Making Moves
Inside the people, companies and organizations making moves today.
Google Opens Its New Downtown Austin Office
For months, we’ve known that Google would be moving into new digs in the brand new tower at 500 W. 2nd St. Now, we get a peek inside. The tech giant invited journalists into the new space this morning, and it looks badass, as you might expect. (I’m still up in Minnesota, but the photos are killer.)
The new 300K-square-foot space spread across several floors, and it’s the new work home of 450 Google employees. The company says two more floors of the building are being constructed now and will open next year.
Google has had a significant presence in Austin since it acquired Austin-based Postini about 10 years ago. More recently, in 2015, the company made Austin its second location for the testing of self-driving cars (a business that has since become Waymo).
Now, the massive tech company has a wide variety of workers in Austin. The new downtown office includes teams working with Android, G Suite, Google Play, people operations, finance, engineering and marketing.
CTAN Sets Half-Year Funding Record
Central Texas Angel Network members have invested $7.6M into 31 startups during the first half of this year — that’s enough to set a half-year record for the group. Of the 31 companies funded via CTAN, 10 were new investments and 21 were follow-on investments into CTAN’s portfolio companies. The $7.6M surpasses the $7.4M CTAN members invested in a half-year in 2014. Last year, the figure was $6.8M.
“We’re pleased to represent an unparalleled base of angel investors who perform such an active role in accelerating early-stage business development,” CTAN Executive Director Claire England said in a news release. “Our member investors give frequently of their time and their personal networks to support portfolio companies, so the value extends far beyond monetary investment.”
The next funding cycle is gearing up, and the deadline to apply is Oct. 4.
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