Sputnik ATX VC, Austin-Based Venture Capital Fund, Announces Cohort X

Six Startups Selected from Global Applicant Pool for Venture Accelerator’s 10th Cohort

AUSTIN, Texas – August 11th, 2022 - Sputnik ATX, an Austin, Texas based venture capital fund that backs early-stage, high-growth startups through a unique accelerator program, announced the selection of its newest program cohort for Summer 2022.

Hailing from Australia, Peru, Mexico, and across the United States, the six Summer 2022 program participants, selected from over 900 applicants, mark Sputnik ATX’s tenth cohort of startup companies since its founding in 2017. Sputnik ATX selects fewer than 1% of applicants each cohort, and over 4,000 innovative startups have applied to the program since inception. The select few that are chosen participate in the 13-week, Austin-based intensive accelerator program, which focuses on teaching startups how to sell and gain traction fast. Now with a portfolio of over 50 companies, Sputnik ATX’s investments span multiple industries including fintech, consumer products, software/SaaS and blockchain technology.

“Sputnik ATX has become a global destination for young companies with high-growth potential,” said Oksana Malysheva, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Sputnik ATX. “We specialize in finding unicorn-potential businesses and helping them develop and scale, and both participating founders and future investors know that our model creates an irreplaceable foundation for future success. In contrast to other accelerator programs, savvy founders know that our program provides hands-on learning focused on sales, with the benefits of Silicon Valley veterans in the creative, tech talent-heavy Austin startup ecosystem.”

Malysheva continued, “Our founders 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 Austin-based VC typically makes the first investment into their portfolio companies, with each startup receiving a $100,000 pre-seed investment from Sputnik ATX with opportunities for follow-on funding up to $400,000 more. Sputnik ATX alumni have subsequently garnered follow-on funding from the top VC funds globally, including Andreessen Horowitz, Softbank, Kleiner Perkins, Moonshots, Shasta Ventures, Draper Associates, and many more.

“We invest in startups in large markets that deliver dramatic changes in cost and/or productivity to the consumer,” said Joe Merrill, General Partner at Sputnik ATX. “We’ve noticed over the last 5 years that when you objectively look for quality and the highest potential for growth, you end up with a portfolio of diverse talent doing economic and social good with exceptional returns to investors. Sputnik ATX is a top decile VC fund and despite the market downturn, our founders continue to build the next generation of billion-dollar startup success stories while actively working to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.”

The six Summer 2022 cohort companies are:

The Savimbo Project Drea Burbank, California

With global warming on the rise, the number of carbon offsets sold has doubled in the past two years and is expected to grow 18X by 2030. The Savimbo Project works with tropical farmers to preserve and earn extra income from their land while helping corporations meet requirements to offset their carbon emissions. Started by 2X founder Dr. Drea Burbank, Savimbo creates fair trade carbon offsets, then validates, bundles, sells and securitizes them internationally for shared profits. Farmers received shared profits from carbon credits tracked on the blockchain, allowing them to participate in the $260 billion carbon-credit market with no middlemen.

Cognitive View Dilip Mohapatra, Australia

Of the trillions of customer-employee conversations that take place daily at regulated firms, each carries a risk of being fined, on average, $10 million for non-compliance, creating a multi-billion-dollar problem. Cognitive View monitors customer-employee interactions over video, voice and written content with AI to help firms meet compliance, reduce risk and improve customer experience. Cognitive View’s founder, Dilip Mohapatra, previously built products for cybersecurity startups and advised Fortune 500 companies on application security & identity governance. The company has won numerous global awards, including Regtech 100, Fintech 100, IBM Beacon and more.

M Aerospace Juan Carlos Munguia, Austin, TX | Jose Comparan and Arturo Reyes, Mexicali, Baja California Mexico

The traditional manufacturing process of industrial metal is a notoriously expensive and lengthy process. 3D metal printers have the potential to make metal manufacturing far easier, yet no cost effective solutions exist for industrial applications. M Aerospace’s team (previously at Honeywell, Safran and Collins Aerospace) has created the world’s first affordable large scale metal 3D printer. Their beachhead product, the Armdust 2.0, makes large metal parts cheaper and faster with the same or higher quality compared to parts made using traditional methods. The Armdust 2.0 can be placed on-site to make parts on-demand, eliminating supply chain and shipping constraints.

Bright Pay Health Shielvonda Haith and Archie Otu, Georgia

Finding out-of-pocket cost estimates for medical services on the phone wastes time for both medical and insurance providers, and often doesn’t even produce accurate information for patients. With Brightpay, medical providers can quickly check insurance eligibility in real-time and proactively inform patients of their out-of-pocket financial responsibility before their service. Patients can either pay the provider directly through Brightpay’s platform or request financing. The founding team at Brightpay Health comes from deep experience in both healthcare and insurance, with multiple startups and 3 successful exits under their belt.

Swoovy Brooke Waupsh, Austin, TX

In the era of the Great Reshuffle, companies are focused on strategies to attract and retain top talent. Employee volunteer programs are an effective strategy in helping employees feel more connected to each other and to their company values. Founded by experienced founder Brooke Waupsh, Swoovy makes it easy for companies to book volunteer events, connect colleagues through shared interests, and track impact while reducing turnover and achieving higher profitability.

Silabuz Alonso Mujica and Alejandra Puente, Lima, Peru

As companies spend time and money recruiting new tech hires, the talent they’re looking for might be on-site already. Silabuz helps companies see the potential in their existing employees and upskill tech talent to meet their needs. With Silabuz’s skill testing and upskilling solutions, companies can reduce turnover while saving up to 70% on recruiting and retention. In turn, tech job seekers without access to traditional higher education are elevated to higher career trajectories.

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 for two biannual program cohorts. Applications for the next cohort will open this Fall. About Sputnik ATX VC Sputnik ATX is an Austin, TX-based venture capital fund and accelerator that combines early-stage investment with training and mentorship focused on high growth and product-market fit.

Founded by Dr. Oksana Malysheva and Joe Merrill in 2017, Sputnik ATX helps startups reach the essential week-over-week, double-digit growth that early-stage companies need to survive and thrive. Sputnik’s investment team has over $1B in global investment/transaction experience and seeks to bring startups with high potential to Austin’s rapidly expanding VC community to learn, grow and reach their full potential.

Sputnik, which translates to “partner,” represents horizon-expanding innovation and describes the core of the fund: To partner with and mentor startups that will change the world.

Media Contact:

Rich Myers and Rachel Goun Profile Advisors for Sputnik ATX sputnikatx@profileadvisors.com