Resources for Austin Startups

Austin was recently ranked 19th on the Startup Genome's list of the world's top startup ecosystems. Austin is a major technology hub and home to companies such as Dell and the Motorola spin-off Freescale Semiconductors. While Austin doesn't have as many consumer Internet startups as other major startup hubs, dozens of tech companies have grown in Austin to be bought by major players in the tech industry. It has a thriving startup scene for clean technology and biotech companies. Here are some resources available to entrepreneurs who want to form a startup in Austin.

Austin Technology Incubator

The Austin Technology Incubator helps its member startups grow by providing strategic counsel, operational guidance, and infrastructure support. The program is very selective, since only 5-10 companies are selected for membership each year out of 100-150 potential companies.

Headquartered at the University of Texas at Austin, the Austin Technology Incubator serves as a "teaching laboratory" for entrepreneurship students while also promoting economic growth in Central Texas. In the past three years, the Austin Technology Incubator has incubated over 50 companies and helped them raise over $70 million in investor capital.

While the Austin Technology Incubator is available to everyone, MBA students at the McCombs School of Business can intern there. These internships give students a chance to work directly with startups as they help member companies survive and grow. In addition to supporting the IT and wireless startups Austin is known for, the Austin Technology Incubator also has special programs for startups in biotechnology and clean technology.

MBA students can participate in the Student Entrepreneur Acceleration & Launch (SEAL) program, which is designed to help students make decisions about whether their startup idea is worth pursuing. The SEAL program is offered for 8 weeks during the summer and students are expected to work on the SEAL project full time. Also available to MBA students is the 3 Day Startup program, where 40 specially selected students are brought together to create a startup over the course of one weekend.

One of the successful startups to come out of the 3 Day startup and SEAL programs, the e-commerce service company Ordoro, was started by McCombs MBA grads. When the founders of Ordoro participated in 3 day startup, they met someone from the Austin Technology Incubator who later became their advisor. Ordoro was later accepted for residency at the Austin Technology Incubator. With the help of McCombs and the Austin Technology Incubator, Ordoro now has regular paying customers and the Ordoro's three founders are currently working on growing their business.

Tech Ranch Austin

Tech Ranch Austin is an incubator for early stage startups. They run Tech Ranch Houses, communities of startups where entrepreneurs receive guidance, training, and office space. Many of these services are provided through specific programs.

The Venture Forth program is designed to help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market as quickly as possible. Classes are held weekly and cover topics such as launching a product, customer acquisition, and monetization. The Pioneer Program is a weekly support group designed specifically for tech entrepreneurs. The Barn Builders program matches startups with business and technical talent.

Austin Ventures

Austin Ventures is Austin's oldest venture capital firm, and has funded Austin startups for over 25 years. Many of tech companies such as Agere,  have grown with the help of Austin Ventures. Several of those companies were bought by top IT companies such as Alcatel-Lucent, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. Austin Ventures has $3.9 million of investment money across ten funds. While Austin Ventures invests nationally, they focus on Texas and are the most active investor in the region.

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