3 Questions with the New Techstars Class: Telnyx

Q&A with Ian Reither, COO Telnyx

It’s that time again! Last week, Techstars welcomed its Summer 2014 class into 1871’s downtown Chicago Merchandise Mart space. Over the course of a 90-day period, Techstars offers startups $118,000 in seed funding, intensive mentorship, and a vast network of mentors and alumni for 7-10% equity in each company. After an intensive application process, 10 startups, 6 of which are originally Chicago-based, made the Techstars roster. Let’s meet them!

1. If you had to describe your company in one sentence, what would you say?

Telnyx is a platform-as-a-service company that delivers the benefits of on-demand and scalable access, friction-less service, and cost optimization to the telecommunications industry.

2. What led you to become a part of Techstars & 1871?

Even though we do have an office on Wacker (a 5 minute walk!), the benefits and cohesion that Techstars and 1871 have brought to the technology community as a whole are incredible. Proximity of support, talent, experience, and ideas are critical in growing a company. Techstars and 1871 are the perfect combination of those ingredients to really accelerate Telnyx onto the next level. Techstars and 1871 have quickly become the foundation of our Midwest ecosystem.

3. What are 3 things that get you excited about working out of Chicago?

(1) Chicago’s hard-work mentality is critical in developing our growth-stage culture.

(2) We have an impressive (and growing) corporate, philanthropic, university, and government support system.

(3) Chicago offers a rich number and variety of business on the national and global level to tap into for mentor-ship opportunities and also as potential customer targets.

Read more about Telnyx here.
Read more about Techstars Chicago here.