Austin selects winners to compete in D.C. startup competition

Four Austin startups will be in the running for $650,000 in funding and professional coaching in May after winning the Challenge Cup of Austin competition on Thursday.

The four companies selected will advance to the 1776 Challenge Cup in Washington, D.C., which is sponsored by the 1776 startup accelerator program that focuses on startups in the heavily regulated fields of education, energy and sustainability, health and transportation.

Winners of the competition at Austin’s Capital Factory were:

PenPal…

Double-digit declines for rig count in Eagle Ford, Permian Basin

Low crude oil prices are taking their toll in the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin, where the number of active rigs fell by double digits over the past week.

Crude oil prices bounced above and below $50 per barrel this week, and the latest count data released on Friday by oil giant Baker Hughes show drilling declines across the board.

Friday’s figures show that the rig count in the Eagle Ford Shale fell by 10 — from 178 active rigs to 168 over the past week.

The number of active rigs in the Eagle…

Houston energy private equity deals surged in 2014

Deals between energy companies and private equity firms shot up in 2014, according to an annual report from Houston-based GulfStar Group, an investment banking firm specializing in middle market companies.

Falling oil prices are likely to add to the deal volume of 2014 in the coming year, but changes where on the energy supply chain investors and buyers put their money, said Cliff Atherton, managing director at GulfStar Group.

The strength in deal volume that may have been overly weighted toward…

D.C. Lottery's new commercials: some win, some left behind

Your friend or work colleague just won a big prize in the D.C. Lottery.

Now you’re stuck.

That’s at least the residual message in the new “Unless I Win the Lottery” advertising campaign for the D.C. Lottery, which begins airing Monday. The main theme, as you’d expect, is that some people really do win the lottery.

The four commercial spots “feature game-show jingle music and amusing expressions featuring the joy of lottery winners — and the befuddlement of people left behind — when winners…

D.C.-area RadioShack stores slated to close

Electronics retailer RadioShack, which filed for bankruptcy protection, has produced its initial list of store closings, including 29 in the Washington area. RadioShack’s website lists a total of 79 retail locations in the Greater Washington area.

Here are the stores in the Washington region RadioShack said are closing:

In D.C.:

1830 K St. NW 4531 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Tenley Center Rhode Island Place Shopping Center, 1060 Brentwood Road NE Good Hope Market Place, 2837 Alabama Ave. SE AVE SE 1150…