The Austin tech scene was hopping last week with fresh capital, new office openings and a massive expansion proposal from a global electronics giant. Catch up on the news you may have missed last week with the Built In Austin Weekly Refresh.
Spruce picked up $26M. The Austin startup provides apartment residents with on-demand housekeeping, pet care and laundry from experienced and vetted contractors. Spruce recently expanded beyond apartment communities to include single-family homeowners in Austin and short-term rentals listed with a business partner. The company also announced that board member Steven Pho will become Spruce’s new CEO. [Built In Austin]
InKind opened its first office. With a new downtown office, inKind is looking to grow the staff of its hospitality financing and marketing startup. The company currently has 50 employees but expects to grow to 70 later this year. InKind provides restaurants with needed capital by purchasing food and beverage tickets from the business, allowing the restaurant to repay its loan by honoring the food and beverage tickets. [Built In Austin]
HiddenLayer launched with $6M in seed funding. The cybersecurity startup launched with what it claims is the industry’s first and only machine learning detection and response solution that identifies and prevents cyberattacks against machine-learning-powered systems. The seed funding round was led by Ten Eleven Ventures. [PR Newswire]
austin tech quote of the week
Samsung’s expansion may be just the beginning. The South Korean company is currently building a $17 billion, 6 million-square-foot semiconductor manufacturing facility in nearby Taylor that would create more than 2,000 high-tech jobs. Last week, the Austin Business Journal obtained paperwork showing the company plans to invest an additional $192.1 billion to build 11 fabrication plans that would create at least 10,000 new jobs in the coming decades. A company spokeswoman told the news outlet that the paperwork was part of the company’s long-term planning for its expansion in the area. [Austin Business Journal]
Tecovas named a new CEO. The Austin-based western apparel company has appointed David Lafitte to CEO. Lafitte previously worked as COO at Deckers Brands, where he led global operations for the company’s brands, including UGG, HOKA and Teva. Tecovas founder and CEO Paul Hedrick will transition to executive chairman. [PR Newswire]
