Opcity moves into new Southeast Austin headquarters
In August, Opcity announced it would be moving into a new office following its $27M Series A in May. On Wednesday, the team of 225 employees officially moved into its new Southeast Austin space. The office includes 50,000 square feet of space, an on-site gym with showers, a patio, a courtyard and an onsite disc course. The new space also has room to expand to up to 100,000 square feet to accommodate the company's plans to double its headcount by the end of 2018. [Press Release]
Tiff’s Treats raises $25M to spread to Tennessee
Austin-based fresh cookie delivery service Tiff’s Treats announced a $25 million Series D this week. The company, launched in 1999, will use the funds to continue its national expansion, adding Tennessee to its service areas. To date, Tiff’s Treats has 34 locations, 700 employees and has delivered 80 million cookies. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital led the round. [Built In Austin]
Could Bumble be Austin’s next tech unicorn?
Forbes and TechCrunch reported this week that the Match Group has made a second offer to Bumble that values the company at more than $1 billion. The Austin-based dating app company has grown significantly over the past three years, accumulating over 22 million users. Ten percent of those users pay $9.99 for a monthly subscription. According to reports, Match's new proposal follows a $450 million offer made in August. [Built In Austin]
ArtCraft Entertainment gains $2.1M
Gaming development company ArtCraft Entertainment secured $2.1 million in new funding this week, according to an SEC filing. Five non-disclosed investors put money into the company behind the massively multiplayer online role playing game Crowfall. According to ArtCraft’s website, the company has now raised over $13 million. [FormDs]
Austin named best city for veterans to launch a business
Thumbtack published a recent report that ranked Austin as the top city in America for veterans to launch a small business. The company reached out to 1,500 veteran small-business owners and asked them to rate their local governments’ support for veteran businesses. Austin led the way with 41 percent of participants from Austin stating that local government was “very supportive.” [Thumbtack]
Factom welcomes new CEO
Austin-based blockchain startup Factom recently announced that founder Paul Snow will take the helm as its new CEO. Co-founder and former CEO Peter Kirby will stay on as the company's president. Factom launched in 2014 and develops software for businesses to help simplify and solve blockchain problems. [Press Release]
Gemalto and UT partner to further research on identity management, security and privacy
Gemalto and the University of Texas Center for Identity just launched a partnership to increase efforts in research and education in identity-based cybersecurity solutions. UT created the Center for Identify in 2010 to inform the public as well as industry leaders on trends, best practices, threats and more. The new partnership with Gemalto will focus on biometrics that can be used to identify and authenticate users in daily use cases, developing airport and travel experiences with trusted ID solutions, digital driver's licenses and more. [Press Release]
