Howdy, Austin.
Welcome to Austin Founders Feed, your twice-weekly briefing for Austin founders, operators, and builders.
Did you know that every Friday, we spotlight an Austin local founder building something worth paying attention to. Check out all of our past founders interviews here.
What’s Happening This Week:
Top Story - Circuit’s $30M Raise for “AI for the Factory Floor”
AFF Business Directory - Add your business to our database for free exposure!
Economic Outlook - Current Neighborhood Cost Breakdowns
From City Hall - 3/12/26
Social Calendar - 47 Founder Events (links)
Top Featured Events - Special events and discounts for our community
Say This Not That - Online Workshop (Mar. 30) - Only $7 if you use the code “AFF20”. (Tickets are usually $27, this is the biggest discount we’ve been able to get you so far!)
Spring Into Connections - YPN Networking Event (April 8) - Austin Young Professional Network’s signature event. Get 25% off admission with code “AFF25”
Let’s get to it.
This edition is sponsored by The Service Standard.
Interested in partnering with Austin Founders Feed? Take 30 seconds to fill out this form and tell us about your business.
Announcement
Please Give Us Feedback - $100 Gift Card + Other Great Prizes
We’re trying to improve our newsletter. Your feedback is the best way for us to do that.
Please fill out this 2 minute survey: → Give us Feedback (link)
Everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a drawing to win a $100.
We are also giving away 5 gift cards from Dough It Up ($25 each). Dough It Up is a wonderful restaurant in Cedar Park with House-made pasta, house-made pizza dough, authentic Italian recipes prepared with care, speed, and uncompromising quality.
Once we reach 50 responses, we will randomly select six participants to recieve these prizes.
Local News
📰 Circuit’s $30M Raise for “AI for the Factory Floor”
Austin-based Circuit, co-founded by former Silicon Labs CEO Tyson Tuttle, raised $30M from angel investors to build AI software for manufacturing and service operations.
It’s one of Texas’ largest angel rounds, and Circuit’s bet is clear: the next productivity leap won’t come from more dashboards. It’ll come from turning technical know-how into step-by-step guidance that any tech, rep, or operator can use in the moment.
The bottleneck they’re attacking is expertise.
Manufacturers and service orgs make hundreds of high-stakes decisions every day. configuring equipment, quoting jobs, installations, and troubleshooting. But the actual knowledge is scattered across manuals and legacy systems, or locked in the heads of veterans. With retirements accelerating and the labor gap widening (Deloitte estimates up to 1.9M manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2033), “knowing how” is becoming the scarcest resource in the building. Circuit co-founder Andrew Peters points to the urgency: even Ford has said it can’t fill thousands of factory-floor roles paying six figures.
Circuit’s approach is to convert documentation into guided workflows—so teams can execute without needing a 20-year expert standing over their shoulder. The platform ingests technical manuals, schematics, CAD files, and “exploded views,” then plugs into existing systems like ERPs, CRMs, and quoting tools.
A sales rep or technician can describe the job requirements, and Circuit helps translate configuration logic and compatibility rules into an answer they can act on.
Early customers include Austin-based Four Hands (consolidating terabytes of product information to improve support) and Culligan, with use cases spanning complex industrial distributors where quoting mistakes can be painfully expensive.
The money behind it is serious. The angel round includes names like Jim Breyer, Charlie Amato (SWBC), and Lew Cirne (New Relic). Circuit says it will use the $30M to expand the product roadmap and build go-to-market, starting with regional sales hires. The team is ~30 people working out of a house in Clarksville.
“AI for industry” wins when it’s tied to distribution and a painful, measurable workflow. Circuit is selling fewer errors, faster quotes, and onboarding new hires in weeks instead of months.
If you’re building in Austin, this is the blueprint: start where stakes are high, decisions are frequent, and expertise is evaporating, then package institutional knowledge into a product that scales.
Announcement
New Weekly Issue: Founder Fridays!!
Every Friday at 7 am CST we’re now delivering exclusive interviews with Austin founders that are making waves within our community.
Last week we interviewed Mike Black from Talent Stream about how they are reducing head hunting costs with AI.
Check out Mike’s full interview and all our other Founder Friday issues here.
A Message From This Edition’s Partner
Your Biggest Expense is People
Most founders never get trained on the hardest and most expensive part of running a business: managing people.
The under-performer who's "trying their best."
The team member who says the right things but avoids accountability.
The tension you keep ignoring because you don't know what to say.
Say This, Not That™ is a live workshop on March 30 at 10 AM where you’ll learn exact scripts and a simple framework for handling difficult conversations with more confidence.
Built for hospitality and service leaders. Useful for anyone managing a team.
$7 with code “AFF20” (regularly $27).
👉 Reserve your spot here
Hosted by Jenn Oswald - Jenn grew up in hospitality and has spent years training teams and leaders across the industry. She founded The Service Standard to bring practical, accessible leadership development directly to the people actually running shifts, coaching teams, and carrying the weight of day-to-day operations.
Economic Outlook
Neighborhood Cost Breakdown
Data was sourced from RentCafe, Zumper, Redfin, MLS, and Cain Reality
Resources from Austin Founders Feed
Our Top Resources for You
In this brand new section we’ll include all of our resources and announcements that we’re building to help support the AFF community. We’re working hard to aggregate resources that get you closer to your business goals.
Top Free Resources:
Austin Founders Feed Business Directory (link) - This is a database of some of the finest local businesses in Austin. Add your business to get on the radar of our 2,300+ founder network. All you have to do is to fill out THIS FORM.
AFF Free Resource Guide (link) - We put together 100+ resources with info on grants, educational resources, funding sources, and much more to help you get a competitive edge for your Austin local business.
AFF Networking Field Guide (link) - Everything we've learned about turning awkward networking events into real business relationships, in one guide. Use code “NETWORKING” for our best discount.
From City Hall
Austin City Council Regular Meeting - 3/12/26
Lobbyist rules updated: Council approved changes to Austin’s lobbyist regulations, including expanded reporting requirements for direct communications with city officials.
Big housing + affordability move: Council advanced a revised deal for the St. John mixed-use redevelopment and also approved a $5.5M AHFC loan for a new multifamily project (The Bloom at Lamar Square).
Walnut Creek wastewater expansion funded: Council approved major financing steps for the Walnut Creek WWTP expansion, including a $600M contract amendment (total up to $1.5B), up to $575M in water/wastewater bonds, and increasing the EPA WIFIA loan authorization to $1B.
City operations/contracts: Council approved a slate of contracts and extensions (temporary staffing, airport insurance/safety services, DocuSign, materials/supplies, leases) plus extended the Contingent Hiring Pilot through Dec 2026 and approved police reserve appointments.
Zoning outcomes: Several rezoning cases passed (Parmer Lane Center, Lightsey Homes, South Town), while E. 22nd Street (Upper Boggy Creek plan + rezoning) and Montopolis/Fairway mixed-use items failed; a couple items were postponed to March 26, 2026.
Networking / Events
Say This Not That - Online Workshop (Mar. 30) - Only $7 if you use the code “AFF20”. (Tickets are usually $27, this is the biggest discount we’ve been able to get you so far!) Spring Into Connections - YPN Networking Event (April 8) - Austin Young Professional Network’s signature event. Get 25% off admission with code “AFF25” |
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Monday, Mar. 23:
SMB Land HH: March 23rd - SMB Land - 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM - Cosmic Saltillo, 1300 E 4th Street, Austin - This is a great chance to connect with others who are involved in SMB Land, whether that's owning, investing, operating, or buying small businesses. Today's conversation starter--where are you in relation to 2026 goals now? (Free).
How Aspiring Founders can Use AI to Test Ideas & Move Faster - Austin Startup Founder Network - 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM - Online - On this webinar with Jonathan Greechan (Co-Founder & CEO of Founder Institute, world's largest AI-Native company builder), they’ll share the prompts and processes the Founder Institute uses to supercharge processes like customer development, market research, product scoping, and more (Free).
TechYeet Happy Hour 🌮 (Dos Salas- Burnet) 🌮 - TechYeet - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM - Dos Salsas- Burnet, 11301 Burnet Rd, Austin - Start your week off right with a casual get-together at Dos Salsas (BURNET)! They’re bringing the TechYeet community together for tech networking, laughs, and some great Tex-Mex deals (Free).
💰 Craft Your First Irresistible Offer! - The Rising Trend of One-Person Businesses - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM - Capital Factory, 701 Brazos St, Austin - In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn what truly makes a great offer irresistible — from structuring a service or product your audience genuinely needs, to pricing it confidently, and crafting messaging (Free).
Data Centers, Water, & Power - The LBJ School of Public Affairs - 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM - LBJ School of Public Affairs, Bass Lecture Hall, 2300 Red River Street, Austin - Grounded in the LBJ School’s focus on practical, bipartisan problem-solving, this forum will bring together industry leaders, policy experts, and scholars to discuss how the United States can power the AI economy responsibly and competitively (Free).
Momentum Monday - Momentum Coworking - 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Lazarus on Airport - Quiet, focused productivity sprints broken up by 5 minute breaks for connection (Free).
Central Austin Toastmasters - Toastmasters - 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM - Parish Hall, 2008 Justin Lane, Austin - Join in person or via Zoom to improve your public speaking and leadership skills (Free).
Tuesday, Mar. 24:
FIESTA in March - Founders, Investors, and ATX Newcomers - 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM - Capital Factory, 701 Brazos St, Austin - Whether you are building, investing, advising, exploring, or simply curious, you belong here (Free).
Bitcoin & Coffee - Bitcoin Park Austin - 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM - 2110 S Congress Ave, Austin - Join for coffee, breakfast tacos, and Bitcoin conversation (Free).
Pitch Like a Pro Workshop: Financials for Investor Readiness - Brumley Institute for Graduate Entrepreneurship - 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM - 300 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., RRH 1.354 (JBTVL Office Suite), Austin - This workshop for aspiring entrepreneurs in the UT system, hosted by the Brumley institute for Graduate Entrepreneurship, will start with a lecture from industry expert Bart Bohn on best practices for preparing startup financials to be shared with potential investors (Free).
AITX Monthly Meetup - AITX - 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM - Antler VC, 800 Brazos St #340, Austin - AITX is a monthly meetup for AI entrepreneurs, engineers, and explorers in Austin, Texas (Free).
Wednesday, Mar. 25:
Big Ass Social Happy Hour (BAHH) - The Brewtorium - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM - 6015 Dillard Circle, Austin - Monthly low-pressure meet-up for tech, marcom, and ops pros who’d rather connect over a beer than sit through another slideshow. This is not a job fair, not a dating event, just a straight up casual networking night and you're invited (Free)!
BXN & UT Club Happy Hour - Business eXchange Network - 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM - 2108 Robert Dedman Drive, Austin - Join The UT Club for an exclusive networking happy hour with BXN! Enjoy great drinks, light bites and great atmosphere (Free)!
From Seed to Series A: Building Product Operations that Impress Investors - ProductTank Austin - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Productside @ Victory Plaza, 5209 Burnet Rd, Austin - In this insightful talk, product operations expert Matt McGuire reveals the hidden operational gaps that consistently undermine Seed-stage companies as they approach Series A funding (Free).
Meet Your Co-Founder - Saleem A. - 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM - Capital Factory, 701 Brazos street, 1st floor, Austin - Founders, engineers, students, designers, and operators. People who have ideas, and people who are looking for one. Join a structured speed networking event to find your startup's missing person. This is not a random social mixer (Free).
ACM/IEEE Austin: March Tech Talks & Community Showcase - ACM Austin - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM - 1218 West Ave Bldg #3000, Austin - Kick off 2026 with ACM Austin + IEEE at our first tech meetup of the year, featuring deep-dive talks in AI, cloud-native systems, security, identity, and modern infrastructure engineering (Free).
Founder's Circle 2026 - Lupita McGregor & Shelley Dahlman - 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM - Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street, Austin - Founder's Circle offers a supportive network for founders to connect, share experiences, and discuss strategies to keep pushing forward (Free).
AI Tech & Startup Night - Nomad Global Hub - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Higbie's, 720 Brazos Street, #Ste B-710, Austin - Connect with AI & Startup founders, investors, and builders in Austin. Pitch your startup, meet investors, and build real connections (Paid).
Austin Women's Real Estate Investor Meetup - TurboTalent - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM - Foxy's Proper Pub, 201 Brazos Street, #Bldg B, Austin - Join for a night of creating lasting connections, free tacos and margaritas, and actionable takeaways to grow your rental business. No matter where you're at in your journey, all women in real estate are welcome to join (Free).
BizAid Business Orientation - Austin Economic Development - 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM - 5202 East Ben White Boulevard, Suite 300B, Austin - BizAid Business Orientation is a foundational class designed to help aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs understand what it really takes to launch and operate a business in Austin—before costly mistakes happen (Free).
Dinner with Entrepreneurs | Austin (Gold Tier Edition) - Ermantourage - 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM - East 6th Street, Austin - A cozy dinner with entrepreneurs to network + share experiences! This is for more established entrepreneurs (Paid).
Connecting Business Owners at Live Oak - Business Networking International - 7:45 AM to 9:15 AM - 9600 Escarpment Blvd, Austin - Surround yourself with driven, like-minded professionals who are passionate about business growth and building lasting connections (Free).
BXN North - Business eXchange Network - 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM - 10515 N Mopac Expy NB, Austin - Connect with fellow professionals, foster business growth, and enjoy the interactive and referral-driven atmosphere of our group (Free).
Thursday, Mar. 26:
Austin RAW Conversations: Timing in Early-Stage Building & Fundraising - Arturo P. - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM - 701 Brazos Street, Austin - Pressure test assumptions, examine real signals, and leave with sharper clarity around whether “now” is actually the right time (Free).
Austin Startup and Tech 2026 - connectintech - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Higbie’s, 720 Brazos St, Ste B-710, Austin - Austin Tech Mixer is the fastest growing startup, digital & tech networking organization in the country. Their events are comprised of the most influential professionals in the area (Free).
Austin International Founders Meetup (Vol. 03) - International Founders Network - 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM - Capital Factory, ACL Room (16th floor), 701 Brazos St, Austin - Get together with founders and globally-minded operators to share the unwritten rules of the Austin startup ecosystem and help each other move from introductions to real momentum (Free).
Wake Up! CPG Austin - Wake Up! CPG - 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM - Cosmic Coffee + Beer Garden, 121 Pickle Rd, Austin - Austin-area CPG brands, retailers, service providers, and local enthusiasts are welcome to join for a lively discussion about the CPG scene and helping each other grow our businesses and community (Free).
Tech Networking, Austin @ HopSquad Brewing - Techfluence Austin - 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM - Hop squad Brewing, 2307 Kramer, Austin - Join for a casual evening of tech networking at HopSquad Brewing — a relaxed meetup for anyone in tech, startups, product, AI, data, design, engineering, or just tech-curious (Free).
Find a Cofounder / Help or Join a Tech Startup - Startup Oasis: Austin - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Online - If you are a startup founder, developer, UX designer, marketer, or anyone else in the tech ecosystem looking to start, join, or help a tech startup, this event is for you (Free)!
Free Networking Event for Entrepreneurs - Stacey Lauren - 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM - Online - If you're an entrepreneur, founder, or expert who's tired of showing up to networking events that go nowhere — this one is worth an hour of your time (Free).
Focus & Habits for Founders - Shift/Co - 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Online - Founder Focus is about transforming your most limited resource—time—into your most powerful strategic asset (Free).
If You Sold Your Business in 2026 - Eric Togneri - 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM - Online - In this live webinar, exit planning advisor Eric Togneri will walk through the key valuation drivers that influence how businesses are priced in today’s market (Free).
AI RAG on K8s with NVIDIA & Modernizing a Policy Platform - Kubernetes Austin - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM - Capital Factory, 701 Brazos St, Austin - This session explores the journey of building a production-grade AI-powered chatbot from the ground up on your own hardware, on your own terms (Free).
Contracts & Essentials for Early-Stage Entrepreneurs - Brumley Institute for Graduate Entrepreneurship - 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM - 300 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., RRH 1.354 (JBTVL Office Suite), Austin - Join UT’s Brumley Institute, Kasnter Gravelle, and the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program at Texas Law for a presentation on contracts and essentials for entrepreneurs looking to set up their business. Get 1:1 time with law students prepared to answer your questions and address your ventures needs (Free).
Westlake Business Owners Networking and Mastermind - Charles Heinzelman - 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM - 3600 North Capital of Texas Highway, #Building D, Austin - Join for a laid-back yet powerful gathering of local business owners! This is your chance to connect, share ideas, and mastermind with fellow entrepreneurs who get what it takes to grow a business (Paid).
Buda Networking and Coffee Hour - Business eXchange Network - 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM - 306 S Main St, Buda - Join us for some Networking and Coffee at Nates in Buda! Connect with other professionals and help grow your business (Free).
Dinner with Entrepreneurs: Austin | Girls Night Out - Ermantourage Dinner with Strangers - 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM - South Congress Avenue, Austin - Meet your next gal pals over dinner with strangers! Connect with other entrepreneurs on an engaging night out in the city (Paid).
Friday, Mar. 27:
Dinner with Creatives - Austin Creatives + Entrepreneurs - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM - 111 Congress Ave, Austin - Up for a dinner meetup with 4-6 members? This is a chance for an intimate hangout to connect with potential collaborators and new friends (Free).
Startups Fund Raising Program - Lakshman Singh - 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM - Online - Join to learn how to raise funds for your startup business (Paid).
Austin Female Founders & Friends - The Artemis Fund - 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM - Cosmic Saltillo, 1300 E 4th St, Austin - Join for the quarterly meetup to connect with female founders and investors as we cultivate a thriving founder community in Austin (Free).
Christian Business Networking Event: Faith, Coffee & Connect - Hey ATX - 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM - Casa Chapala, 9041 Research Boulevard, #100 Austin - This is a breakfast roundtable for faith-based entrepreneurs and professionals. It’s intentionally curated, guided, and welcoming (Paid).
South Austin Free In-Person Power Networking Event - Health Partner Coaching - 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM - Nomadic Beerworks, 3804 Woodbury Drive, #Suite A, Austin - Expect open networking, short power pitches, guided introductions, and a featured 5-minute spotlight speaker to keep things engaging and valuable (Free).
Saturday, Mar. 28:
Surprising Struggling Restaurant With 100+ Customers - Young Professionals Network - 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM - 2118 S Congress Ave, Austin - They’re planning a Best Day Ever surprise for a local food truck that’s been struggling, and your help is needed. The goal is simple: bring them 100 customers at once and turn an ordinary day into something unforgettable for the owners (Free).
Founders Running Club - Founders Running Club - 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM - 1601-1999 Nash Hernandez Senior Road, Austin - Founders Running Club (FRC) brings founders, investors, tech, creative people and startup enthusiasts together for weekly easy runs and networking (Free).
Dinner with Entrepreneurs | Austin (Gold Tier Edition) - Ermantourage - 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM - East 6th Street, Austin - A cozy dinner with entrepreneurs to network + share experiences! This is for more established entrepreneurs (Paid).
Big Ballers: Dinner with Entrepreneurs | Austin (Giving Back Edition) - BarCada - 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM - Congress Avenue, Austin - Join for a cozy dinner with local entrepreneurs to network, share experiences, & make new connections while giving back to those in need (Paid)!
Sunday, Mar. 29:
Meet other Algorithmic Traders, Day Traders, Option Traders and Investors - Algorithmic Trading and Investing - 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM - 11920 Domain Dr., Austin - Discuss trading and investing strategies, as well as the skills needed to start. This is a casual meetup to meet people who are interested in trading or building a career around it, especially algorithmically. No "financial gurus" are welcome (Free).
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Austin Founders Feed
