The most active VC firms in Austin Seed rounds
This article is part of a series where Naxtrack presents you the best Venture Capital firms across different cities.
In 2020 and 2021 most seed rounds have gone to software & SaaS companies and a smaller percentage to cleantech and life science startups. The top seed round Austin venture capital investors include:
- Silverton Partners
- Next Coast Ventures
- ATX Venture Partners
- UT Horizon Fund
Seed and Series A-stage investor Silverton Partners emerged as the top seed VC in 2020 and 2021 in terms of the number of deals, followed by Austin based Next Coast Ventures. Other entrants to the top most active seed funders in Austin included ATX Venture Partners and the UT Horizon Fund. UT Horizon Fund is the strategic venture vehicle of the University of Texas System and focused on supporting UT System-based companies.
The most prominent angel investor in Austin is Central Texas Angel Network. CTAN aims to fund the next generation of ground-breaking Texas based software companies.
As one of the most active startup hubs in the country, Austin has a more than a few incubators and accelerators. Among many other accelerators, Techstars Austin provides pre-seed and seed funding and intensive mentorship to Austin based founders and participants benefit from the accelerator’s worldwide network.
Who else invests in Austin?
The bulk of VC investment in Austin tech is done by non-Austin VC firms. Find Out More
Top Series A VC investors in Austin
- Silverton Partners
- LiveOak Venture Partners
- Elsewhere Partners
- ATX Venture Partners
Austin’s new early stage venture capital firm, Elsewhere Partners, is boosting the regional ecosystem while established VCs like LiveOak Venture Partners and Silverton Partners went on to lead Series A rounds in great companies who need to raise seven figures. LiveOak Venture Partners tends to lead rounds most of the time. Silverton Partners is not the lead investor about 50% of the time. ATX Venture Partners focuses on early-stage investments, more particularly on seed and follow on Series A rounds.
Top later stage VCs
Late stage investment activity is leading the venture capital market worldwide and Austin has no shortage of Series B and late stage focused VCs.
- S3 Ventures
- Austin Ventures
- TPG
S3 Ventures makes Seed, Series A, and Series B investments in start-ups across three sectors: Business Technology, Digital Experiences, and Healthcare Technology, while Austin Ventures is focused on software and manufacturing industries like Semiconductors.
Austin is also home to one of the world’s large Private Equity funds, TPG, who has a branch office in Austin and is one of the leading late stage venture capital investors worldwide.
Top Austin based VCs investing in Biotech and Life Sciences
Austin is one of the top cities for Life Science startups outside the nation’s largest metro areas.
- Sante Ventures
- TEXO Ventures
- PTV Healthcare Capital
Early stage VCs like Sante Ventures and TEXO Ventures fund investments in local Biotech and Life Science startups and have an increasing focus on the intersection of healthcare and information technology. PTV Healthcare Capital is an Austin based later stage VC investing in a broad range of healthcare innovation areas.
Investors flock to Food and Crypto
Some of Austin’s VCs are niche investors. CAVU Venture Partners is an early stage investors in food and beverage companies while Multicoin Capital is focused on opportunities in crypto and the token industry and is funding companies in these areas.
Who else invests in Austin?
The bulk of VC investment in Austin tech is done by non-Austin VC firms. Find Out More
The Venture Capital Firms You Need to Know in Austin
ATX Venture Partners
ATX Venture Partners is a seed and Series A stage venture capital fund investing in tech startups in Texas. The firm has recently invested in Arcade and QuotaPath (HR + Sales Tech), Pensa Systems (AI + Autonomous Perception + Retail Tech), RoverPass (Travel + Curated Marketplaces) and Slingshot Aerospace (Satellite + Drones + AI).
Austin Ventures
Austin Ventures is one of the oldest VC firms in Texas and has raised $4.5B so far. The firm invests in a broad range of industries from software to chip makers and other manufacturing companies.
Recent investments include Ambiq Micro (Semiconductors + IoT), Vyze (Fintech + Retail Tech), Tasktop (Productivity + Enterprise SaaS), Onit (Business Intelligence + Enterprise SaaS) and Spredfast (Marketing Tech + Adtech). Austin Ventures is mainly focused on investments in Series B and later stage rounds.
CAVU Venture Partners
CAVU Venture Partners is a venture fund with a focus on food and beverage opportunities. Investments include popular consumer brands like Kite Hill (Milk products), Once Upon a Farm (Baby food), Kettle & Fire and REBBL (Food + Wellness).
Elsewhere Partners
Elsewhere Partners is a new Austin based early stage VC firm that invests at Series A and Series B across North America. Recent investments include Relatient (Digital Health), Statflo (Retail Tech + AI/Machine Learning) and Itential (Network Automation + Platforms).
LiveOak Venture Partners
Another Austin based firm, LiveOak Venture Partners, is currently raising a second fund to invest in early stage startups. Previous investments include Rollick (Curated Marketplace), Eventador.io (Analytics + PaaS), OJO Labs (Real Estate Tech + AI/Machine Learning), Infocyte (Security) and CS Disco (Legal Tech).
Multicoin Capital
Multicoin Capital is a thesis-driven cryptofund focused exclusively on blockchain tech and decentralized projects. The firm is operating out of Austin.
Next Coast Ventures
While VC investors in the US made most investments on the coasts in 2020 and 2021, Next Coast Ventures is primarily investing in the regions between the coasts. The partners have recently invested in Stoplight (Developer Platform), Swivel (Real Estate Tech + Marketplaces), 101 Commerce (Consumer Goods + E-Commerce) and DOSH (Marketing Tech + Fintech).
PTV Healthcare Capital
PTV Healthcare Capital is a Texas based later stage Health Care/Life Sciene investor mostly investing in medical devices companies like Cardiva Medical, Intuity Medical and Apollo Endosurgery.
S3 Ventures
Backed by a philanthropic, multi-billion-dollar family for over a decade, S3 Ventures empowers great entrepreneurs with the patient capital and true resources required to grow extraordinary, high-impact companies in Business Technology, Consumer Digital Experiences, and Healthcare Technology. With more than half-a-billion dollars under management, S3 Ventures leads Seed, Series A, and Series B investments with the capacity to follow-on for the life of a company. Recent investments include IFM (Construction Tech), Atmosphere (TV + Business Tech) and LeanDNA (Manufacturing Tech + Logistics).
Sante Ventures
Sante Ventures is an early stage Life Sciences/Biotech investor based out of Austin. Sante Ventures invests in companies that develop new medical technologies. Active investments are medical device companies like Cryosa, Claret Medical and EndoStim.
Silverton Partners
The most active seed and early stage VC in Texas, Silverton Partners, just announced the close of another $108M fund. The firm has raised several funds to date, and has invested in over 100 portfolio companies across different sectors. The VCs recent investments have focused on Curated Marketplaces (Rollick), VR/AR+ Biotech (Apprentice), Real Estate Tech (ListingSpark, Fetch Package, OJO Labs), Logistics (Convey), HR Tech (Pingboard, YouEarnedIt) and Consumer Packaged Goods (Billie).
TEXO Ventures
Head-quartered in Austin, this VC firm invests typically in early stage companies, especially Digital Health (BetterDoctor, CareDox) and Biotech (IsoStem, Ortho Kinematics) startups in Texas.
5 Reasons why Austin’s Startup Ecosystem is Unique
Austin, the capital of Texas with a Metropolitan Population of 7 m, is known for its live music, culture and of course the tech festival SXSW. Companies benefit from low taxes and favorable real estate conditions and startup incubators and accelerators such as Techstars Austin form the foundation of the startup ecosystem.
In 2020, $ 1.2 billion of venture capital was invested in Austin-based startups, and Austin is strongly represented in the promising areas of AI, Big Data & Analytics.
Austin’s most VC backed sectors are Software, Cleantech and Healthtech. In addition to young companies such as SparkCognition and Tethr from the AI sector, young Cleantech and Healthtech companies such as Illumitex, TreeHouse and ClearDATA from the region are leading the way.
Strong implications for technical innovation come from universities such as the University of Texas. The UT Horizon Fund is the venture capital arm of the University of Texas System and invests in companies with ties to the UT System.
Who else invests in Austin?
The bulk of VC investment in Austin tech is done by non-Austin VC firms. Find Out More