Sputnik ATX, Austin-Based Venture Capital Fund Announces Its Winter 2022 Cohort

Five Elite Startups Selected From Global Applicant Pool Will Relocate Headquarters to Austin, Texas

AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sputnik ATX, an Austin, Texas based venture capital fund that backs early-stage startups solving big problems, announced the selection of its newest cohort for Winter 2022.

Five companies were selected out of more than 700 strong applicants from across the globe. The ongoing success of Sputnik ATX to identify and bring these companies to Austin is fast establishing another proof point of Austin’s growing startup ecosystem.

“Sputnik ATX’s reputation and the strength of the Austin startup ecosystem are attracting high quality deals to our city. Savvy founders know that in Texas, investment dollars go further with our lower cost of living, dirt to spare in every direction, fewer regulatory restrictions, and tech talent,” said Oksana Malysheva, Managing Partner at Sputnik ATX.

This selection marks Sputnik ATX’s ninth cohort of startup companies since its founding in 2017. Their portfolio now has over 40 companies in a wide variety of industries from financial technology to consumer product goods.

“We’re looking for ‘goosebump businesses’ where founders deliver dramatic change in the cost and/or productivity to the consumer,” said Joe Merrill, General Partner at Sputnik ATX. “These companies are building the next generation of Texas success stories.”

The Austin-based VC typically makes the first investment into their portfolio companies, and Sputnik ATX alumni have subsequently garnered follow-on funding from the top VC funds globally, including Andresson Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Shasta Ventures, and many more.

Sputnik ATX attributes the early growth of its portfolio companies in part to its 13-week accelerator program, which focuses on teaching startups how to sell and gain traction fast.

“If you don’t know the chess rules of venture capital you can’t play the game,” said Quest Moffat, Founder of Kadogo, one of the Winter 2022 startups.

“We invest with firm belief that talent can come from anywhere. Like Remi said in Ratatouille, ‘anyone can cook’ if they’re taught how to do it,” said Malysheva. “The founders in the Winter 2022 cohort are gritty, smart people who are all tackling problems that they personally experienced and want to fix for the large markets behind them. We’re here to teach them the secret handshakes of startups and VC and guide them to their startups’ highest potential.”

The five winter 2022 cohort companies are:

Cashaam

Founded by Gbenga Awodokun (Austin, TX) / Manken Conde (San Bruno)

Though e-commerce has been accelerated by the pandemic, only 6% of African businesses have access to the current tools available to help retailers sell online. Cashaam is Africa’s marketplace for the world. Thousands of businesses are already using Cashaam’s simple and affordable platform to set up their online stores in minutes; sell through their website and on social media; and deliver products both in Africa and overseas.

Kadogo

Founded by Quest Moffat (from Kansas City, MO), Alejandro Andrade Salazar (from Chicago /San Francisco)

Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) come with a host of tax benefits in return for charitable contributions, but have not historically been available to everyday Americans. In a Kadogo Giving Account, users can invest cash-back rewards from participating businesses, spare change from their daily transactions, and automatic employee matching on charitable donations. Then, they can give more to their favorite charities and cut their taxable income with one tax receipt.

PiggyBack Network

Founded by Donald Scott II (from Austin, TX), Ishmael “Ish” El-Amin (from Chicago, IL)

PiggyBack Network makes it easy for families to transport kids between afterschool activities within a trusted parent-driven ridesharing network. Their app makes it convenient for families to plan rides, save time and money, unlock opportunities for kids, and get rewarded for supporting fellow parents.

AsisVisa

Founded by Sergio Suarez (Brooklyn, NY)

AsisVisa is the online visa preparation platform for Latinos on the path to U.S. citizenship. With automated guidance in Spanish and attorney review before application submission, immigrating with AsisVisa is a no-fault move.

NKENNE

Founded by Michael Odokara-Okigbo (Los Angeles, California)

While language learning apps have simplified communication in many parts of the world, they’ve ignored the multi-billion dollar opportunity in Africa. Nkenne is the first dedicated African language learning app, connecting and elevating African language speakers around the globe, starting with Igbo, one of the dominant languages of Nigeria which has a population of over 200 million people.

Each of these companies will receive a $100,000 pre-seed investment from Sputnik ATX with opportunities for follow-on funding up to $400,000 more.

A complete list of Sputnik’s portfolio of investments to date can be found here.

Sputnik ATX VC takes a “narrow and deep” approach to startup acceleration, selecting only a small handful of startups to focus on twice per year, in cohorts. Applications for the next cohort will open this Spring.

About Sputnik ATX

Sputnik ATX is a venture capital fund and accelerator in Austin, Texas that combines capital with training and mentorship focused on high growth and product-market fit. Their goal is to help startups reach double digit week over week growth, essential for early stage companies to survive and thrive.

Sputnik ATX is named after its founding city (Austin, Texas) and the first thing humankind put into space. The Sputnik launch touched off a new era of global innovation and competition that led to most of today’s technologies. ‘Sputnik’ translates to ‘partner,’ which describes the core of the fund: to partner with and mentor startups that will change the world.

The accelerator and fund were founded by Dr. Oksana Malysheva and Joe Merrill. After investing over $1bn in companies around the world, the entrepreneurial atmosphere of Austin inspired Malysheva and Merrill to consolidate their focus in Texas, finding companies in their backyard or who are willing to move to “the best place on earth.” Sputnik ATX launched on Oct. 4, 2017, the 60th anniversary of the Sputnik-1 satellite launch.

Contacts

Media:
Coltrin & Associates, Inc. (on behalf of Sputnik ATX)

[email protected]
212-221-1616