SXSW Interactive and Chamber of Commerce Name A-List Startups

"Austin's entrepreneurial ecosystem has never been stronger," Hugh Forrest said in a press release Wednesday.

He'd know – he's the director of SXSW Interactive. But Austin Chamber of Commerce's Susan Davenport said the same thing in 2012, and we'll probably hear a similar refrain for years to come. Indeed, between the biannual Austin Startup Week and healthy incubators like Capital Factory around, you could almost argue it's too strong. How do you cull or curate an entire city's worth of new ideas and so-called "fresh" innovation?

SXSW partnered with the Austin Chamber of Commerce's A-List in the spring, and the one-two punch of tech titans just announced 12 companies that "are proof positive that Austin continues to grow as a hotbed of technology and innovation," according to GACA's Michele Skelding. Here's the fall 2013 class of innovators to watch, at every level of the game.

Emerging (Early/Seed Stage)

• Atlas does for the entire workout what pedometers did for running.
• Datafiniti wants to make the entire oeuvre of the Internet's data accessible and searchable for business owners trying to make important decisions.
• As healthcare goes digital, Filament Labs is there to help apps better connect patients and their providers.
• Pristine has a similar goal in mind, but a different interface: Google Glass for healthcare environments.
• Shelfbucks is, interestingly enough, not a coffee enterprise. Rather, it "aims to level the playing field between physical and online retail."
• YouEarnedIt aims to boost happiness at work with real-time praise and meaningful rewards.

Growth (Mid-Stage)

• Keep your data in the cloud secure with Gazzang.
• How Do You Roll – yep, the fast-casual sushi shop that's popping up all over town.
• For everything from freight and vehicle shipping to household goods, Uship has a shipping option that works.
• WP Engine offers "hassle-free WordPress hosting."

Scale (Later Stage)

• Main Street Hub helps businesses grow with targeted social and marketing campaign help.
• Phunware is "the only fully integrated services platform that enables brands to engage, manage and monetize users on mobile."

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SXSW Interactive will be held March 7-11, 2014. Keep up with all our SXSW coverage at austinchronicle.com/sxsw.