Your Southern Tech Startup Holiday Gift Guide

Aiming to buy local this holiday season? We'll do you one better! Here's a few of our picks for every type of techie in your life, all curated from southern startups. After all, even Kris Kringle's North Pole operation was a startup once.

For the musically-inclined: An instrument that plays every which way

Artiphon's INSTRUMENT 1 (Nashville, TN)

This Music City startup's “musical toolkit” lets you hold it in multiple positions and strum, slide, tap, and drum any part of any song. It pairs with an app to let you mix music on GarageBand, Animoog, and other platforms.

Price: $399

For the commuter who hates to drive: A bike that drives you

EDISON Electric Bike (Atlanta, GA)

This electric model rides like a regular bike with a few high-tech extras — a thumb-throttle for when you don’t want to pedal, for example. The bike runs 20-30 miles at 20 mph on one charge and it takes about four hours to fully charge.

Price: Starts at $1899

For your friend who would lose their head if it wasn't attached: Magnetic sunglasses that stick

Distil Union's MagLock subglasses (Charleston, SC)

You know that friend who loses a pair of glasses every month? MagLock’s hidden magnets clip to your shirt – and mount to any magnetic surface (like a fridge).

Price: Starting at $79.99

For the automobile enthusiast: Make any car smart

splitsecnd (Nashville, TN)

This device turns every car into a smart car — you just plug it in to add location tracking, crash detection, a 24/7 emergency call center, and more. It also integrates with Amazon Alexa and Google Home so you can ask your smart home devices where family members are in case of an emergency, get their real-time driving updates, and more.

Price: Lifetime coverage is $299.99

For the side hustler: A journal to document it all

Side Hustle Journal (Atlanta, GA)

This journal, developed by a legit side hustler, helps add structure to the process of building a business and expedite turning your idea into something real, despite the challenges of everyday life. The journal uses a system that will ensure you excel at your day job while finding time to build a side hustle.

Price: $1 for the digital PDF version; $25 for the hardcover

For the fashion-forward techie: Trendy accessories for all your devices

Leather Apple product covers, Twelve South (Charleston, SC)

Twelve South designs beautiful accessories for Apple products — laptops, iPads, iPhones, etc. Though we love them all, we're going mobile-first and highlighting their Journal for iPhone, a premium, full-grain leather wallet case.

Price: starting at $69.99

For the guy/gal who is too busy to breathe: All the help you can get

An on-demand personal assistant subscription (Atlanta, GA)

OurErrands provides on-demand vetted personal assistants to help you accomplish those tasks piling up on your to-do list, at an affordable price.

Price: Plans starting at $290 per month (10 hours of an assistant’s time)

OR: Saige's machine learning personal chef-driven delivery subscription (Atlanta, GA)

Saige is a machine learning personal chef platform that learns your favorite foods over time to deliver totally custom meals to you and your family. No more clueless grocery shopping!

Price: Based on number of meals a week (1 meal/$16 a week)

Prefer to give back rather than just give? Here's how to give back with your tech skills. Do you have another southern startup gift on your wish list? Let us know on Twitter!