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May. 25, 2022
First Off Announcements and the like. Paul: Howdy, folks. Its Paul Thompson, assistant managing editor at Austin Business Journal, here once again to guide today's edition of The Beat.
Let's kick a Beat... The Big One A breakdown of the day's biggest Inno story. Tecovas raises $56M
Austin-based bootmaker Tecovas Inc. has raised a $56 million series C round that is expected to propel explosive growth in the coming year.
The funding, announced Jan. 12, was led by previous investor Elephant, which was joined by Access Capital, Seamless Capital and Kemmons Wilson Companies.
Tecovas has now raised roughly $120 million in equity funding; the company declined to provide an updated valuation after the raise.
Founded in 2015, Tecovas launched as a direct-to-consumer e-commerce company. It opened its first store in Austin in 2019 at 1333 S. Congress Ave. It is best known for its boots, though it also sells bags, jeans and other apparel. The company topped $100 million in revenue in 2021, according to the announcement, and sold its millionth pair of boots during the year's fourth quarter.
"Our goal at Tecovas is to build the most welcoming brand in western," founder and CEO Paul Hedrick said in a statement. "This latest funding will allow us to scale our vision and welcome even more customers to the brand. We've seen rapid growth since Tecovas' launch in 2015, and we plan to use the proceeds from this round of funding to continue on that trajectory, investing significantly in hiring, expanding our retail footprint, buying more inventory, and launching many new products."
Tecovas has more than 400 employees and 90 at its Austin headquarters, Hedrick said in an email, up from about 80 in October. The company plans to reach 130 local employees by the end of 2022, the CEO said.
For more on the company's growth plans, follow this link.
Making Moves
The people, companies and organizations making moves in Austin. AlertMedia taps first COO
Elizabeth Loucheur is the new chief operating officer at AlertMedia Inc. The hire, announced Jan. 11, is the first COO for the private equity-backed Austin-based emergency communications company, a spokesperson said.
She was previously chief product officer at Kazoo, an Austin-based company making software for rewarding and and managing employees that was once known as YouEarnedIt. While at Kazoo, Loucheur led “a complete rebuild of the company’s core product,” according to the announcement.
Loucheur was also vice president of customer success at Kazoo. She has prior leadership experience at Fox Sports and UFC. AlertMedia, which a spokesperson said now employs 316, claims to have thousands of customers in 130-plus countries, including Fortune 500 companies such Walmart.
Upland Software's latest deal
Upland Software Inc. has completed another acquisition, paying $29 million in cash for Objectif Lune Inc. and related entities.
The Austin-based maker of enterprise work management software said Jan. 10 it purchased Objectif Lune, a Canada-based maker of document composition and business communication automation software. The deal also included the assets of a United States reseller.
In the announcement, Upland said the deal gives it "the capability to modernize complex, paper-based documents for large-volume print production as well as automated delivery across web, email, and mobile platforms."
Upland (Nasdaq: UPLD) has grown steadily in recent years through such bolt-on acquisitions. In June it purchased Australia-based Panviva Pty Ltd., a software company that helps enterprise customers share internal information, for $19.8 million in cash, with additional holdback payments possible.
Featured Jobs Below are featured jobs from our Careers Directory. To feature a job in this newsletter, read more.
In the Know The tech stories you need to read today. Elsewhere in Inno Stories from around the Inno network we think you'll dig. Sign up for Inno+ to access the entire Inno network. In the Community The events and happenings to know in the ecosystem
For more upcoming events, be sure to browse the Inno events directory. February
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Keeping Austin Weird & Wired The fun stuff.
Fried chicken favorite coming to Austin
Now, here’s a news item to make everybody hungry: Bojangles, a North Carolina-based fried chicken favorite, is eyeing the Austin market.
ABJ reporter Sahar Chmais on Jan. 12 wrote about the company’s plans to open about 50 locations across Texas, including a handful in Austin. Specifically, Bojangles is apparently looking at the North side of the metro, including Cedar Park, Round Rock, Pflugerville and Georgetown.
Even thinking about all that chicken is making me hungry. Take it easy, folks.
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