These Are Built In Austin’s 5 Most-Viewed News Stories of 2020 – Built In Austin

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2020 was a year truly not like any other. Between the pandemic, racial justice movement and political upheaval in the United States, the year brought plenty of challenges and opportunities that were without precedent, completely turning the world on its head.

Amid all of this, we saw leaders of the Austin tech scene innovate and persevere, sometimes pivoting their businesses on a dime, all while also never losing sight of the struggles faced by their employees and communities.

At the same time, 2020 has brought an endless buzz about Austin as we see influential CEOs and companies increasingly looking to the Texas capital as one of the industrys next frontiers. As big as this year has been for ATX tech, 2021 seems likely to prove even bigger as this momentum continues.

Here at Built In, weve published dozens upon dozens of stories about how Austin startups have ridden this wave and responded to these historic times over the past year. Before we turn the page on 2020, we wanted to let the numbers do the talking as we share the five most-viewed Austin tech news stories we wrote this year.

#5. Tech companies helped Amplify Austin raise $12M for nonprofits. Austins eighth annual citywide day of giving, the Amplify Austin Day, came just before COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, and likely played a big role in helping nonprofits navigate a turbulent year. Organized by I Live Here I Give Here, the day raised over $12 million for 760 participating nonprofits like the Boys & Girls Clubs and the Central Texas Food Bank in its biggest year yet. Tech companies including Cirrus Logic, Silicon Labs, Enverus, SolarWinds, VRBO and Indeed dominated the days fundraising leaderboard.

#4. Hippo Insurance raised big funding, ramps up Austin hiring push. One of the stars of 2020s insurtech boom, Hippo also has a large presence in Austin that appears to be growing. When the Palo Alto company raised its $150 million Series E round in July, it said it would spend some of the cash on building a new 310-person campus in the Texas capital. The company announced it raised another $350 million in November, bringing its valuation to $1.5 billion as it looks to roll its product out nationwide. Hippo plans to go public next year and hire 100 new employees at its offices by the end of next year.

#3. A Cloud Guru saw its revenue surge, plans hiring surge. Austin-headquartered edtech company A Cloud Guru had a huge 2020, all things considered. This summer, the company announced that it had passed $80 million in annual recurring revenue, a 362 percent year-over-year increase, and saw a 157 percent year-over-year surge in its total user count. The company had planned a hiring surge in response to that growth with the majority of the roles based out of Austin and that momentum is continuing. The company is currently hiring for a range of roles in engineering, sales, marketing, UI/UX and more.

#2. Icon raised $35M for its 3D-printed homes. While Icons $35 million Series A, announced in August and led by Moderne Ventures, doesnt rank among the largest funding rounds for Austin tech in 2020, the startups mission to use 3D printing technology to help people print their own homes, affordably and efficiently is a novel one, and the Built In Austin audience clearly agreed. The companys homes could be for sale in Texas as soon as next year. Expect to see big things from this company soon.

#1. Tesla chose Austin, and an HQ could be next. In a year packed with big tech news in Austin, perhaps no story was bigger than the news that Tesla chose Austin for the site of its newest gigafactory. The news, rumored and hinted at throughout much of the start of the year and confirmed in July, means that Tesla is expected to recruit some 5,000 workers connected to the plant, qualifying it as the citys largest tech employer.

The company has already begun its hiring push in Austin, with hundreds of Central Texas-based jobs currently listed on its site. Meanwhile, the move of its CEO, Elon Musk, to the state is contributing to a fresh round of speculation that the company might next relocate its headquarters from Palo Alto to Austin.

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These Are Built In Austin's 5 Most-Viewed News Stories of 2020 - Built In Austin