From tech-enabled mood rings to AI-powered fast food clerks, last week’s tech news headlines demonstrated the wide-ranging ways in which Austin startups are innovating new technologies that will impact our day-to-day lives. Catch up on all the local tech news you may have missed last week with the Built In Austin Weekly Refresh.
Happy Health unveiled a tech mood ring. Austin startup Happy Health emerged from stealth with $60 million in funding and a 21st-century mood ring known as Happy Ring. The ring is a wearable device that measures users’ stress, mood and sleep in real-time by translating data from the peripheral nervous system into objective measures of one’s mood state. [Built In Austin]
Sustainment Technologies pulled in $12M. Founded in 2020, Sustainment Technologies uses AI, machine learning and natural language processing to extract data from technical specifications and renderings to identify manufacturers that have the ability to create a given part. The startup, which has partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense and other government clients, said it plans to double the size of its team in the coming months. [Austin Inno]
austin tech quote of the week
ConverseNow gained $10M. Austin startup ConverseNow has developed an AI-powered virtual assistant that answers phone calls and takes drive-thru orders at more than 1,200 restaurants, including Domino’s Pizza, Fazoli’s and Blake’s Lotaburger. Last week, the company added $10 million onto its $15 million Series A from last year. The most recent investment came from Enlightened Hospitality Investments, which was co-founded by Danny Meyer, the founder of Shake Shack and Union Square Hospitality Group. [Built In Austin]
Cottage was highlighted in Built In’s Future 5 series. Built In Austin is kicking off this quarter’s Future 5 series by shining a spotlight on Austin startup Cottage, which allows junior engineers to get real-world experience by developing projects for startups. The first engineer to complete a task wins a cash reward. In December, Cottage plans to create a platform that allows startups to upload their own prototypes to be turned into Cottage competitions. [Built In Austin]
BalkanID raised $2.36M. The Austin cybersecurity firm has developed an access governance platform that helps companies identify potential threats from users with access to their SaaS and cloud platforms. The startup emerged from stealth in May with $5.75 million in seed funding. This latest capital raise increases that seed round to $8.1 million. [BalkanID]
