Howdy, Austin.
Welcome to Austin Founders Feed, your weekly peek behind the curtain at the fastest growing entrepreneurship community in the country.
Here’s everything that’s happening this week:
Social Calendar - 49 founder events (links)
Top Story - Austin’s New 0% Founder Loan
Did You Know?? - Card Processing is a Hidden Margin Leak
What’s Weird ATX - 3 unique events (just for fun!)
Economic Outlook - Austin Powered Texas Past Boston in VC
Local News - Austin's Kendra Scott Brings On a Gap Vet as Its First-Ever CBO
AFF Business Directory - Add your Business to our Database for Free Exposure
Top Featured Events - Special events and discounts for our community
Tuesday, May 5th: ATX Marketing Innovators Power Breakfast
8:30–10:00 AM · St. Elmo Brewing Company - Springdale
A curated, practitioner-first meetup for growth-minded leaders across marketing, eCommerce, driving digital growth. Free.Thursday, April 30th: Conscious Builders ATX
6:30–11:30 PM · 207 San Jacinto St STE 100
Brings together people who care about growth, contribution, curiosity, and conscious living. Paid. (Use our discount code AFF20 for 20% off any ticket).
Let’s get to it.
This edition is sponsored by United Solutions.
Interested in sponsoring Austin Founders Feed? Take 30 seconds to fill out this form and tell us about your business.
What To Do This Week
Our Top Events For You
Monday night: Digital Nomad Lifestyle Meetup
6:00–8:00 PM · Station Austin
Connect with others building businesses and careers outside the traditional office. Great for solo founders and freelancers. Free.Tuesday morning: Founder Coffee Tasting (founders)
9:30–11:00 AM · The Red Fridge Society
Try the same bean prepared six different ways. They often have special guest founders in the coffee industry to come hang out, too! Free.Tuesday night: Real Estate & Construction Pitch & Networking
7:00–9:00 PM · Kitty Cohen’s
A networking evening bringing together real estate professionals, construction leaders, startup founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of the built environment. Free.Wednesday night: Founders Circle Meetup
5:30–6:30 PM · Austin Centre
Intimate networking circle specifically for active founders. Free.Thursday morning: Wake Up! CPG Austin
8:30–10:30 AM · 121 Pickle Rd
Best for founders in food, beverage, beauty, wellness, or consumer products building brands in Austin. Highly rated (4.8 stars). Free.
Keep on the lookout for our weekend picks in this upcoming Founder Friday issue delivered to your inbox at 7 AM CST.
Top Story
Austin Just Opened a New 0% Funding Door for Founders
The City of Austin just launched its first-ever Kiva Hub, giving local entrepreneurs a new path to capital outside traditional banks.
For founders who have hit the “come back when you have more revenue” wall, this could be one of the most useful small-business funding changes in Austin this year.
Here's what it unlocks:
$1,000 to $15,000 loans funded by the community
0% interest, no fees
No minimum credit score required
Local application support from Austin’s Capital Access Manager
90%+ of Kiva borrowers successfully fund their loan
Who it's for: Early-stage founders, side-hustlers going full-time, and established small businesses that need capital for equipment, hiring, marketing, inventory, or expansion. Loans under $6,000 have lighter documentation requirements; loans over $6,000 require government-issued proof of business and a bank statement. A few industries aren't eligible (cannabis/CBD, weapons, MLM, adult), and funds can't be used to refinance debt or buy equity.
Mark your calendar: The Kiva Hub will be featured during Austin Small Business Week (May 4–8), with a dedicated session — Microloans and Funding Paths for Small Businesses — on May 7. If funding is on your radar, this is the session to show up for.
If you got a 0% loan for your business tomorrow, what would you use it for first?
Did You Know??
You're Probably Paying Too Much to Swipe a Card
Most Austin business owners have no idea how much they're actually paying to accept card payments. Between confusing statements, "qualified" tiers that mysteriously never apply, and equipment leases that outlive your first lease renewal — payment processing quietly eats margins that could fund your next hire, your next location, or just your sanity.
Quick gut checks:
Do you actually understand your processing statement?
Can your provider clearly explain your fees in plain English?
Have you had a real expert review your setup recently?
If any of those made you pause, it's probably time for a second look. That's where our sponsor Luis Gutierrez at United Solutions comes in:
15+ years helping owners cut through the jargon
A real merchant services expert — not a sales rep working off a script
You work with the owner directly, with full accountability
Plain English or Spanish, whichever you prefer
Happy to provide referrals from Austin businesses he's already helped
And he'll give you a second look at your current setup even if you're not sure you need one. In our free Merchant Services 101 Guide, real Austin case studies showed owners saving thousands per year — and Luis recently helped a local restaurant save over $10,000 in a single month.
Reach out to Luis for a free review of your setup:
📞 (956) 337-0075
✉️ [email protected]
Even if you walk away keeping what you have, you'll walk away understanding it — and that alone is worth the conversation.
What To Do This Week
Top Events From What’s Weird ATX
Monday night: Dazed and Confused Outdoor Screening at Top Notch
6:30 PM · Top Notch (Burnet)
An outdoor screening of Dazed and Confused at the actual Top Notch on Burnet, where Linklater filmed the iconic drive-through scene. Pull up a chair, watch Austin eat itself in the best possible way, and say "alright, alright, alright" into the sunset. Free.Tuesday night: Austin Salute to Prince
8:00 PM · Antone’s
Tonight marks exactly a decade since the world lost Prince, and Austin is gathering to grieve and groove the only way it knows how. Paid.Thursday evening: Threshold: A Celebration of Crossing
4:00 PM · University of Texas at Austin
The Texas Immersive Institute transforms UT's 5th floor of CMA into a living landscape of mixed reality worlds, generative AI installations, spatial sound environments, and participatory storytelling. Free.
If you liked these events, you’ll love What’s Weird ATX’s weekly newsletter with the most unique and interesting Austin events.
Economic Outlook
📰 Austin Powered Texas Past Boston in Q1 Venture Funding
For the first time ever, Texas startups out-raised Massachusetts startups in a single quarter, and Austin companies did most of the heavy lifting.
According to newly-released data from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association, Texas-based startups raised $5.8B in Q1 2026, edging past Massachusetts's $5.3B. A first in the state's history.
The Austin companies driving the milestone:
Saronic (autonomous naval vessels) — $1.75B
Apptronik (humanoid robots, a UT Austin spinout) — $935M
CesiumAstro (satellite communications) — $470M
inKind (restaurant software) — $450M
That's $3.6B from four Austin-headquartered companies — roughly 64% of the entire state's Q1 haul.
The shift from "up-and-coming" to top-tier ecosystem is no longer theoretical… Austin has arrived.
Local News
📰 Austin's Kendra Scott Brings On a Gap Vet as Its First-Ever CBO
Austin's biggest homegrown consumer brand just made a move that signals where it's headed.
Kendra Scott — the 165-store, 3,200-employee Austin lifestyle brand — has appointed Adrienne Gernand as its first-ever Chief Business Officer, effective April 27. She's coming off nearly two decades at Gap Inc., where she oversaw the company's international portfolio across 40+ countries and led growth at Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta.
The hire is the latest in a deliberate C-suite build-out under CEO Chris Blakeslee, following the recent CFO appointment of Mike McMullen, as Kendra Scott executes on what it's calling "the House of Kendra Scott": a full lifestyle expansion into eyewear, footwear, and even hospitality, alongside the fast-growing Yellow Rose by Kendra Scott sub-brand.
Why Austin founders should care: When a homegrown Austin brand starts pulling in senior Gap-level leadership, it's a signal about two things: how high Austin's consumer brand ceiling really is, and how much operator talent is now flowing into Austin instead of out of it. Both tailwinds for anyone building here.
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Until next time,
Austin Founders Feed
