Key Takeaways
- • Sputnik ATX, an Austin-based venture capital fund and accelerator, selected five startups for its 11th cohort, Winter 2023, from a record 1,200 applicants.
- • The 13-week accelerator program is designed to fast-track sales, growth and development, with the fund investing in fewer than 1% of applicants.
- • Sputnik ATX typically makes the first investment in portfolio companies: a $100,000 pre-seed investment with follow-on funding of up to $400,000.
- • The fund's portfolio exceeds 60 companies across fintech, consumer products, software/SaaS and blockchain, with more than 5,000 companies having applied to the accelerator.
- • Applications for the next cohort will open in the spring of 2023.
Summary
Sputnik ATX, an Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm and accelerator, announced the selection of its eleventh startup cohort for Winter 2023, according to a Business Wire release. The fund selected five startups from a record-breaking pool of 1,200 applicants, a cohort that includes founders from Dubai, Panama and across the United States. The companies will take part in an intensive 13-week accelerator program designed to fast-track sales, growth and development.
The cohort comprises Context QA (Deep Barot, Austin), an automated software testing platform; Yornest (Michael Brizendine, Louisville, Kentucky), a group chat platform aimed at scaling conversations in large online communities and reporting more than 7,000 users; Mystro (Essam Diab, Dubai), a strategy performance platform that automates data collection and KPI analysis; Prospect1 (Sebastien Hilaire, Panama), an athletic management platform connecting young athletes in underserved countries with recruitment opportunities; and Zendata (Nara Pappu, San Francisco), which provides automated data risk management and cross-border privacy compliance tools.
Sputnik ATX said it invests in fewer than 1% of startups that apply to its accelerator, and that more than 5,000 companies have applied overall. The firm typically makes the first investment in its portfolio companies, providing a $100,000 pre-seed investment with opportunities for follow-on funding up to $400,000. The release states that program alumni have subsequently raised funding from major global venture firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, SoftBank and Shasta Ventures. The portfolio now includes more than 60 companies with representation from Black, female and LGBTQ+ founders.
Founders Oksana Malysheva, managing partner, and Joe Merrill, general partner, were quoted in the announcement. Malysheva said the firm seeks out "nerds" with strong ideas and teaches them to sell and scale, while Merrill said the cohort tackles global problems with both international and local impact. The firm was founded in 2017. Applications for the next cohort will open this spring.
The cohort comprises Context QA (Deep Barot, Austin), an automated software testing platform; Yornest (Michael Brizendine, Louisville, Kentucky), a group chat platform aimed at scaling conversations in large online communities and reporting more than 7,000 users; Mystro (Essam Diab, Dubai), a strategy performance platform that automates data collection and KPI analysis; Prospect1 (Sebastien Hilaire, Panama), an athletic management platform connecting young athletes in underserved countries with recruitment opportunities; and Zendata (Nara Pappu, San Francisco), which provides automated data risk management and cross-border privacy compliance tools.
Sputnik ATX said it invests in fewer than 1% of startups that apply to its accelerator, and that more than 5,000 companies have applied overall. The firm typically makes the first investment in its portfolio companies, providing a $100,000 pre-seed investment with opportunities for follow-on funding up to $400,000. The release states that program alumni have subsequently raised funding from major global venture firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, SoftBank and Shasta Ventures. The portfolio now includes more than 60 companies with representation from Black, female and LGBTQ+ founders.
Founders Oksana Malysheva, managing partner, and Joe Merrill, general partner, were quoted in the announcement. Malysheva said the firm seeks out "nerds" with strong ideas and teaches them to sell and scale, while Merrill said the cohort tackles global problems with both international and local impact. The firm was founded in 2017. Applications for the next cohort will open this spring.
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