Texas-Squared Startup Newsletter #298 | by Marc Nathan

Texas Startup News, Opinion & Events in the Lone StartUP State
View this email in your browser SUBSCRIBE to Texas-Squared

Email to a FriendSign up for reminders about Austin Startup meetups www.bitly.com/txstartupevents
Sign up for the Texas-Boxed CPG Newsletter www.bitly.com/txboxed
Austin Quick Start Guide www.bitly.com/atxquickstart
Download the Texas-Squared Startup Resource Guide PDF
Gregslist of Software Companies — Austin | Dallas Fort Worth
HTX Tech List — https://houstonexponential.org/htxtechlist/ UH Tech Map https://techmap.uh.edu/Texas Squared Partner

Engineered for Entrepreneurs! The XPS Creator Edition products are designed to offer the performance your creativity craves. With professional level graphics and 64GB of memory your imagination can run free!
Register for you exclusive promo here. Check out the XPS here.

– Techcrunch’s Mary Ann Azevedo

Austin Startup Workrise, Formerly RigUp, Hits $2.9 Billion Valuation After $300 Million Raise — Link
– Forbes
Austin’s Workrise Raises Another $300 Million in Funding — Link
– Silicon Hills News’ Laura Lorek
Unicorn Workrise Raises $300M Series E to Connect Laborers With Companies — Link
– Built in Austin
Austin’s Workrise secures $300M investment at reported $2.9B valuation — Link
– Austin Business Journal
Austin-based Workrise lands $300 million to expand its reach — Link
– Austin American-Statesman

“Workrise, which has built a workforce management platform for the skilled trades, announced today that it has raised $300 million in a Series E round led by U.K.-based Baillie Gifford that values the company at $2.9 billion.

New investor Franklin Templeton joined existing backers — including Founders Fund, Bedrock Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Moore Strategic Ventures, 137 Ventures and Brookfield Growth Partners — in putting money in the round. With this latest financing, Workrise has now raised more than $750 million.” — Techcrunch’s Mary Ann Azevedo

Book Review: LEVERS — The Framework For Building Repeatability into Your Business — Link
– Brad Feld

Levers shows you step by step how to identify and move the levers that unlock growth and create predictability across every aspect of your business.

Built on decades of experience across hundreds of companies, Levers condenses the essentials of creating a metrics-driven company into five core workshops and puts them directly into your hands so you and your team can get to work. Spanning sales and marketing, product, operations, and finance, each workshop puts you one step closer to finding a model for growt
h that is repeatable and controllable.

Whether yours is a company with several million in revenue or you’re just starting out, Levers gives you the tools you need to create the alignment, clarity, and control that will maximize your company’s potential.

Bridge the gap between tactics and vision in your business. Pick up Levers today and take control of your destiny. Amazon Link

Join us for three days of online panels and curated discussions with top investors and innovative founders in industries that have been highly stigmatized. One of the highlights of the Consumer VC Summit is professional networking across the spectrum of emerging startups and focused VCs. We will be announcing the lineup in the coming weeks. Enter TSQUARED at checkout for 40% off https://stigma.theconsumervc.com/

Behind The Screen: Meet The Startup Powering Telehealth That Just Raised $50 Million — Link
– Forbes’ Katie Jennings
Cognite Closes on $150 Million in Funding — Link
Hearth Closes on $23 Million in Funding — Link
Telemedicine Startup Wheel Lands $50 Million in Funding — Link
Fresh Consulting Expands to Austin — Link
Realty Austin Expands to San Antonio — Link
Enterprise Software Veteran Mike Betzer Becomes CEO of Hypergiant Industries — Link
– Silicon Hills News’ Laura Lorek
Interplay Learning — Helping the Skilled Trades Rebuild a Bigger and Better Workforce — Link
– Austin Startups
By Bringing People Together, We Can Transform the Energy Industry — Link
– SXSW
Presenting Startups from our Fifth Collective Cohort — Link
– Mediatech.ventures
Austin draws closer to scoring $17 billion factory from tech giant — Link
– CultureMap Austin
Council adopts new interim fees for Downtown Density Bonus program — Link
Austin to loosen Covid vaccine, distancing rules for live music and events — Link
What’s the plan for American Rescue Plan money? — Link
Report pushes local philanthropies to help solve housing crisis — Link
City waives permit fees for food charities — Link
– Austin Monitor
Tourists trickle in for a taste of Austin charm — Link
North vs. South: The ‘Bubbas’ and ‘Yuppies’ of Austin are divided by more than Lady Bird Lake — Link
Report: Dozens sue luxury West Austin student apartments for ‘Ponzi-like’ scheme — Link
JuiceLand workers push for more after management raises pay — Link
Changing Austin: 5 major developments that will open by 2040 — Link
Austin home prices keep setting records, worsening buyers’ challenges — Link
Austin leads US tech hubs in post-pandemic rental market recovery — Link
Austin vs. Denver: Why the Colorado capital is gaining more millennials than any other city, including ours — Link
Gambling or investment? Cryptocurrency brings dreams of big gains to Austin buyers — Link
Class of ’21, stick around: Austin ranks in top US cities to start a career — Link
Snatching up specials and driving up demand, Tesla and tech are changing the DNA of East Riverside — Link
– Austonia
Advanced Technique for Developing Digital Twins Makes Tech Universally Applicable — Link
Sheltering People With COVID-19 Experiencing Homelessness Curbs Spread — Link
Protecting Local Water Can Help Slow Climate Change and Provide Trillions of Dollars in Benefits — Link
Biden’s Corporate Tax Plan is Not What We Want — Link
– University of Texas
Cognite Raises $150M Hitting Unicorn Status With $1.6B Valuation — Link
How Do You Fix a Hole in The ‘Leaky Pipeline’ And Empower Women’s Careers? — Link
With Plans to Hire, Hearth Raises $23M From The Chainsmokers and Others — Link
AI Startup Hypergiant Brings on New CEO, Plans to Open a New Office — Link
How Can You Build an Effective Design System? — Link
Mythic Grabbed $70M, Literati’s New Book Clubs, and More Austin Tech News — Link
– Built in Austin
Samsung: No site decision yet for $17B chipmaking plant despite rumors — Link
Bill to stop Big Tech companies from censoring users to be heard by Texas House — Link
Austin drops mask mandate for all — Link
Employee mental health has never been more important — here’s how to promote it — Link
M&A wrap: SparkCognition opens wallet; Accounting firm acquired – Link
Bill to expand Texas medical cannabis program referred to Senate committee after delay – Link
How Mosaic Sound Collective helped Austin’s music scene stay afloat during the pandemic – Link
Journal Profile: Why Josh Jones-Dilworth thinks scientists should be loved like LeBron James – Link
Austin tech startup raises millions to facilitate home improvements – Link
Austin OKs higher fees for Downtown Density Bonus Program, developers respond – Link
Oracle sells Silicon Valley trophy tower for $155M – Link
Austin dishes out more than $2M to longtime local businesses – Link
Vaccine, fewer homeless near sidewalks could fuel return to office, Colliers says – Link
KORE Power names Texas one of three finalists for new lithium-ion battery factory – Link
After financial meltdown, Austin’s Superconductor Technologies reattempts merger with Clearday – Link
Acclaimed Austin restaurants to hit Houston later this year after Covid-19 setbacks – Link
Fresh funding means new unicorn Cognite to hire in Austin – Link
Land auction delayed again in Phoenix as speculation builds that Samsung will pick Austin for $17B plant – Link
10 startups to join M/O; New program boosts minority-owned ventures – Link
Texas may neuter cities’ powers to create rules around business hiring, benefits – Link
Telehealth startup Wheel raises $50M series B – Link
Moody Center lands another major sponsor in Brown Distributing – Link
Why Resonant, a $173M public tech co., quietly moved its HQ to Austin – Link
Mike Betzer replaces Ben Lamm as Hypergiant CEO – Link
Prominent VC Tim Draper considers moving Draper University to Austin – Link
Cold storage facility planned in Seguin as demand for refrigerated space ratchets up – Link
In the money May 17: $174M in deals announced – Link
– Austin Business Journal & Austin Inno’s Brent Wistrom
How do we make the Austin food scene more diverse? Through programs like this – Link
Health tech company Wheel raises $50 million to grow team, technology – Link
Can Austin drive-in theaters ride a boom year into the future? – Link
Austin’s SparkCognition acquires energy startup to grow renewables offerings – Link
Austin’s jobless rate drops below 5% in April – Link
Marijuana advocates eye small gains at Legislature – Link
Some Austin businesses drop mask rules, others will keep protocols – Link
Facebook sees ‘immense opportunity’ in Austin, company’s local leader says – Link
– Austin American-Statesman