22 Austin Startups to Watch in 2022

Meet the young companies heating up the local tech market this year.
Written by Avery Komlofske
February 1, 2022Updated: February 2, 2022

There are endless needs that technology can fill. Startups pop up continuously to address those needs, whether they are providing workflow and fintech solutions for companies, improving access to healthcare or even revolutionizing grief. 

Austin is a hotspot for startups, and tech news website ZDNet referred to it as a “mini Silicon Valley” for the southwest. CompTIA reported that Austin’s tech industry currently employs over 175,000 people, and that number will only grow as companies recognize Austin’s value as a headquarters.

To further highlight the innovative new tech companies addressing particular needs, Built In Austin curated a list of 22 of the city’s startups to watch in 2022. To make the list, the company must be local to Austin and have been founded after 2016. Each of these companies has something that makes them notable — whether they’ve secured recent funding, changed up their organization, partnered with notable businesses or simply created an innovative product that fills an unmet need.

 

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What they do: Bright Health is aligning healthcare delivery and financing using locally available care resources. It divides this effort into two people-facing companies: NeueHealth, which operates local integrated systems of care; and Bright HealthCare, which aggregates and delivers healthcare benefits and manages healthcare financing.

Year founded: 2016

Why we’re watching: Bright Health recently announced its 2022 expectations, which includes ambitious growth goals. The organization plans to serve over 1 million customers and generate at least $6.3 billion in revenue across both its businesses.

 

 

 

What they do: Cart.com supplies an integrated set of software and services for ecommerce to brands of any size. Its software covers every stage of the process, including business planning, merchant financing, online store management, marketing services, order fulfillment and customer service.

Year founded: 2020

Why we’re watching: Cart.com recently announced that it is relocating its headquarters to Austin from Houston. Not only does this position them within one of America’s top tech hubs, but they plan to use this relocation to grow their team to at least 1,000 members.

 

 

 

What they do: ClosedLoop utilizes machine learning and AI in healthcare, with the goal of being able to more effectively and expediently determine the next steps for a patient in an informed, data-driven decision-making process.

Year founded: 2017

Why we’re watching: ClosedLoop recently partnered with Olive, an AI company trying to connect hospital data to create the “Internet of Healthcare.” With Olive connecting data between hospitals, ClosedLoop can combine that reach with its data analytics to expand its ability to get the right treatment to the right people at the right time.

 

 

Manager analysing workflow on computer screen to implement robotic automation
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What they do: Cloudsnap is a business automation platform that connects to already-used apps such as Salesforce, Workday and Oracle. It allows organizations to build custom workflows to automate data input and analytics.

Year founded: 2018

Why we’re watching: In 2019, Cloudsnap picked up a new CEO. Matt Bradley, former chief strategy officer at Rackspace, brings his leadership and growth experience to Cloudsnap’s team. Recently, Bradley facilitated the company’s acquisition by Paylocity, allowing the larger company to modernize and streamline their workflow across all systems.

 

 

 

What they do: Cognite is an industrial software company that serves industries like oil and gas, power and utilities, and renewable energy and manufacturing. Its main product, Cognite Data Fusion, is an Internet of Things platform that collects and contextualizes data in real time from various industrial machines.

Year founded: 2016

Why we’re watching: Cognite announced two major partnerships in December with energy companies Equinor and Hydro REIN. Both companies are planning to use Cognite’s data analysis tools to improve efficiency, generate competitive insights and future-proof their energy production.

 

 

 

What they do: ConverseNow produces George and Becky, voice AI ordering assistants for high-volume restaurant order spades like phone calls and drive-thrus. Using advanced speech technology, machine learning and emotional intelligence (EQ) to process customer speech, these AI have processed over 2 million orders.

Year founded: 2018

Why we’re watching: In December, ConverseNow added five new executive members to its team. New positions include chief technology officer, chief financial officer and VP of marketing, a new people and culture leader and a product manager for their customer support tools.

 

 

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What they do: CoSell is an organizational platform for referral-selling and relationship management for sales teams. The platform helps reps easily contact leads and leverage relationships to gain access to desired buyers.

Year founded: 2020

Why we’re watching: In January, CoSell updated its app to greatly expand its search function. With advanced search filters including company size, function and industry, it will be even easier for its users to find the client they are looking for.

 

 

 

What they do: Diligent Robotics is putting robots in hospitals. Its biggest product, Moxi, does mundane tasks like fetching linens and other logistical, non-patient-facing tasks so nurses can spend more time attending to patients.

Year founded: 2017

Why we’re watching: The company was co-founded by two female robotics experts, Andrea Thomaz and Vivian Chu. Both women have a staggering amount of robotics and machine learning experience, which they are using to make Moxi as effective as possible.

 

 

 

What they do: Eterneva is transforming the grieving process by making a loved one’s ashes into a diamond in a seven-to-nine-month process — with regular photos, updates and a tribute video on completion. The company wants to truly memorialize the individual, which could be a person or a beloved pet.

Year founded: 2017

Why we’re watching: Eterneva was founded from a place of kindness and understanding. Its founder, Adelle Archer, began the company to honor her mentor, Tracey, and that sentiment has persisted as the company has grown — every member of the team is dedicated to destigmatizing grief, helping people process and honoring legacies.

 

 

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What they do: Fetch Package is a package delivery disruptor, allowing shoppers to reliably plan their day around a delivery. Fetch accepts packages on a customer’s behalf, then notifies the customer — who can coordinate a two-hour window for Fetch to deliver to their door.

Year founded: 2016

Why we’re watching: Fetch is growing substantially, having delivered over 10 million packages since its founding. In 2021, they spread to six new markets, including Minneapolis, Raleigh-Durham, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Nashville.

 

 

 

What they do: Fox Robotics is designing self-driving forklifts to lower warehouse injuries. The forklifts have mastered automatic trailer unloading, and the company is working on automating the loading and put-away processes.

Year founded: 2017

Why we’re watching: Warehouse safety company Damotech reports that forklifts are the biggest cause of pallet rack failure and fatalities. By automating the machines, Fox Robotics is on track to significantly reduce injury and error in warehouses.

 

 

 

What they do: Hearth is a fintech solution for home improvement professionals that works with over 10,000 contractors. They provide their clients with customer financing solutions, digital payment collection and insurance products.

Year founded: 2016

Why we’re watching: In August, Hearth formed a partnership with Webrunner, a contractor marketing team. Webrunner helps contractors generate leads, and Hearth follows up with aid in financing those leads. This partnership will improve the vertical pipeline for clients and grow the reach of both companies.

 

 

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What they do: Immersed is bringing the workplace home with VR: Users can enter solo or coworking virtual workspaces, all of which are fully wireless. These spaces contain features such as up to five virtual monitors and coworking tools like virtual whiteboarding and multi-screen sharing.

Year founded: 2017

Why we’re watching: Immersed’s work-from-anywhere product is exactly in line with the workplace zeitgeist right now. Fully mobile VR workplaces might be a way to combine the benefits of working in an office with the freedom of at-home work.

 

 

 

What they do: Lendflow helps vertically-integrated SaaS companies add and embed financial services into their platform. Its software is easy to launch, scale and bring to customers — and it is customizable to fit individual needs and branding.

Year founded: 2019

Why we’re watching: Lendflow released an all-new, built-from-scratch version of its product in August 2021. Changes included mobile optimization, better search functions and a more visible timeline, among others.

 

 

 

What they do: LoudCrowd is a marketing platform with a focus on user-generated content (UGC) management. Its software helps companies organize rewards for content creators and facilitate ambassador programs while integrating with the social media already being used.

Year founded: 2019

Why we’re watching: Last November, LoudCrowd gave its platform a major update: It added a “notes” feature, allowing community managers to add searchable notes to individual customers and influencers.

 

 

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What they do: NuBrakes is a mobile mechanics company that comes to customer locations to offer brake repair, battery replacements and oil changes. They are also in the process of building a software that connects to vehicles and reports car issues in real time to help schedule repairs.

Year founded: 2019

Why we’re watching: NuBrakes recently raised $9 million in Series A funding. It is planning to use this funding to double the company’s market footprint, expanding to 20 cities before the end of the year.

 

 

 

What they do: Osano is the company largely responsible for the cookie acceptance pop-ups across websites all over the internet. Its easy-to-use platform helps websites remain compliant with ever-changing privacy laws from region to region.

Year founded: 2018

Why we’re watching: Osano backs its confidence in its platform with a “no fines, no penalties” pledge: It promises to cover up to $200,000 in fines for companies that violate privacy laws while using its platform. This promise is an industry first, and indicative of how much the company believes in its product.

 

 

 

What they do: QuotaPath is a dashboard for sales teams to track commissions and forecast revenue for individual representatives and present that data transparently. Organizations can design their own compensation plans or choose from over 20 readily-available templates.

Year founded: 2018

Why we’re watching: Last year, QuotaPath obtained the support of Hubspot's investment arm, Hubspot Ventures, as well as $21.3 million in Series A funding. The team plans to use this funding to double in size in 2022.

 

 

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What they do: Royal allows musical artists to sell a portion of their streaming royalties to customers through NFTs. Each purchaser gets a token that represents their portion, which can be sold on an NFT marketplace and may also open the door for other rewards at artist discretion.

Year founded: 2021

Why we’re watching: Royal is using the newly established NFT technology in a unique and interesting way — to support individual artists’ creative freedom. By purchasing these NFTs, customers can help artists make money quickly on their music rather than waiting to accumulate royalties.

 

 

 

What they do: Steadily provides fast and easy landlord insurance for all manner of rental properties, including AirBnb and VRBO. Its customizable coverage options can protect from a wide variety of risks, including fire, storms, water damage, theft and vandalism.

Year founded: 2020

Why we’re watching: Steadily’s founder, Darren Nix, has significant experience in the insurtech industry. He founded the company to fill a need, after learning how complicated, time-consuming and expensive the process of acquiring landlord insurance actually was.

 

 

Landlord unlocks the house key for new home
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What they do: UpEquity is democratizing homebuying by streamlining mortgage acquisition and underwriting. Through their process, which automates the back-end of mortgaging, homebuyers are guaranteed to close within 21 days and will be able to make a full cash offer to do so.

Year founded: 2019

Why we’re watching: In October 2021, UpEquity announced that it had raised $50 million in Series B funding. It plans to use that funding to increase its headcount from 90 to about 230, moving to a new office space to accommodate the larger team.

 

 

What they do: Virdee is a virtual, touchless check-in service to manage guests and tenants of properties, capable of integrating with existing functions such as student IDs. They provide a fully digital mobile app, or a kiosk that can read IDs and biometrics.

Year founded: 2020

Why we’re watching: Virdee has partnered with Virgin Hotels to expand its reach, piloting kiosks in Chicago and Dallas locations. To improve guest check-in experience, Virdee can pull customer data from Virgin’s loyalty program, The Know.

 

 

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