Showcase Highlights Cybersecurity Startups

05/24/2019 | Comment

It’s no secret that here at Capital Factory we strive to support and promote all significant developments in tech. It’s an exciting time, particularly in Texas, to witness the rapid expansion of new technologies. However, our increased dependency as a society on both technology and the internet leaves us with potential openings for hackers to exploit. As the tech industry advances, so do cybercriminals and their ability to create elaborate strategies to target companies, networks and entrepreneurs at all stages.

In today’s startup ecosystem, cybersecurity means: being alert, risk aware and creating a culture throughout your networks that can handle cybersecurity effectively. With Texas having four of the ten fastest growing cities in the United States, we are well suited to continue seeking solutions and be at the forefront of cybersecurity innovations.

On that note, we are excited to announce that we will be hosting a Cybersecurity Showcase on June 18th at Capital Factory + The DEC in Dallas, Texas. Our implementation of the Texas Startup Manifesto has driven many crucial events and summits in Dallas to continue fostering their startup community; we intend for this showcase to push even more boundaries. This pitch style event will be displaying some of our top cybersecurity companies at Capital Factory, including those involved with blockchain, AI and other related fields in the tech space.

The Cybersecurity Showcase is being presented by our Innovation Council partners. The Capital Factory Innovation Council is an assembly of qualified corporations that bring together corporate leadership, startups, mentors, events, our accelerator program and the rest of the Capital Factory ecosystem to improve collaboration and growth on all sides. We’re looking forward to developing even more programming in the future together, and helping bridge the gap between startups and corporations.

 

What does Showcase Day look like?

 

Starting at 3:30pm there will be a catered happy hour followed by a pitch showcase from a notable group of cybersecurity companies in our Accelerator portfolio. After each startup gives their pitch, there will be a brief Q+A session opened up for any follow-up inquiries from the audience. Happy hour will then continue shortly after the showcase is complete.

Learn more about this showcase and RSVP here!

Interested in developing your startup with a Cybersecurity focus? We’d like to share a cybersecurity framework provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology that can help guide entrepreneurs who are thinking of entering the field. Check it out here! (See page six for: “Framework Core Structure”)

 

Investing in Cybersecurity Panel, Dallas Startup Week 2019. Left to right: Ross Mandel, The Tony Scott Group; Harold Collum, Cyber Future Foundation; Richard Delgado, Lavabit; Helena Krusec, Capital Factory.

 

$100,000 Defense Innovation Investment Challenge

05/08/2019 | Comment

Capital Factory is pleased to announce the $100,000 Defense Innovation Challenge focused on identifying solutions to two of the U.S. Army’s modernization priorities. This will be the finale of the J.P. Morgan Texas Startups Roadshow, a unique gathering of the country’s top tech investors and innovators who are investing in Texas.

On June 6, the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, five technology startup finalists will be judged by a panel of successful entrepreneurs, defense industry leaders, and venture capitalists. All five will be accepted into the inaugural cohort of Capital Factory’s new Defense Innovation Track, and one will walk away with a $100,000 investment that day.

Startups! Submit your application on AngelList

How were the topics identified?

The U.S. Army is on a mission to update its forces and equipment with new ideas and novel technology to address some of its key challenges. The two topics for this challenge were selected from among the Army’s top six modernization priorities. Capital Factory wants to help the Army deliver technology overmatch to warfighters by finding and investing in startups with “dual-use” solutions that were developed for the commercial industry but could also be used by the Army.

Who is eligible?

Any U.S.-based startup company with a solution to one of the two problems identified below can apply to participate. If selected as a finalist, you will join the new Defense Innovation Track at Capital Factory and, if you win, you will receive a $100,000 investment from Capital Factory on a convertible note.

Here are the problems:

Better AR/VR network optimization and data compression technologies

There is a need for network optimization and data compression technologies to ensure delivery of scalable AR/VR capabilities with low-latency to no latency, on a distributed and global basis, even in bandwidth and computationally-constrained environments. Based upon the current training environment performance, there are needs to: optimize training network performance to support AR/VR graphics and scalable data delivery and response; compress data to provide low-bandwidth, low-latency, and high-fidelity streaming of AR/VR graphics and data in bandwidth-constrained environments; and, implement advanced edge computing and networking architectures and solutions to deliver optimized network performance.

IoT and AI/ML training assessment tools

There is a need to enhance its current measurement, assessment, and optimization of training activities conducted through this new training capability. While training is monitored and assessed today, most of the measurement and analysis of training by organizations of all types is conducted manually. Thus, specific opportunities have been identified to enhance the existing capabilities by providing: automated collection, monitoring, and measurement of training performance activities of individuals and groups during training activities in virtual, live, and hybrid training environments through IoT and other solutions; training outcomes, assessments, and recommendations on additional training or areas of improvement through predictive analytics, including AI/ML and other approaches; automated training performance measurement, analysis, and optimization — including adaptive learning and intelligent tutoring systems — through novel applications; and other automated training assessment capabilities.

Defense Innovation Track

Earlier this year, Capital Factory opened the Center for Defense Innovation — 23,000 square feet of collaboration space with the Army Futures Command, AFWERX, Defense Innovation Unit, MD5, The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and a team of Booz Allen Hamilton’s defense innovators as initial tenants. This unprecedented collaboration between the public and private sector brings entrepreneurs and government innovators shoulder-to-shoulder in a coworking environment where they can learn from each other and have a kind of serendipity that can’t happen behind high security.

This new center of gravity for defense innovation brings together military leaders with entrepreneurs, innovators, and established defense industry leaders to co-create solutions that ensure our armed forces are poised to meet the threats of tomorrow. The Defense Innovation Track is a new program designed to give special attention to startups who have the potential to solve problems for the defense industry and to help make the connections to the investors, customers, and talent that startups need to be successful.

All Participants in the Defense Innovation Track will receive:

  • Mentor network that includes special access to an A-List of Texas’ top entrepreneurs as well as defense industry veterans
  • 6 months of unlimited co-working at Capital Factory for your whole team
  • Hundreds of thousands of dollars in total hosting credits from Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other major hosting providers (each individual offer is different and subject to change)

Think you’ve got a shot? Apply now on AngelList to be one of five teams selected to pitch. You could walk away with $100,000 and a new home at the Center of Gravity for Defense Innovation! Application deadline is May 24th.

Startups! Submit your application on AngelList

About Capital Factory

Capital Factory is the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas, the number one startup state in the U.S. Last year more than 200,000 entrepreneurs, programmers and designers gathered day and night, in-person and online for meetups, classes and coworking. With boots on the ground in Austin, Dallas and Houston, we meet the best entrepreneurs in Texas and introduce them to their first investors, employees, mentors and customers. According to Pitchbook, Capital Factory has been the most active investor in Texas since 2013.

$100,000 Investment to be Awarded at Capital Factory’s Augmented and Virtual Reality Summit

03/22/2019 | Comment

In December 2016, Capital Factory launched Austin’s first VR Lab. Stocked with cutting-edge technology, the VR Lab enables entrepreneurs, investors, VIPs, and tech influencers to learn about emerging technologies and the impact they have on their industries. Capital Factory’s first Augmented and Virtual Reality Summit, on April 16th, is a full day of programming for the Corporate Innovation Council to bring corporations together and introduce them to new technologies to inspire creativity and innovation. There will also be a public showcase to close out the summit where the Texas startup scene will come together for the next $100,000 Investment Challenge pitch competition.

If you’ve been paying attention to the tech news lately, you know that augmented and virtual reality are one of the hottest trends of late. With games like 2016’s Pokémon Go, to movies like 2018’s Ready Player One, this emerging tech has come to the forefront of our culture. As the #1 best city to start a business (according to Inc. Magazine), Austin has been at the center of this trend.

“Austin’s vibrant technology and creative communities make it the perfect place for AR/VR innovation,” said Brance Hudzietz, Capital Factory’s Emerging Tech Manager. “When you combine free-thinkers from the developer, film, and gaming communities here in Austin, you see radically new ideas bubbling to the surface.”

This April, Texas’ top entrepreneurs will band together to give one tech startup a $100,000 investment, direct exposure to industry influencers, and the chance to join the startup accelerator at Capital Factory. Any startup focused on XR technologies (AR, MR and VR) can apply on AngelList to pitch at the community showcase during the exclusive AR/VR Summit on April 16th.

“We want to see Austin entrepreneurs thinking bigger and shooting for the stars. If you’re really trying to change the world, we will help you get started,” said Brett Hurt, CEO of data.world and founder of Bazaarvoice, Coremetrics and Hurt Family Investments.

 

Who Can Apply?

Any tech or consumer startup focused on XR technologies (AR, MR and VR) can apply on AngelList to pitch at the AR/VR showcase during the exclusive AR/VR Summit on April 16th.

What does Funding Day look like?

If selected, you’ll be one of 5–6 teams to pitch your startup to a panel of expert judges on April 16th. One company will walk away with a $100,000 investment.

The best team that pitches at Funding Day will receive:

  • $100,000 cash investment on a SAFE or Convertible Note
  • Special access to an A-List of Texas’ top entrepreneurs who add value far beyond the money you received
  • 6 months of unlimited co-working at Capital Factory for your whole team — comes with automatic acceptance into our accelerator program (1% Common class equity)
  • Access to the Capital Factory Mentor network

Interested in joining Capital Factory’s Corporate Innovation Council?

The Corporate Innovation Council elevates opportunities for all sides by bringing together Council Members, startups, mentors, events, the accelerator program, and the rest of the Capital Factory ecosystem. Reach out to Partnerships@CapitalFactory.com to learn more about how you can join.

 

Opportunity Hub Partners with Capital Factory To Bridge Opportunity Gap

02/28/2019 | Comment

Over the past several years, tech communities across the United States have attempted to make significant progress towards increasing diversity and inclusion in their industries. Although positive steps have been made, the headway appears to have stagnated or even worsened in some companies and cities. A systems-wide approach to operationalize diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the startup ecosystem is required and must be built from the ground by communities of color with the support and investment of all. Opportunity Hub is one of those communities forging the path towards true diversity, equity and inclusion. With a concentration on providing a more diverse workforce, Capital Factory and Opportunity Hub are partnering in 2019 to converge on the Austin tech scene this spring at SXSW.

Capital Factory is proud to join forces with Opportunity Hub (OHUB), the world’s leading inclusive innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment ecosystem building platform to ensure the equitable representation of people of color in the future of work in the 4th industrial revolution.

“Capital Factory is so excited to welcome the OHUB community to Austin during SXSW,” said Joshua Baer, founder & CEO. “Our mission is to create connections between entrepreneurs that move their ventures forward, and one of the key pillars they need is DIVERSE TALENT. I know that some of these incredible young people will land jobs where they can make a big impact and launch their careers.”

Opportunity Hub and the OHUB Foundation aim to advance the future of technology, skills, work, entrepreneurship, investment, multi-generational wealth creation and overall opportunity for all. At scale and with definitive focus and purpose, OHUB will reduce the global racial income, wealth and opportunity gap to ensure that all of our planet’s stakeholders access economic safeguards as a prerequisite for civil and human dignity.

Tech recruiter mentors HBCU@SXSW cohort on building soft skills during 2018 SXSW

Opportunity Hub’s Growth and Mission

Opportunity Hub was co-founded in 2013 in Atlanta, GA by Rodney Sampson. Prior to OHUB, Sampson built and sold two tech companies and published four books, including the best selling Kingonomics. OHUB grew to become the largest black-owned multi-campus entrepreneurship center and technology hub in the US focused on diversity and inclusion. Each year, 15,000 people walked through OHUB’s doors to learn, engage, build and work.

In 2016, OHUB pioneered HBCU@SXSW at SXSW. To date, over 275 of the nation’s top engineering jobs have gone to marketing and business college students that have had the opportunity to attend this immersive experience. They’re able to interview with technology companies and secure paid summer internships or full-time jobs upon graduation. Placement is 90%!

As it relates to increasing access to technology education, OHUB has enabled over 200 under-tapped African Americans from low-income communities to attend the nation’s leading programming schools where they were trained to code in an on-demand programming language and placed in paid internships, apprenticeships and/or full-time work as entry-level programmers creating an economic output of over $10,000,000 annually. Sampson states, “We’ve done good work, but we can do more. We must do more!”

Today, aspiring innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors apply for complimentary membership to OHUB to access their skills development programs, job opportunities, startup resources, funding and investment opportunities to build wealth.

The business model is simple.

Companies, foundations, municipalities, startup organizations, influencers and advocates desiring to increase their investment in authentic internal and external diversity, equity and inclusion can fund and sponsor the programs, career paths, and fund.

This also ensures that socially and economically disadvantaged communities pursue and gain high demand tech skills and careers. They can launch and grow high growth startups while accessing and investing in exclusive investment opportunities traditionally reserved for the rich. This is the path to the middle class, multi-generational wealth creation and beyond.

HBCU engineering students attend Google recruiting event during HBCU@SXSW

What You Can Expect This SXSW

HBCU@SXSW is Opportunity Hub’s signature annual university relations, young professionals, startup entrepreneurship and recruitment initiative. Each year, major corporations, tech companies, startups, ecosystem builders, influencers and foundations sponsor HBCU@SXSW. Here, top African American and Latinx technical and business talent from our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI’s), Tribal Colleges and Predominantly White Institutions (PWI’s) are selected to attend to gain the necessary immersive exposure, interactive learning opportunities and direct access to paid summer internships or early full time roles at the nation’s leading tech companies that are afforded by attending SXSW.

HBCU@SXSW is an official part of South by Southwest, the largest interactive technology conference and festival on the planet. In 2018, more than 500,000 attendees experienced amazing keynotes, hundreds of panels and exclusive networking opportunities that provide buzz-generating exposure and opportunities to engage with decision-makers in the innovation economy.

Hugh Forrest, the Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, says, “We are very excited that Opportunity Hub is returning to SXSW 2019. We continue to work hard to increase diversity and inclusion at SXSW because these are two of the key elements of a more creative environment. The efforts of OHUB have been a significant part of this ongoing diversity and inclusion initiative.”

In 2016, OHUB sponsored 50 college students to go to SXSW, and those numbers have grown since then. In 2019, they’re planning to sponsor up to 300 students to attend. 90% of the students that attend HBCU@SXSW are placed in paid summer internships or permanent jobs.

Rodney Sampson, the Executive Chairman & CEO of OHUB says that “in its 4th and largest annual activation, HBCU@SXSW continues to deliver definitive results as the leading racial equity program between Opportunity Hub, SXSW, and our recruiting partners. Joining forces with Capital Factory to serve as our host venue takes this experience to the next level and is a major step forward in our collective mission to ensure that students of color that desire career pathways in tech, entrepreneurship, and venture have equitable and accountable access.”

 

Graphic provided by Opportunity Hub

HBCU@SXSW 2019 Events

Mark your calendars, and check out the full House of OHUB schedule for all the events happening at HBCU@SXSW 2019.

Thursday, March 7

Opening reception and fireside chat with Priscilla Chan, Cofounder, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
4:00 PM — 8:00 PM
The Center for Social Innovation, 1023 Springdale Rd
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort + Guest Engineers

Friday, March 8 — OHUB Day at HBCU@SXSW

1 on 1 Interviews
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Opening Day — Block Party, Live Remote, Tech & Startup Popups, Food Trucks, SWAG & Giveaways
12:00 PM — 8:00 PM
Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon St
Access: All

Opening General Plenary Session — Hacking Technical Interviews, Mastering Soft Skills & Navigating Corporate Culture, Identifying Sponsors & Mentors for Upward Mobility, The Startup Life, Fireside Chat with OHUB CEO, Rodney Sampson & Special Guest
2:00 PM — 5:00 PM
Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon St
Access: All

SXSW Startup Crawl
4:00 PM — 8:00 PM
Downtown Austin
Access: RSVP required here

Student Recruitment Dinner Session with Twitter
8:00 PM — 10:00 PM
Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon St
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Saturday, March 9— Facebook + Oculus + Instagram Day at HBCU@SXSW

1 on 1 Interviews
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Student Recruitment Breakfast Session with Facebook, Oculus, and Instagram
8:00 AM — 9:15 AM
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Find & Hire Black and Latinx Talent
9:30 AM — 10:30 AM
JW Marriott, Ballroom C, 110 E 2nd St
Access: SXSW Badge Required

The House of OHUB Lounge: AR/VR/Venture Lab
Powered by Facebook, Oculus and Instagram
10:00 AM — 4:00 PM
JW Marriott, Ballroom A & B, 110 E 2nd St
Access: SXSW Badge Required

Finding & Backing Venture Back-able Black Founders
11:00 AM — 12:00 PM
JW Marriott, Ballroom C, 110 E 2nd St
Access: SXSW Badge Required

Student Recruitment Lunch Session with MailChimp
12:00 PM — 1:30 PM
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Funding Racial Equity In Entrepreneurship Ecosystems
12:30 PM — 1:30 PM
JW Marriott, Ballroom C, 110 E 2nd St
Access: SXSW Badge Required

Student Recruitment Event with Microsoft and LinkedIn
2:00 PM — 3:30 PM
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

5th Annual Inclusive Innovators, Investors & Influencers Reception, Dinner & Awards
7:00 PM — 11:00 PM
JW Marriott, Ballroom A & B, 110 E 2nd St
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort + Invited Guests

Sunday, March 10 — Amazon Day at HBCU@SXSW

1 on 1 Interviews
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Student Recruitment Breakfast Session with Southwire
8:00 AM — 9:15 AM
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Student Recruitment Lunch Session with Lyft
12:00 PM — 1:30 PM
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Student Recruitment Session with Amazon
2:00 PM — 3:30 PM
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

Student Recruitment Dinner Session with Google and YouTube
6:00 PM — 7:30 PM
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Access: HBCU@SXSW Cohort Only

First Annual DEI Party
Powered by OHUB + Capital Factory
7:00 PM — 11:00 PM
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
To RSVP, guests must sign a pledge to do the following:
• Learn the systems and best practices to achieving racial equity in tech, startups & venture by participating in future webinars, workshops and programs
• Financially support Black ecosystem building organizations
• Hire Black talent for paid summer and full time roles
• Invest in Black co-founded startups (for everyone via equity crowdfunding and many family & friends rounds)
• Invest in Black co-founded venture funds (for accredited investors only)

We are serious about this work, and although we like a good party, we want to leverage this opportunity to advance this collective work.

Monday, March 11

1 on 1 Interviews
Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street
Open Exploration

To attend House of OHUB events, you have to join the OHUB community for free & select the events you want to attend here.

$100,000 Cleantech Investment Challenge sponsored by E-Capital Summit

02/26/2019 | Comment

In recent years, the world has continued to improve energy usage, waste management, and reduce environmental pollution — with innovative solutions coming online every day. Technology isn’t the answer to all of our problems, but it’s hard to imagine how we can progress without it. Capital Factory has teamed up with EarthX, an international nonprofit dedicated to helping create a sustainable future worldwide, to give one tech startup a $100,000 investment and direct exposure to cleantech industry influencers.

Capital Factory is contributing to energy and cleantech industries to help improve the environment, and they’re fortunate to have teamed up with EarthX to work on this initiative. Part of their efforts include the E-Capital Summit, which assembles private capital, early to late-stage companies, and industry thought leaders to form partnerships resulting in substantial, positive impacts on profit, people, and the planet. This $100,000 Cleantech Investment Challenge will happen at the E-Capital Summit where the finalists will take the stage, and the winner will be announced.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Capital Factory on this cleantech investment challenge and believe this collaboration is just the beginning of a long-term, fruitful relationship.” said Matt Myers, Vice President, EarthxCapital.

“There’s no reason why Dallas can’t have a thriving environmental innovation ecosystem considering the assets the city has. We hope this year’s investment challenge jumpstarts the ecosystem creation process. My challenge to you is to help us make this a $1,000,000 challenge in 2020. The time is now. Any takers?”

“EarthX and E-Capital in Dallas, TX has quickly become one of the most important clean tech events and conference featuring pioneers, policy makers, investors, and philanthropists,” said Bryan Chambers, Vice President of the Accelerator and Investment Fund at Capital Factory. “While Texas is well known for our contributions to the traditional oil and gas industry we’re excited to partner with E-Capital on this investment challenge to help inform the public about all the great entrepreneurs and innovation occurring in Texas in the clean tech sector.”

 

Who Can Apply for the $100,000 Cleantech Investment Challenge?

Any tech startup located in Texas and focusing on improving cleantech efforts can apply on AngelList to pitch on April 25th.

 

What does Award Day look like?

If selected, you’ll be one of 5–6 teams to pitch your startup to a panel of expert judges on April 25th. One company will walk away with a $100,000 investment.

 

So what will it take to win?

We are looking for tech or consumer companies who are striving to make the world cleaner, more efficient, and help reduce our overall carbon footprint. We want to see how your company will help sustain our planet, that you truly believe in what you are doing, and can demonstrate your resourcefulness and ability to learn from your mistakes.

 

The best team that pitches at Award Day will receive:

 

Special thanks to our partners:

  • EarthX
  • E-Capital
  • The United States Department of Energy
  • Crow Holdings Capital
  • Shell
  • Buckminster Fuller Institute

APPLY HERE — Applications due March 22nd at 11:59PM CST

Another Fall, Another ATX Startup Crawl

10/25/2018 | Comment

We still can’t believe this fall’s Austin Startup Week is over. ATX Startup Crawl was the perfect way to end such an amazing week. In case you missed this fall’s ATX Startup Crawl, (or you just want to keep reliving it as we do), here are some of the highlights from the event.

All of our host stops were amazing. Each with its own unique experience, it’s exciting to see how many you can get to!

There were scooter donuts at some….

And real donuts at others.

https://twitter.com/NaomiBourgeoisV/status/1047994981267517441

There were PLENTY of GIFs created by lovely crawlers…

And we got to see them all show up back at Capital Factory.

Speaking of Capital Factory, look at all the startups there to answer your questions and tell you about their companies!

And because it’s Crawl, you never know what or who might show up; anyone else see these two running around? 🤔

There were crawlers taking advantage of companies looking to hire — who doesn’t like networking over hot tech and cold beers?

And even if you didn’t leave with a new job, you definitely left with all the SWAG your heart could desire.

It didn’t end there! Everyone became ~nightcrawlers~ and headed over to the Vaughn for the Official ATX Startup Crawl After Party!

Just reading this blog post is making me wish it was time for the Spring ATX Startup Crawl during SXSW… It’ll be here (hopefully) before we know it, fellow crawlers.

This event truly is a remarkable way for the Austin startup community to come together. Whether you’re looking to network in a casual environment, practice your pitches, launch a product, show off your office, or just learn about Austin’s amazing startup ecosystem over some cold beers, this event has something for you. ATX Startup Crawl is the perfect celebration of Austin’s emergence as a leader in innovation and disruption.

Every Startup Crawl just gets better and better. If you want to help us keep this trend we need YOUR valuable feedback! Tell us about your experience so we can make the Spring SXSW Startup Crawl the best one yet!

See you in the spring at SXSW!

MobilityX HR Hackathon: Digital Ideas for Employee Wellness

10/24/2018 | Comment

Thirty-five developers, programmers, and entrepreneurs joined together for a hackathon to compete for the top prize of $10,000. All with the goal of improving the professional personal wellness of Daimler employees through digital innovation. The event was sponsored by Daimler Financial Services in collaboration with the Digital Transformation Office for HR at Daimler.

Software platforms, mobile apps, and automated workflows — Daimler’s employees are unrivaled in achieving their customer service and efficiency goals. However, the most important factor is, and will be the human who sits at the center of every customer touchpoint.

“We at Daimler Financial Services have a strong corporate culture. The foundation is our employees, and we invest in them. This becomes tangible in the excellent results of the Great Place to Work survey. The further improvement of health and well-being for our employees could bring us to the next level.” — Frank Maruna, Head of HR DFS Germany

Seeking to embrace scalable digital solutions further, Daimler looked to the tech community for an answer.

“MobilityX is an innovation initiative where we are focusing on introducing outside innovation into our company. We conduct startup pitch competitions, hackathons or innovation bootcamps to be inspired by new and fresh ideas and to bring them back into our organization.” — Franziska Kaercher, Manager Business Development FC

Strangers Become Teammates

At the hackathon kick off in Austin, a vast swath of ideas were pitched by participants, discussed and then voted on by the group. While most of the newly formed teams emerged from this creative process, several participants came to the hackathon with existing ideas they were eager to flesh out and build up. Teammates Bhavin Gupta and Tabish Chasmawala were one such team: “When I worked at AirBnB, we did this thing called ‘the stair climb’ where all of us would meet in the lobby and race to the top of the 20-floor staircase as quickly as we could. We decided to replicate this idea for Daimler,” says Gupta. “After speaking with Daimler mentors, our idea evolved from tracking how many flights of stairs employees climbed, to studying how employees were moving across their campus,” Gupta continued.

Creative Solutions to Age Old Problems

Ideas ranged from apps that incorporate mindful practices into employees’ calendars, to a tool that puts pedometer functionality into security badges that track and reward employees’ healthy choices.

“The main thing that I take away from this hackathon is the wide range of ideas that people have to address employee wellness. For one person, that can be psychological security, and on the other hand, some people want to bring their dog to work or have yoga in the office. As a company, we have to take these needs seriously and address them.” — Sam Marshall, Director of Innovation Management for MobilityX

Convincing the Jury

After three days of hacking, the teams gathered to pitch to the panel of judges. Those were Timo Bularczyk, Frank Maruna, Josip Skafar and Josefin Lewetzky of Daimler, and Abba Binns, of Capital Factory.

Josip Skafar represented IT Daimler Financial Services in the judging panel and has been working with HR DFS on implementing several digital solutions.

“It’s important to assess the different ideas from a scalability perspective, so that we can secure fast and efficient implementation. People and culture is an important pillar of our strategy at ITF, and I am proud that we can do our part in helping generate additional value for our employees.” — Josip Skafar

In the end, “Intuitive Agenda” emerged victorious due to their seemingly simple solution to a very common problem; employees do not have enough time to participate in a corporate wellness plan. Instead of creating one more thing for employees to do, Intuitive Agenda builds in five-, ten- or fifteen-minute wellness activities to the Outlook calendars of Daimler associates.

Next Steps

Timo Bularczyk, Head of Digital Transformation Office HR Daimler, is more than happy with the hackathon and concludes:

“We want to enable our employees to do what they love, in their private life as well as in the business. People that love their job are satisfied and create awesome products, and this is what we want to foster.”

Daimler will build upon their successful cross-divisional collaboration around the hackathon and jointly follow-up on the ideas to continue their conversations with some of the teams on how to further develop their concepts into usable tools for Daimler’s 289,000+ employees.

About MobilityX:

Since 2017, Daimler Financial Services and Capital Factory have been partnering to create MobilityX, a transportation technology accelerator aimed at fostering the growth of new mobility-as-a service companies and bring innovative solutions to the transportation sector. The program is intended to help incoming startups accelerate the development of mobility-focused solutions and connect them into the Daimler ecosystem for business opportunities. MobilityX is part of Capital Factory, a proven, thriving startup accelerator and coworking space in Texas.

Capital Factory and Bose AR collaborate to support innovation

10/19/2018 | Comment

Capital Factory and Bose Corporation have launched a collaboration to support innovation development for Bose AR, the world’s first audio augmented reality platform for wearable devices.

This collaboration will include the first technical residency for Bose AR and will feature a series of upcoming hands-on workshops, meetups, and pitch competitions to enable new approaches in AR content creation and experiences. Throughout the residency, new Bose wearables will be accessible in our VR Lab. Bose will also provide opportunities to showcase developer work at upcoming events in Austin and other locations across the country.

We have been the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas since 2009. For the last two years, we have also been the center of gravity for AR/VR in Texas. As the most active investor in Texas, we have been early movers on funding AR/VR technology, and our network of mentors has grown to support Austin’s next generation of entrepreneurs. While this is deliberate in some regards, it is also a byproduct of Austin itself. From Austin’s long history of gaming to its reputation as a film and music city, it’s no wonder that this latest wave of entrepreneurs found a foothold in immersive technology. Combine the intellectual capital that stems from gaming titans like Origin, Portalarium, and Bethesda with the creative communities that surface during SXSW, ACL, and EAST (East Austin Studio Tour). Add to the mixture our framework for entrepreneurship and a collaborator like Bose, and Austin has the perfect conditions for pushing the boundaries of immersive content.

 

 

Bose AR was introduced earlier this year at SXSW. Unlike other augmented reality products and platforms, Bose AR doesn’t change what you see, but can understand your location and where you’re facing, without an integrated lens or phone camera. Rather than superimposing visual objects, Bose AR can add an audible layer of information and experiences to help create richer, more meaningful, and more productive interactions with the world. The Bose AR developer platform allows developers to create custom audio content, including spatial audio and audio tied to specific places in the real world.

Bose is currently working with developers and partners to build and grow the platform. Developers can now request access to the Bose Wearable SDK, which will enable mobile apps to pair with next-generation Bose products. More information on the Wearable SDK is available at developer.bose.com.

The Capital Factory-Bose collaboration is an exciting opportunity for Austin’s tech community to be on the leading edge of changes happening across spatial content, UI/UX, gaming, multi-device experiences, and so much more.

“Augmented reality is going to infuse all aspects of our lives, and visual overlays probably won’t be practical in many situations,” says Joshua Baer, Founder & CEO. “Bose is showing us a vision of the future that augments other senses besides sight and I’m excited to see what the Texas VR/AR community builds on top of the Bose toolkit.”

The resources Bose provides to Austin creators through us will be amplified in the short term by opportunities to showcase content globally at events like SXSW, and in the long term through potential future collaborations on Bose products in development.

“Austin’s creative and tech communities are playing key roles in contributing to the growth and expansion of the Bose AR platform,” says Bose Vice President John Gordon. “This is where Bose AR came to life with the unveiling this year at SXSW. And through our collaborative work with Capital Factory, we can’t wait to see where this journey of innovation takes us.”

For a full list of Capital Factory events and activities featuring Bose AR, visit us here.

$100,000 Investment to be Awarded at Capital Factory’s Women in Tech Summit

08/22/2018 | Comment

Capital Factory is committed to increasing diversity in the tech community and making our coworking space an inclusive and welcoming environment. Capital Factory’s second annual Women in Tech Summit is a day full of programming to help inspire, engage and elevate female entrepreneurs and professionals. The $100,000 Investment Challenge puts up cash and the support of our Accelerator community to promote female founders with tech startups.

We know that there is a systemic discrimination problem that prevents women from advancing in the tech industry. We know that the facts show that businesses perform better with diverse teams. We know that we want to work in a place full of diverse people that is welcoming of many different viewpoints. We know that things won’t get better without intentional effort. We know we can do better.

  • We start by looking in the mirror to learn how we can make our own team more diverse.
  • We host events and programming designed by groups like Women@Austinand Women Who Code to support underrepresented groups in tech and get them more involved.
  • We work with partners such as DivInc and Bunker Labs to introduce more diverse entrepreneurs to our coworking community.
  • Multiple times in the past year, we have put our money where our mouth is with investment challenges targeted at women and people of color.
  • We track and measure how effective we are.

Two years ago we named Mellie Price as our Director of Diversity & Inclusion, and she has been working with various community stakeholders to organize and collaborate with the many different organizations focused on this mission in Austin. Now we are excited to welcome Savannah L. Barker as our Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator and her first endeavor will be the second annual Women in Tech Summit on October 1.

“I am very excited to join Capital Factory as the newly appointed Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator,” said Savannah L. Barker. “I accepted this position because I want to have a measurable impact on diversity in Austin Tech and further Capital Factory’s dedication to fostering a truly inclusive startup community.”

 

Capital Factory’s Women in Tech Summit on October 1, 2018

Following the success of our first ever Women in Tech Summit last year, Capital Factory, in partnership with Women@Austin and DivInc, is excited to announce our second summit coming October 1st! It sold out last year so reserve your spot now.

You can expect interactive programming, panel discussions, networking opportunities — and you’ll be the first to find out who wins the $100,000 investment. Surround yourself with other female entrepreneurs and allies who want to help you succeed. Find out what resources are available to support you at whatever stage you are at now.

 

Apply by September 14th to Win a $100,000 Investment

You’ve probably seen Capital Factory’s past investment challenges around artificial intelligence, blockchain and smart cities, but this one will be exclusively focused on startups with at least one female founder.

So what will it take to win? Most of the companies who have won in the past have had a working product with repeatable customer revenue.

$100,000 isn’t all of the money you’ll ever need, but it’s enough for a determined team to focus full-time on building a minimum viable product and finding product market fit for about a year. We give you free rent, free server hosting, and a lot of other free stuff to make that $100,000 last as long as possible.

The winner will receive:

  • A $100,000 cash investment. We will make you a detailed offer before you decide to participate in the final round of the competition.
  • Acceptance into the Capital Factory Accelerator with full benefits.
  • Special access to an A-List of Austin’s top entrepreneurs in the Capital Factory Mentor network who add value far beyond the money you receive.
  • Hundreds of thousands of dollars in free hosting credits from Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM Softlayer, Microsoft & Rackspace, plus many other cloud services you use.
  • Company formation if needed by startup law firm Kastner, Huggins, Reddien & Gravelle (KHRG).

Think you’ve got a shot? Apply now on AngelList to be one of 5 teams selected to pitch at the Women in Tech Summit on October 1st. You could walk away with $100,000!

Interested in hearing more? We host info sessions on a regular basis at Capital Factory in Austin and Dallas. Check out our events calendar here.

Questions? Email accelerator@capitalfactory.com

Take 5 minutes to help other Austin entrepreneurs and vote in the SXSW Panel Picker!

08/19/2018 | Comment

It’s that time of year, when we all need to promote the panels we have submitted to the SXSW Panel Picker. It feels far away, but now is the time when SXSW really gets planned so if you don’t have an idea what you’re doing then you’re already behind the ball!

Your votes really count — they account for 30% of the decision on whether or not a panel is accepted and can really help one stick out from others with the same topic.

Being part of a community means lifting each other up and one easy way you can do that is with your mouse clicks… please take 5 minutes to go and vote for these other Austin entrepreneurs!

Check out the panels that our members have submitted to the SXSW Panel Picker and vote today! Deadline to vote is August 30. If you are in the Austin startup community and have another panel to promote, please leave it in the comments below!

Missed your chance to submit a panel? Don’t worry. You can still get on a panel by finding an existing panel that was submitted and adding yourself to it. SXSW is very focused on promoting diversity and consequently most panel organizers are actively looking for women and people of color to add to their panel. It’s not too hard to find the panel organizer on social media and reach out to them.

 

Immersive Technology and the Next UI Revolution

With each great hardware revolution, technology has undergone an accelerated sprint of user interface and user interaction evolution. The explosion of immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) has served as a catalyst to begin this next UI evolution. This change, however, is just the beginning. As content becomes increasingly contextual and connected devices steadily embed themselves in our lives (IoT, connected home, tech enabled mobility, smart glasses, digital assistants, etc.), designers will need to reevaluate fundamentally how we interact with technology.
Join Unity Labs, Neurable, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Capital Factory for an exploration into the impending UI revolution and the future of UI in an immersive, connected digital world.

 

8-Bit Policies in a 4K World: Adapting Law to Tech

The speed at which technology is developing is unprecedented in our history, yet politicians are as jammed up and at loggerheads as ever. The Senate hearing with Mark Zuckerberg revealed how little our political leaders actually understand what’s going on, but we’re still bound by the decisions they make regarding the technology we use on a daily basis. SOPA, PIPA, and the FCC’s vote against Net Neutrality are specific instances of politicians being at odds with public opinion, where technology enthusiasts feel the constant struggle to stem the tide of harmful legislation, and many may be left wondering — where is this going?

Join us as we discuss how to engage with our representatives and help them craft flexible policies that address the ever-changing tech landscape.

 

Why Corporate Innovation Fails

Corporate innovation programs are currently popping up everywhere. But are these programs effective? Is it even possible to measure their performance? Transformative innovation is critical if legacy firms want to compete with the startups that are gaining on them because they are more nimble, hungry, and open. Most have not optimized for successful innovation programs.

Through sharing cautionary tales, we will explore how many corporate innovation programs fail to produce desired outcomes. The elements of a successful program will emerge as we discuss common pitfalls and their root causes. We will also look at how successful programs have addressed the issues and what new programs ought to consider before launching their innovation pipeline.

 

Design Sprints Done Right: Creating Lasting Change

User-centered design is critical in making or breaking consumer technologies, but sometimes, on small product teams, day-to-day needs can get in the way of larger, longer term goals and solutions that resonate with your customer can’t manage to get off the launch pad. Learn how to successfully execute design sprints to kickstart key initiatives, answer critical business questions, and create lasting organizational change within your company.

 

LightSpeed Prototyping: A Collaborative Workflow

This presentation will be a live tutorial demonstrating how designers at Voltage Control rapidly synchronize work during design sprints. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use sketch and version control tools to track changes and prevent lost work during prototyping day of the sprint process. The presentation will begin as if we were starting off prototyping a small app about design sprints. If you’re not familiar with these software tools this is a valuable event to attend so that you can learn more about tools that designers on your team are using to help make high fidelity prototypes.

 

Cultivating Conditions for Inclusion

Many organizations view diversity challenges as a numbers game… just a matter of hiring and retaining enough talent to balance the equation. This radically oversimplified approach to a complex challenge doesn’t work. There are surprisingly straightforward solutions that every organization should adopt to create the conditions for inclusiveness and diversity. This panel will discuss several heuristics and simple rules that are both actionable and effective in cultivating an environment that retains diverse talent. Considerations include: transparent qualifications for career progression, increase employee mobility, recognize and reward measurable contributions to diversity health, and highlight hiring gaps with simple questions like, “What are the diversity metrics for incoming candidates?”

 

What is a Fractional Executive (CTO, CMO, CFO)?

Growing a company is stage specific. You just raised $10MM from Sequoia, you’re 3 co-founders, and you want to go hire the VP of Engineering from Uber. WRONG! You need to get to Uber’s growth rate first before your a fit for someone that’s currently flying a plane of that size and speed. It’s painful, slow and expensive to hire/fire exec staff as you get through the various stages. Paint the rocket booster stage process: that’s the way big companies are built. Fractional executives can help you get there.

 

The Sun Beneath Our Feet: Our Geothermal Future

We are literally standing on the sun. The core of the earth is 6000C, and drilling only 5–10 miles down would give us access to temperatures that far exceed what we need to create unlimited, CO2 free, clean energy. So why haven’t we done this? Because a set of technical and engineering problems related to high temperature, deep drilling technologies are currently holding us back. These problems are solvable, and addressing them will enable our energy “silver bullet.” A consortium has formed at the University of Texas at Austin, combining legacy drilling engineering expertise with our robust entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our aim is to catalyze a geothermal renaissance, enabling baseload capable geothermal energy by 2030. We want to invite the world to engage with this problem set and process.

 

Creating Inclusive Innovation

Learn how businesses—large and small—are working together to attract the best and brightest innovators to solve some of the most complex challenges of our time. Find out you can take these concepts and apply them to public-private partnerships to spark innovation and diversity around the world.

 

Building a Tech Stack for Employee Engagement

Business success starts with engaged, empowered employees. Find out how Booz Allen built an “engagement tech stack” partnering with Dynamic Signal and Poppulo.

 

Incubators: A Startup Guide from the Field

Companies invest in startups to avoid missing the next big thing (“FOMO” or fear of missing out). While corporations initially built incubators for early-stage startups, most now focus on ventures with product/market fit (PMF) to capitalize on organizational scale and causal outcomes.

 

A Strong Belief, Loosely Held: Bringing Empathy to IT

How can we use behavioral economics and other processes to help IT organizations adopt DevOps practices? Technology is easy but, people are another story. We’ll consider using game theory to encourage empathy in an org and how you, help drive positive change in your team, company, and community.

 

Industrial Cyber Security & Complex Threats

Let’s gather to examine: (1) the basics of control systems and the threat of cyber attacks, (2) ways that installations and utility companies protect control systems, and (3) innovative methods and technologies to counter and defend.

 

Telepresence: You Don’t Need To Be Here To Be Here

This panel discussion is about how industry, government, and start-ups are collaborating to create immersive technologies that bring people together and how our businesses will be forever changed by it.

 

Machine Learning and On-line Wildlife Trafficking

Wildlife trafficking is a booming, $19 billion online business, using social media platforms and e-commerce sites. In response, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is partnering with Booz Allen Hamilton and Epidemico to apply a nuanced approach to this global problem.

 

Immersive Technology and the Next UI Revolution

With each great hardware revolution, technology has undergone an accelerated sprint of user interface. Join Unity Labs, Neurable, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Capital Factory for an exploration into the impending UI revolution and the future of UI in an immersive, connected digital world.

 

Where the Wild Things Are

In this talk, we’ll explore the convergence of immersive technology (XR) and AI discussing the conjecture of a world where these technologies are prevalent, who the explorers are that will be taming these wild concepts, and how these “wild” technological advancements are going to shape the future.

 

Where the Wild Things Are (SXSW EDU Version)

In this talk, we’ll explore the convergence of immersive technology (XR) and AI discussing the conjecture of a world where these technologies are prevalent, who the explorers are that will be taming these wild concepts, and how these “wild” technological advancements are going to shape the future.

 

Escaping the Post-truth Era with Good Design

A “Post-truth” era has taken over. A recent MIT study found that falsehoods are 70 percent more likely to get retweeted than accurate news. Subject matter experts are undermined. Biases are welcome. Lies become truth.

If your product amplifies engaging or provocative content, it runs the risk of adding legitimacy to fake news and false facts along with it. And that can cause a lot of harm for a lot of people.

This workshop will address how this new philosophy affects how customers use your product and how you need to support these changes. We’ll have an in-depth conversation and provide concrete exercises to help you and your team design a product that can promote a return to facts and logic. You’ll walk away with a fresh view on how to educate and influence in a post-truth world.