84 startups from all corners of the Lone Star State and the world head to Austin to participate in MassChallenge’s first Texas-based community-driven startup accelerator
(AUSTIN, Texas – Feb. 21, 2018; source: Juice Consulting) – MassChallenge™, a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators, announces today that 84 of the world’s highest impact, highest potential early-stage startups will come together in Austin, Texas for the not-for-profit’s first ever Texas-based accelerator. The 84 startups represent a range of industries from agriculture to gaming, and consumer to medical devices.
The 2018 cohort was selected from more than 520 applicants, of which more than 280 were invited to pitch MassChallenge Texas’ expert community at Strasburger & Price, LLP in downtown Austin. The 84 startups represent:
- 5 continents
- 11 countries
- 12 states
- 5 major Texas cities/regions
- Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio
- 32% female founders
- 5 major industries
- High tech (33 startups, 39.3%)
- Healthcare and Life Sciences (24 startups, 28.6%)
- General Consumer (12 startups, 14.3%)
- Social Impact (9 startups, 10.7%)
- Energy and Clean Tech (6 startups, 7.1%)
“We are extremely proud to welcome such a strong cohort of startups to the first MassChallenge Texas accelerator program,” said John Harthorne, Founder and CEO of MassChallenge. “The 84 startups are primed to drive real change and create enormous impact both in their communities and around the world.”
MassChallenge Texas’ success in sourcing its 2018 cohort is due in large part to the support it received from the Texas startup community. After the program’s launch in October 2017, the MassChallenge Texas team embarked on a seven-week roadshow and hosted 37 events across the state including in Arlington, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and San Marcos.
Managing Director of MassChallenge Texas, Mike Millard
“The Texas innovation community rallied behind our not-for-profit mission by connecting us to the best and brightest entrepreneurs and serving as active participants in identifying the highest-impact and highest potential early-stage startups through a week-long, live judging process,” said Mike Millard, Managing Director of MassChallenge Texas. “This proves that Texas is ready to create a single, collaborative startup ecosystem. Only together can we achieve our goal to make Texas the best place in the world to innovate.”
The 84 startups will join MassChallenge’s four-month accelerator program, where they will receive world-class mentoring from industry experts, tailored programming, a complimentary WeWork membership at WeWork locations across Austin, bespoke discounts and deals for a variety of services and unrivaled access to corporate partners. MassChallenge Texas will host a series of public events throughout the accelerator to directly connect the startups with the Texas community. Please check MassChallenge Texas’ Facebook events calendar to learn more.
The accelerator will kick off in early April 2018 and culminates in August 2018 at the MassChallenge Texas Awards Ceremony, where the top startups from the cohort will pitch for the opportunity to win a portion of up to $500,000 in equity-free grants.
These 84 startups join MassChallenge’s established international community of 1,495 alumni. The complete list of 2018 startups can be found here and is included below.
2018 MassChallenge Texas Cohort:
Agile Agriculture Technologies
Atlas Regeneration Technologies
Backspace
Bezoar Laboratories
Blue Zero Homes
Brain Stem AI
Cloud 9
DermaDiagnostics
Educational Documentary Services Trust
GRASSLAND CAMEROON, LTD
Komeeda
Living a Book – A reading experience
Multisensor Diagnostics, LLC
NEMOCARE WELLNESS PRIVATE LIMITED
PYT Funds Inc, Pay Your Tuition
ScalaMed
Smallhold
SMARTSHUNT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Smokeless
TeacherTalent
Vigilant Waste Technologies, Inc.
Volt480
MassChallenge at SXSW
MassChallenge invites the startup community to their Startup Sunday eventhosted in conjunction with SendGrid and Global Accelerator Network on Sunday, March 11, 2018 from 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at Key Bar on Sixth Street in downtown Austin.
Mike Millard, Managing Director of MassChallenge Texas, is serving as a coach and mentor for the SXSW Accelerator and will also appear on the How Smart Venture Money Isn’t Smart But You Can Be panel on Monday March 12, 2018at 11:00 a.m. in the Hilton.
Director of Communications + Ecosystem, Dana Rygwelski, will serve on the Best of Show selection committee at the SXSW Accelerator on March 10 and 11, 2018.
MassChallenge Texas Founding Partners
Southwest Airlines, TMAC, WeWork, Upstream, USAA
MassChallenge Texas Community Partners
City of Austin Mayor Steve Adler, City of San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Austin Representative Eddie Rodriguez; founding corporate partners Southwest Airlines, TMAC, WeWork, USAA, and Upstream; AngelSpan, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Austin Community College, Austin Community College Bioscience Incubator, Austin Film Society, Austin Healthcare Council, Austin Technology Council, Austin Technology Incubator, Blackstone LaunchPad at UT Austin, Blackstone LaunchPad at UT Dallas, Bexar County, Borderplex Alliance, Capital Factory, City of Austin, City of San Antonio, CompTIA, Dallas Entrepreneur Center (DEC), Department of Defense (DoD), DIUx, El Paso Hub of Human Innovation, Food + City, Founder’s Institute Austin, Galvanize, Geekdom, Goodworks Houston, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Greater Houston Partnership, Greater San Marcos Partnership, Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship at UT Austin, IC2 Institute, Impact Hub Austin, Juice Consulting, MediaTech Ventures, NASA, National Instruments, Splash Coworking, South by Southwest (SXSW), Southwestern University, Sputnik ATX, STAR Park at Texas State University, Station Houston, Strasburger & Price, LLP, Tech Fort Worth, TechNet, Texas A&M University, Texas Entrepreneur Exchange (TEX), Texas Foundation for Innovative Communities (TFIC), Texas Healthcare and Biosciences Institute (THBI), Texas Small Business Development Centers, Texas State University, University of Texas System, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Dallas and University of Texas at San Antonio.
About MassChallenge
MassChallenge is a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators. Headquartered in the United States with locations in Boston, Israel, Mexico, Switzerland, Texas, and the UK, MassChallenge is committed to strengthening the global innovation ecosystem by supporting high-potential early stage startups across all industries, from anywhere in the world. To date, 1,495 MassChallenge alumni have raised over $3 billion in funding, generated over $2 billion in revenue, and created over 80,000 total jobs. Learn more about MassChallenge at masschallenge.org.
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MEDIA NOTE
For press inquiries, interview requests or to RSVP to MassChallenge Texas SXSW events, please contact the team at Juice Consulting:
Heather Wagner Reed Tyler Ostby
713 208 3891 210 854 9119
heather@juiceconsulting.com tyler@juiceconsulting.com