Written by Jeff Thomas

Last fall when we reported that MassChallenge was expanding to Texas we knew that it would be both wildly successful and wildly popular. The announcement of their first class of startups proves that they are definitely on that track.

MassChallenge, which gets their name from their roots in the Boston area of Massachusetts has programs around the world today. MassChallenge Texas is their second program in the United States. Startups are attracted to the programs successful alumni, strong mentor community and zero-equity program. With that, over 500 startups applied to be part of this inaugural cohort in Austin Texas. Of those 280 were invited to pitch MassChallenge Texas expert community at Strasburger & Price LLP in downtown Austin.

The 520 applications came from 5 continents, 11 countries and 12 states. All 5 major Texas regions were represented (Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, San Antonio and of course Austin). 32% of the startups that applied had female founders.

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