Corporate Innovation Firm Rainmaking Expands to Austin

Rainmaking, a corporate innovation and development firm, has opened an office in downtown Austin.

The organization, founded in 2006 in Denmark, runs Startupbootcamp accelerator programs throughout Europe. It launches impact-focused startups, builds them into successful companies and eventually exits them.

To date, Rainmaking has scaled more than 700 ventures in 15 different industries, which collectively have secured $1.3 billion in investment and created more than 1,500 jobs. They work with large corporations including IKEA, HSBC, Airbus, Jaguar, Facebook, VISA and others.

But now Rainmaking is expanding to the U.S. with Todd O’Brien, CEO of corporate startup engagement partner at Rainmaking, opening the Austin office.

“We already work with a lot of businesses in the U.S. and we have an established presence in the market through our Startupbootcamp accelerator programs. Opening an office in Austin allows us to partner with more corporations that want to integrate impact into their business while leveraging the ever-growing tech startup scene in Austin and beyond,” O’Brien said in a news statement.

Rainmaking is also partnering with Ingrid Vanderveldt, founder of the “Empowering a Billion Women by 2020” movement.

Vanderveldt and O’Brien worked together previously at Dell as Entrepreneurs in Residence. Together, they plan to help companies drive financial growth and make real progress on business, environmental and social issues. Sustainable Development Goals is a trillion-dollar problem, according to Rainmaking.

“For most organizations, sustainability transformations remain challenging to achieve and come with risks,” Vanderveldt said in a news release. “I have met a lot of executives seeking to balance the desire to create impact while also driving bottom-line business and financial results. Very often, results can be achieved faster by engaging with innovative startups.”

Rainmaking helps its clients refine and focus on its strategic areas to source and select startups who are the right fit, according to O’Brien.

“We mitigate the key touchpoints to drive growth through the integration and balance of social, human and financial capital,” he said.

Rainmaking is also driving major initiatives on a broad spectrum of social impact issues, closely aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and it’s a member of the UN Global Compact.