Startup City Limits at UT To Celebrate Entrepreneurship on Friday

New event calls students and alumni to connect around innovation

Startup City Limits 2024, the inaugural entrepreneurial showcase and conference at The University of Texas at Austin, will celebrate business innovation across the campus community and connect Longhorns with Austin business leaders and investors. This free event runs Friday, April 19, 1–6 p.m. at Robert B. Rowling Hall. Registration is required.

Featured speakers, interactive installations, student presentations, and student and alumni business exhibitions will spotlight UT’s vibrant startup culture.

The event will kick off with a ceremony honoring John D. Harkey Jr., BBA ’83, a visionary leader, investor and CEO whose financial gift established the Harkey Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the McCombs School of Business. The Harkey Institute empowers students to succeed in entrepreneurship through immersive, interdisciplinary educational experiences and mentorship, and it has served as a launching pad for many of the student startups highlighted at Startup City Limits.

In addition to startup exhibits, attendees can see high-performance race cars, including a Lamborghini Huracán, a Ferrari F8, and a Porsche 992 Cup at the “Cars on Campus” exhibit sponsored by Texas Executive Education and its leadership accelerator program, “Winning! What Auto Racing Teaches Us About Success in Business.” The cars will be on display in the plaza between Rowling Hall and the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center from noon to 5 p.m.

Schedule: Friday, April 19, 1–6 p.m.

• 1 p.m.: Check-in.
• 1:30 p.m.: Opening Remarks and Harkey Institute Dedication Ceremony.
• 2:15 p.m.: Cruising Through Challenges: Fail To Succeed. Ben Weiss, MBA ’03, founder, Bai Brands; Lamarr Houston, B.S. ’11, MSTC ’22, co-founder and president, BoxxTech.
• 3:10 p.m.: Milestones and Pit Stops: Entrepreneurs Navigating the Business Highway. Panel: Melody Afkami, B.A. ’04, CEO/founder, Melody DanceFit; John Scott, B.A. ’85, CEO, Four Corners Sourcing; Michelle Muller, UT ’04, co-founder, Little Spoon Organic; Luke Scheinder, B.S. ’90, CEO, Refraction AI.
• 4:05 p.m.: Revving Up Innovation: Influencers in the Driver’s Seat. Panel: Alex Shahrestani, managing partner, Promise Legal; Lauren Petrowski, B.J.’06, TV host/content creator; Anthony Matthews, BBA ’19, content creator, The Hungry Longhorn; Dani Austin, B.S. ’15, founder, Divi.
• 4:45 p.m.: Closing Remarks and Raffle.
• 5 p.m.: Reception and S’mores Bar.

Featured Companies: In addition to keynote speakers, the event will feature the following student-founded startups:

• Akki’s Cup Cakery & Tea, founded by Akeila Tejwani (undergraduate student)
• Brrrista, founded by Samuel Stein (MBA student)
• Coco de Chom, founded by Chomtale Chitsakul (undergraduate student)
• CURA, founded by Aakriti Kamal (undergraduate student)
• Energy Umbrella, founded by Sahana Raj (undergraduate student)
• Fired Up, founded Grayson Cloutier (undergraduate student)
• memARy Labs, co-founded by Julian Saks (undergraduate student)
• Paradigm Robotics, founded by Siddharth Thakur (undergraduate student)
• Period Punch, founded by Nandini Mangalapalli (undergraduate student)
• STEMKidz, founded by Angelica Sharma (undergraduate student)
• Tajuma, founded by Juliana Crissman (undergraduate student)
• Two Bill, founded by Wyatt Leathers (undergraduate student)

Alumni-founded companies:

• Bold Move Beverages, founded by Jacob Guss, BS ’15, MBA ’22
• DevRev, co-founded by Dheeraj Pandey, M.S. ’98
• LOKA.HAUS, founded by Lisa Husberg, B.S. ’11
• Merge Conflict Studios, co-founded by Melody Geiger, B.S. ’23
• Mompowerment, founded by Suzanne Brown, MBA ’04
• Smartish, co-founded by Matt Altschul, BBA ’03
• Stunner Safety, founded by Sydney Marvin, B.S. ’20
• Zilker Beer, co-founded by Forrest Clark, BBA ’00