AUSTIN, TX — (Marketwire) — 02/06/13 — With the tech scene rapidly growing in Austin, the time has come to face off for the ultimate title — Startup Games Champion. The one-day event will embrace friendly competition all in the name of charity. The playing field has doubled this year with 16 Austin-based startups competing (8 returning, 8 new) in the second annual event, a grueling 10-event competition that will shine a spotlight on the Austin tech community.
All competing companies are not only playing for company pride but also for charity. Each has identified an organization to which monetary prizes will be awarded based on the team-s performance. For the second year in a row, every charity will take home a prize, with the first and second place teams taking a larger percentage of the total money raised.
The Austin Startup Games kick off at 1 pm CT at the Austin Music Hall in downtown Austin. Media are welcome to attend the competition. The complete team roster, with their respective charities of choice include:
Adlucent: Capital Area Food Bank
Adometry: Center for Child Protection
Boundless Network: Austin Humane Society
Build-A-Sign: Austin Pets Alive
Capital Factory: Breakthrough Austin
CSID: Lifeworks
Headspring: Center for Child Protection
Living Direct: Wounded Warrior Projects
Main Street Hub: Austin Pets Alive
MapMyFitness: Marathon Kids
Mass Relevance: Central Texas Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Sparefoot: Kure It Cancer Research
Spiceworks: ALS Association
Spredfast: Entrepreneurs Foundation
uShip: Communities in Schools
WhaleShark Media: ACE (Austin Community for Education)
“uShip has been an amazing part of the Communities in Schools family for years and we have been so honored that their employees would compete to support our dropout protection service to at-risk students,” said John Duck, Director of Community Partnerships for Communities in Schools.
The five-hour event will determine Austin-s gold, silver and bronze winners in quintessential startup “sports,” including Ping Pong, Foosball, Beer Pong, Flip Cup, Pop-a-Shot, Darts, Shuffleboard, Connect Four, Trivia and a MYSTERY event (new this year) which will take place as the closing event. Events resulting in ties will be settled with Rock-Paper-Scissors, in accordance with Austin Startup rules and bylaws. For more information on the competing companies and events, visit . Follow the Startup Olympics on Twitter at .
“While the Austin Startup Games celebrate innovation and local companies giving back to the communities and charities, we all share an intense desire to play hard, compete and ultimately win. We see that desire in how these companies run their businesses, and also in how they play ping pong, darts and even flip-cup,” said Shawn Bose, uShip-s GM and VP for global business.
The Startup Games awards ceremony will begin at 6 pm at Austin Music Hall with Soultrain and the performing at the after-party event immediately afterwards. Admission to the after-party event is a $10 cash donation (or $12 by credit card) with proceeds benefitting the chosen charities. Attendees are also encouraged to bring one canned good, which will be donated to the Austin Area Food Bank.
The Austin Startup Games, founded in 2012, aims to bring together the local startup community to foster healthy competition, networking, and entertainment — all while shining a spotlight on the Austin technology industry. The one-day event consists of 10 games played in a bracket-style format, with single elimination. Now a 501(c) organization, the Startup Games continue to give back to local charities in the Austin community and beyond through team entrance fees, tickets sold and sponsorships. For more information visit StartupOlympics.org.
John Yarbrough
[c] 512.968.8870
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