Summer is finally here. Whether you’re picking up fresh produce at the local farmer’s market, kayaking along Lady Bird Lake or enjoying a cocktail at the South Congress Hotel’s rooftop pool, it might also be a good time to catch up on the movers and shakers in your local tech scene — and Built In Austin has curated 12 noteworthy companies to get you started.
Despite an overall slowdown in U.S. capital funding in 2022, Austin-based early stage companies raised $5 billion last year — the second-highest amount in the region’s history, according to a report from the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and Opportunity Austin, in partnership with Dealroom.co. As a result, many of Austin’s tech employers are unveiling upgrades to the breadth, depth and inclusion of their culture and perks.
The companies featured here are unique in many ways, but all 12 have one thing in common: They are exciting, people-first organizations worth keeping on your radar.
Featured Companies
What Boomi does: Boomi enables companies to connect their applications, data, processes and people through a cloud-based integration platform. The SaaS company serves more than 20,000 clients, including Expedia, AT&T and American Express.
THE PERKS
- Generous PTO
- Robust parental leave, adoption assistance and child care benefits
- 401(k) matching and company equity
In the news: In June, Boomi launched Event Streams, an enterprise message queuing and streaming service, on its platform. The service allows companies to create more scalable and resilient integrations.
What NinjaOne does: NinjaOne provides a unified IT operations solution that simplifies endpoint management. Founded and based in Austin, NinjaOne also hosts offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tampa and Berlin.
THE PERKS
- Unlimited PTO
- Generous parental leave
- 80 percent coverage of all employee health care premiums, 100 percent coverage for dental preventative care, and 100 percent coverage for annual vision exams
Championing community: “We cultivate an environment where our people are valued and cared for,” Mike Reed, head of recruiting, told Built In Austin in July 2022. “Ninjas are given the opportunity to learn and develop their careers and are celebrated and rewarded along the way.”
What Q2 does: Q2 runs a mobile banking software platform for credit unions, community banks and large financial institutions. Founded in 2004, the fintech company has expanded to more than 20 million users. Today, one in 10 U.S. digital banking customers uses Q2’s platform, and more than 40 percent of the country’s top 100 banks say the platform is key to their digital strategy.
THE PERKS
- Unlimited PTO and paid volunteer time
- 12 weeks of paid parental leave and family planning benefits, including adoption support
- Lifestyle spending accounts for the gym, babysitters, dogsitters and more
Encouraging ownership: “All of our developers have ownership of projects at one point or another, regardless of their stage of career,” Sonya Imm, vice president of software development, told Built In Austin in August 2022. “Through this practice, natural leaders emerge organically, which has an extremely positive effect on our already strong sense of community and our inclusive culture here at Q2.”
What Billd does: Fintech company Billd offers 120-day payment terms on construction materials with every supplier. This service improves cash flow for contractors, who often foot the bill for materials and labor before they’re paid, and allows them to take on larger projects and grow their businesses.
THE PERKS
- Unlimited PTO
- Generous parental leave and adoption assistance
- 401(k) and company equity
Building skilled leaders: “I have been fortunate enough to have Billd sponsor me in a leadership development training program that takes into consideration a person’s unique personal and professional goals and matches them with the right mentor,” Tracy Catlin, director of strategic relationship management, told Built In Austin in March 2022. “Billd not only sees potential in me but is also willing to spend the extra time and money on my continued growth.”
What FLASH does: FLASH is the creator of a cloud-native parking technology platform. Founded in 2011, the transportation technology company allows real estate owners, parking operators and cities to tackle complex mobility issues, accelerating the emergence of smart cities.
THE PERKS
- Unlimited PTO
- Generous parental leave and up to 12 weeks of unpaid family medical leave per year
- 401(k) and company equity
Fueling an electric future: “At FLASH, we are leveraging our existing partnerships and parking infrastructure to deliver a seamless electric vehicle charging experience,” Jessica Weissberg, senior director of product design, told Built In Austin in March. “We aim to provide an experience that is intuitive, reliable and convenient whether it starts at home, during your commute or at your destination.”
What Lansweeper does: Lansweeper enables teams to discover, analyze and connect their IT assets. Its technology asset intelligence platform is supported by two specialized sub-brands: Fing, which focuses on home office technology management, and Cloudockit, which provides cloud documentation and visualization.
THE PERKS
- Generous parental leave
- 401(k) matching
- Continuing education stipends
Who Lansweeper is hiring: Roles in operations, data and analytics, development and engineering, finance, legal and product
What Orchard does: Orchard supports people in buying and selling their homes with listing preparation, in-house local home advisors, guaranteed cash offers and more. The real estate technology company currently offers its services in Austin, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Houston and San Antonio.
THE PERKS
- Unlimited PTO and paid volunteer time
- Generous paid parental leave, with a return-to-work program
- Wellness resources such as on-demand mental health therapy, free fitness classes and discounted gym access
Cultivating career growth: “The most rewarding part of my career has come from the delegation and coaching of my team,” Rachel Bennett, director of sales training, told Built In Austin in March. “By walking alongside them and providing coaching and mentorship, I have seen them become stronger, more confident and more skilled in their roles.”
What Self Financial does: Self Financial helps people establish their credit through affordable financial products. CEO James Garvey was inspired to start the fintech company in 2015, after a mistake with his automatic credit card payments tanked his credit score.
THE PERKS
- Unlimited PTO
- Generous parental leave, with a return-to-work program
- 401(k) and equity incentive plans
Empowering the self: “I get excited every day to be able to set the tech vision for the company and how we should build our software to support the business,” Brenda Contreras, vice president of engineering and head of architecture, told Built In Austin in March. “We host quarterly events at Self Financial for employees and women in the community to network and speak on topics that impact us.”
What Redgate Software does: For more than 20 years, Redgate Software has specialized in database software. The company’s philosophy is to design usable, reliable tools that solve the problems that developers and database administrators face. Based in the United Kingdom, Redgate Software serves more than 200,000 businesses, including 91 percent of Fortune 100 companies.
THE PERKS
- Generous PTO, paid volunteer time and sabbatical opportunities
- Robust parental leave, with a return-to-work program
- 401(k) matching
No gatekeeping at Redgate: “Everyone, especially the product teams and engineers, are more than happy to help facilitate a better understanding of our products,” Kimberly Whitley, account executive, told Built In Austin in December 2022. “I have a team of people who I know at any moment would drop what they are doing to help me, and they are always my biggest cheerleaders.”
What M-Files does: M-Files operates a metadata-driven document management platform that enables knowledge workers to instantly find the information they need. In May, M-Files announced it had achieved “centaur status” with $100 million in annual recurring revenue.
THE PERKS
- Unlimited PTO and paid volunteer time
- Continuing education stipends and tuition reimbursement
- 401(k) matching
In the news: Upon achieving “centaur status” in May, CEO and Founder Antti Nivala said that he was proud of the achievement and looking forward to the company’s continued success and growth.
“When I started M-Files back in Finland, our vision was to create a fundamentally new and unique approach to information management,” Nivala said in the statement. “Today, this vision is fully realized, and our centaur milestone reflects many years of hard work and dedication from M-Files employees and partners around the world.”
What Homeward does: Real estate startup Homeward offers two services — helping people buy homes with cash and supporting them in buying before they sell — in select markets. The startup partners with real estate agents and purchases their clients' homes in cash. Later, clients buy their homes back from the company.
Founder and CEO Tim Heyl started Homeward in 2018, when he bought the first customer’s home with his own life savings.
THE PERKS
- Generous PTO
- 14 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caretakers and 7 weeks for secondary caretakers
- Up to 2 percent 401(k) matching and company equity
Investing in employees: “The learning and development team has done extensive work to build out effective new hire onboarding programs, engaging new teammates — especially in a remote environment, making sure no one gets lost in the shuffle — and building thoughtful growth and development tracks for dozens of roles here,” Claire Morris, chief operations officer, told Built In Austin in May 2022. “I am so proud of how Homeward has invested in its number one resource — our people!”
What Rex does: Rex incubates, launches and operates startups at the intersection of technology and real estate. With 10 companies under its umbrella, including JobCall, InsurePro and PayUp, Rex offers solutions that range from insuring and paying workers to asset managing and investing.
THE PERKS
- Unlimited PTO
- 401(k) matching and company equity
- Fitness stipends
Standout collaboration: “We prioritize fast iteration, effective communication and consistent collaboration as we recognize their impacts on our growth and success,” Georges Colbert, co-founder and machine learning lead at JobCall, told Built In Austin in December 2022. “Successful collaboration is driven by both sides being consistently informed about each other’s decisions.”
