The top 12 most promising startups in the Austin area were announced and honored by the Austin Chamber of Commerce through its Innovate Austin initiative, and South by Southwest Interactive.
The companies, selected by a panel of independent judges from more than 275 nominations, were officially revealed and named to the annual Austin A-List of Hottest Startups in ceremonies held last night at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. The 12 honorees for 2015 were named in three investment stage categories: emerging, growth and scale, and represent key sectors of innovation including big data, biotechnology, hardware, software, consumer packaged goods, music technology, agriculture, medical devices, e-commerce and mobile app development.
“Austin is rich with innovative startups that are primed for rapid growth. The A-List platform shines a spotlight and amplifies our diverse and rich talent, helping to maintain our lead as the most innovative, entrepreneurial region,” said Michele Skelding, SVP of Global Technology and Innovation at the Austin Chamber of Commerce. “That’s what drives economic growth and job creation, and what continues to drive our global competitiveness.”
Recognition as an A-List Company is intended to increase the visibility of Austin’s most fundable, scalable and innovative regional startups, and drive increased venture capital funding to Central Texas. Since the inception of the annual A-List awards, there has been a combined $358,670,000 in investment for all A-List honorees. Recent venture capital activity for Central Texas companies continues to show momentum: first quarter 2015 funding is 31% ahead of the same period last year, and at $265.33 million, is the highest quarterly total since the first quarter of 2012.
Skelding added: “Austin’s innovation ecosystem has never been stronger, and the A-List winners and participants are poised to make their mark, elevating our region’s ability to continue to attract and retain top innovative companies, talent and capital.”
“Entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial spirit are powering so much of what makes Austin’s current economy so exciting,” said Hugh Forrest, Director, South by Southwest Interactive. “Given that so much of what we do at SXSW Interactive focuses on startups, I’m delighted that we are a part of this event and can help with the Austin Chamber’s ongoing goal of strengthening Central Texas as a hub of innovation.”
Below are the A-List companies for 2015:
Emerging (Early/Seed Stage) – Received funding less than $1M or Under $1M in revenue:
Everfest: A global calendar and search engine for festivals, finding nearby music, film, food, drink, art, sports and culture festivals that connect users with rich experiences.
Bitfusion.io: Implements unique software technologies to expose the benefits of hardware accelerators such as FPGAs to boost application performance by up to 100x—transparently, automatically, and without application rewrite.
Green & Grow Inc.: Develops and commercializes new agricultural products based on non-living, non-toxic, microbe derived by-products that have been specifically formulated to significantly improve many crops.
ENTvantage Dx: Provides Primary Care and ENT physicians with timely information on the cause of ear, nose and throat illnesses with rapid, in-office diagnostic tests.
Growth (Mid-Stage) – Received funding between $1M-$10M or Revenue $1M-$20M:
CognitiveScale: CognitiveScales’s Cognitive Clouds systems source, analyze, and interpret all types of structured and unstructured data and context signals—while learning and reprogramming themselves continuously to deliver better results.
Neogenis Labs: Neogenis’ patented nitric oxide nutraceuticals & nutritionals have revolutionized cardiovascular care and sports nutrition, and promote overall health and wellbeing by utilizing the best nature and science have to offer.
Illumitex: Radically transformed traditional LED design with the creation of LED lighting that emits a uniform, highly precise beam directly from the source, opening the world to more versatile—and energy efficient—lighting applications than ever before imagined. Illumitex specializes in horticultural LED grow lights for vertical farms, greenhouses and indoor gardening. The company’s horticulture LED lights are specially tuned to plants’ photosynthetic needs. Our grow lights save energy and increase yields. The company also makes patented-LED white light fixture for industry and architecture.
EPIC: Creates grass-fed animal-based protein bars, made from a variety of humanely-treated, hormone and antibiotic-free meat, that contain between 10–16 grams of protein, making them nutrient dense and healthy.
SparkCognition: The world’s first Cognitive Security Analytics company that develops cutting-edge Machine Learning, AI algorithms, which provide the intelligence to uncover trends, threats, and anomalies, and provide accurate remediation.
Scale (Later Stage) – Received funding above $10M or Revenue $20M+:
SpareFoot: The technology and thought leader of the self-storage industry, providing the simplest and best marketplace by organizing every storage facility in one simple interface online.
Silvercar: Silvercar completely reimagined car rental, eliminating the need for counters, paperwork, lines or hassle while traveling.
Volusion: Provides best-in-class e-commerce solutions to empower the success of all business types, from startups to large enterprises.
For more information
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