Dirk Ahlborn of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and Chris Lewicki of Planetary Resources to Lead Conference with Visionary Technologies

Austin, Texas - August 11, 2015 - SXSW Eco, a conference that celebrates the power of design, technology and business to drive global change, revealed two Keynote speakers for the 2015 event:

Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of the futuristic Hyperloop Transportation Technologies; And President and Chief Engineer, Chris Lewicki of asteroid mining company Planetary Resources. SXSW Eco takes place October 5-7 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX.

"SXSW features a unique and contagious optimism that technology and design can solve some of our greatest challenges. Our events are platforms to showcase bold, ambitious ideas that will change the way we live, work and relate to each other," said Morgan Catalina, SXSW Eco Executive Producer. "Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and Planetary Resources will keynote SXSW Eco 2015 to share their visionary solutions shaping the future."

Additional speakers, including the nations leading energy experts Dr. David Danielson (US Department of Energy), Dr. Cheryl Martin (NYSERDA), Dr. Ellen Williams (ARPA-E), as well as speakers such as Dr. Gulrez Azhar (The Public Health Foundation of India), Christopher Ferguson (The Boeing Company and former NASA astronaut), Anajli Jaiswal (Natural Resources Defense Council), Hunter Lovins (Principium), Daniel Lee (Levi Strauss Foundation) and Helen Davis Johnson (Kresge) have been added to the conference lineup.

The thought leaders listed above join previously announced speakers: Nancy Pfund (DBL Investors), Mark Magaña (GreenLatinos), Anica Landreneau (HOK), Andrew Chung (Khosla Ventures), and Jennifer Kim Field (United Nations Foundation), Dr. Robert Fraley (Monsanto), Mark Fischetti (Scientific American), Blaise Bertrand (IDEO), Ben Schiller (Fast Company), Alicia Garza (#BlackLivesMatter), Grace Kim (GOODcorps), Sachin Malhan (Ashoka Changemakers) and Neil Katz (The Weather Company).

New sessions being added to the schedule include:

Energy + Water

· Space Age Solutions to Earth's Complex Challenges
· Powering the Internet of Things, Sustainably

Policy

· Climate & Heat Adaptation in the Developing World

Corporate Social Responsibility

· Radical Transparency: From Pushing Paper to Powering Performance
· Fossil Free Portfolios: Transforming Finance From the Bottom Up
· Close the Loop: From Waste to Wealth

Design

· Is Civic Tech Leapfrogging Design?
· PXD Bootcamp: Philanthropy-Process & Possibility

Startup Central

· Moving Materials Towards a Circular Economy
· Inventing the Future: How Black Swans Can Solve the World's Sustainability Problems

SXSW Eco will feature three days of informative panels and workshops, inspirational speakers, intensive coaching programs, pitch competitions, workshops, networking events, receptions and more. The SXSW Eco 2015 schedule is now live and can be viewed at schedule.sxsweco.com.

Now in its fifth year, SXSW Eco features an increased focus on technology, business and design, represented through the following themes: Cities, Energy + Water, Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Communications, Design and Startup Central. In addition, Biomimicry Institute will host the Nature, Innovation and the Future of Design track and Bloomberg BNA will return with the Policy Action Series, featuring an array of industry experts to highlight valuable data and spark conversation about programs and policies.

About Hyperloop Transportation Technologies
Founded by JumpStarter Inc. utilizing JumpStarters crowdfunding and crowd collaboration platform JumpStartFund. The company has assembled a team of high-level engineers and contributing corporations which include ANSYS for computer simulation sources and UCLA : Architecture & Urban Design for considering social interface of the Hyperloop project.

About Planetary Resources
Planetary Resources vision is to do the "impossible" now. The company is bringing the natural resources of space within humanitys economic sphere of influence. Asteroids will play a key role in the development of a space economy and be the main driver in allowing humanity to become a flourishing multi-planetary species. Water from asteroids will fuel the in-space economy and habitation, by creating rocket fuel and consumable water from space, for space. Rare metals will increase Earths GDP when mined from asteroids in our Solar System - the very same objects that brought them to Earth in the first place.

About SXSW Eco
SXSW Eco creates a space for business leaders, investors, innovators and designers to advance solutions that drive economic, environmental and social change. In its fifth year, the conference will feature collaborative events to facilitate direct connections, as well as focused panel sessions and exciting competitions that will introduce attendees to transformative products, technologies and ideas. sxsweco.com

SXSW Eco 2015 is sponsored by Austin Energy, Austin Technology Incubator, Biomimicry Institute, Biomimicry 3.8, Direct Energy, Bloomberg BNA, Energy Thought Summit, Timberland, XPRIZE, City of Austin Resource Recovery.