Weekly Roundup: 4 Austin Startups to Watch
Want to stay up to date on the latest startup fundings, launches, and expansions in Austin? Startup Over Coffee’s weekly roundup of startups to watch in Austin will keep you in...
Want to stay up to date on the latest startup fundings, launches, and expansions in Austin? Startup Over Coffee’s weekly roundup of startups to watch in Austin will keep you in the loop on the latest Austin tech news.
Featured image by Everlywell.
Austin startup, Essentium is flying high after scoring a contract with the U.S. Airforce to supply 3D printing replacement parts. According to Forbes, the 3D printing startup will be developing and deploying advanced additive manufacturing and 3D printing solutions. Essentium will be supplying products for tooling, ground support, maintenance repair and overhaul, and flight certified parts for military aircraft and group vehicles.
Over 10,000 replacement parts are delayed or unfilled each year despite willingness to pay premium prices, which is one reason the Airforce is turning to Essentium for solutions. Furthermore, 3D printing solutions can take hours compared to the months companies are typically waiting for parts. Plus, the cost of 3D printing is much lower than other part replacement methods.
Electric powersports manufacturing startup, Volcon, has secured a 53-acre plot in Austin for its headquarters. Furthermore, Volcon has added two more vehicles to their lineup, bringing the total to three vehicles. According to Austonia, the vehicles will not be available until 2021 and production of the second two is dependent on the success of the first vehicle, the Grunt.
The Grunt, a two-wheeled diverse terrain motorcycle, has a 100 mile range, 70 feet per pound of torque, goes zero to 60mph in six seconds, and has a swappable battery so you can spend more time riding. Pricing starts at $5,995. The Stag is a three-wheeled vehicle with both two wheel and four wheel options. Starting at $14,995, the Stag has a 150 mile range, 300 feet per pound of torque and goes zero to 60 in five seconds. Their four wheeled vehicle, the Beat is equipped with a truck bed and will cost $24,995. The Beast will have 600 feet per pound of torque, a 150 mile range and goes zero to 60 in four and a half seconds.
Founded in 2015, Everlywell makes healthcare more accessible and affordable with their at-home lab test kits. So it’s no surprise that with the state of the world’s current affairs, the Austin healthtech startup has quadrupled its sales from last year. According to Built In Austin, Everlywell raised $175 million in an oversubscribed Series D funding round. The recent round brings Everlywell’s total valuation up to $250 million.
Everlywell received lots of attention earlier this year with its at home Covid-19 test, but it offers more than 30 kits that test anything from fertility, to food sensitivity, to Lyme Disease, and cost as little as $49. Everlywell tests can be ordered directly through their website, or can be picked up at your local Target, Kroger, Walgreens or CVS Pharmacy.
If you can text your doctor and you can text your Uber driver, why can’t you text a shopper? That’s what Stylust is trying to change. Founder Mellissa Bridgefold had the idea for Stylust while living in New York City and working long hours at her finance job. She then decided to leave her career, bootstrap the startup, move to Austin, and officially launch Stylust in 2018. The company has raised a total of $3 million in funding.
According to Austin Inno, Stylust’s business model is based on two channels: a consumer channel and a business channel. For its general consumer product, shoppers can simply text Stylust a photo of an item they want to buy and Stylust will respond with the most similar items available online. The B2B channel offers retailers a platform to provide text-based purchasing under their own company banner. The B2B product is currently being used by companies like Pinhook, Marsh House Rum, Vide and Laughing Glass.
About Savannah Burns: Savannah is a Business Development Associate for Swyft, which is a tech PR agency in Austin and Houston and a top digital marketing and PR agency in Denver since its founding in 2011. Swyft recently opened a satellite office where it offers tech PR in San Francisco. Swyft was also listed as one of the top tech PR agencies in Texas by the B2B services review site, Clutch.co.