Custom Software Development Company in Austin

Custom software development for Austin startups and enterprises

Austin is two software markets in one city. On one side are venture backed startups along South Congress, in East Austin and in the Domain that need a first product built fast and built well enough to survive the second funding round. On the other side are the enterprise campuses of semiconductor, hardware, software and healthcare companies that have relocated or expanded in Travis and Williamson counties, along with state agencies, universities and a large hospitality and live events sector.

Tepia’s Austin office serves both. A founder typically needs an MVP with a clear path to version two. An enterprise IT director typically needs a product that integrates with Salesforce, an ERP or an internal data warehouse and passes a security review. Tepia has built both kinds of software for thirteen years and applies the same six phase process to each, scaled to the size of the project.

Tepia describes its work as emotionally intelligent engineering: software designed around how people actually behave, measured by whether they keep using it. Tepia clients report about 90% customer retention, which is a better measure of a development partner than a logo wall.

How Tepia approaches custom software development in Austin

Tepia runs every project through six phases: Discovery, Design, Development and Testing, Training, Launch and Support. The Tepia process page has the full description. Here is how each phase applies to a typical Austin project.

Discovery

Tepia conducts a system investigation, user interviews and a third party integration review. For a startup, Discovery is often short because the founder already has a pitch deck, a prototype and early users to interview. For an enterprise team, it includes reviewing existing systems and security requirements. Deliverables are an Investigation Summary, an Interview Summary and User Stories. Discovery typically takes 1 to 3 months, shorter when you arrive with specs.

Design

A design questionnaire, moodboards, a style guide, detailed wireframes and sample designs. Tepia designs every screen before engineering begins so estimates hold.

Development and Testing

Alpha and Beta schedules with test plans covering functional, user acceptance and non functional testing. Tepia uses Swift and SwiftUI, Kotlin, React Native, Flutter, React, Node.js, .NET, Python and PostgreSQL on AWS, Azure or GCP, chosen per project. Development and QA typically take 2 to 6 months.

Training, Launch and Support

Hands on training built around user story scenarios, in person in Austin or remote. Launch covers data migration, transition from any old system and support reps on rollout, about 1 month.

How the Tepia US led team model works for Austin clients

Tepia is US led with individually sourced global talent. Your project manager, design lead and engineering lead are US based. Engineers are hand picked for your project rather than pulled from a bench, and they work hours that overlap with Central time. Tepia names every engineer on the roster so you know who is building your product.

Meetings are simple and predictable. Tepia holds a kickoff at its Austin office or over video, a weekly status call in Central business hours, and sprint demos where you see working software. Between calls you have a shared backlog, a written changelog and direct access to your project manager. Leadership, including Abraham Agopian, Founder and CEO, and Brianna Martison, Director of Engineering, stays involved in scoping and escalation.

For startups, this model matters because investors ask who built the product and whether the code can be taken in house later. Tepia writes code you own, documents it, and hands it over cleanly. For enterprise teams, it matters because security reviews and procurement want named, accountable people in a US time zone.

Software Tepia builds for the Austin market

• Startup MVPs and version two rebuilds. Tepia’s startup app development work covers first releases and the common case of replacing a no code or agency built prototype that cannot scale.
• Enterprise internal tools. Operations dashboards, approval workflows and field apps that replace spreadsheets and email, integrated with Salesforce, HubSpot, QuickBooks and internal databases.
• AI features and agents. Retrieval augmented generation over company data, assistants and classification built on OpenAI and Anthropic model APIs with vector databases, scoped as contained features.
• Hospitality, events and consumer apps. Ordering, loyalty, ticketing and membership apps for a city with a large live events and restaurant economy. Tepia’s MNC Go grocery ordering app and Daily Hope media app are representative of consumer work.
• Hardware companion apps and IoT. Mobile and admin software for connected devices, similar to Tepia’s Maximum Controls project for gate control.

Tepia’s Austin office also serves Dallas Fort Worth and Houston. See the Dallas and Houston pages for those markets, or the Austin mobile app development page for mobile specific work.

Frequently asked questions