Texas Venture Labs McCombs School of Business The University of Texas at Austin Company Information Session 5/15/2014
Mission 1. Accelerate UT and Local Startups Help raise capital Bring products to market Develop a growth strategy 2. Transform UT Graduate Students Create and inspire future entrepreneurs and business leaders 3. Create a Community
What is Texas Venture Labs? Texas Venture Labs Texas Venture Labs Practicum Accenture Venture Partner Program New Venture Creation (NVC) Venture Labs Investment Competition TVL Scholarship Program
Texas Venture Labs Practicum
What is the Texas Venture Labs Practicum? Course Focus on entrepreneurship Students learn from top professors Work with local entrepreneurs Gain skills to help with projects for startups Accelerator Startups partnered with with graduate students from across campus (MBA, Pharmacy, CNS, Engineering and Law) Create, supervise consulting projects based on real company challenges Students gain experience and apply your knowledge outside the classroom Organization Get to know entrepreneurialminded students from multiple degree programs Experience Austin entrepreneurial resources and events
How does it work? Present startup to students of first day of class Assigned a crossfunctional team (typically 2 MBA, 1 Law, 2 Technical) of graduate students Meet regularly with students to complete consulting projects (receive ~500 hours of grad student work total). Receive final deliverables from team Pitch startup at Venture Expo, an exclusive event for "Investor Ready" ventures
Company Stages Early Stage Usually pre-revenue Typically <$50k raised At least one full time employee Typical Projects: Market research for commercial viability Target customers for product or service Go/No go decision for a startup Growth Stage Some revenue (often <$1M) Raised some external funding Typically have at least 1 nonfounder on team Typical Projects Improved marketing strategy Competitive analysis and differentiation research Best practices for sales, marketing, and legal functions.
Project Focus Areas Market Validation Worked with Admittance Technologies to research three potential applications for their product, ultimately determining that one was viable and two were not. Business Model Assessment Examined the marketability of Kin Valley as a social media platform and worked with them to shift to a data-based business model. Financial Analysis Helped Moniker Guitars get their statements in order and analyze the information to validate their pricing model. Funding Guidance Competitive Analysis Assisted Farmhouse Delivery in identifying their five-year growth potential based on different funding options (VC, Angel, Loans, Bootstrap). Looked into competitors and substitutes for Jurify and found they did not provide enough differentiation to gain funding.
TVL in Action Fall 2010 Spring 2011 Fall 2011 Atonometrics Hurricane Party Hyperware M87 Ovna Medical ThaTrunk Alafair Biosciences ecampustutors Infochimps Mass Relevance SpectraPhase Xeris Pharmaceuticals Akimbo Digital Harmony Games RayDyne Energy Salient Pharmaceuticals Televero Health Vocal Media Zilker Motors
TVL in Action Spring 2012 Fall 2012 Spring 2013 Clear Technology Systems Enerlyte Gametime Arena Terra Pave Titralyte Vecturalux Escapaide EyeQ Health Information Associates Jurify Nuventix Paybook TeVido Biodevices Unique Influence Admittance Technologies Altogen Labs Carnegie Design Systems Cellular Machines IncentTo Infinite IO Vampire Labs 77 companies Over 41% funded Over $203 million raised
Company Evaluation What we look for while evaluating companies: 1. Good fit for TVL Projects in line with TVL expertise Students will be interested in the company 2. Able to provide a good student experience Willing to work closely with students Will attend important accelerator events First day of class, mid-semester update, Venture Expo, etc.
Benefits of the accelerator 1. 400-500 man hours of multi-disciplinary, talented grad student work 2. Opportunity to pitch your startup at Investor ready Venture Expo 3. Access to TVL resources and larger Austin-based entrepreneurial community 4. Wide range of potential projects for most business challenges, not limited to fundraising 5. TVL takes no money or equity.
Application Process and Timeline Application Currently Live at bit.ly.com/applytvl2014 1. Submit basic company information online Due: June 15, 2014 2. Interview with TVL staff Rolling interviews Completed by: June 25, 2014 3. Selections communicated: July 1, 2014 4. First Day of Class: September 9, 2014
Questions? Learn more at http://bit.ly/tvlaccelerator Apply online at http://bit.ly/applytvl2014
Questions? tvl.utexas.edu infotvl@mccombs.utexas.edu