Bazaarvoice to go private for $521M
On Monday, Bazaarvoice announced that it has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired by LA-based Marlin Equity Partners for $521 million. The move, projected to close during the first quarter of 2018, would privatize Bazaarvoice, which went public in 2012. Bazaarvoice launched from Austin in 2005 and creates consumer-generated content for retailers and brands. [Press Release]
EverlyWell catches $1M investment following Shark Tank appearance
On Sunday, Julia Cheek appeared on Shark Tank to pique investor interest for her Austin startup EverlyWell, which provides at-home health testing kits. After sharks Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran and Robert Herjave opted out due to competition and cost concerns, Lori Greiner stepped up offering a $1 million investment as a line of credit in exchange for 5 percent equity. [Austin360]
Capital Factory launches investment challenge with Longhorn Startup
At the end of the upcoming spring semester of Longhorn Startup Lab, a free student accelerator program at UT Austin, the 10 accepted student startups will compete for a $25,000 investment and accelerator spot sponsored by Capital Factory. This is a new addition to the program which launched in 2011. Demo day for this event will take place on May 3 at the Lady Bird Johnson auditorium at the LBJ Library. [AustinStartups]
Spiceworks welcomes new VP of engineering
IT professional network Spiceworks recently named Manish Dixit as the company’s new SVP of products and engineering. Before joining Spiceworks, Manish served in executive-level product and engineering roles at Dice. He also held engineering leadership roles at Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Pixo. [Press Release]
Magnitude acquires Agility Multichannel
Magnitude Software, an Austin-based firm creating enterprise reporting and data management solutions, recently announced its purchase of Agility Multichannel. This latest acquisition follows a series of buyouts led by Magnitude, including Simba Technologies and Datalytics Technologies in 2016. The financials of this latest acquisition were not released. [Texas TechPulse]
Kendra Scott named Entrepreneur Of The Year
Ernst & Young recently announced the recipients of its Entrepreneur Of The Year awards which included Austinite Kendra Scott for the consumer products and retail category. Scott founded the jewelry and retail line Kendra Scott in 2002 and has grown the company to over 2,000 employees with 73 retail locations nationally. Also receiving an award from Austin was Bill Bayless, CEO of American Campus Communities. [Austin Business Journal]
Arcade City expands service to 300,000 users in the Philippines
Arcade City, the Austin-based startup started offering peer-to-peer ride-sharing services, announced last week it has expanded its existing service in the Philippines to accommodate for the 300,000 users and riders of the Angkas ridesharing app which was shut down by the Philippine government. Arcade City first went live in the country following the government shutdown of Uber in August. [Markets Insider]
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