AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sputnik ATX, a new Austin accelerator focusing on growth companies, today announced that its inaugural class is graduating from its launch program. The graduating class will participate in a Demo Day tomorrow, Thursday, April 12, where each founder will present to a panel of investors.
“We have spent the past three months working closely with our first class, fostering camaraderie amongst our founders and training each startup for success after graduation,” said Oksana Malysheva, CEO and Managing Partner of Sputnik ATX. “Sputnik’s inaugural cohort has already set a very high standard for our future classes, and has laid the foundation of our Sputnik community of founders. We are confident they will continue to grow their businesses as they launch into the future.”
In conjunction with Demo Day, Sputnik ATX will open the application for its summer cohort tomorrow. All entrepreneurs are eligible to apply so long as they have a minimum viable product, at least one paying customer and agree to move their business within a 300-mile radius of Austin once accepted, if not already located there.
“We have a partnership mentality at Sputnik ATX,” said Joe Merrill, co-founder of Sputnik ATX. “We pride ourselves on becoming both companions and mentors to our founders, helping them gain traction and reach their full potential. We are thrilled with the progress of our first cohort and look forward to partnering with other innovators as our program grows.”
The four founders presenting on Demo Day include:
- Kelly Ernst, CEO of Redenim – a personal styling, AI, and data analytics platform for women that sends jeans to customers’ homes, matching their personal style and size, and spares them the time wasted in dressing rooms. Customers decide which pairs they would like to buy and which to send back.
- Tom Bachar, CEO of Pei – Pei helps its users get savings from their everyday purchases, even from local businesses in their communities. The platform links to any debit or credit card to provide automatic cash back in Bitcoin or USD. Pei currently has an early access list of over 120,000 users and works with 5,000 partner brands like Sam’s Club, Forever 21, Denny’s, and even the local shops around the corner.
- Sonya Petcavich, CEO of Meowtel – a tech company that has created a platform to connect cat owners to verified cat sitters nearby. While many apps exist for dog sitting, there is an unmet need for the cat community - Meowtel meets that need.
- Jonathan Gill, CEO of Backtracks – a podcast analytics and hosting Saas platform that provides podcast publishers and advertisers with actionable data and insights, allowing them to adjust and target content for their audiences. What Google does for text, Backtracks does for audio. Backtracks is in the business of making ‘spoken knowledge’ discoverable, measurable and ‘monetizable’.
Each founder will give a 15-minute presentation, followed by 15 minutes for questions. Demo Day will take place on April 12, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in downtown Austin, TX. For more information, visit https://www.sputnikatx.com/events-startup-accelerator/sputnikdemoday.
About Sputnik ATX
Sputnik ATX is an accelerator in Austin, TX that combines capital with training and experience to prepare seed-stage businesses for future rounds of funding. Their formula:
(Nerds + Investment + Training + Mentoring) Community = Success
Sputnik ATX was named after the first satellite to enter Earth’s orbit, an event that touched off a new era of innovation and competition that still influences the world today. The Russian word ‘Sputnik’ translates to ‘partner,’ which describes this accelerator’s intention: to partner with and mentor chosen startups. The accelerator was born out of a venture fund founded by Dr. Oksana Malysheva and Joe Merrill. After investing in companies around the world, the entrepreneurial atmosphere of Austin inspired Malysheva and Merrill to consider the city as a new home for their efforts. Sputnik ATX launched on Oct. 4, 2017, the 60th anniversary of the Sputnik-1 satellite launch.
