I’m incredibly excited about the recent launch of Techstars Austin. Austin is a natural fit for Techstars, and we’re looking forward to having an ongoing presence in this strong, active and growing community.
We all know how great Austin is from our annual trips to SXSW, but in fact the city has a vibrant startup scene all year round. There’s just so much happening there, with many successful companies like Indeed, HomeAway, Bazaarvoice and Spiceworks, along with plenty more promising newcomers.
As always, we’re starting this new Techstars program with a solid foundation of support already in place. Local tech groups in Austin have been enthusiastically supportive, and we have a bunch of talented mentors and investors involved, including Sam Decker (Mass Relevance), Rony Kahan (Indeed), Jeff Dachis (Dachis Group), Brett Hurt (Bazaarvoice), Tom Ball and Mike Dodd (Austin Ventures), Lori Knowlton (HomeAway), Kip McClanahan and Morgan Flager (Silverton), Ned Hill and Aziz Gilani (Mercury Fund) and Rob Taylor (Black Locus)–just to name a few. Josh Baer and Bill Boebel of Capital Factory, where our offices will be located, have been instrumental in bringing Techstars to Austin, and I greatly appreciate all of their help and support.
The Managing Director of Techstars Austin is Jason Seats, a successful entrepreneur, techie and angel investor. Jason founded Slicehost, which was later acquired by Rackspace, and then joined Techstars in 2011 as Managing Director of Techstars Cloud. He brings so much to the table with his valuable technical skills, experience as a founder and investor, and a strong network. In his new home in Austin, he’ll definitely play an important role in the growth of Techstars and the entire startup community there.
To learn more about Techstars Austin, check out these articles from TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Xconomy, The Next Web and PCMag. Applications are now open for the inaugural Techstars Austin program, which kicks off in August. Discover how three intense months of mentorship, along with seed funding and a powerful network, can help you grow your business and develop as an entrepreneur. Apply now, or see the full schedule for more details.
