Charles Schwab to open Austin-based digital accelerator
Financial services giant Charles Schwab recently announced that it will open digital accelerator hubs in Austin and San Francisco. The company’s accelerators will house existing Schwab employees and an influx of new hires that will lead in the innovation and development of digital solutions for its investors, advisors and employers. [Press Release]
UT’s Genesis Program crowdfunds over $1M for startups
The University of Texas’s Genesis Program, an initiative launched in 2016 by the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Longhorn Engineering Advisory Delegation, raised $1 million in donations last week for a fund to support student-led startups. Austin tech leaders Joshua Baer of Capital Factory and Brett Hurt of data.world both announced their individual donations via social media to help drive support. [Press Release]
Sacramento VC opens Austin office with $20M fund for local startups
Moneta Ventures, a California-based investment firm, has opened an Austin location as part of its plan to invest $20 million into the Texas tech sector. According to Austin Inno, Aasim Hasan, Moneta’s local partner, said the firm will seek startups that have generated between $500,000 and $10 million in annual revenue in the fields of edtech, health tech, enterprise and consumer tech. [Austin Inno]
RetailMeNot makes acquisition to help consumers save on prescription drugs
Austin-based RetailMeNot acquired Utah-based LowestMed to help consumers save up to 50 percent on prescription drugs. Rebranded as RetailMeNot RX Saver, the platform allows users to compare prescription prices and locate digital and printable coupons to use at local pharmacies. Details of the acquisition were not disclosed. [Press Release]
Austin founder Adelle Archer named among Inc.’s 30 under 30
Twenty-seven-year-old Adelle Archer was recently named to Inc.’s annual 30 under 30 list, a list recognizing rising entrepreneurs from across the United States. Archer founded the startup Eterneva, which develops diamonds from cremated ashes, after her business mentor Tracey Kaufman, passed away from cancer in 2015. Currently, Eterneva sends its ashes for processing in a lab in Amsterdam. The company plans to open a local lab in 2018. [Inc.]
Austin ranked 2nd in country for jobs
Forbes released its 2018 ranking of American cities based on job creation with two Texas cities nabbing the first two spots. The Dallas-Plano-Irving area earned the top spot for the second year in a row, with a 19.6 percent increase in job growth since 2012 and 25.6 percent since 2006. Austin came in second, with a 3.4 percent increase in job growth over last year’s numbers and 39 percent since 2006. Forbes cites Austin’s healthy job market as a reason for its consistently climbing population rates. [Forbes]
CTAN welcomes new investment associate
Central Texas Angel Network shared this week that Claire Hansen has joined the organization as an investment associate. Hansen brings four years of experience managing, marketing and enhancing startups and experimental programs. She previously led the Capital Factory Fund as accelerator program coordinator and most recently launched ModCloth’s community strategy for the company’s first physical “FitShop” located in Austin. [Press Release]
German-based Osram acquires Austin's Fluence Bioengineering
Osram, a semiconductor corporation out of Munich, recently acquired Fluence Bioengineering, a local startup that develops lighting solutions for vertical farming and indoor agriculture. Fluence launched in 2013 and has about 95 employees. Its LED technologies use Osram’s LED chips. Upon the closing of the acquisition, Fluence’s solutions will become a part of Osram’s Professional and Industrial Applications segment in the Specialty Lighting business unit. [Press Release]
