Austin  

Austin is the capital city of the state of Texas. In the Greater Austin area it’s the 11th most populated city in the US with 2.3 million people. View Austin Venture Directory and other resources toward the bottom the page.

 

Startup Scene

“Silicon Hills” has served as a nickname of Austin due to the growth and presence of technology companies paired with the geographical characteristics of the region. Austin ranks high as a top global startup city— in part because of the sheer influx of professionals who have moved to town from top tech hubs such as Silicon Valley and New York City. Federal government has also taken notice, and Army Futures Command has placed their HQ here as well.

Venture Community

Austin’s greater venture community is made up of over 160 organizations including venture capital firms, family offices, growth/private equity, accelerators, incubators, startup studios, angel funds/networks, and more. View the Austin Chamber of Commerce’s Austin Venture Directory for more information. The Venture Fest was the first showcase of the Austin venture scene, held during the first two weeks of October made of 20+ events with 20+ cohosts. View a few recaps of the event in the section below.

Business Environment

Dubbed “Live Music Capital of the World”, this city’s nickname is a reflection of the importance of the music scene and the focus of art and creativity. Many larger-than-life statues and vibrant murals will catch your eye around town. The world-renowned SXSW, ACL, Consensus, Circuit of the Americas, and Austin FC have attracted in total over a million tourists as well.

Way of Life

People move to Austin to for the most part, enjoy a lower cost of living and welcome the warmer weather— than what’s experienced on the east or west coasts. Paddle boarding, hiking trails, farmer’s markets, and concerts are all very common ways residents choose to spend their free time. Austin is also a city of pet-lovers, so it’s not uncommon to see a variety of dogs out and about… or even horseback-riding downtown with Samuel Greyhorse, also known as the “6th Street Cowboy”.

Austin Venture Features

  • Texas Venture Crawl Fest Austin

    EVENT RECAP: Texas Venture Crawl Austin

    Read the summary of Texas Venture Crawl (now Texas Venture Fest) here. Check out how it started here.

  • Oracle Texas Venture Alliance

    EVENT RECAP: Oracle & Texas Venture Alliance's Poker Night

    On Texas Independence Day (March 3, 2023), a private poker night at the Oracle HQ was the place to be for venture capitalists playing Texas Hold ‘Em— read more here.

  • Austin Venture Capital Event

    EVENT RECAP: Printed Houses & Powerful Partnerships

    Read the summary of the event we co-hosted by Texas Military Department & 3D printed houses startup, Icon, here.

  • A Look Back at Austin’s Innovation History, With KLRU

    Explore Austin’s high tech origins when innovators and community leaders formed a catalyst that still drives the economy today, here.

  • The Austin Startup & Venture Podcasters List 2023

    Check out this list of Austin’s podcasters from individuals from individuals in the startup and investor scene here.

  • How Far Austin Has Come in 5 Years: Investor Scene

    It’s important to take a look at the lay-of-the-land of even five years ago of the Austin Investor scene— check out the deep dive here.

  • The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

    An incredibly written piece to take you through all of the charm and the churn of this unique city, here.

Austin Investor Interviews

 
Jim Breyer Austin Venture Capital

Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital
Austin premier global venture capitalist and private equity investor, Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital, shares his perspective of current and future conditions for startups and investors in the region. Read his insight, here.

Shiri Freund Koren, Director of Business Development for U.S.-Israel BIRD Foundation
From discussing the foundation’s role in industrial R&D between American and Israeli companies, to delving into the future of clean tech in Texas, Shiri provides insights into global partnerships and the potential for transformative growth in the clean energy sector, here.

Jaleh Daie Austin Venture Capital

Dr. Jaleh Daie of Band of Angels & Aurora Equity
Dr. Daie is managing partner at Aurora Equity and seed investor for Silicon Valley’s oldest angel network, Band of Angels. She covers her investment thesis, space, leadership, long list of awards, and her move inspired by Matthew McConaughey, here.

Austin Next Podcast Interview: “Catalyzing Innovation in Austin: A Live Conversation at the Texas Venture Crawl with Kaitlyn DeBernardo and Aaron Perman”

Austin Venture Capital Texas Venture Capital.png

Local Ecosystem of Startup Support

 

Chris De Ayala
We interviewed a true Texan, one of our Founding Texas Venture Board Members & Banking Advisor, Chris De Ayala. He covered not only Pacific Western Bank's unique venture capital and startup partnerships, and what it means to be a pillar in the innovation community-- but of course his past Houston Rodeo volunteer experience highlighting Texas' oldest industries here.

Marc Adesso
Our go-to capital markets partner and founding board member, Marc J. Adesso is from top law firm, Akerman LLP. He talked to us about SEC’s new side letter requirements going into effect, how he's skilled in navigating legal complexities of financings and investments, that Akerman is the first large law firm to have a cannabis practice amongst other first-ever startup clients, and more here.

Tarek Moreshed
The Morshed Group at Sotheby's Chief Realty Officer, Tarek Moreshed, is a venture capitalists’, C-Suite, HNW, & successful entrepreneurs’ go-to for residential & commercial real estate. He shares their entrepreneurial approach, covers trends startups and investors should consider when buying real estate in Austin, talks company milestones being in the top 5% in the industry, and other impressive professional accomplishments here.

Texas Venture Fest: Austin

Texas might be The Lone Star State, but we shouldn’t have lone star entrepreneurs. This experience is like a Pub Crawl, but with VCs. Register for Austin’s Texas Venture Fest (formerly the Texas Venture Crawl) below.

This event started in 2022 in Austin with 5 venues and 1,000+ attendees. In 2023 it grew to 10 cities, 16 venues, 40+ venture panelists, and nearly 3,000 attendees. Read more here.

Austin Venture Directory

 

The Community

Austin has a fast-growing greater venture community of over 150 organizations. Hover over the adjacent graphic for numeric breakdown. These companies consist of venture capital firms, family offices, growth/private equity & venture debt firms, accelerators, incubators, startup studios, pledges & angel funds/networks, and a vast network of remote VCs representing funds from all over the country.

View companies, their thesis’, investment stages, and websites via sections below. Keep this an accurate resource by submitting more information using the link at the end of the page.

Demographics

Venture Capital

 

  • Website
    Thesis:
    Stage:

  • Website
    Thesis:     Tech & CPG
    Stage: Seed - Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Tech & Consumer, Southwest
    Stage:     Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Life Sciences
    Stage:     Seed, Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Veteran Focused
    Stage:     Seed

  • Website
    Thesis:     Bitcoin
    Stage:     Seed - Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Industrial
    Stage:     Seed - Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     General, Impact
    Stage:     Seed - Early Stage, Debt

  • Website
    Thesis:     Frontier tech & founders from the military, intelligence community, and national research institutions
    Stage:     Pre-Seed - Early Stage
    News: With $55M Third Fund, Scout Ventures is Funding Veterans Ready to Tackle the Hardest Technical Challenges

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Stage:     Seed - Early Stage
    News: Hello, Austin!

  • Website
    Thesis:     Non-Coastal
    Stage:     Seed - Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Hardware, Energy
    Stage:     Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Health Tech
    Stage:     Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Frontier Science
    Stage:     Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis: R&D
    Stage:     Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis: Founder Institute Portfolio (SDG, E-Commerce, SaaS, Blockchain, FinTech)
    Stage:     Pre-Seed +

  • Website
    Thesis: Consumer Oriented in: Health, Personal Finance, & Enjoyment of Life
    Stage:     Seed

  • Website
    Thesis: Health, Education, Finance, Community
    Stage:     Seed

  • Website
    Thesis:     Tech & Tech Enabled
    Stage: Seed - Series B

  • Website
    Thesis:     Enterprise SaaS, Consumer
    Stage: Seed - Series B

  • Thesis: CPG
    Stage: Early to Growth
    Website

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Stage: Seed

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Stage: Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Crypto
    Stage: Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Stage: Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Health
    Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed

  • Website
    Thesis:     Consumer
    Stage: Seed - Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology & Life Sciences
    Stage: Early, Growth Stage, Debt

  • Website
    Thesis:     AI, FinTech, Software
    Stage: Late Stage Seed, Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Stage: Agnostic

  • Website
    Thesis:     B2B Software & Services
    Stage: Series A+

  • Website
    Thesis:     Consumer
    Stage: Seed, Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Impact & Diversity
    Stage: Pre-Seed, Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed

  • Website
    Thesis:     FinTech
    Stage: Series A
    News: Bankers Helping Bankers Announces Launch Bankers Helping Bankers Announces Launch of Venture Capital FundVenture Capital Fund

  • Website
    Thesis:     SportsTech
    Stage: Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Tech & Tech Enabled
    Stage: Seed - Series B

  • Website
    Thesis:     Gov regulated startups
    Stage:     Early Stage - Growth

  • Website
    Thesis:     Defense
    Stage: Agnostic

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Stage: Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Women & Under-Represented Founders
    Stage: Pre-Seed - Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Consumer
    Stage: Seed - Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Stage: Early - Growth Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Stage: Pre-Seed - Series A

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Stage: Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Impact
    Stage: Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Non-coastal
    Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed

  • Website
    Thesis:     Tech & Services
    Stage: Seed - Growth

  • Website
    Thesis: Diverse Founders in SaaS, CPG, Tech
    Stage: Pre-Seed
    News: New Diversity Focused Venture Fund in Texas

  • Website
    Thesis:     Consumer
    Stage:     Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis: Blockchain
    Stage:     Agnostic

  • Website
    Thesis: Minority Founders
    Stage:     Seed

  • Website
    Thesis: Crypto
    Stage:     Early-stage

  • Website
    Thesis: General
    Stage:     Seed & Series A

Accelerators, Incubators,
Studios, Crowdfunds

 

  • Website
    Thesis:     General, Impact
    Type: Accelerator
    News: Techstars Closes Oversubscribed $150M Fund to Support Accelerators

  • Website
    Thesis:     Co-Living Network
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     Blockchain, Gaming
    Type: Venture Studio

  • Website
    Thesis:     UT System
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     Texas-Based
    Type: Accelerator Support By UT Students

  • Website
    Thesis:     R&D
    Type: Lab & Co-Working

  • Website
    Thesis:     Deep Tech UT Austin
    Type: Innovation Center, Incubator, Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     CPG
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Investment:     Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Type:     Venture Studio

  • Website
    Thesis:     Corporations
    Type:     Venture Studio

  • Website
    Thesis:     Corporations
    Type:     Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Type:     Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Type:     Studio

  • Website
    Thesis: CPG
    Type:     Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     Media
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Type: Venture Studio

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Type: Crowdfunding

  • Website
    Thesis:     Women/Students at UT
    Type: Institute

  • Website
    Thesis:     Veteran & Military Spouse Founders
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis:     Health
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis: CPG
    Type: Venture Studio

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Type: Incubator

  • Website
    Thesis: Technology, Co-Living House
    Type: Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis: General
    Type: Venture Studio

  • Website
    Thesis: Government Innovation
    Type: Venture Studio

  • Website
    Thesis: General
    Type: Co-Living Accelerator

  • Website
    Thesis: General
    Type: Co-Working Incubator

  • Website
    Thesis: General
    Type: Startup Studio

Growth/Private Equity & Venture Debt

 

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Stage: Series B+

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Stage: Series B+

  • Website
    Thesis:     Founder -Led, Rev $5M-$100M
    Company Stage: Growth

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Company Stage: $2-15M Annual Rev

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology
    Series:     Series B+

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Series:     All

  • Website
    Thesis:     Founder-led B2B SaaS, Rev $3M-$30M
    Series:     Growth

  • Website
    Thesis:     Heathcare & Education

  • Website
    Thesis:     Series B+, Founder-led
    News: Mainsail Partners Raises $915M

  • Website
    Thesis:     Technology & Services
    Stage: Series B, C

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Stage: Private Equity

  • Website
    Thesis:     Tech, Services, Healthcare Tech
    Stage: Later Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Business services, consumer, financial services, healthcare, technology industries.
    Type: Growth Private Equity

  • Website
    Thesis:     Non-Silicon Valley B2b Software
    Type: Private Equity

Angel Funds, Networks, Pledges

 

  • Website
    Thesis:     General
    Stage: Early Stage

  • Website
    Thesis:     Impact
    Stage: Pre-Seed

Remote

Funds with at least one Austin-based representative.

 

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