SiFive, based in San Mateo, Calif., has expanded to Silicon Hills with an Austin office.

Founded in 2015, SiFive is a fabless semiconductor company that produces computer chips based on the RISC-V instruction set architecture. Its customers include Qualcomm, Imagination Technologies, Avatar Integrated Systems, Quicklogic Corp.. The company also recently closed on $65 million in Series D funding. It has raised $129 million to date, according to CrunchBase.

SiFive’s Austin office is led by long-time semiconductor executives Keith Witek, senior vice president of corporate development and general counsel and Hiren Majmudar, the company’s vice president of product development.

SiFive’s office is in Bee Cave and has 14 employees. It focuses on sales, field application engineering, product and marketing functions. And the office is expanding and hiring more employees.

“Strong relationships with technology companies are key to SiFive’s future success and growth,” Witek said in a news release. “Austin is a large and growing technology hub, and SiFive’s presence here will allow us to strengthen critical business alliances. Our goal is to help customers create new system-on-a-chip solutions with the advantages of reduced cost, faster time-to-market, more efficient use of headcount and lower risk, all accelerated through pervasive ecosystem support and the rapid customization and innovation that an open source business models can enable.”

“Our mission is to enable everyone, from individual innovators to startups to large multi-national corporations, to create custom hardware for their products with customizable RISC-V IP and cloud-based SoC development,” Majmudar said in a news release. “With a RISC-V strategy top of mind for many leading semiconductor companies, we will make RISC-V cores, efficient cloud SoC design and SiFive solutions the clear choice for improving design efficiency for teams driving differentiated SoC solutions to market.”

Witek, who holds more than 30 patents in semiconductor and related technologies, has previously held leadership positions at Motorola, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, AMD and Tesla, Witek led legal, business development, corporate development, venture capital, engineering and strategy teams to drive multinational, strategic programs.

SiFive also has offices in Beaverton, Ore, Boston, Bangalore and Pune, India, Shanghai, Taiwan, and Seoul, South Korea.

By LAURA LOREK, Publisher of Silicon Hills News

Ask anyone who has worked at multiple companies and they probably have a story about a bad experience joining a new organization.

Companies spend, on average, $2,500 to hire a new white-collar employee, but once they hire them, they should spend a little more money bringing them on board the company in the best way possible, said Brent Pearson, founder and CEO of Enboarder. And for blue collar jobs, the problem also exists and can lead to turnover quickly if the onboarding experience is not handled right, he said.

That’s the opportunity Pearson identified as a Human Resources technology provider. He saw that a lot of the products on the market were geared to making it easier for HR employees to handle paperwork without focusing on the new employee experience.

“It became clear to me traditional onboarding is badly broken,” Pearson said. “Almost every company you speak with has been struggling with it.”

So, in 2015, Pearson founded Enboarder which has created an HR software platform that personalizes the process of joining a new company.

“The way you bring someone into a company can have profound impact on employee retention and customer satisfaction,” Pearson said.

Enboarder announced Wednesday it has raised $8 million. With the new funding, the company which is based in Sydney, Australia, plans to make Austin its new U.S. headquarters. Enboarder, founded in 2015, currently has six Austin employees but plans to more than triple in size this year. The company, with 40 employees overall, is planning to double in size in the next year and is hiring employees for sales, marketing, customer success and product functions.

Greycroft, a previous investor, led the Series A round with participation from new investors Next Coast Ventures and Stage 2 Capital. To date, the company has raised $12 million.

 “Employee expectations are higher than ever and Enboarder is helping companies really own and drive personalized onboarding experiences at scale,” Thomas Ball, co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures, said in a news release.

Enboarder has more than 200 global customers including McDonald’s, Hugo Boss, EA Games and Eventbrite. In addition, Enboarder’s corporate client portfolio includes Gap, Verizon, Wyndham and, most recently, Compass, the 10,000-employee real estate brokerage firm.

 “We’re living in an experience era and yet we welcome new hires with a process. Employees have all the power today and place a premium on experience,” Pearson said. “Employers need to adapt in order to thrive, and that’s what we’re focused on at Enboarder.”

Enboarder is one of a growing number of local startups with connections to Australia.

Others include BigCommerce, founded in Sydney, and now headquartered in Austin with two locations and more than 400 employees. And Atlassian founded in 2002 in Sydney, Australia, which has a 75,000-square foot office in downtown Austin and more than 300 employees. And ShippingEasy which relocated from Sydney, Australia to Austin in 2012 and four years later Stamps.com bought the company for $55 million.

And more recently, Tiger Pistol founded in 2011 in Melbourne, Australia and moved its headquarters to Austin in 2017.

“Austin has a fairly unique culture about it that is attractive to Australians,” Pearson said.

Currently, Enboarder is based at WeWork on Congress but plans to move into a new space downtown in coming weeks. Pearson also splits his time between Austin and Sydney. He has an apartment here.

Here’s how Enboarder’s software works: a new hire at the Gap is going to start work in three weeks. He gets a text message sent to his phone to kick off the onboarding process. When he taps the link, the experience starts. It could be a letter from the CEO welcoming him onboard or a video from his manager and new team or a video about the company overall. A week later, he gets another text message requesting information about his favorite sports team, hobbies, favorite foods, preferred snacks and other interests and passions. That information goes to his manager. And then on his first day, the manager could have his workstation decorated in his favorite sports theme, his favorite snack on hand and could take him to lunch featuring one of the foods he likes.

“All of those little things cost the company nothing and they create a really important team vibe,” Pearson said. “You feel really welcomed.”

And the result has been increased retention of employees, happier employees who then provide great customer service, Pearson said. Almost every one of our customers report reduction in first year turnover, he said.

Enboarder’s technology platform is built to scale too, Pearson said. A New York-based real estate company acquired a company with 1,600 employees and used Enboarder’s platform to onboard them all at once, he said. And Enboarder’s software easily integrates with existing technology and can be up and running in a few hours, Pearson said.

 “Our systems are designed to scale whether you hire 50 new people a year or 500,000 a year,” Pearson said.

In a tight job market, how a company brings a new employee into the organization can make all the difference in retaining that employee and recruiting new ones, Pearson said.

Opcity announced Thursday plans to open a second office in downtown Austin with up to 200 employees to serve as its product and engineering hub.

The Austin-based startup plans to move into its new office at 901 E. 6^th Street in the fall. It plans to occupy 29,000 square feet of a 129, 444 square foot building currently under construction.

The new Opcity office will be home to its product, engineering, data science and analytics employees.

Opcity originally started at Galvanize downtown and branched out to the nearby Silicon Labs building. But the fast-growing startup, founded in 2015, needed more space and moved its headquarters in 2017 to a large building in the Burleson Tech Center South of downtown.

And last year,  Move, Inc., which operates Realtor.com, and is a subsidiary of News Corp., acquired  Opcity for $210 million.

“This new location will give us access to a greater pool of resources and talent that will allow us to remain a leader in real estate innovation. Downtown Austin is a great tech hub and we’re excited to be back in the heart of it,” Ben Rubenstein, CEO of Opcity, said in a news release.

The new office features natural light and is being designed by architectural firm Perkins + Will to mirror other realtor.com locations. It will  “be equipped with a fully stocked kitchenette, meeting and huddle rooms, secure bike racks, a dog park, showers, and more,” according to a news release.

Opcity creates a “technology platform that uses data science and machine learning to connect home buyers and sellers with a real estate professional that meets their specific needs”

Opcity has approximately 600 employees focused primarily on customer service, sales, marketing, finance and accounting at its 6800 Burleson Road headquarters.

Alamo Angels announced Tuesday that Kim Biffle is its new executive director and CEO.

The San Antonio-based group of angel investors, which launched in December of 2016, is now comprised of more than 100 members who have invested in 18 businesses.

Biffle is Alamo Angels third executive director. She replaced Cat Dizon who left to become co-founder and COO of Active Capital, a San Antonio-based venture capital firm that invests in early stage business to business software startups.

“We are living in exciting times and must meet our challenges and opportunities with the help of extraordinary leaders. Kim is exactly that leader Alamo Angels was looking for. She will help us immeasurably and we look forward to collaborating with her and our partners,” Alamo Angels board of director Rahul Patel said in a news statement.

Previously Biffle worked as the director of Annual Fund, vice president of external affairs and chief of engagement at the Witte Museum.

“I am both honored and inspired by the responsibility afforded to me by Alamo Angels. This is a perfect match for my aspirations to make a difference in the world. The work and vision of Alamo Angels will have a meaningful and lasting effect in our community and beyond.  I look forward to helping achieve the mission and work of Alamo Angels,” Biffle said..

June 6th

Austin Tech Open Coffee Downtown

When: 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.

Where: Houndstooth Coffee, 401 Congress Ave, (Frost Bank Tower)

Why: Hosted by Open Austin Coffee, created by Damon Clinkscales and sponsored by Egan Nelson, is an informal gathering of Austin’s tech community to network over coffee. For more info.

June 6th

Capital Factory 10^th Anniversary Party

When: Thursday, June 6^th at 5 p.m.

Where: Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street

Why: “Get ready for a Texas-sized birthday party. Capital Factory has finally hit double digits! This year marks our 10th Anniversary, and we intend to honor every person in our community who has helped lead us to where we are today – including all of our amazing founders, mentors, members, staff and investors.” For more info.

June 10th

BioBash Spring

When: Monday, June 10^th at 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Where: Mean Eyed Cat 1621 West 5th Street Austin, TX 78703

Why: “BioAustin invites you to join us for our Spring BioBash event on Monday, June 10th from 6 – 8 PM at the Mean Eyed Cat near Mopac and Cesar Chavez St. BioBash is our premier networking event and provides attendees a chance to hear from the life sciences, biotech and health tech companies here in Central Texas, network with other life science professionals and see posters and abstract from our academic community.” For more info.

June 11th

AI: The Power, Promise & Pragmatic Potential

When: Tuesday, June 11^th at 6:15 p.m.

Where: Austin Central Public Library, 710 W. Cesar Chavez

Why: “In this Austin Forum session on AI, you will hear from experts on what’s driving this, why is it a big deal, and how are individuals, organizations and governments poised to take advantage. You will gain perspectives on how you should shape your involvement and activities to prepare yourself for this new industrial revolution, but also gain practical insights on what you should do to thrive during its evolution into a global force.” For more info.

June 12

Venture Forward

When: Thursday, June 12^th at 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: The Riveter, 1145 West 5th Street Austin, TX 78703

Why: “The Riveter and Christina Vuleta present Venture Forward, a venturing salon focused on helping entrepreneurs move forward in their business ventures. Join us for an evening of collaborative wisdom with featured advisors and connecting with women who are a step or two ahead of you can accelerate your progress and offer the support you need.” For more info.

June 12th

Bumble Bizz Presents: Connect Like a Boss

When: Wednesday, June 12^th at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Where:  W Hotel  200 Lavaca St, Austin, TX 78701

Why: Speed Networking Happy Hour For more info.

June 12th

Innovation Bridge: Mexico-Austin

When: Wednesday, June 12^th at 5 p.m.

Where:  Consulate General of Mexico Austin, 5202 East Ben White Blvd., Austin 78741

Why: “You are invited to a Pitch Night celebrating the startups of the Innovation Bridge Mexico-Austin program at the Consulate General of Mexico’s Austin office. The startups pitching represent Mexican innovation across many industries.” For more info.

June 12th

State of Talent

When: Wednesday, June 12^th 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: UT Austin, Robert B. Rowling Hall, 300 West MLK Blvd., Austin, TX 78701

Why: “Join key community leaders to learn what it will take to upskill Austin’s talent and how businesses fit into the overall plan. Discover strategies to help employers, job seekers and hiring professionals maximize our workforce, help the unemployed, and attract even more talent. Meet with and hear from the experts with similar challenges and proposed solutions.” For more info.

June 13^th

Summer Startup Soiree

When: Thursday, June 13^th at 4 p.m.to 6 p.m.

Where: Capital Factory, 701 Brazos Street

Why: “We’re thrilled to welcome Brex, the first corporate card built specifically for startups, to Austin for a lively summer networking happy hour at Capital Factory! The evening will kick off with a brief overview from Brex’s very first employee on how the company was able to scale from Beta to Unicorn status in just six months. Capital Factory readily encourages entrepreneurs to take risks, and Brex has first-hand knowledge on how to navigate well-established fields effectively.” For more info.

June 13^th

Demystifying Big Data

When: Thursday, June 13th at 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Oracle, 2300 Cloud Way, Austin, TX 78741

Why: “This panel will focus on topics around Big Data (collecting, organizing, and utilizing data), and the past, present, and future of Artificial Intelligence (business and personal use). The panelists will also touch on the skills and qualifications necessary to tap into the industry. Our experienced panelists include executives and recruiters that specialize in hiring data professionals.” For more info.

June 18^th-21st

Digital Banking 2019

When: Tuesday, June 18^th – Friday, June 21st.

Where: Austin Convention Center, 500 East Cesar Chavez St.

Why: Various panels, discussions and keynote speakers on the financial technology services industry. For more info.

June 20th

MassChallenge Texas in Austin

When: Thursday, June 20^th at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Native Hostel and Bar & Café, 807 East 4th Street, Austin, TX 78702

Why: “Join the MassChallenge Texas in Austin finalist startups at our largest open-floor, open-to-the-public expo this year! This trade show style event is the first-look at the startups participating in the MassChallenge Texas in Austin 2019 program. Come out to learn about these emerging businesses and how their new ideas and creativity are poised to change the way we live, work, and play.” For more info.

June 27th

Ask Me Anything with Brad Bentz, principal with ATX Venture Partners

When: Thursday, June 27^th at 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Where: Galvanize, 119 Nueces Street, Austin, TX

Why: Lunch and learn – ask me anything – with Brad Bentz, a principal with ATX Venture Partners.For more info.

Apps Associates, based in Boston, announced Tuesday that it has acquired Austin-based SmartDog Services.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SmartDog Services, founded in 1990, is a service provider to customers that use Oracle products. And Apps Associates is one of the largest Oracle-focused cloud migration and managed services companies in the U.S.

“SmartDog Services is a natural extension to our existing portfolio of services and solution and helps to expand our business with a meaningful footprint in the Central U.S. region,” Adrian King, CEO at Apps Associates, said in a news release. “In addition to deep industry knowledge, our organizations share longstanding relationships with customers and partners, and we are now in an even better position to help them as they continue to support their existing systems and embark on migration to the cloud.”

“Apps Associates has a rich history of delivering long-term value for Oracle customers, and has a comprehensive service offering that we believe our customers really need,” Scott Elequin, President of SmartDog Services, said in a news release. “Combining forces with Apps Associates will allow us to better serve these customers and will help us fulfill our mission and vision. In addition, og our companies are both extremely customer-centric, and align from a cultural and philosophical perspective. This is a natural pairing that will benefit our employees, our customers and our partners.”

Austin-based Skills Fund, a financing platform for bootcamps and tech skill training schools, announced Tuesday that it has been acquired by San Diego, Calif.-based Goal Structured Solutions.

The acquisition was an all cash deal but the sales price was not disclosed.

Skills Fund, founded in 2015, previously raised $11.5 million in seed stage funding.

“We created Skills Fund four years ago with a simple premise: don’t finance students to go to crappy schools. We’ve delivered on that promise by underwriting the quality of education to ensure programs genuinely deliver career outcomes worth a student’s time and money,” Rick O’Donnell, Founder and CEO of Skills Fund, said in a news release. “Furthermore, student demand for lenders who focus on real outcomes is off the charts. By teaming up with Goal, we will have additional resources to serve even more students at a broader array of programs that deliver great outcomes.”

Skills Fund partners with more than 70 schools and 400 programs. It lends money to students participating in programs in software development, web development, data science, and cybersecurity

Goal is the largest third-party provider of student loan services and currently manages a portfolio of over $26 billion.

“This transaction is an exciting opportunity to continue expanding our commitment to outcomes-based lending. Higher education is moving away from encouraging students (and their parents) from taking out student loans for an education that doesn’t pay off. Skills Fund is at the forefront of fixing the misalignments among accreditors, lenders, and schools regarding what is best for the student. With Skills Fund now a part of the Goal family of companies, we further strengthen our efforts as the leader of outcomes-based student lending,” Ken Ruggiero, Chairman and CEO of Goal, said in a news release.

Skills Fund will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Goal, with the Skills Fund team continuing to be based out of Austin. O’Donnell and co-founder Joseph Kozusko will continue to lead the company.

FloSports, live digital sports media company, this week announced it has closed $47 million in new funding.

Current investor Discovery Inc. led the round of funding, which also included participation from existing investors Causeway Media Partners, LP, Fertitta Capital, and DCM Ventures, as well as strategic investors World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.

To date, the Austin-based company, founded in 2006, has raised $79.2 million in funding. It has 250 employees.

FloSports reports its subscribers and annual recurring revenue grew by more than 50 percent from the previous year.

“We are excited to continue building on the momentum of our recent strong growth, including our best quarter ever,” FloSports CEO and Co-Founder Mark Floreani said in a news release. “With this new round of funding from our investors, we will further enrich underserved sports communities by broadening our existing coverage and expanding into new verticals.”

“We are big believers in the consumer appeal of OTT (Over The Top) verticals like FloSports to serve passionate communities and fans,” Bruce Campbell, Chief Development, Distribution, and Legal Officer, Discovery said in a news release.  “FloSports aligns nicely with Discovery’s global direct-to-consumer strategy and provides us with opportunities to apply learnings to our own OTT products. We’re excited to deepen our participation in this growth and innovation story.”

FloSports focuses on covering live events through its subscription-based network. It provides coverage of 25 sports and broadcasts more than 10,000 live events annually.

As a provider of in-depth coverage across 25 sports that broadcast more than 10,000 live events annually.

“While live events are the center of our offering, original programming is a cornerstone—we’re committed to providing our subscribers with engaging content out of season,” Floreani said. Currently, FloSports offers more than 2,000 hours of premium content.

The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce celebrated Austin’s hottest startups at its A-List Award ceremony.

The chamber gave awards to 24 companies in various stages of development. In addition, the Chamber recognized Joshua Baer with Capital Factory; Dan and Lisa Graham with Notley; Whitney Wolfe with Bumble for their contribution to the ecosystem in the culture category.

The event took place last week at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. The following companies won awards:

Start-Up: Briggo Coffee; Babson Diagnostics, Inc.; CherryCircle Software, Inc.; Chrono.gg; ICON; Rabbet; Ticketbud; SchooLinks; SourceDay; SupportNinja

Mid-Size: Convey; Better Bites Bakery; Double A Labs; Elligo Health Research; OJO Labs; ScaleFactor; Shattuck Labs, Inc.; Shipwell

Scaling: Cece’s Veggie Co.; Erin Condren Design; ESO; Pathway Vet Alliance; Rev.com; Talroo

Backtracks, a data and analytics and hosting platform for podcasts, announced Thursday that it has raised $2.1 million in seed stage funding.

Moonshots Capital, Capital Factory, Sputnik ATX, Next Coast Ventures, and Bull Creek Capital led the round with participation from BNSG Capital.

Backtracks plans to use the funding to further product innovation and to hire key staff. As part of the deal, Kelly Perdew, co-founder and managing general partner at Moonshots Capital will join the board.

Previously, Backtracks received $100,000 in seed stage investment from Austin-based Sputnik ATX and participated in the accelerator’s inaugural class in 2018.

Backtracks provides audience data information to podcasters and advertisers. With the data, advertisers can then launch targeted campaigns to listeners and podcasters can make money from their podcasts.

Jonathan Gill and Kevin Wright founded Backtracks. They previously worked together at Mozu, which Vista Equity Partners acquired.

“Podcasts and spoken word audio content are experiencing massive growth with an expected 53% increase in listenership over the next four years. Backtracks allows audio content creators and brands harness the power of that growth to own their revenue and drive audience growth,” Gill, CEO of Backtracks, said in a news release.

“The podcasting space is a massive market that is ripe for disruption and Jonathan and Kevin are the team to do it,” Michael Smerklo, co-founder and Managing Director of Next Coast Ventures said in a news release. “They are seasoned founders with deep domain expertise on the complexities of designing an industry-agnostic platform that can integrate different offerings for customers big and small. Backtracks is not just a company that has the most cutting-edge analytics or the latest monetization tools to leverage advertising, their platform truly serves as a one-stop shop for brands that want to extend their reach and unlock the full potential podcasting has to offer.”