Event Information

Join MassChallenge Texas, our founding, civic and corporate partners at this year’s MCTX in Austin Awards Ceremony + Startup Experience

About this Event

The MassChallenge Awards Ceremonies are the grand finale of each MassChallenge accelerator program. This is when the top startups from each cohort are recognized by community leaders to a room full of potential investors and customers, MassChallenge mentors, VIP community leaders, and loved ones. This event is the flagship experience of the accelerator program and when programs award equity free cash prizes.

At this year's MassChallenge Texas in Austin Awards Ceremony, we will award up to $500,000 in equity-free cash prizes to the top startups from the accelerator program, as selected by the community. Top influencers from the Texas innovation community will come together to celebrate entrepreneurship and startup innovation. The October event is the second MassChallenge Awards Ceremony in Texas, and third program finale since we launched in 2017. This year's MassChallenge Texas in Austin Award Ceremony will take place in Austin, Texas - the home base of the region.

Following the ceremony, join us as we commemorate the accomplishments of our 2019 cohorts with a closing reception, and an interactive experience when the ballroom opens up to the MassChallenge Texas in Austin startup showcase.

Event Agenda:

• 5:30PM-6:00PM: General Admission Registration Opens
• 6:00PM-7:00PM: MassChallenge Texas in Austin Awards Ceremony
• 7:00PM-9:00PM: Closing Reception + Startup Showcase Experience

Venue & Parking:

Hilton Austin is offering reduced self-parking rates at $12 per vehicle for the day of the event and reduced valet parking rates at $17 per vehicle for day of event.

Additional garage parking can be found at the Austin Convention Center. See more information here.

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GUEST SPEAKERS

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Whurley | Entrepreneurship + Equality

Whurley is an Eisenhower Fellow, A Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Vice Chairman of the Entrepreneurship Steering Committee at the IEEE, the first Ambassador to CERN and Society, founding partner of the CERN Entrepreneurship Student Programme (CESP), and co-founder of EQUALS; The Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age.

Whurley is co-founder and General Partner at Ecliptic Capital, and founder and CEO of Strangeworks, a quantum computing startup in Austin, Texas. Prior to starting Strangeworks he was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs [NYSE: GS]. He came to Goldman Sachs via the acquisition of his startup, Honest Dollar. Prior to Honest Dollar Whurley founded Chaotic Moon Studios which was acquired by Accenture [NYSE: ACN].

Sara Brand

Sara Brand is the Founding General Partner of True Wealth Ventures, an early-stage VC fund investing in women-led businesses in consumer health and sustainability sectors. She is also the co-founder of (512) Brewing, the largest draught-only, self-distributing microbrewery in the country. Sara was previously in venture capital and management consulting in the Bay Area as well as in a variety of strategic and operational roles in large tech companies. Sara holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in green design and manufacturing from UC Berkeley and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from UT Austin.

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The after party for both the Austin and Houston events is presented by:

Event Sponsors Include:

MassChallenge Texas Founding Partners:

MassChallenge Texas Civic and Corporate Partners