligent Future Summit featuring a
discussion between Open.AI CEO Sam Altman and Reid Hoffman, a serial
entrepreneur and general partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners on
the future of AI. In the talk, Altman says with the new conversational AI
models, there will be a serious challenge to Google’s existing search business.
It’s a massive trend and very large businesses will be built around
conversational AI, Altman said.

Unnanu is targeted at becoming one of those, Basu said. A fundamental problem
with AI is it is missing contextual analysis, Basu said. His pending patent is
focused on contextual analysis and weighted keywords, he said.

Right now, Unnanu is bootstrapped. The company recently participated in the
Founder’s Institute program in Austin. And it has since gone on to participate
in Founder’s Lab, Basu said. It’s in the process now of raising funding, he
said.

Unnanu used to be based at Galvanize, which abruptly shut down operations in
Austin last year. The company is now located at WeWork on Congress downtown.

For more listen to the entire podcast below or wherever you get your podcasts.


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HEALTHCARE INSURANCE STARTUP SANA TO LAY OFF EMPLOYEES

February 7, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Sana, a healthcare insurance company, Tuesday announced it has laid off 19
percent of its staff.

Will Young, Sana CEO and Co-Founder, announced the layoffs in a LinkedIn Post
late Tuesday afternoon. He also posted a statement on the company’s blog. He
said the layoffs were painful but necessary to keep the company operating
successfully in today’s environment. 

Laid-off Sana employees began posting “open to work” status on LinkedIn Tuesday.
Sana had around 210 employees. A source reported 40 employees were let go this
week.

Sana is providing its laid off employees severance pay equal to three months of
their base salary, paid medical, dental and vision insurance coverage through
May 31st, the ability to keep their laptops, removal of the one year cliff for
equity and three months of career services through RiseSmart, a job placement
services firm.

For the past few years, Sana has focused on “accelerating growth and product
development came at the cost of higher risk tolerance and greater expenses,”
according to Young’s blog post. He wrote that the company is “fundamentally
well-positioned to weather downturns.

“However, we need our investments to reflect the realities of the current
macroeconomic environment and funding climate,” Young wrote. “This means
re-orienting our company for leaner times today so we can continue delivering on
our mission decades from now.”

To date, Sana, founded in 2017 by Young and Nathan Hackley, has raised $107
million. In June of 2022, Sana closed on a $60 million in Series B funding. 

Sana provides health care options for small businesses. The company reports that
Sana’s customers often save up to 20 percent compared to legacy insurers. It
also provides telehealth care and low co-pays. Itoperates in eight states.

In January of 2022, the company opened Sana MD in Austin. It is Sana’s first
primary care health center for members. In addition to in-person office visits,
Sana gives employees access to virtual care with providers specializing in
primary care, pediatrics, maternity and mental health.

The news of Sana’s layoffs come a week after Decent, another healthcare startup
based in Austin, announced plans to wind down operations to a core team and
layoff most of its 40 employees. 

Nationwide, tech companies have been trimming staff. Zoom announced on Tuesday
it was cutting 1,300 employees, according to the New York Times. Other tech
companies in Austin laying off employees include Dell, which announced this week
plans to cut 6,500 employees worldwide, according to the Times. Microsoft,
Alphabet, Salesforce, Meta, Amazon and PayPal have all announced layoffs
recently, the New York Times reported. 

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COLOSSAL BIOSCIENCES IS BRINGING BACK THE DODO BIRD FROM EXTINCTION AND
ANNOUNCES $150 MILLION IN FUNDING

January 31, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Beth Shapiro, Ph.D., and lead paleogeneticist working to bring the dodo bird
back from extinction with Ben Lamm, Co-Founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences

By Laura Lorek, Publisher of Silicon Hills News

First, Colossal Biosciences announced in September of 2021 plans to bring the
woolly mammoth back from extinction.

The next year, the synthetic biology company announced plans to bring the
Tasmanian tiger, also known as the thylacine, back to life.

Now Colossal is announcing the launch of its avian genomics group, which will
bring back the Dodo, a bird species extinct since 1662. Colossal is using
breakthrough gene-editing technologies to recreate the woolly mammoth, Tasmanian
tiger, and dodo.

Colossal Biosciences also announced on Tuesday that it raised $150 million in
Series B financing. To date, the company has raised $225 million since launching
in September of 2021. The funding makes Colossal a Unicorn company, meaning its
valuation is more than $1 billion.

“It’s exciting being a Unicorn, but I don’t think it’s more exciting than
bringing back the woolly mammoth,” said Ben Lamm, co-founder, and CEO of
Colossal.

In addition,  Colossal spun out, Form Bio, a software platform last September,
which raised a $30 million Series A round. Colossal, which has 80 employees and
40 external collaborators, has labs in Austin, Dallas, Boston, and Melbourne,
Australia. Colossal expects to add additional employees as the various projects
progress, Lamm said.

“The projects we are working on, we are seeing early success in the
de-extinction efforts, and technology development,” Lamm said.

Colossal’s latest round is led by the United States Innovative Technology Fund,
known as USIT, a private equity fund founded by U.S. Billionaire Thomas Tull, a
technology investor. Other investors included Breyer Capital, Bob Nelsen, Animal
Capital, Victor Vescovo, In-Q-Tel, Animoca Brands, Peak 6, BOLD Capital, and
Jazz Ventures, among others.

“This support by Thomas Tull and the others ensures that we will get further
faster,” Lamm said.

There is a hunger for this kind of moonshot type initiative that can move the
needle forward for all of humanity, Lamm said.

“The World Wildlife Fund found that in the last 50 years, Earth’s wildlife
populations have plunged by an average of 69% at the hands of mankind,” Lamm
said. Colossal Biosciences has put together teams of some of the smartest people
on the planet to tackle that problem, he said.

“By gathering the smartest minds across investing, genomics, conservation and
synthetic biology, we have the opportunity to reverse human-inflicted
biodiversity loss while developing technologies for both conservation and human
healthcare,” Lamm said.

The launch of Colossal’s new avian genomics group will help to address the
decline in the world’s bird population, which has lost more than 3 billion birds
in the last 50 years, a stat from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

“The IUCN Red List also now categorizes more than 400 bird species as either
extinct, extinct in the wild or critically endangered,” according to Colossal.
“Colossal is on a mission to reverse these staggering statistics through genetic
rescue techniques and its de-extinction toolkit.”

The work to bring the Dodo back to life is being spearheaded by Beth Shapiro,
Ph.D., Colossal Scientific Advisory Board member, and lead paleogeneticist.

“The Dodo is a prime example of a species that became extinct because we –
people – made it impossible for them to survive in their native habitat,”
Shapiro said in a statement. “Having focused on genetic advancements in ancient
DNA for my entire career and as the first to fully sequence the Dodo’s genome, I
am thrilled to collaborate with Colossal and the people of Mauritius on the
de-extinction and eventual re-wilding of the Dodo. I particularly look forward
to furthering genetic rescue tools focused on birds and avian conservation.”

The dodo is iconic, and Shapiro has been working on it for more than a decade at
the University of California at Santa Cruz, Lamm said.

“It is the symbol of manmade extinction,” Lamm said.

Most of the work on dodos will be done in Texas and the first dodo brought back
to life will be a Texas dodo, Lamm said.

Lamm sees other applications for Colossal’s gene editing technologies in
agriculture with new biofuels and preserving biodiversity, as well as in
healthcare with gene therapies and vaccine development. Some of the technologies
Colossal is developing will also have government applications, Lamm said.

“Dr. George Church and Colossal’s deep work in genomics is creating some of the
most cutting-edge advancements in biotech,” according to Tull, USIT Chairman.
“Their innovative technology has important applications for scientific
discoveries, including biomedicine, and we look forward to supporting this
crucial work.”

Colossal’s woolly mammoth de-extinction team, which is headed up by Church, now
has more than 40 scientists and three laboratories. They are working with Asian
and African elephants to implant an embryo to bring back the woolly mammoth. The
team also launched a children’s education and research project with the
University of Alaska Fairbanks on woolly mammoths in Alaska.

The Colossal thylacine team with 30 scientists in the U.S. and Australia has
done a lot of work with stem cells in the lab and they have prototyped an
artificial ex-utero development for early-stage marsupial gestation.

“The work is massively accelerated and currently ahead of our internal
schedules,” Andrew Pask, Ph.D., Colossal Scientific Advisory Board member, and
thylacine lead, said in a news statement.

In addition, Colossal recently launched its Conservation Advisory Board adding
Forrest Galante, Virginia Riddle Pearson, Iain Douglas-Hamilton Ph.D., Former
Lt. Governor of Alaska Mead Treadwell, permafrost research Jim Coates, Alaska’s
Head of Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, and Former Director of
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Aurelia Skipwith, J.D.

Colossal has also established partnerships with WildArk, Aussie Ark, Save the
Elephants, Elephant Havens, the International Elephant Foundation, Re:Wild, and
the AZA’s SAFE.

Colossal also added new members to its Scientific Advisory Board including
world-leading scientist Christopher E. Mason, Ph.D., Doris A. Taylor, Ph.D.,
Rachel J. O’Neil, Ph.D., Austin Gallagher, Ph.D., Tom Gilbert, Ph.D., Mike
McGrew, Ph.D., Matthew Wooller, Ph.D., and Duane Froese Ph.D.

Colossal Biosciences has 80 employees and Austin-based Form Bio has 45
employees. Colossal may spin out new companies in its not-too-distant future,
Lamm said.  

“I’m excited about Texas and what we are developing here,” Lamm said

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HEALTH INSURANCE STARTUP DECENT TO WIND DOWN OPERATIONS TO A CORE TEAM AND
LAYOFF MOST EMPLOYEES

January 28, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
.

Decent, the Austin-based health insurance provider is “shutting down all of its
operations to just a core team,” according to a blog post published Friday
afternoon by Nick Soman, the company’s founder, and CEO.

“Decent’s mission since Richard Luck and I founded the company five years ago
has been to deliver affordable health insurance for all. Starting in Texas in
2018, we launched health plans for 35% less than market rates with a Net
Promoter Score of 79 vs. the industry average of 14. In 2021 we launched a
professional employer organization to help small businesses band together to get
even lower rates, and saw 100% renewal among eligible small businesses. I’m
proud of what we’ve built, and prouder of the team that has built it.”

“Unfortunately, we just hit a massive and unexpected setback. It’s not
impossible to move forward, but we will need time to figure out how,” Soman
wrote. “For that reason, we are winding down all of our operations to just a
core team.”

The company had 60 employees, according to an interview with Soman last
November. The current number of employees is 40, according to a spokeswoman.

Decent, founded in 2018, has raised $43 million to date including a series that
closed in December of 2021, according to a spokeswoman.  Last fall, the company
launched a massive ad campaign in Austin promoting its services on billboards
around town.

In his post, Soman reports that Decent had been working with a major partner to
prepare for nationwide expansion this quarter. It wound down its product in
anticipation of the partner’s new and improved one, according to Soman.

“We were all systems go as of last Wednesday,” Soman wrote. “Then late last
week, our major partner pulled out without warning, citing unspecified concerns
from their executive team and leaving us with no near-term path to market. We
explored every possible avenue to salvage the partnership, but to no avail.”

That left Decent without a health insurance product, and as a result, it has to
stop serving customers, according to Soman.

Decent will let its team go in the coming months with notice and severance,
according to Soman.

Correction: Title corrected and updated to reflect Decent winding down
operations to a core team, but not shutting down completely. Also, the article
was updated with the current employee count and funding amount of $43 million.

‍

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JOSH WILSON LEADS SCIPLAY TO NEW HEIGHTS AS CEO

January 28, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Josh Wilson, CEO of SciPlay

After moving to Austin recently, SciPlay’s CEO Josh Wilson has plans to expand
operations and move into new areas including building SciPlay’s own gaming
platform.

In this episode of Ideas to Invoices, Wilson talks about how the COVID-19
pandemic affected the mobile gaming company’s operations. It led to a boom a
business as people looked online for ways to entertain themselves while stuck at
home.  He also talks about the company’s current outlook and plans for the
future.

In 1998, Aaron Schurman founded Phantom EFX in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It was
acquired by Scientific Games and now it is a stand-alone company called SciPlay,
which is traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol SCPL.

In 2019, Wilson became CEO, and his vision is to make SciPlay the best
entertainment company for consumers.

SciPlay currently offers social casino games like Jackpot Party Casino, Gold
Fish Casino, casual games like Bingo Showdown and Solitaire Pets Adventure, and
hyper-casual games such as Rob Master 3D and Deep Clean. It does not have any
plans for the Metaverse right now, but the company plans to build out its own
gaming platform to connect directly with its customers.

SciPlay also recently contracted with America’s Got Talent Judge Sofia Vergara
for an ad campaign. In the TV commercial, Vergara plays SciPlay’s Jackpot Party
Casino game. The campaign was highly successful, Wilson said.

SciPlay has more than 500 employees worldwide including more than 150 in its
Austin office, which was established in 2016.

For more, listen to the entire podcast posted below or wherever you get your
podcasts.


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AUSTIN STARTUPS SEE BOOMING GROWTH IN 2022 WITH $4.9 BILLION IN VC FUNDING, BUT
MOMENTUM SLOWS IN Q4

January 16, 2023 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

The Austin area saw a huge slowdown in venture capital invested in the fourth
quarter with $775 million flowing into 78 deals, according to PitchBook-National
Venture Capital Association Venture Monitor data.

That is down 50 percent in dollars invested from the fourth quarter of 2021
which recorded $1.5 billion in 122 deals, according to the Pitchbook report. It
is also a 36 percent decline in the number of deals being done.

The data comes from the Q4 2022 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, jointly produced
by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association with support
from Insperity, J.P. Morgan, and Dentons.

“After years of frenzied investments and soaring company valuations, venture
capital investment levels are readjusting as businesses assess the current
economic landscape,” according to the report.

Despite the fourth quarter slowdown, overall, for 2022, the Austin area still
had a phenomenal year with $4.9 billion of venture capital invested in 416
companies.

That’s on par with stats from 2021 when Austin had a record-breaking year with
$4.9 billion in venture capital investments. And it’s actually an increase in
deal flow by nearly 7 percent from 387 companies in 2021.

Overall, companies in Texas raised $1.6 billion in venture capital in the fourth
quarter of 2022, in 180 deals. That is down nearly 56 percent from $3.6 billion
in the fourth quarter of 2021. And down nearly 34 percent in deal flow from 271
deals in the fourth quarter of 2021.

For all of 2021, Texas companies raised $9.5 billion, down nearly 20 percent
from $11.9 billion raised in 2021. Deal flow also dropped 16 percent in 2022 to
840 companies funded, down from 1,004 in 2021.

In Austin, the biggest deals in the fourth quarter went to Jasper, a content
generation platform, that received $141 million in venture funding. The Series A
round made Jasper Austin’s latest Unicorn company valued at more than $1.5
billion. Jasper is one of the startups developing conversational AI and image
generation AI similar to Open.AI’s ChatGPT. Its investors include Insight
Partners, Coatue, Bessemer Venture Partners, IVP, Foundation Capital, Founders
Circle Capital, HubSpot Ventures and more.

The second largest deal went to Infinitum, based in Round Rock, which is
developing motors and generators powered by its patented technology. It raised
$110 million in a Series D round. Its funding came from Riverstone Holdings
Latin America, Alliance Resource Partners, Caterpillar Venture Capital and
Cottonwood Technology Fund. 

And rounding out the top three deals is Dabbsson, which has created a clean
energy backup generator for homes. It landed $75 million.

Top 10 Venture Capital Deals in Austin in 2002 Q4

 1.  Jasper, an AI content generation platform, $141 million
 2.  Infinitum, develops motors and generators, $110 million
 3.  Dabbsson, alternative clean energy equipment maker, $75 million
 4.  Setpoint, real estate fintech and software platform, $43 million
 5.  SubjectWell, clinical trial, and patient matchmaker platform, $35 million
 6.  Way, a software platform for curating experiences for hospital brands, $20
     million
 7.  Flueid, a software platform to automate title and escrow closing practices,
     $20 million
 8.  Maergo, shipping and logistics platform for retailers, $20 million
 9.  Keystone Bank, banking services, $18 million
 10. Beatbox Beverages, ready-to-drink alcoholic punch, $16 million

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PROTOPIA AI LANDS $6 MILLION IN FUNDING

December 11, 2022 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Eiman Ebrahimi, CEO at Protopia AI

Protopia AI, based in Austin, announced it has closed on a $6 million seed round
of funding led by ATX Venture Partners.

The company has developed a software solution that allows big companies to tap
into key data by using artificial intelligence and machine learning to extract
insights without exposing sensitive information.

Protopia cites a Gartner report on AI which found that CEOs major problem in
using AI is data accessibility.

Other investors in the round included Galaxy Interactive, Silverton Partners,
and DNX Ventures. Protopia has raised a total of $8 million, which includes an
initial $2 million pre-seed round. All existing investors extended their
commitment by participating in the new round.

Protopia AI’s core technology is based on inventions by Professor Hadi
Esmaeilzadeh, endowed chair of computer architecture at the University of
California San Diego. He is also Protopia AI’s co-founder and chief technology
officer.

“We are at an inflection point where AI has unprecedented capabilities — but at
the cost of losing the control and ownership of data,” Esmaeilzadeh said in a
news release. “Protopia AI is the vision to enable practical AI without losing
the control/ownership of data.”

Portopia.AI plans to use the funds raised to hire engineers and on product
development. It is currently in beta-testing with customers in financial
services, government and health care.

Funds raised from the round will be used to build out engineering teams and
advance the product. The company is currently beta-testing its product across
industries where data sensitivity causes the most operational slowdowns,
including financial services, government and health care.

“Protopia AI empowers enterprises to extract maximal value using AI and machine
learning from their data by providing the governance and protection that is
necessary,”  Eiman Ebrahimi, Protopia AI co-founder and CEO, said in a news
release.

“Today, companies are looking to create real value from their data using
artificial intelligence and machine learning, according to Protopia AI. “They
frequently are blocked or slowed down by data-sensitivity issues. According to
a Seagate Technology and IDC survey, respondents estimated their organizations
collect only 56% of their operational data. Out of that 56%, 43% of data remains
unused. Protopia AI solves this dilemma with its easy-to-use Stained Glass
Transform™ that enables the operation of AI and ML while removing the need to
access the company’s data in identifiable form.”

“Data-centric AI is the future, and Protopia is positioned to emerge as an
industry innovator and market leader,” Chris Shonk, ATX Venture Partners
managing partner, said in a news release. “No other software company in the
market is offering a solution with privacy in mind, at all stages of the ML
lifecycle, including deployment, in mind from inception. We have a shared vision
for maximal data protection and are pleased to fund the company at this critical
growth stage.”

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AUSTIN-BASED RIBBON RAISES $2.7 MILLION TO SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS TO OBTAIN
NONPROFIT STATUS

December 10, 2022 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Austin-based Ribbon has closed on $2.7 million to help nonprofit organizations.

The company has created a software platform that gives individuals and
businesses the banking, accounting, fundraising, and organizational tools they
need to build a successful charity under the umbrella of a fiscal sponsor.

Ribbon’s fiscal sponsorship model allows individuals looking to conduct
charitable work to partner with existing 501c3s to help them accomplish their
goals while enjoying the sponsor’s tax-exempt status.

“We believe starting a new charity should be quick, easy, and effortless,”
Ribbon CEO Braden Fineberg said in a news release. “We already have 1.6 million
registered nonprofits in the U.S. In a crowded market, there is a growing demand
for a platform that makes charitable work more accessible without the need to
create a new 501c(3).”

Austin-based Trust Ventures led the investment round.

“You can start a company in a day for a few hundred dollars, but a nonprofit can
take years and thousands of dollars, not to mention countless hours working
through legal red tape,” said Salen Churi, General Partner at Trust Ventures.
“Ribbon helps those in the nonprofit sector move at the speed of business,
spending their time and resources doing good rather than on tax lawyers.”

Ribbon thinks its sponsorship model will replace the vast majority of new
nonprofit organizations. The platform aims to save nonprofit organizations time
and money in filing and managing their charitable status.

“Imagine the good that could be accomplished if people who wanted to do
charitable work could, in effect, create a nonprofit in minutes, enable
tax-deductible donations instantly, and not have to manage their nonprofit
status,” Fineberg said. “With IRS backlogs and the acceleration of Open Banking
APIs, the industry is ripe for this product.”

Open banking is a system under which banks make their application programming
interfaces (APIs) accessible for third parties to develop new apps and
services. Ribbon’s fiscal sponsorship model will be the first product to allow
this to happen in the nonprofit sector, Finberg added. 

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NASA AWARDS ICON A $57.2 MILLION CONTRACT TO BUILD STRUCTURES ON THE MOON

December 10, 2022 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

NASA has awarded Austin-based ICON a contract worth $57.2 to develop
construction technologies that could help build habitats, landing pads, and
roads on the moon.

NASA is planning for long-term human exploration of the moon under Artemis.

“In order to explore other worlds, we need innovative new technologies adapted
to those environments and our exploration needs,” Niki Werkheiser, director of
technology maturation in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).
“Pushing this development forward with our commercial partners will create the
capabilities we need for future missions.”

ICON already received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) dual-use
contract with the U.S. Air Force, partly funded by NASA. The new NASA SBIR Phase
III award will support the development of ICON’s Olympus construction system,
which is designed to use local resources on the Moon and Mars as building
materials. The contract runs through 2028.

“To change the space exploration paradigm from ‘there and back again’ to ‘there
to stay,’ we’re going to need robust, resilient, and broadly capable systems
that can use the local resources of the Moon and other planetary bodies. We’re
pleased that our research and engineering to-date has demonstrated that such
systems are indeed possible, and we look forward to now making that possibility
a reality,”  Jason Ballard, ICON co-founder and CEO,  said in a news release.
“The final deliverable of this contract will be humanity’s first construction on
another world, and that is going to be a pretty special achievement.”

ICON will work with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama,
under STMD’s Moon to Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technologies
(MMPACT) project.

Previously, ICON 3D printed a 1,700-square-foot simulated Martian habitat,
called Mars Dune Alpha, which will be used during NASA’s Crew Health and
Performance Analog, or CHAPEA, analog mission starting in 2023.

ICON also competed in NASA’s 3D Printed Habitat Challenge. The company partnered
with the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, and the team won a prize for 3D
printing a structure sample that was tested for its ability to hold a seal, for
strength, and for durability in temperature extremes.

The announcement comes after ICON’s warehouse and original headquarters in South
Austin were severely damaged by a fire in the building the day after
Thanksgiving, according to the Austin American Statesman. The paper reported a
cause for the fire has not been determined.


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SAN ANTONIO’S RACKSPACE IS GRAPPLING WITH A RANSOMWARE ATTACK

December 9, 2022 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

A ransomware attack at San Antonio-based Rackspace Technology has caused service
disruptions for thousands of its customers.

The attack began last Friday, Dec. 2nd, and continues although the company
reported Friday night that two-thirds of its customers’ services have been
restored.

The ransom wear incident affected Rackspace’s Hosted Exchange Email business,
which represents one percent of Rackspace’s total annual revenue and is
comprised of primarily small and medium businesses that solely use this product,
according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“No other Rackspace products, platforms, solutions, or businesses were affected
or are experiencing downtime due to this incident,” according to Rackspace.

Rackspace hired a leading cyber defense firm to investigate along with its
security team.

“Ransomware is a type of malicious software or malware that prevents you from
accessing your computer files, systems, or networks and demands you pay a ransom
for their return,” according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
“Ransomware attacks can cause costly disruptions to operations and the loss of
critical information and data.”

Computers can become infected with ransomware by opening an email attachment,
clicking an ad, following a link, or even visiting a website that’s embedded
with malware, according to the FBI.

“Once the code is loaded on a computer, it will lock access to the computer
itself or data and files stored there,” according to the FBI. “More menacing
versions can encrypt files and folders on local drives, attached drives, and
even networked computers.”

Rackspace has been working with its customers to migrate them to a new
environment as quickly as possible, according to a news release.

“Rackspace maintains cybersecurity insurance commensurate with the size of its
business, and is confident in its ability to absorb potential financial costs
associated with the incident and fulfill its obligations to other customers,”
according to a filing with the SEC.

“As of today, more than two-thirds of our customers on the Hosted Exchange
environment are back on email,” according to Rackspace. “Every customer who has
reached us has been offered support to transition to Microsoft 365.”


“We are continuing to make significant progress in our recovery efforts. We have
engaged industry-leading global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike to help
investigate and remediate,” according to Rackspace. “Due to swift action on the
Company’s part in disconnecting its network and following its incident response
plans, CrowdStrike has confirmed the incident was quickly contained and limited
solely to the Hosted Exchange Email business.”

Rackspace is still investigating the root cause of the incident.

Meanwhile, Rackspace faces two class action lawsuits filed on December 6th
against the company last week in U.S. District Court for the Western District of
Texas.

Chris Ondo, represented by Jon B. Ellis of Sadovsky & Ellis, filed a class
action lawsuit against Rackspace seeking injunctive relief and damages for
alleged negligence and breach of confidence.

In addition, Garrett Stephenson and Gateway Recruiting, LLC, represented by Cole
& Van Note, filed a class action lawsuit, Stephenson, et al. v. Rackspace
Technology, Inc.  for negligence and related violations arising out of the email
hosting provider’s recent high-profile data breach. In addition to monetary
damages, the suit demands Rackspace Technology implement and maintain sufficient
security protocols going forward so as to prevent future attacks.

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SETPOINT SOLVES REAL ESTATE’S BACKEND PAPERWORK PROBLEM AND RAISES $43 MILLION
IN VC FUNDING

December 7, 2022 / LauraLorek@gmail.com
Stuart Wall, Michael Lam, and Ben Rubenstein, Co-Founders of Setpoint

In 2021, Ben Rubenstein left Realtor.com with Michael Lam to co-found Setpoint
with another friend, Stuart Wall.

The problem they identified is a need for critical software to power a more
efficient asset-based lending market. They’ve created a funding operating system
to replace email, Excel spreadsheets, and computer folders which comprise the
backend of real estate transactions. Setpoint’s software verifies, and stores
documents automate interest rate calculations, and digitizes assets like homes
or autos.

“The old real estate business backend is broken, and it is costing the consumer
more money,” Rubenstein said. “This is a big problem that is hiding in plain
sight and we’re solving it.”

On Wednesday, Setpoint announced it has closed a $43 million Series A round led
by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Henry Kravis, Spencer Rascoff,
co-founder of Zillow and 75and Sunny, Fifth Wall, 645 Ventures, NextView
Ventures, LiveOak Venture Partners, Vesta Ventures, ATX Venture Partners and
Capital Factory.

“A lot of people say it’s impossible to get tech funding right now, but this
shows it is possible,” Rubenstein said.

Setpoint also announced that it is on “track to power 25,000 home transactions
this year and expects to power more than 100,000 in 2023 via single-family
residences, iBuying, Power Buying, Fractional Ownership, Rent-to-Own, and other
transactions that make buying, selling, and renting a home easier, faster and
more accessible,” according to a news release.

In addition to his experience at Realtor.com, Rubenstein was an early investor
in Austin-based Homeward, which allows homebuyers to buy a home before they sell
their existing one. In the early days of Homeward, Rubenstein, and Lam supplied
capital to the company. It was asset-backed lending to a tech company. And
through that experience, they understood the internal financial operations and
how it was done manually, and it didn’t scale, Rubenstein said.

Setpoint initially focused on power buyers like Flyhomes, Orchard, UpEquity and
then expanded to all of PropTech like Opendoor, rent to own, home equity, and
warehouse lending, Rubenstein said.

“They all have the same problem,” Rubenstein said. “It is a company that is
accessing capital and needs to report on those assets.”

Last June, Setpoint came out of stealth mode with $615 million in debt capital
when it officially launched its platform. That part of the business enables
Proptech companies to offer contingent-free, all-cash offers on homes to
customers, which it says accelerates funding and closing on properties.

“While there’s been much innovation and investment made upon improving the
front-end of fintech transactions, behind-the-scenes capital market workflows
are often a product of email, Excel, and FTP folders,” David Haber, General
Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said in a news release. “I believe that
Setpoint’s Funding OS has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency
of these transactions, resulting in lower cost for both borrowers and lenders.”

The latest funding round will allow Setpoint to invest further in software
engineering and develop critical tools for their customers on both sides of
asset-backed transactions. The firm will continue to focus on relationships with
borrowers and lenders, while also expanding beyond its core market of real
estate.

Real estate is just the first market Setpoint plans to address. It might expand
into other areas like auto loans and credit card loans, Rubenstein said.

Setpoint’s Team

Half of Setpoint’s team is in Austin and the other half is in New York. The
company has 25 employees and expects to double over the next year, Rubenstein
said. The company primarily operates as a hybrid company with most employees
working from home and office space at WeWork on Congress, he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way tech companies operate and remote working
is now more acceptable, Rubenstein said.

Setpoint is Rubenstein’s third startup. He previously co-founded Yodle, which
sold for $342 million to Web.com, and Opcity, which sold to Realtor.com for $200
million.

“I truly enjoy building startups,” Rubenstein said. “I’m much more zero to one
guy. I like the super, super early days of building a company.”

Rubenstein and Lam previously worked together as founders of Opcity and they
have known each other since college. Wall is also a friend who founded Signpost,
a competitor to Yodle.

His experience at his previous companies taught Rubenstein that there are big
problems in the world that software can really help with. And that it is
important to go to the right partners and work with the right VCs, he said.

“Working with people you like, and know and trust is really fun,” Rubenstein
said.

For more information, read David Haber’s blog post on Andreessen Horowitz’s
investment in Setpoint.

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COLOSSAL HIRES ANCIENT DNA EXPERT BETH SHAPIRO AS CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER

March 19, 2024 / LauraLorek@gmail.com

Colossal Biosciences announced Tuesday that it has hired a key executive,
Ancient DNA Expert Beth Shapiro, as its Chief Science Officer.

Shapiro’s joining Colossal full-time will help the company meet its
de-extinction and species preservation goals.

Shapiro, an internationally renowned evolutionary molecular biologist, is a
leader in paleogenomics and ancient DNA and will oversee the continued expansion
of the company’s de-extinction and conservation science teams. She is also a
MacArthur “Genius Grant” Award winner and National Geographic Explorer.

“Our efforts to apply our de-extinction technologies to help save critically
endangered species is just as important to us as bringing back the iconic
mammoth, thylacine, and dodo,” said Ben Lamm, Co-Founder and CEO of Colossal.

Lamm founded Colossal Biosciences in 2021 with George Church, a Harvard
geneticist and pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic biology. Today,
Colossal has 128 employees, more than 30 funded postdocs in major academic labs,
and 60 advisory board members. The company is based in Dallas but has offices in
Austin, Boston, Santa Cruz, California, and Melbourne, Australia.

Shapiro previously served as Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator,
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and lead of the Paleogenomics Lab
at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lamm said she will continue to work
out of Santa Cruz and travel to Colossal’s other labs and offices as needed.

“Beth and I have developed an incredible relationship over the past few years.
I’m extremely impressed by her intellect, drive, and the rigor of her scientific
research,” Lamm said in a news release. “I know she will continue to push our
scientific research programs further and is the best fit for the role. It’s a
dream to work so closely with Beth, and I know our species leads feel the same.”

“I’ve been an advisor to Colossal since just after the company launched and am
excited now to step in full-time to support the team’s groundbreaking work,”
Shapiro said in a news release. “It’s thrilling to see the research we’ve been
doing in the labs not only seeing the light of day but being applied to science
that will positively impact the planet.”

As an advisor to Colossal for the past two years, Shapiro helped launch the
company’s Dodo and Avian Genomics Group. She also developed, along with Colossal
team members, the international scientific advisory board. And she served as the
lead paleogeneticist. In that role, she secured samples and generated DNA data
that Colossal uses as part of all species groups.

“I have worked with Beth for over 20 years and am continually impressed by her
contributions to the field of paleogenetics. I cannot be more excited about Beth
joining Colossal, as this will not only help accelerate Colossal’s de-extinction
efforts but will also provide an even more direct link between my ancient
mammoth research and Eriona’s and George’s teams. I look forward to continuing
our collaboration with Colossal to refine our target list of which genes make
mammoths unique compared to other elephant lineages,” Dalen,  Professor of
Evolutionary Genetics at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, one of the
research leaders at the Center for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm, and leading
Woolly Mammoth expert, said in a news release. 

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