3 Austin companies you wish you worked for

by Amy Reagan
December 5, 2014

[ibimage==32615==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]

Startup life is intense and often wonderful in and of itself: the high of building something from nothing and the thrill of collaborative innovation can be pretty heady stuff. Of particular greatness is the moment of celebrating a huge milestone in the life of a new company, like making a first sale, bringing on that first big client, securing a great round of funding and encouragement from trusted investors -- and, hopefully, exiting according to plan. 
 
But a few emerging startups are causing double-takes from the neighbors, so to speak, as they work to prove themselves as places that could easily elicit some variation of the old adage: “A million people would kill for that job.”
 
Among those venerable new workplaces: Ruckus Gaming, Favor and Magnitude Software Corp. 
 
[ibimage==32612==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]

 

The sports fan’s dream: Ruckus Gaming

 
No hardcore sports fan wouldn’t want to try their hand at working in the industry in some way, and as fantasy sports have evolved into a billion dollar industry with no fewer than 23 million participants, there’s plenty of opportunity for digital types to get involved. In Austin, Ruckus Gaming LLC recently scooped up $2 million from a group of 15 investors, securing it a comfortable operating budget for the foreseeable future. So far, the game developer has released Victiv, a daily fantasy sports platform with what it calls “one of the largest first deposit bonuses from any daily fantasy sports website.”
 
And as for sustainability? Well, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association recently reported a 48 percent spike in fantasy football revenue alone between 2008 and 2014, so the industry shows no signs of getting sidelined anytime soon.
 
[ibimage==32613==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]

 

The fun local lifehack: Favor

 
As local delivery services finally enjoy a major surge in popularity in cities other than New York, Favor makes itself available in Austin to great reviews. The much-buzzed-about delivery service raised $2 million in seed funding in September, adding to the 1.9 million already secured through two previous rounds. A recent headline in The Wall Street Journal about the company said it was “Seeded to Become (the) Go-To Delivery Service in College Towns.” Although NeighborFavor, the company responsible for the app, faces competition from the likes of Seamless, GrubHub and longstanding delivery service EatOutIn, it seems up to the challenge, as a Forbes interview with Favor co-founder and CMO, Zac Maurais, echoed the WSJ’s enthusiasm. That headline read: “Disrupting and Winning the White-Hot Delivery Market.” 
 
Bold words indeed. 
 
[ibimage==32614==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]

 

The safe bet: Magnitude Software Corp

 
While fantasty sports and the “white-hot delivery market” may be super buzzy at the moment, so is Big Data, and it has been for a while. How’s this for a recent financing coup by one of Austin’s data wranglers: Magnitude Software Corp raked in a whopping $100 million for its family of enterprise management information software. It boasts 200,000 users at 600 customers in over 100 countries. 
 
September was a banner month for Magnitude: in addition to its finance round, Database Trends and Applications named it a Top 100 Company in Data. In other words, get in while you can.
 
Have a tip for us or know of a company that deserves coverage? Email us via [email protected]

Jobs at Favor

Austin startup guides

LOCAL GUIDE
Best Companies to Work for in Austin
LOCAL GUIDE
Coolest Tech Offices in Austin
LOCAL GUIDE
Best Perks at Austin Tech Companies
LOCAL GUIDE
Women in Austin Tech