Mike Maples

We'll kick things off with an old friend of Austin and Longhorn Startup... Mike Maples, Jr. Mike is widely recognized as one of the top venture capital investors in the world. He was one of the first investors in Twitter, Digg, Lyft, Chegg and TaskRabbit. Here in Austin, he was an early investor in Aceable, Bazaarvoice, data.world, Sparefoot and Spiceworks, to name a few.

Mike will talk more about How to build a breakthrough… the secret of Backcasting, his advice to entrepreneurs about how to build the future.

Meet the Startups

Then you'll meet our startups, with a dozen 5 minute pitches in rapid succession.

Apply.fyi: is an early career search platform that aims to promote data transparency in internship positions while helping students apply to jobs, keep track of their applications, and network with their peers.

bruxAway: is a dental tech company building the next generation solutions for bruxism(teeth grinding). Approximately 27 million American adults have bruxism and this causes tremendous damage to their mouth health. We’re building a smart night guard designed to mitigate damage while also treating and reducing the condition—saving people thousands of dollars and bruxism episodes in a lifetime.

Dive: is a group messaging platform  that brings the power of channel-based messaging seen in Slack to a platform as simple as iMessage. Dive enables social groups to communicate effectively, plan events, and form genuine community. 

gathr: is a machine-learning powered social events app that makes meeting up as fast and easy as possible. We help combat the rising rates of loneliness by removing the hurdles that plague our everyday get-togethers by allowing you to create events, send out invites, and alert your friends all in just 5 seconds.

Lease Easy: is a rental marketplace for booking medium-term accommodations, ranging in duration from 1 month to 12 months. We provide a solution for renters in need of flexible stays and for landlords looking for additional ways to fill vacant units. Our listings range from large residential multi-family apartments, single-family properties, extended stay hotels, co-living spaces, and even sublets.

My Mentor Network: is a student-focused career discovery website that exposes students to career information in the form of featured content and a crowdsourced Q&A platform. Students in both high school and college deal with career uncertainty that stems from a limited availability of career information and not knowing professionals in the careers they are interested in. My Mentor Network's goal is to revitalize the career discovery process by promoting individual discovery.

Phly: is a web-based platform that helps clubs and communities collect and track payments. Phly helps organizations collect more money for their campaigns by offering multiple payment options, including Venmo. Then, each payment is tracked automatically, reducing the time spent accounting for money and the likelihood of mismanagement of funds.

Picko: is the first contactless food delivery service for populated urban areas. To ensure food quality, most delivery services are limited to delivering a maximum of two items during a single trip. On the other hand, Picko uses it’s smart lockers to maintain food quality while delivering up to 16 items in a single trip and significantly reducing associated delivery costs. 

Pinnit: is a platform for discovering, creating, and updating crowdsourced maps so that you can find new spots to explore your interests. You can spend less time looking and more time doing!

Pocket Punch: is a hand-held multifunctional self-defense device. The company was created by five female UT students to empower individuals to take charge of their own safety. Pocket Punch is patent pending.

Sent: is a peer-to-peer shipping platform that connects students going home with students wanting packages from home (think Uber meeting FedEx). Our platform delivers anything from craved home food to the forgotten laptop charger without students or parents having to leave their residence. The Sent Team is bringing students closer to home!

Sia: is a health employment platform empowering unemployed people to find entry level clinical work at hospitals by getting certified and vetted quickly. 

$25,000 is on the line!

At the very end, one of the twelve startups will be awarded a $25,000 investment from Capital Factory. Who will it be?