SAN ANTONIO — Beto Altamirano, a South Texas native and cofounder of San Antonio-based Irys Technologies, has become the third person to publicly announce he plans to run for mayor in 2025.
The official filing period doesn't open until Jan. 15, but the race for what will be an open seat next spring is already heating up. Altamirano is the first person outside San Antonio City Council to announce his bid, joining council members John Courage and Manny Pelaez.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg is term-limited and will leave office after serving eight years. Voters head to the polls on May 3, 2025.
According to the biography on his campaign's website, Altamirano was born in Mission, Texas, to immigrant parents; he later graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a degree in government before moving to San Antonio. Here, he started Irys in 2017.
A two-minute, 20-second announcement video uses the stories of multiple San Antonians, including a small business owner and an anti-violence advocate, to present a people-forward campaign. He teases a platform based around child welfare, public safety and access to good-paying jobs.
"Our community is what inspired me to keep going," Altamirano says in the video. "When I chose San Antonio to start my company, it was only possible because of this community."
His campaign website dives deeper into his priorities, including devising strategic and proactive policing approaches; preparing city infrastructure for continued growth; and take advantage of international partnerships to "supercharge local economic development."
Irys developed the city's 311 app, through which residents are able to more easily submit service requests. The company recently acquired Diversified Technical Services Inc.
Altamirano's biography also says he has served as vice chair for the Port Authority of San Antonio before later representing the U.S. on the United Nations Economic Commission, where he contributed "to international discussions on technology and sustainability." According to his LinkedIn, he participates on the boards of directors for a variety of local tech organizations, including Launch SA, Tech Bloc and ActivateSA.
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