Explore a wealth of

STARTUP RESOURCES

HKEC Startup Encyclopedia

Get yourself involved in entrepreneurship & innovation at UT, in Austin, and around the globe with HKEC's Startup Encyclopedia.

Are you looking for others to grow your network? Do you find entrepreneur origin stories inspiring? Do you need practical information and guidance on registering your business? Are you searching for seed funding or mentorship on pitching to seed funders?

Delve into our guide, organized by goals and stages of startup development, to answer these questions and much more!

How to Use:

To find the resources that move your idea forward, filter by the categories below:
- Get Inspired: Ignite your passion for entrepreneurship and innovation at these events.
- Create a Network: Meet other like-minded innovators and join organizations.
- Validate Your Idea: Test your startup's strength in these rewarding programs.
- Launch Your Startup: Take advantage of these spaces and networks to get the best start.
- Get Funded: Secure seed funding from these pitch competitions and investors.

To find the resources that move your idea forward, filter by the categories below:

3 Day Startup
3 Day Startup
3 Day Startup delivers intensive, hands-on entrepreneurship education programs to students at colleges and university campuses across the globe.
Artemis Fund
Artemis Fund
Capitalizing on the proven value of gender diversity, the Artemis Fund is the first female focused fund in Houston, Texas. Artemis seeks to move the needle on female founders’ access to capital
Austin 360
Austin 360
Tagline: What do you want to do today? Austin 360 is a great place to start to get the pulse of Austin and find events, groups, and opportunities for any and all interests in Austin.
Austin Chamber of Commerce
Austin Chamber of Commerce
The Austin Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization that helps create jobs so people can find work, provide for their families and achieve prosperity. Their members are local businesses that are invested in developing their business, growing our economy, and strengthening our community.
Austin Inno
Austin Inno
Since 2015, Austin Inno's been covering and connecting the Austin ecosystem, producing digital media and events about the entrepreneurs, executives, startups, businesses, trends and topics that are the shaping the present and future of the city’s economy.
Austin Technology Incubator
Austin Technology Incubator
The Austin Technology Incubator is the deep tech incubator with the mission to empower university and community entrepreneurs through a customized approach to effectively commercialize their breakthrough innovations and compete in the global marketplace.
Axel Spinger Plug and Play Accelerator
Axel Spinger Plug and Play Accelerator
Axel Springer Plug and Play is a Berlin-based pre-seed startup accelerator. They do not just invest money. They know that the real value is in the people. The founders, the people in their team but most importantly the people they know. They connect their companies to mentors, clients and investors.
Big Idea Canvas
Big Idea Canvas
The first step in your startup journey is to develop a big idea and develop a startup hypothesis. Use the Big Idea Canvas to identify your assumptions and create a hypothesis you can test.
Buckhill Capital
Buckhill Capital
A Silicon Valley-based private equity and venture capital firm that specializes in investing in early stage and growth companies and real estate.
Built in Austin
Built in Austin
Built In Austin is the online community for Austin startups and tech companies. Find startup jobs, tech news and events.
Bunker Labs
Bunker Labs
Bunker Labs – a 501(c)(3) non-profit – is a national network of veteran and milspouse entrepreneurs dedicated to helping the military connected community start their own business. They are committed to seeing that every entrepreneur in the military connected community has the network, tools, and resources they need to start their own business.
Capital Factory
Capital Factory
Capital Factory meets the best entrepreneurs in Texas and introduces them to their first investors, employees, mentors, and customers.
Capital Kitchens
Capital Kitchens
Austin's Largest Shared-Use Commercial Kitchen, Culinary Incubator, Chef Center and Mobile Food Commissary. With locations in both North and South Austin.
Cartier Women’s Initiative
Cartier Women's Initiative
The Cartier Women's Initiative is an annual international entrepreneurship program that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs. This program is open to women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aim to have a strong and sustainable social and/or environmental impact.
Central Texas Angel Network
Central Texas Angel Network
Having invested $108 million in 174 companies since 2006, Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN) is the most active angel investing group in the U.S. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, CTAN features more than 185 accredited investor business leaders from an extensive cross­-section of sectors and backgrounds.
Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition
Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition
The Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition (CEC) was initiated to empower entrepreneurs all around the world to create innovative answers to global and/or community challenges and to engage in a more peaceful and sustainable world.
Code Launch
Code Launch
CodeLaunch is an annual seed accelerator competition between individuals and groups who have software technology startup ideas. The event was founded by Code Authority, a software development company in Frisco, TX in 2012. The purpose of the competition is to accelerate the best startups with mission-critical seed services provided by sponsors.
Createscape
Createscape
Createscape is a locally-owned coworking space in a converted 1950s bread factory in east Austin. We have a creative community and offer work spaces for freelancers, startups, remote workers, and teams to collaborate, succeed and enjoy their work.
Design Collective
Design Collective
Design Collective's mission is to foster the next generation of designers through education, collaboration, and application.
DisrupTexas
DisrupTexas
DisrupTexas is an annual Pitch Competition for undergraduate students across the state of Texas. Hosted by the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center at UT Austin, DisrupTexas is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for fully immersive learning – and a chance for student teams to walk away with some serious cash.
Div Inc
Div Inc
Div Inc's vision is a world that is authentically diverse, equitable and inclusive, where social and economic disparities no longer exist. Their mission is to bridge the gap between underrepresented entrepreneurs and the resources they need to build profitable, high-growth companies.
Dorm Room Fund
Dorm Room Fund
DRF is a student-run venture fund backed by First Round. We invest in startups where at least one person on the founding team is a student (undergraduate or graduate). Our investment team is run by student leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators across the country.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Agency
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Agency
Tasked by the Graduate Student Assembly, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Agency serves as a conduit to startup collaboration, resources, and education. Our chief aim is to centralize and simplify Austin's dynamic entrepreneurial scene.
Herb Kelleher Center, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin
Entrepreneurship Live!
Featuring entrepreneurs from across different industries, Entrepreneurship Live! enables students and the community to experience live insights into how to launch an idea into a startup.
First Round
First Round
No idea is too early for First Round. They love rolling up our sleeves to help build from day one. Together, their partners have spent 100+ years working with founding teams — and every day, our community of thousands of operators shares knowledge about building from scratch.
Forty Acres Founders
Forty Acres Founders
The Forty Acres Founders Pre-Accelerator Program at the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center offers undergraduate student founders the opportunity to study potential customers, improve their product, establish product-market fit, and position their product for success within the marketplace.
Founder Institute
Founder Institute
Now is the time to build our future, but only the entrepreneurs that can adapt and move quickly will be successful. As the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator, the Founder Institute is here to help.
Galvanize
Galvanize
Whether you are an enterprise company who needs temporary space for your team as you redesign and de-densify for the new normal or you are a startup looking to connect with the local tech ecosystem, Galvanize can design a flexible and customized solution to meet your needs.
Genesis Program
Genesis Program
Genesis is a student-alumni partnership which provides student startups with equity-free funding to pursue their ventures.
Get in the Ring
Get in the Ring
Get in the Ring is a global startup competition active in over 200 cities. They give opportunities to unconventional solutions in all corners of the world, to prove their solutions and solve 21st century challenges. Working alongside industry leading partners, they support the scale and impact that startups make across the globe.
Goose Capital
Goose Capital
GOOSE Capital in an investment firm comprised of Fortune 500 executives, industry titans, and serial entrepreneurs. We invest in breakthrough technologies and innovative founders.
Herb Kelleher Center, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin
HKEC Entrepreneurs-in-Residence
The Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center's Entrepreneur in Residence Program was developed to bring highly successful entrepreneurs and professionals on campus to work with current students, faculty, and staff seeking advice on launching their own entrepreneurial venture.
Impact Hub Austin
Impact Hub Austin
Impact Hub Austin is a source of inspiration that provides meaningful content through thought-provoking events, learning spaces, programs and facilitated conversations that support positive impact.
Industrious Office
Industrious Office
Industrious is the premium coworking company of choice. Our professional atmosphere and thoughtfully-designed workspaces can accommodate companies of all sizes and stages — from startups to Fortune 500s.
Innovation World Cup
Innovation World Cup
With over 15 years of successful competitions, the Innovation World Cup Series is the most established open innovation platform worldwide. They discover emerging applications, solutions, and investment opportunities in new industries with massive growth potential.
Live Oak Venture Partners
Live Oak Venture Partners
LiveOak Venture Partners is an Austin-based, early-stage venture capital firm that partners with visionary entrepreneurs to build world class, category dominating companies. They focus on providing first institutional capital for tech and tech-enabled services companies based in Texas.
Longhorn Entrepreneurship Agency
Longhorn Entrepreneurship Agency
Longhorn Entrepreneurship Agency is an arm of Student Government dedicated to fostering and supporting entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin. As the hub for entrepreneurship on the 40 Acres, we work with the university's administration to cultivate a premier campus environment for students to build new ventures.
Longhorn Startup
Longhorn Startup
Longhorn Startup fosters interdisciplinary startup innovation at the University of Texas at Austin. DO YOU DREAM OF STARTING YOUR OWN COMPANY? HERE’S A CHANCE TO EXPERIENCE ENTREPRENEURSHIP FIRST-HAND, LEARNING FROM SOME OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS IN AUSTIN.
Mass Challenge
Mass Challenge
Mass Challenge is on a mission is to make Texas the best place in the world to start and scale a business. They believe that by providing early stage entrepreneurs with the resources to steer their own growth we are providing them the pathways to create jobs and generate wealth.
MELD Coworking
MELD Coworking
MELD Coworking is Central Austin’s local shared office space for freelancers, remote workers, entrepreneurs and small business owners.
nCourage
nCourage
nCourage entrepreneurs is a private, angel investor group that provides funding to early-stage companies. They look for innovative startup companies addressing a significant market opportunity where our investment can make a difference.
PitchTexas
PitchTexas
University student entrepreneurs from around the world compete live on stage to win over entrepreneur and venture capitalist judges for cash prizes at UT’s annual SXSW activation.
[RE]verse Pitch Competition
[RE]verse Pitch Competition
Entrepreneurs are used to pitching their business idea to investors, partners, and anyone they might share an elevator ride with. In this competition, the tables turn. The [RE]verse Pitch Competition helps turn valuable raw materials that are currently leaving local businesses, non-profits, and institutions as waste into the raw materials for new or expanding social enterprises.
Rice Business Plan Competition
Rice Business Plan Competition
The Rice Business Plan Competition is the world’s richest and largest graduate-level student startup competition.
S3 Ventures
S3 Ventures
Based in Austin, S3 Ventures is committed to empowering entrepreneurs with the patient capital and true resources required to build extraordinary, high-impact companies.
Silverton Partners
Silverton Partners
Since its founding in 2006, Silverton has been the leading choice in Austin and beyond for entrepreneurs to fund their early stage businesses. The Firm’s objective has been to provide the first institutional capital and mentorship to young companies, partnering with entrepreneurs to help bring their vision to reality.
SKU
SKU
SKU accelerates emerging CPG brands with a world-class program driven by a thriving community of serial entrepreneurs & industry experts. SKU's 14-week intensive program provides exclusive insider access to industry leaders, key retailers, and the tools necessary to accelerate smarter, faster growth.
SoGal
SoGal
As the largest global network for diverse entrepreneurs and investors, you’ll meet experts ready and willing to help -- from funders, to mentors, and even new friends. You’ll be inspired and inspiring.
Sputnik ATX
Sputnik ATX
Sputnik ATX is an investor and accelerator that funds early stage maker-founders who solve real problems. They combine capital with training and experience to help startups reach their full potential.
Herb Kelleher Center, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin
Startup Coffee Connect
Whether you're looking to see what other creative students are up to, have a business idea of your own, or are in search of other ambitious founders to join your startup team, Startup Coffee Connects are the perfect place to kickstart your creativity.
Startup Grind
Startup Grind
Startup Grind is the world’s largest community of startups, founders, innovators, and creators. We bring like-minded yet diverse individuals together to connect, learn, teach, help, build, and belong. We do this daily through our local events, flagship conferences, startup program, partnerships, and online media + content - collectively reaching over 3.5 million individuals worldwide.
Tech Ranch
Tech Ranch
Tech Ranch equips entrepreneurs and ecosystems with insights, proven techniques, tools and processes that develop both the community and the entrepreneur.
Tech Stars Austin
Tech Stars Austin
Tech Stars Austin focuses on supercharging global startups in Austin, one of the fastest-growing startup ecosystems in the world.
TechSpace
TechSpace
TechSpace is a dynamic coworking space in the heart of downtown Austin, Texas, making it the perfect setting for a growing business to flourish.
Texas Convergent
Texas Convergent
As UT’s first interdisciplinary entrepreneurial organization, Texas Convergent aims to equip students, of differing disciplines, with the necessary skills and resources to drive the future of innovation.
Texas Enactus
Texas Enactus
At its core, Enactus is about creating social change through environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable initiatives. Using our unique skills and abilities, Texas Enactus students recognize community needs and build out ventures to address them.
Texas Small Business Association
Texas Small Business Association
Texas SBA is the most popular resource for small business owners and other officials to better understand the economic marketplace of Texas and gain access the business community.
Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition
Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition
This virtual competition offers a unique opportunity for graduate students from any UT System school to pitch their startup ideas to a panel of investors and entrepreneurs.
True Wealth Ventures
True Wealth Ventures
True Wealth Ventures sees value in the impact of women. They invest in smart female entrepreneurs, from consumer health innovators to sustainable product pioneers. Women-led companies have proven they deliver higher returns. It’s time to invest in new perspectives.
TSBA | Register Your Business
TSBA | Register Your Business
For most small businesses, registering your business is as simple as registering your business name with state and local governments.
U of Oregon New Venture Championship
U of Oregon New Venture Championship
The New Venture Championship (NVC) is a six-round business competition that inspires young entrepreneurs to develop their business dreams into a reality. Teams of graduate and undergraduate students from around the world come to Portland, Oregon every year to pitch their business plans and compete for $50,000 in total cash awards.
U.Pitch
U.Pitch
A prestigious national elevator pitch competition where top collegiate founders showcase business ideas to accomplished entrepreneurs and investors.
Union Square Ventures
Union Square Ventures
Union Square Ventures is a thesis-driven venture capital firm. Since 2003, we have invested in over 100 companies that use the power of the internet to re-shape markets.
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UT Startup Ecosystem
Explore HKC's interactive guide to all 52 entrepreneurship and innovation organizations at UT.
Village Capital
Village Capital
For more than a decade our team at Village Capital has been designing, testing and sharing tools and processes to correct this imbalance and drive more investment to entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. Why? Because they believe that a diversity of backgrounds leads to a diversity of ideas, and diversity of ideas leads to a diversity of solutions.