Local tech veterans launch Internet software firm
San Antonio Business Journal - by James Aldridge
San Antonio entrepreneurs Sheridan Chambers and Dan Cornell have launched a new Internet software company called Denim Group Ltd., the partners announced.
The company, with sales offices in the Alamo City and Dallas, will develop and manage Web applications based on the Microsoft .Net platform.
The software, targeted to small- and midsize businesses, is available on a subscription basis, starting at $595 a month, according to Denim Group.
Chambers said the firm is currently developing six applications, including a product that allows firms to manage their Web site's content themselves.
So far, the company -- which opened its door Jan. 15 -- has four employees, including Chambers and Cornell. Their local office is located at 11122 Nacogdoches Road in Northeast San Antonio.
The firm recently closed on its first round of venture capital, but Chambers declined to reveal the amount. Depending upon the firm's initial success, Denim Group may shop around for a second round of financing, he said.
Chambers, 26, and Cornell, 25, both Trinity University graduates, founded local Web-development company Atension Inc. in 1996. By 1999, Atension was one of the largest Web developers in the city.
Their firm's stature caught the eye of publicly traded Rare Medium Inc., which acquired Atension and retained Chambers and Cornell to manage the company's San Antonio office. Some of their customers were the Wyndham Hotels, NextJet.com, Corporate Express and Radio City Music Hall.
While with Rare Medium, Chambers and Cornell said they managed the global UNIX/Java product line with support personnel in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Detroit and Sydney.
But the partners wanted to take on a different kind of work.
"We wanted to get back into a product line that we had been successful with, and create a business model that was entirely new," said Chambers.
At Atension and Rare Medium, they were responsible for custom developing applications for mostly large businesses. However, with a softened economy, they felt there was a need for businesses to have "cash-flow friendly" Internet solutions, Chambers said.
"We are not building custom applications but software modules that can be combined to build interactive Web sites," Chambers added. "When coupled with a subscription-based fee model, we think this is really compelling for small to medium-sized businesses."
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