Austin's most-read startup stories of 2022

The local tech ecosystem, like most of the broader national economy, has had a couple of herky-jerky years marked by a rapid boom and bust cycle since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amidst that disruption, there have been record funding rounds for Austin area tech startups and waves of layoffs that have remixed Austin's talent pool in significant ways.

Throughout the year, Austin Inno has been covering the highs and the lows and just about everything in between through our coverage here on the website and through the Beat — our daily email newsletter that's packed with funding rounds, executive hires, layoffs, twists, turns and water cooler banter.

As 2022 winds down, we've tallied up the startup stories that readers gravitated to the most across Austin Inno and Austin Business Journal. Let's dive into the top 10 most-read Austin tech startup stories of the year...

10. Austin AI startup Jasper raises $125M at $1.5B valuation

In 2021, there weren't many people in Austin who knew about Jasper. But, in 2022, Jasper is among the city's most exciting new startups. The company made big waves this fall when it announced a $125M funding round, making it an instant unicorn in a year when many startups struggled to find funding.

9. Moneta Ventures makes key hire as it increases investments in Texas startups

Moneta Ventures doubled down on its focus on Texas in 2022, and it caught the attention of several local startups. In addition to raising its own fund and making key hires, the firm invested in a couple Austin startups this year. It was among several firms to generate hot headlines for raising new funding. Among several others were Next Coast Ventures, S3 Ventures and Silverton Partners.

8. When Richard Branson flies into Austin

Capital Factory has a knack for landing big name visitors. Through the years, that has included the CEOs of Apple and Microsoft, not to mention then-President Barack Obama. In 2022, one of the biggest visits came from Richard Branson, who was in town to announce a new Austin to London flight on his airline, Virgin Atlantic.

"No surprise, he was especially excited about the work we're doing with the homeless and the very poor and addressing the global housing crisis," Jason Ballard, co-founder of Icon, told us after the visit. "We chatted about the moon base and other work for a minute. But he was most interested in [homelessness], which is wonderful because that's the reason our company exists. We exchanged information, and we'll kind of see where it leads. But it's lovely just to have him give us a few thoughts and insights on our business, and remind us of the most important work we have going on."

7. Austin customer experience software company Khoros reported lays off about 10% of staff

Layoffs factored big into the local tech ecosystem's past year or two. Among the dozen-plus layoff stories in the local area was one about Khoros laying off about 10% of its staff. In Austin this year, speech-to-text software maker Rev.com is laying off 85 employees; digital health startup Wheel laid off 35 people; crypto miner Core Scientific cut about 10% of staff; real estate startup Homeward trimmed its staff by 20%; and insurtech startup The Zebra reduced its headcount.

6. Austin could play major part in surge of domestic production for EV batteries, experts say

Austin has long been a software town. But electric vehicles and EV batteries are playing an increasingly larger role in the local ecosystem. Earlier this year, several experts told us that Tesla Inc.'s growing presence in the region, plus the area's research capabilities — the inventor of the lithium-ion battery, John Goodenough, is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin — are some of the reasons the metro stands to be a hotbed for the EV battery sector. And that has close ties to the autonomous vehicle ecosystem, which is also thriving in Austin.

5. As startups partied at SXSW, some of the VCs who fund them warn of coming turbulence

If there was one theme that seemed to dominate the tech news in 2022, it was the dramatic changes to venture capital funding flow and layoffs, especially among companies that went on a hiring surge before inflation, a war and other factors had many investors hunkering down. We started digging into this theme as SXSW prepared for its first big in-person festival since the start of the pandemic. But that was just one of several stories that explored what the economic downturn means for startups.

4. See inside Icon's curvaceous 3D-printed home debuting at SXSW 2022

Austin 3D printing startup Icon's 2022 was highlighted by big funding rounds, a $57 million deal with NASA and stylish home debuts. While a story about its fanciest home to-date at SXSW was one of the most-read stories on Austin Inno, an even bigger story, published by the Austin Business Journal, emerged late in the year when the company's headquarters in South Austin burned. But even the devastating fire wasn't enough to slow one of Austin's most exciting startups. The company said the blaze will cause no meaningful impact to its ongoing business activities.

3. John Deere opens technology hub near downtown Austin

John Deere isn't a startup, and, until recently, few would have called it a tech company. But with the opening of its Austin tech hub, in addition to similar outposts elsewhere, Deere has made its case that its focus on autonomous tractors, computer vision-driven planters and sprayers and other forward-looking agriculture products make it a tech company. The Illinois-based company opened its 10,000-square-foot office, with plans to have roughly 50 employees in the next year and a vision to grow to around 75 people in Austin.

2. Austin unicorn Workrise announces layoffs

Workrise has been one of Austin's most watched startups for several years, since its days operating as RigUp. Sometimes, it's a big funding story that reveals a huge valuation, like we saw in 2021. Other times, it's too much growth too quick, leading to layoffs, which was the case this year. Being amongst the first to report on the layoffs undoubtedly helped catapult this story to one of the most-read stories of the year, but all those eyes also tell us that there's a ton of interest in Workrise as it navigates the turbulent waters of being among relatively few companies to secure huge valuations during the boomiest times of venture funding. "This was done after careful deliberation and is a result of positions being eliminated, departments consolidated and an overall shift in growth priorities," the company stated back in March.

1. Elon Musk's Boring Company lands largest investment deal in Austin history

Few could argue that Elon Musk stole just about everybody's thunder in Austin in 2022. The uber rich, ultra active, multi-company CEO seems to have the whole world's attention whether he's buying Twitter, building locally for SpaceX or Neuralink, or just hamming it up for photo ops. But, if you filter out some of the obvious news, one story stood out from a local startup perspective: the massive venture round his tunneling startup The Boring Co. raised. The $675M round at a nearly $5.7B valuation didn't feel like a round for an Austin area startup. And, to be sure, it is a transplant. The company started calling Pflugerville its headquarters last year after being HQed in Palo Alto for years.