Fire 
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Austin is a city of makers. Whether it's software, music or 3D-printed homes, it seems like everyone here is creating something new.
Some projects and products, like ICON's affordable 3D-printed homes, could help change the world in fundamental ways. Others, like Stackables, seek to disrupt existing industries with new innovations that could transform specific aspects of life -- like tailgating.
Regardless of outcome, the important thing is that we're finding inspiration, creating solutions, building and constantly iterating.
Austin Inno is dedicated to covering Austin's startup scene. While Internet and software businesses remain the driving forces of the city's tech scene, there is a bustling makers community churning out amazing inventions. We seek to bring a spotlight to those people and companies that are on the cusp of making something awesome -- or already have.
To build this list, we reached out to venture capitalists, accelerators and other sources to help bring together a list of 10 makers that we think are worthy of your attention right now and in the near future.
Now, let's see what they're creating...
Briggo
Waiting in line for a custom cup of coffee is so old school. Briggo is an Austin company that created an automatic barista robot that can take your order from a smartphone and have it ready for you when you walk up to the machine. They have one at the Austin airport and another at the Austin Convention Center -- not to mention a couple on Dell's campus and another at the Houston Convention Center. SEC filings show the company has raised a total of about $15.2M in equity since 2012 and, with this latest round, $3.6M in debt funding.
Diligent Robotics
Diligent Robotics, which was also part of Austin Inno's 19 to Watch in 2019, is combining AI and robotics in an assistant named Moxi that assists health care organizations with tasks in hospitals. That can be replacing dirty sheets on a bed, bringing water to patients and night time errand runner. Its CEO and co-founder, Andrea Thomaz, was named one of Texas Monthly's most influential Texans. Co-founder and CTO Vivian Chu meanwhile is a Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholar and has worked in labs at IBM, Google X and Honda Research Institute.
Grocery Pup
Grocery Pup, founded by Ruth Marriott and Javier A. Marriott, launched its sous-vide product line in May 2018. The idea had simple origins. The founders wanted their pup, Lola, to have a fresh foods diet but she never took to raw food. They found that sous-vide method, which puts raw ingredients in a vacuum sealed container and submerges it in warm water to cook the food long and slow, as the best method since it retains nutrients like raw food.
ICON
ICON, a 3D printed home startup, unveiled its first 3D printed home during SXSW 2018, and that has, in turn, become the first 3D printed home to get a building permit in the U.S. Then it attracted big-name investors that contributed to a $9 million seed round of funding. And they're just getting started.
Knocki
Knocki is a small wireless device that turns ordinary surfaces, such as walls and countertops, into remote controls for the smart devices in your home or business. Then you can use touch gestures to adjust your IoT goodies. That way you can tap and knock on the lights, control the temp or any number of smart device actions. Knocki is part of the 2019 Techstars Austin cohort, and it was founded by Jake Boshernitzan and Ohad Nezer.
Makerarm
Makerarm is a personal fabrication system packed into a single robotic arm that mounts on a desktop. It has interchangeable heads for countless applications such as 3D printing, plotting, milling, laser engraving and electronics assembly. Makerarm, founded by Zaib Husain, launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. Husain had spent years as a financial analyst before starting Techjango, an open hardware company that created Darkmatter Xbox laptop and the Ordbot 3D printer. Read more in our 2015 story.
re:3D
Winning the WeWork Creator Award, a USAA Vetrepreneur Award and being a top startup at MassChallenge Texas is just the tip of the 3D printed iceberg for re:3D. The startup, based in Austin and Houston, is led by former NASA social entrepreneur in residence Samantha Snabes and CTO Matthew Fiedler, a former biomedical engineer. re:3D has been offering its rapid prototyping Gigabot printer for a variety of social good projects. It was even used to help reconstruct dinosaur skeletons at Southwestern Adventist University.
ShowerStream
ShowerStream's faucet and shower head sensors bring together IoT tech and analytics to help solve one of the world's biggest problems -- water use. Its analytics help businesses and homeowners identify events in which they're likely wasting water. That means less water use and lower water bills.
Stackables
Stackables is a premium outdoor experience company that creates portable modular units, starting with the gas grill, that enhances any tailgate or outdoor party. It's considering future products like an outdoor speaker unit and a storage unit. They wants to create an entire system where it is easy to mix-and-match different unit modules to create a great outdoor experience, and to make storage (in garage or car) simple as well.
UnaliWear
UnaliWear's Kanega watch can be seen as an “OnStar for People” or simply as a way to ensure you or a loved one has backup in the event of a fall. It reminds folks when to take medications, detects falls, and it can be worn almost anytime because of its battery system. It also collects and analyzes data to learn more about the person wearing the watch and how to best assist. The startup was founded by Jean Anne Booth, who previously founded Luminary Micro, which was acquired by Texas Instruments in 2009.
