Austin Chamber of Commerce and South by Southwest Interactive release A-List funding update and open call for 2015 A-List nominations

April 9, 2015, AUSTIN, TX — Today, the Austin Chamber of Commerce’s Innovate Austin initiative and South by Southwest Interactive announced that companies named to the Austin A-List have collectively raised more than $358,670,000 in funding to date.

Now in its fourth year, the A-List continues to increase visibility and recognition of Austin’s most promising, cutting-edge innovators and high-growth startups to help recruit additional venture capital investment and top talent to Austin. The nomination period for the 2015 Austin A-List is now open. Any scalable, high-impact, pre-IPO startup is eligible to apply. Nominations close at midnight on Friday, April 24.The application is available online at austinchamber.com/alist.

“The Austin region has deep roots in innovation and a proven track record of producing cutting-edge ideas", said Michele Skelding, SVP of Global Technology and Innovation, Austin Chamber of Commerce. "The Austin A-List program allows us to shine an even brighter light and voice on the innovative spirit of Austin and its powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem and talent. Raising the profile of our most innovative companies helps cultivate investment and attract the next generation of game-changing innovators, further strengthening our reputation as a top city to start and grow a business."

The 2015 A-List honorees will be revealed at an invite-only awards ceremony on May 14th, featuring remarks from SXSW Interactive Director Hugh Forrest, as well as networking opportunities with key venture capital investors, angels, startup companies, entrepreneurs, innovators and other VIP guests.

“The Austin A-List serves the vital function of helping to identify some of the city’s most promising startups,” said Hugh Forrest, Director, South by Southwest Interactive. “The competition also catalogues the vast and robust entrepreneurial ecosystem that has emerged in our city. In short, the Austin A-List provides a roadmap for navigating the innovative thinking that our community continues to both foster and attract.”

In addition, two of our A-Listers were honored on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list:

• Michael Kasparian and Peter Li, co-founders of Atlas Wearables, Inc.

• Jason Bornhorst, FilamentLabs CEO, for his app Patient IO

Past A-Lister, Phunware, Inc., was also honored in Forbes’ 100 Most Promising Companies list. The mobile- app developer ranked 58th on the fourth annual list and the company was evaluated by its revenue growth, capital raised, operating margins and workforce growth.

Consistent with the 2014 A-List selection process, 2015 A-List awardees will be recognized in the following investment stages based upon current capital raised:

• Emerging (Early/Seed Stage) - Raised under 1 million;

• Growth (Mid-Stage) - Raised 1 to 10 million; and

• Scale (Later Stage) - Raised above 10 million.

Below is the complete listing of companies that made the list for A-List 2014: Emerging (Early/Seed Stage) - under 1 million:

Datical: Datical's flagship product, Datical DB, automates the deployment of database schema updates for organizations that struggle with the constant state of application change across complex environments.

Embrace: Embrace helps retailers and brands build personal relationships with their best customers by telling them when, why, and how to proactively reach out for personal conversations.

Compare Metrics: Compare Metrics’ Adaptive Commerce solution offers a more “humanized” approach to online product discovery, allowing consumers to use their own natural language to express personal preferences and style, rather than terminology driven by standardized merchandising categories and keywords.

TeVido BioDevices: TeVido BioDevices is a life sciences/biotech company using 3D bio-printing of live cells to build natural grafts for breast cancer reconstruction.

TrustRadius: TrustRadius is the leading site for business software users to share real-world insights through in-depth reviews and networking.

Spot On Sciences: Spot On Sciences, Inc. develops and markets innovative medical devices to improve collection and storage of biological fluids for diagnostic testing.

Growth (Mid-Stage) - 1 to 10 million:

Umbel: Umbel helps companies identify, monetize and grow premium audiences. Correlating first-party and cross-channel data, Umbel’s platform delivers actionable and intelligent insights across web, mobile, local and global audiences.

Square Root: A problem solving and smart technology solutions provider.

Set.fm: A musician’s technology platform that enables artists to capture, promote and sell high-fidelity recordings instantly, so that music fans anywhere can enjoy the live music experience.

TurnKey: TurnKey Vacation Rentals, a marketing and professional-management solution for individual vacation rental owners, picked up $1.5 million in seed funding from an all-star cast of angel investors, including the CEOs of Orbitz, and Zillow, and the founders or co-founders of TripIt, Hotwire, Expedia, Zillow and Glassdoor.

Scale (Later Stage) - above 10 million:

Novati Technologies, Inc.: Citing an acute need for leadership in the rapid evolution of technologies away from the historic guidance of Moore’s Law -- and toward a larger set of emerging opportunities for the semiconductor industry -- Dave Anderson in 2013 created Novati Technologies and the world’s largest portfolio of product development materials.

Chaotic Moon Studios: Chaotic Moon Studios designs, develops and delivers the world’s best software for the planet’s biggest brands — including Disney, FOX, Intel, Pizza Hut and Toyota.

About the Austin Chamber

The mission of the Austin Chamber of Commerce is to provide leadership that facilitates the creation of a prosperous regional economy and effective advocacy for its more than 3,000 members. For more information about the Austin Chamber of Commerce visit AustinChamber.com.

About SXSW Interactive

An incubator of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity, the SXSW features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line-up of special programs showcasing the best new apps,hardware, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. From hands-on training to big- picture analysis of the future, SXSW Interactive has become the place to experience a preview of what is unfolding in the world of technology. Visit http://sxsw.com/interactive.