Back in 2021, Austin was considered a top city to watch when it came to tech funding and startups opening their doors. Three years later, investors continue to infuse the growth of rising tech stars in the Texas city.
After an influx of funding in 2023, tech companies are ramping up their hiring for the new year. Hiring managers are searching for tech talent who want to work on the cutting edge of social media, fintech, food delivery tech, athletic recruiting and AI.
These Austin companies have all put time and effort into their people-first benefits and their community — with perks that are focused on everything from family support to professional development. Here are the top six companies taking care of Austinites this month.
What Snap does: Snap is the software company behind social media platform Snapchat, Bitmoji, Snap AR and Spectacles.
THE PERKS
- Childcare benefits
- Four-day work week
- Dedicated diversity and inclusion staff
IRL Platform: Snap hosts an annual event that is an immersive digital playground. The Snap Partner Summit 2023 showcased leading-edge technology and interactive visual storytelling.
What Q2 does: Q2 builds mobile banking software platforms serving credit unions, banks (large and small), community banks and financial institutions.
CORE VALUES
- Giving back: Q2 hosts annual fundraisers and employees volunteered more than 9,000 hours of service to their communities in 2022 alone.
- Employee recognition: The company hosts a “Circle of Awesomeness” annual award celebration.
- Career growth: Q2 has specific mentorship programs for all employees.
A Global Community: Q2 has offices in Austin and in India. The global company has a strong emphasis on employee learning and growth, which is why all of the professional development resources available to North American team members, including live training sessions, a “leadership academy” and more are present in Bangalore and Austin. The company also enables employees to travel between the two offices when needed.
“We’ve done a good job of facilitating in-person interactions around the globe and giving people experiences to expand their careers by getting to see a world much larger than their local city or country,” Senior VP of Alternate Lending Bill Gravette told Built in.
What Apex does: Apex Fintech Solutions, the "fintech for fintechs,” enables frictionless investing. Apex’s digital ecosystem includes SaaS solutions through its Apex Clearing, Apex Advisor Solutions and Apex Silver Market brands.
The Perks
- 401(k) with a 50% match up to the first 6% of eligible compensation
- Performance bonuses
- Company equity
New Faces and New AI: Apex Fintech Solutions recently appointed Chief Financial Officer Chantal Wessels, who brings over 18 years of financial industry experience to the firm. Wessels was previously the division CFO for the Capital Access Platform division at Nasdaq. Apex also recently introduced an internal company AI chatbot where employees can find answers to questions related to internal resources, policies, documents and more.
What Favor does: Favor is a food delivery platform.
TECH STACK
- Slack
- Trello
- Jira
- Figma
- AWS
- Kubernetes
Collaboration and Learning: Senior Android Software Engineer Adam Schlough was able to take part in an “intern(al)ship” program at Favor where he shadowed engineers. Afterwards, he was able to join the QA team.
“A huge part of my personal development has been the freedom to pursue new challenges,” Schlough told Built In. “As our team grows, the sky really is the limit. We have many more resources and systems in place to help the team hit the ground running and build solutions while maintaining that same scrappy mindset and passion we had in the early days.”
What Fathom5 does: Fathom5 bridges the gap between heavy industry machinery and the capabilities of artificial intelligence primarily for maritime trade.
THE PERKS
- Continuing education available during work hours
- Paid industry certifications
- Relocation assistance
Personal and Professional Goals: Fathom5 makes a point to try and blend personal, professional and organizational goals to help employees succeed at work. Built In spoke with Director of Software Engineering Eric Marden about what this looks like for new employees.
“On our team, we encourage new hires to view the OKRs of their project leads and teammates, and then use them as a starting point for setting goals for their first 90 days at the company,” said Marden. “With the help of a peer mentor, new hires set three large objectives and a handful of key results that will aid in the realization of the overarching objectives. This gives new hires a jumping-off point to guide them as they settle into their new role at Fathom5.”
What Scorability does: Scorability created a platform that is meant to improve college athletic recruiting by making the process more efficient, transparent and honest. Coaches can use Scorability’s recruiting engine to identify, engage and attract the best players for their teams.
THE PERKS
- 100% paid health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance
- Unlimited PTO
- Bereavement leave
- Mean gender pay gap below 10%
Bringing in the Big Bucks: In 2023, Scorability secured $11 million in seed funding from investors. The capital will help expand Scorability’s team, as well as fuel technology developments and go-to-market initiatives.
