San Antonio startups Darkhive and Freyya do very various things.
Darkhive is a drone know-how firm that primarily serves the U.S. army. Freyya is creating a novel medical machine that may help in pelvic care.
On Tech Day, although, Freyya CEO and co-founder Gabriele Niederauer and Darkhive chief of workers Michael Smith shared the stage to debate what they’ve in frequent. The occasion, organized by nonprofit Tech Bloc, featured panels discussing San Antonio’s know-how and startup sectors.
Niederauer and Smith mentioned their enterprise’ journeys whereas reflecting on the challenges they confronted and the energy of San Antonio’s workforce.
“There’s such a hotbed of expertise right here, whether or not it’s the army group or all of the younger tech graduates which might be right here,” Smith stated.
“We work with clinicians in numerous components of the U.S., however I’m actually excited as a result of we’ve got specialists on the College of Texas Well being Science Middle,” Niederauer stated. “Once you begin attending to work, you will discover a whole lot of native expertise and faucet into that.”
They’re two examples of native startups capitalizing on native financial strengths — San Antonio’s strong medical sector and its position as a middle for U.S. army infrastructure. They’re not the one ones. Leaders within the tech startup house are more and more targeted on enjoying to native financial strengths.
Charles Woodin, CEO at Geekdom, stated he desires to see San Antonio startups succeed much more throughout the native economic system. Geekdom was based as a coworking house meant to assist foster native tech startups. Just lately, it’s expanded to work with companies outdoors the tech sector.
“Why not focus our power on serving to our business companions via our startups?” stated Woodin, who spoke at Tech Day, in an interview after Tuesday’s occasion.
Completely different companies, native success
Darkhive began in 2021. It now has greater than 50 workers, in keeping with Smith, a strong contract with the U.S. army and a Southtown headquarters.
Freyya is newer. Niederauer is concentrated on pre-seed funding and getting approval for her product from the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration and hasn’t introduced its product to market but.
Niederauer has lived in San Antonio for 30 years and has efficiently labored with a number of different medical corporations throughout her profession, together with a novel catheter know-how at Bluegrass Vascular Applied sciences, which was acquired by Benefit Medical in 2023.
San Antonio’s bioscience sector is a boon to that work, she stated, since there’s a secure of medical and insurance coverage specialists she will look to domestically for suggestions and recommendation: “We get entry to a number of the key thinkers on this house.”
Smith famous San Antonio’s wealth of army branches, bases and personnel. That proximity is vital for doing enterprise with the U.S. army, he stated, and hiring from a proficient pool of veteran staff.
Darkhive has additionally capitalized on San Antonio’s manufacturing sector, serving to make components for drones at an Eastside manufacturing facility. Smith stated the corporate started as a drone-maker.
“As we have been creating these, we realized how flooded the house is,” he stated. “What they don’t make are parts.”
Darkhive pivoted. Now the corporate focuses on constructing drone components for different corporations and creating communications and software program applied sciences for drones and their operators.
Freyya produces a small sensor that measures muscle utilization whereas girls are taking part in pelvic remedy. Pelvic issues — points with girls’s pelvic ground muscle groups — have an effect on 1 in 4 girls within the U.S., Niederauer stated. These issues may cause ache, bladder or bowel leaks and organ prolapse.
Freyya’s machine permits girls to get suggestions on their muscle energy in actual time via an app. Niederauer gained Tech Gasoline, Tech Bloc’s annual pitch competitors on Monday, and took residence $50,000 for her enterprise.
Give attention to native industries
Tech Bloc and Geekdom are each key contributors to San Antonio’s startup ecosystem, targeted on supporting entrepreneurs which might be bringing new concepts, and hopefully new companies and jobs to the group.
In a nod to San Antonio’s financial strengths, Tech Bloc has organized a speaker collection targeted on cybersecurity, manufacturing, well being science and aerospace industries. It hosted its Tech Gasoline and Tech Day competitions at Port San Antonio.
Throughout her panel, Niederauer famous that discovering mid- to later-stage capital is tough for San Antonio startups. It was doable to get corporations off the bottom, however enterprise capital is more durable to seek out, she stated.
Geekdom is highlighting native concepts and propping up small companies, Woodin stated, as a result of he’s not ready round for a tech startup in San Antonio to develop into a large company.
“An expectation {that a} Rackspace-type of company goes to occur once more in San Antonio … is unrealistic,” he stated.
Rackspace grew quickly in San Antonio within the 2000s. It was purchased by a personal fairness firm for $4.3 billion in 2016 and had as many as 7,000 workers in 2021, however bumped into uneven waters when tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft stepped into the cloud computing world.
Distant work has unfold staff out and made it more durable to create one thing of that magnitude and measurement once more, Woodin stated.
As a substitute, he hopes to attach San Antonio’s entrepreneurs with its established companies. These business leaders have issues to resolve, Woodin stated. Its entrepreneurs may need the options.
“The following Rackspace we get enthusiastic about might be considerably completely different,” he stated. “I don’t suppose that’s a nasty factor.”
San Antonio does have robust core industries, Woodin stated, so if entrepreneurs can clear up their issues and present native success, they’ll scale up in these industries.
“It’s bringing these two teams into the identical room,” he stated. “That’s an space we’re engaged on.”
