Chamber partnership looks to strengthen connection to startup community

The Austin Chamber of Commerce has extended its reach to become directly involved with launching startups in the city, bringing the business incubator Founder Institute Austin into its offices downtown. The one-year pilot program allows the institute, which has chapters in 200 cities and 100 countries, to hold in-person courses in Austin for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Approximately 30 hopeful entrepreneurs were slated to be in the spring cohort that started Feb. 8, learning about product development, fundraising, business scaling, and more over a three-month semester. The chamber and its Opportunity Austin arm will lend its resources and network to the program participants with the hope that those connections will encourage graduates to keep their growing companies in the area and strengthen the local economy.

While Austin was Founder Institute’s first Texas chapter upon its opening in 2017, it has since expanded into Dallas and Houston. Since the parent organization was founded, it has assisted in the formation of more than 6,500 startups around the globe.

“​​When you look at what they’ve been able to accomplish globally … this just made sense because they were in need of a location and it helps us fulfill our mission in a lot of ways connected to the continuum of care needed for entrepreneurs and startups,” said Roland Peña, the chamber’s senior vice president of global technology and innovation. “These efforts become game-changers for us, providing resiliency and providing attraction for these startups. What we’re seeing now in terms of innovation, entrepreneurs are coming here from all over the world in every industry sector, and every type of innovative product.”

Martín Martinez, executive director of the Texas chapters of Founder Institute, said Austin has a solid reputation in the startup world because of its pool of talent in technology and other business sectors, along with a more open attitude among established business leaders looking to help newer companies.

“What makes this city so attractive is Austin has a level of collaboration and openness that’s unmatched, certainly for people coming from the coasts. We’re all willing to sit down and give feedback and it’s not about who you know or what your pedigree is and where you’re from,” he said. “There’s a shared vision for what Austin could be.”

With the organization operating in two other Texas metros, Martinez said other cities are working hard to make themselves more attractive, with Houston specifically targeting economic development organizations with grants and other resources to assist young companies. He said the relationship with the chamber could help to allay fears brought about by infrastructure failures such as the recent winter storm that disrupted power service throughout the city and created something of a “fend for yourself” mentality.

“I worry Austin might get complacent sometimes as having this reputation as a destination for technology and entrepreneurship and quality of life,” he said. “The relationship with the chamber is the first step in that direction since this is a great entryway, since for lots of startups just trying to navigate the economic development community can be daunting. We want to break down those barriers and make it more simple to connect and make it easier to grow in this community.”

Peña said he expects the one-year agreement to be extended based on the institute’s track record and the importance it places on graduates becoming part of the local business ecosystem.

“One of the things we’d like to see is how many of these founders will stick with the program in this city,” he said. “These are founders that come from all over the state of Texas, and all over the world. If they stay, there’s another company that helps to influence our vibrancy, creates jobs, and they continue to expand, scale and grow.”

Photo by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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