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Austin’s tech scene is filled with innovators and disruptors pushing the edges of existing technologies and finding new ways to iterate products and services to make them better. But there’s also a segment of startups that defy expectation, blazing their own trails in directions not before tried, or at least, serving a population or a need that’s gone largely unaddressed before now. We’ve rounded up a quartet of unique companies in niche markets: a marketplace for individual innovators, a family-friendly mobile platform, a sports instructor matchup app, and a student housing search app.
A crowdsourced 3D printing marketplace
As 3D printing becomes increasingly accessible with more affordable hardware and greater consumer interest due to widespread media coverage, Makexyz offers a solution with its “3D printing marketplace that links people who need something made with 3D printers to people who have 3D printers in their neighborhoods.” For those who can’t afford a printer of their own, nor an expensive monthly or yearly membership to a local makerspace, the Makexyz app provides a free — or, at least, more affordable — crowdsourced solution. The company received an undisclosed amount of funding from Intel Ventures in February.
A tennis instructor marketplace
For those who want to learn to play tennis but don’t feel like falling down a Google-specific rabbit hole to connect with lessons, MyTennisLessons connects instruction-seekers to available programs and personal coaches in their local area, allowing them to select the option of their choice and schedule lessons. It also offers a review portal through which users can evaluate available instructors based on former students’ insights.
A student housing search tool
Anyone who’s ever moved in with an unfamiliar roommate knows the odds of having much in common aren’t necessarily high, particularly when one is in college and the other isn’t. Comfy tailors the apartment-hunting experience to meet the needs of students, explaining that it’s “like eHarmony for the student housing search.” Further, it explains, “Student housing is a very specific niche market within the multi-family housing industry. Students have very different needs compared to the normal multi-family housing renter, and we make sure those needs are met.”
A family-friendly mobile platform
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The vast majority of the internet isn’t a particularly kid-friendly place, but Famigo seeks to change that — at least, within its own confines. It provides “a platform for families to safely discover, manage, and enjoy content and apps on smartphones and tablets.” As for its goals, it wants “everyone from toddlers to grandmothers to have successful interactions every time they use a smartphone or tablet in a family setting.” Providing tools to discover, manage and enjoy content and apps on smartphones and tablets, Famigo simplifies app discovery through reviews and recommendations on Famigo.com and can make Android devices suitable for kids with its free app.
While niche markets are by definition smaller than the general marketplace, startups serving very specific audiences can, in an uncrowded competitive landscape, give themselves a competitive advantage by tapping into an underserved population or coming up with a service offering that hasn’t existed in the past. We’ll be keeping an eye on these niche startups and others like them, reporting on their progress as they further develop their brands.
Have a tip for us or know of a company that deserves coverage? Email us via [email protected].
