Five Austin startups are gearing up for a big pitch competition next week.
The small businesses were selected for the final round of the 2022 Austin FC Dream Starter Competition, which will award $100,000 in funding to the winning startup. They'll make their final pitches during a private event June 8 at Q2 Stadium, and a winner will be announced at halftime of the June 25 Austin FC match versus FC Dallas.
The Dream Starter Competition emerged last year during Austin FC's inaugural season. It's a collaboration between stadium sponsor's Q2 Holdings Inc. and local nonprofit accelerator DivInc.
Last year, the $100,000 prize went to Anthony Gantt, founder of At Ease, a company building a home rental platform for military members and other federal employees. The company's legal name is At Ease Rentals Corp.
Now, here's a look at the finalists, with descriptions provided by Q2 and DivInc:
- Swella: Swella is standardizing and automating the hair braiding experience. We integrate robotics to deliver a premium salon experience. We’re creating standardized systems within our braid salons that utilize robotics to automate the process of hair braiding.
- Mach1 Services: Mach1 is a fully automated and digitized dispatch platform for emergency roadside assistance.
- Paradigm Robotics, LLC: The FireBot is the world’s first, high-temperature thermally-insulated, wirelessly controlled, obstacle-climbing, unmanned robot that can be deployed into burning buildings to efficiently search for and locate human life and identify any hazardous situation, without necessitating firefighters to physically enter structural fires and risk their lives.
- Changing Lanes CDL School LLC: Changing Lanes CDL School is a school that changes lives daily. We teach individuals from all walks of life how to drive a commercial vehicle safety while changing the trajectory of their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
- Independent Identity: Independent Identity is an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) day program for adults with autism/IDD who exhibit challenging behavior. The program is center and community based and works with each client to master goals for independent living and increasing quality of life.
