Members of the Technology Community
Our organization has come a long way since its inception as the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative. We have grown substantially since the early days when our service area was limited to San Antonio and Bexar County. Since 2003, more than 1,000 clients have knocked on our door and, we have helped them raise over $160M in funding and create more than 500 jobs.
To reflect our core mission and our expanded service area, SATAI changed its name to Startech in May 2010. Our mission remains the same and that is to:
Inspire technology innovation and commercialization,
Create technology companies, and
Grow them into viable businesses in the San Antonio regional economy.
San Antonio, Bexar County, the State of Texas and the United States have a rich and prolific set of Intellectual Property generators. This Intellectual Property is the number one basic ingredient of a successful technology business. But just having good technology is only a part of the entrepreneurial success equation. I’m proud to say that Startech is playing a key role in facilitating the growth and recognition of this economic juggernaut.
The road to becoming a successful technology entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. It is a journey that many start, some stop, some fail and a few achieve success. Startech exists to increase the entrepreneur’s probability of success.
PATHS TO SUCCESS
There are as many paths to success as there are successful entrepreneurs. There is not one universal success formula, one universally best business plan format, one universally accepted investor presentation format, and the list goes on. If there is one universal truth, it is that all entrepreneurs require capital to realize their dreams. Sometimes this can be achieved from the entrepreneur’s own bank and bank account or perhaps through investments by his or her family and friends. Many times it requires capital above what those sources can provide. The next step may be Angel Investors, who believe in the future of the business and are willing to invest their money into the enterprise, generally in return for a slice of equity. Additional funds may require the services of a Venture Capital group or Mezzanine Capital.
Most of Startech’s client entrepreneurs seek funding in the higher risk equity capital markets mentioned above. Startech assists both the entrepreneurs and the investors and takes the “honest broker” role in getting them together, hopefully speaking the same language. With a few exceptions, Startech does not focus on specific formats or methodologies.
THE INVESTMENT TABLE
On one side of the “investment table”, we focus our entrepreneur clients on those critical path items that we believe will get them to a successful investor presentation as quickly as possible. On the investor side of the table, we collaborate with an impressive group of high net worth individuals and companies that are interested in these types of investments. We coordinate a number of entrepreneur/investor meetings in a variety of formats, and we are the South Texas portal for the State of Texas $400M Emerging Technology Fund. All of these provide a very fertile environment to Inspire, Create and Grow tech companies.
Startech SUPPORTERS
Our contribution to the San Antonio and Bexar County economic development would not be possible without the support of countless individuals and entities. Our budget is supported by the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, the State of Texas, the University of Texas at San Antonio, private companies, private individuals and fundraising events. Startech is a not-for- profit, 501 c(3) corporation, governed by an outstanding group of community and business leaders who generously volunteer their time on our board of directors and committees. The Startech staff and the technology community thank them all.
We hope you find our website helpful and informative.
Sincerely,
James B. Poage
President & CEO
Startech Foundation
í Examples are the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the Southwest Foundation for BioMedical Research, the Southwest Research Institute, the Cancer Therapy and Research center, the United States Air Force and the many private companies that do independent and government sponsored research and development.
íí Startech does not make any direct investment in any private company.
