The Startup Games are all grown up.
What started as a collaboration among a few early-stage founders at BuildASign, uShip, Storable, Capital Factory and Boundless Networks in 2012 grew quickly here in Austin. More recently the nonprofit branched out to Atlanta and Colorado -- and changed its name to Catalyst Games.
Now, with a pandemic making the physical challenges unsafe, Catalyst Games is going national to bring on startups across the U.S. to raise money for local charities while having a blast along the way with trivia, immersive escape rooms and virtual spins on a few other classics. (Disclaimer: American Inno is a media partner for the events.)
The organization announced Wednesday it is launching a virtual national season for teams of employees to compete throughout eight weeks of virtual games and volunteering to help nonprofits in their areas.
The season starts in September, but Catalyst Games has a Q&A session set up for Friday, July 17 at 10:30 a.m. CST. Teams will participate in three games -- one per week. The top teams in each region will advance to mystery challenges and a championship match. An awards party is slated for Nov. 12.
In Austin, the events will benefit Code2College and E4Y, and other nonprofits will be identified through volunteer platform POINTapp. And, already, Hippo Insurance, The Zebra, Cision and Storable have signed on for the upcoming season.
Early registration, pegged at $2,500 for teams of up to 25, opened Wednesday and closes Aug. 3.
Here's a look at one of Catalyst Games' recent trivia competitions.
