JD Weinstein, head of Oracle Startup Ecosystem in Austin.
On Friday, J.D. Weinstein, the new head of the Oracle Startup Ecosystem in Austin, provided details on the program including that it will be based at Capital Factory downtown.
“Usually, you don’t hear Oracle and Startup in the same sentence together until Oracle is buying a startup,” Weinstein said. But in Austin Oracle will make a big push to engage with startups, he said.
Weinstein, a former principal at WPP Ventures and previously a venture associate at Capital Factory, joined Oracle recently to run the Austin program which is Oracle’s first accelerator in North America. Oracle has eight other global locations in Bangalore, Bristol, Mumbai, Delhi, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Tel Aviv.
“If you’re a business to business technology company that is ready to scale and use enterprise customers then this could be the accelerator program for you,” Weinstein said.
Oracle and Capital Factory are joining forces to provide support and a network of connections to the startups selected for the program. The first cohort, which is expected to begin in September and last six months, will get access to Oracle’s 430,000 customers, technical and business mentors and more. The five to six startups selected to participate in the program will also get free co-working space at Capital Factory and access to its mentor network and community.
Oracle is not taking any equity in the startups it selects for the program and it’s not providing any financial investment, Weinstein said. Oracle hasn’t had a venture fund for years and works closely with other venture capital firms, he said.
“We are excited that Oracle has invested in Austin as the first U.S. location of its global accelerator,” Joshua Baer, founder and executive director, Capital Factory, said in a news statement. “The combination of our mentor network and Oracle’s cloud platform and customer connections will provide startups a major advantage in growing their business.”
Oracle has been steadily growing its presence in Austin. Oracle’s Founder Larry Ellison traveled to Austin in March to officially open Oracle’s Austin waterfront campus. The campus includes 560,000-square-foot building, as well as a parking garage, on 40 acres on the Lady Bird Lake waterfront. On-campus amenities include fitness facilities, a full-service café, food truck court, expansive business training and conference center, game rooms, terraces and outdoor collaboration areas, as well as the adjacent 295-unit Azul apartment complex, which serves as a housing option for Oracle employees. Ellison said he expects the campus to grow to more than 10,000 employees in coming years.
Oracle also bought an early-stage startup, Austin-based StackEngine, focused on cloud computing, backed by Silverton Partners and LiveOak Venture Partners, in 2015.
The Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator is accepting applications from early-stage tech companies through August 7. It’s industry agnostic, Weinstein said. The program will culminate with a formal Demo Day to investors and others in Austin community.
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