Howdy, Austin.
This is Austin Founders Feed, your backstage pass to what’s actually happening in the city’s startup scene.
If you’re building here and don’t have time to stalk every press release, meetup page, and funding announcement, I’ll do it for you.
This week:
17 founder events you can plug into
A tour of Austin’s unicorn factory
Small’s Pizza is back on the menu
Let’s get to it.
-Warren
Networking / Events
Monday, Dec. 15:
Eric Albee - Vibe Coding: Build with AI for Non-Coders & Curious Creators - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm - 701 Brazos St - Learn how to go from idea → plan → prototype without getting lost in technical jargon.
My First Million Podcast Christmas Potluck - 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm - 508 Oakland Ave - Enjoy an engaging evening of entrepreneurship and professional networking at the Austin MFM Podcast Fan Club Christmas Potluck.
SMB Land Meetup: December 15th Happy Hour - 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm - A great chance to connect with others who are involved in SMB Land, whether that's owning, investing, operating, or buying small businesses.
Austin AI/ML Developers Meetup - 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm - 701 Brazos Street - Learn and practice AI, GenAI, LLMs, Agent, Machine learning, Deep learning and Data Science technology together with like-minded developers.
Digital Nomad Lifestyle Meetup - 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm - 701 Brazos Street - Work remotely, explore the world, and live life on your terms.
BitAngels Meetup - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm - 701 Brazos Street - Join the oldest crypto investors network founded in Austin TX in 2013.
Tuesday, Dec. 16:
Light the Way: A Holiday FIESTA - 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm - 104 E Highland Mall Blvd Suite 125 - Join founders, investors, and community champions to welcome Gevity, the city’s newest wellness-focused workspace and social club.
Wednesday, Dec. 17:
Austin AI Alliance Monthly Meeting - 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm - 1212 Rio Grande St. - Network with entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, academics, students, innovators, and subject matter experts building AI in Austin and find future collaborations.
Happy Hour - talk Shopify & ecommerce - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm - 1300 E 4th St - Get to know ecommerce brand owners with multiple exits alongside those who are just starting their store. Meet experts who help stores with fulfillment, SEO, paid traffic, email, and design.
💄Beauty Founders and Creatives: Austin - 8:30 am to 10:30 am - 1300 E 4th St - Whether you’ve launched a brand, are in the early stages, or support founders behind the scenes, you’ll find a warm, inspiring group ready to network and genuinely connect.
Meet Your Co-Founder - 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm - 701 Brazos St - Meet founders whose skills complement yours. Using their custom speed networking app, you’ll be paired into quality, 1-on-1 conversations. Share ideas, swap contacts, move on to the next match.
Rise & Thrive: Connecting Business Owners at Live Oak BNI - 7:45 am to 9:15 am - 9600 Escarpment Blvd - Surround yourself with driven, like-minded professionals who are passionate about business growth and building lasting connections. Whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur or just starting your journey, you’ll find inspiration and opportunity here.
Central Austin Toastmasters Hybrid (in-person and Google Meet) Weekly Meeting - 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm - 2008 Justin Lane - Improve your public speaking and leadership skills.
Supercharging Business with AI & Offshore VAs: The Multiplicative Effect Meetup - 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm - 701 Brazos Street - Transform your business operations with the power of artificial intelligence and skilled offshore virtual assistants.
Claude Code Meetup Austin - 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm - Register to see address - Join a Claude Code Community Event, organized by local Claude Code enthusiasts for everyone who loves building with Claude Code!
Thursday, Dec. 18:
BXN - Buda Networking and Coffee Hour - 9:00 am to 10:00 am - 306 S Main St - Network with coffee at Nates in Buda! Connect with other professionals and help grow your business.
Saturday, Dec. 20:
Founders Running Club :: Austin - 8:00 am to 9:30 am - 1601-1999 Nash Hernandez Senior Road - Brings founders, investors, tech, creative people and startup enthusiasts together for weekly easy runs and networking.
Local News
📰 Curative Looks To Capture Health Insurance Market Share
Until recently, 3 things were guaranteed for Austinites:
Death
Taxes
Broken healthcare
Now, there’s a new kid on the block: Curative.
Curative was originally founded as a sepsis diagnostic R&D company. During the pandemic, they pivoted and became a leading COVID-19 testing company — scaling from 7 to 7000 employees and running over 36 million PCR tests in about a year.
Today, they’ve pivoted again, reimagining employer-based health insurance; one where preventative care is strongly incentivized.
How do they do it?
By offering plans with no copays, no deductibles, and no cost-sharing, as long as a baseline visit is completed within the first 120 days of the plan.
They coined their plan as the “Netflix of Healthcare.” Once you’ve done your baseline visit, you can get whatever in network care you need for free.
Using this model, they’ve achieved:
98% engagement for the baseline visit.
$150M Series B funding.
A $1.275B (unicorn) evaluation.
And they’re just getting started. Curative expects around $570M in revenue this upcoming year, and is looking to expand across the entire country. For Austin founders, Curative’s story proves one thing: this city is capable of birthing billion-dollar companies that take on industry giants.
Economic Outlook / From City Hall
Austin’s Unicorn Factory
By the Numbers (Austin at a Glance)
Unicorns ($1B+): 18
Combined Unicorn Valuation: ~$51B
Unicorns Created in Past 4 Years: 5
Top Unicorn: Colossal Biosciences - $10B
From City Hall (What Actually Matters for Founders)
Apply for the Texas Enterprise Fund. This grant is for companies considering a new project for which on Texas site is competing with other out-of-state sites. The amount of money granted is calculated based on the details of your project, so apply to get more info!
Austin City Council just approved a $5.5M incentive package to help Southwest Airlines open a new crew base and training facility at AUS by 2026. The project is expected to create ~2,000 direct jobs with average salaries around $180K, plus thousands more indirect jobs in supporting industries.
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance recognized Austin as a 2024 Visionary Digital Inclusion Trailblazer for its work on broadband access, device access, and digital skills training. Programs include grants for tech nonprofits, refurbished devices for community orgs, and free digital literacy training at public labs.
The Feed
Small’s Pizza Reopens
As you will come to know, I love pizza. I make it at home from scratch like an absolute lunatic. And I even went to Italy for a week just to do a pizza tour.
Pizza is serious business for me, I love all types:
Neapolitan
Detroit style
New York
Roman
You name it.
However, there is a special spot in my heart for a good New Haven Style pizza: the crisp airy crust and the robustness of the tomatoes — it really gets me going.
Small’s delivered just that. I've had the pepperoni and the anchovy pies (don't knock it till you've tried it), and they didn’t disappoint.
Try it out if you're getting the itch, I promise you won't regret it.
-Ken
Poll
What’s your #1 bottleneck as a founder in Austin right now?
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Until next week,
Austin Founders Feed
