Automotive app startup AUTIX secured the win of the 10th CodeLaunch competition in November, and they have been thriving ever since.
Founder and CEO Jake Hamann tells us he believes CodeLaunch gave them at least a six-month acceleration from where they started last fall. The team has completed their MVP+ of the AUTIX platform with their Hackathon partner Leverture and is now working to morph it into a polished Alpha app+platform that will accommodate paying AUTIX customers early this year.
AUTIX has been selected as a TOP 100 Finalist for Startup of the Year and will head to Tampa, FL to compete for the top spot at the end of January. The startup was hand-picked to compete out of 750 applicants!
Hamann received a major grant from the McKinney, TX Economic Development Corporation Innovation Fund. They also hired three new team members, including a technology adviser and a full-time paid marketing specialist.
When AUTIX became a finalist for CodeLaunch, they did not have anything from a development perspective, according to Hamann. So, he created the user interface design and hired someone to build the database in the back end. During the Hackathon, Leverture basically put both of those things together so they worked in an actual URL through the web.
“It was just a mockup, but CodeLaunch really brought it to life and actually made it work,” said Hamann.
Though it is not accessible to the public quite yet, technically AUTIX is usable right now. This means they have an actual product to show investors, which is extremely rare for startups on the same level. With this advantage, they are now asking investors for $2.5 – $5 million.
What will this money be used for?
“These seed funds will be used to activate our Go-To-Market scale by onboarding our most important asset, our team, as well as strategically bolster our technology stack, operational, marketing/content, and promotional efforts. Utilizing seed funding for scale in this manner in early 2022 enables us to amplify our user and revenue milestones over the next 18-24 months.”
– AUTIX Welcome Letter
Because of CodeLaunch, AUTIX completed a team agreement with ParkUpFront, which is the leading car show and event platform startup that won CodeLaunch in 2016. AUTIX secured meetings with many potential seed investors in these past few months, and they hope to continue this momentum throughout 2022.
Hamann and AUTIX will be on stage taking Q&A as one of our CodeLaunch Crushed It Panelists at our next event which is CodeLaunch Houston on March 30. Startup founders can apply at CodeLaunch.com through midnight Jan 22 to compete for a chance to be accelerated like AUTIX has.
WATCH: DFW 2021 Highlights: AUTIX and Leverture win CodeLaunch