Major Technology
Austin’s reputation as a rising tech hub has earned the city the moniker Silicon Hills. It all began in the 1980s with the founding of the Dell Computer Corporation, which famously got its start in Michael Dell’s University of Texas at Austin dorm room. Over the years, some 5,500 tech companies and start-ups have been drawn to the Austin area, including giants like Facebook, Apple, Google, Samsung and IBM. Every year, SXSW presents the Tech Industry & Enterprise Track, which looks at today’s most cutting-edge ideas in software and hardware, with innovators and executives from a variety of industries discussing the evolving landscape of technology-driven products and services.
Bumble. Credit Casey Dunn.
Business Spotlight: Bumble
1105 W. 41st St., Austin, TX 78756
www.bumble.com
An outstanding example of Austin female entrepreneurship is Bumble, the dating app company created by Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2014. The idea for Bumble came about when Herd noticed that her smart friends and colleagues were waiting around for men to ask them out, take their numbers or start up a conversation on a dating app. For all of the advances women had made in the workplace and corridors of power, the gender dynamics of dating and romance were terribly outdated. Herd decided to flip the script, creating a dating app in which women make the first move and send the first message.
Nearly six years later, Bumble is a community of more than 50 million users across six continents. But Bumble has evolved from a dating app to a networking platform, where people of all genders can make connections, whether they’re seeking a romantic relationship on Bumble Date, making new friendships on Bumble BFF or growing their professional network on Bumble Bizz.
Headquartered in Austin, Bumble created the Bumble Fund to invest in other female-founded start-ups. Bumble has also launched a print magazine called Bumble Mag, pop-ups named Bumble Hive, and Bumble-verified meeting places known as BumbleSpots.