The Austin startup ecosystem got a boost from 10-plus new funding deals, five acquisitions and a ton of venture capital firm activity in September. We've rounded up all the deals from the month below to help take stock of all the transactions.
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Now, let’s get to the deals.
Fundings
Entvantage Diagnostics, an Austin biotech company, reported raising $515K in new equity funding. This follows a reported $3.3M round in 2017 and about $2.5M raised in 2015 and 2016. The company, led by CEO Joe Skraba, is working on reducing the use of antibiotics for ear, nose and throat illnesses through its ENTvantage Dx, which tests to distinguish between bacterial and viral infections. That’s helpful because not all require antibiotics, even though that’s what a doctor is likely to preemptively prescribe.
Lawgix Inc., an Austin startup that makes software for real-time oversight and collaboration at law firms, reported raising $2.1M in equity funding. The startup makes a cloud-based app for that banks, insurers and legal professionals use to collaborate. Last November, it reported raising $4.2M in equity and other securities.
Launch Code After School, an Austin startup that teaches kids K-12 how technology works and basic tech skills through summer camps and classes, raised $46K in crowdfunding on SeedInvest‘s platform. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Ravi Parikh, who co-founded MakerSquare in 2012 and RoverPass in 2014. It previously raised $606K in convertible notes. It’s hoping to branch out to new locations in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio — and hopes to start franchising in Q4. It says it has served more than 300 customers with a revenue run rate of $240K.
Austin real estate investment and wealth management startup Realized raised a $6M Series A round. The investment was led by Los Angeles-based Calibrate Ventures, and it included funding from Minneapolis-based Rice Park Capital. Calibrate Ventures co-founder Kevin Dunlap will join Realized’s board of directors as part of the deal. Founded in 2015, Realized helps people who own legacy investment properties find tax-efficient ways to invest equities into diversified commercial properties that might help generate more income.
Klaris Diagnostics, an Austin startup analyzing and predicting the right antibiotics to use in order to help fight hospital superbugs, reported raising $5.5M in equity funding from two unnamed investors, according to an SEC filing. The biotech startup was founded by Nicolas Arab, Bryan Gammon and Ross Johnson. It reported raising a roughly $3.5M round led by Omnimed Capital in April 2018.
Tethr, an Austin startup using an AI platform to provide insights from voice data, announced $15M in new funding. The round was led by IAG Capital Partners with participation from existing investors GroTech Ventures, MissionOG and Falmouth Ventures. Along with that, the company announced that early investor and COO Gary Clark has been named CEO. Co-founder Mike Mings, meanwhile, will take on a corporate strategy role and serve on the company’s board.
Smarter Sorting, an Austin startup helping retailers chemical-level data for products and how to best reuse or recycle them, raised $17M in Series A funding. The startup’s new funding was led by US Ecology, a regulated waste treatment and disposal company. Also in the round was RTP Ventures and other investors the company identified only as industry experts. That new cash will help it work on ways to become a top solution for consumer product regulatory classification.
Austin-based Vertify Inc., a customer intelligence startup, closed a $750K seed round led by Bay Area firm Right Side Capital, bringing total funding to almost $1M. The company, led by CEO Matt Klepac, has recently added several new leaders, including CTO David Perdue, Director of Marketing Lacey Miller, and Senior Engineer Steve Hernandez.
Austin-based TurboPass reported raising $135K in equity and other securities. The company, led by co-founders Michael Jarman and Kenneth Jarman, provides a multi-channel distribution platform for auto dealers, and it is part of the Newchip accelerator.
ZenBusiness announced it raised a $15M Series A led by one of its previous investors, New York firm Greycroft. Other early investors, including Lerer Hippeau and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, were also in on the deal. Rosecliff Venture Partners, Interlock Partners and Recruit Strategic Partners were newcomers to the cap table. The startup, co-founded by former HomeAway leaders Ross Buhrdorf and Shanaz Henmati, uses machine learning and automation to guide new founders through corporate formation documents, legal compliance questions, financial outlines and other services.
Growth Acceleration Partners co-founder and CEO Joyce Durst has become the majority owner of her company. And, with the move, the company was certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. Durst co-founded the software development company in 2007 and has bootstrapped it along the way.
Mergers, Acquisitions and IPOs
Fashion tech giant Stitch Fix scooped up the IP of a New York-based startup that has one of its founders and several of its investors based here in Austin. Stitch Fix acquired Finery, which was founded in 2017 by Austin-based actor and model Brooklyn Decker and CEO Whitney Casey, a former CNN anchor. It raised about $5M. Finery’s investors include Austin-based Next Coast Ventures, as well as angel investor Cotter Cunningham, founder of RetailMeNot. Others who have backed it include NEA, Farfetch, BBG Ventures, Adrian Cheng through C Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Halogen Ventures and TheSkimm founders, Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg. The company also had backing from its co-founder, Decker; her husband, former tennis star Andy Roddick; Miroslava Duma, founder and CEO of Fashion Tech Lab; and Nasiba Adilova, co-founder of The Tot.
Austin-based identity management company HID Global acquired Salt Lake City-based HydrantID, a network and IoT security management and automation services company. No financial details were provided.
Hanger Technology, an Austin drone workflow automation startup, was acquired by Los Angeles-based AirMap, which provides airspace intelligence for drones. No financial details were provided. Hanger, founded in 2015 by Colin Guinn and Jeffrey DeCoux, had raised $6.5M from investors including Lux Capital, R/GA Ventures and Interlock Partners, according to Crunchbase. It will keep its headquarters and team in Austin.
Custom Church Apps, an Austin startup that makes mobile apps for churches, was acquired by Seattle-based church technology company Subsplash for undisclosed terms. Custom Church Apps was initially founded in Portland in 2012 by Poncho Lowder, Craig Wishart and Glenn Ray. It moved to Austin in 2017.
HID Global, an Austin identification security company, acquired Placard, an Australian company that makes secured cards for banking, retail, transportation and other purposes. No financial details were provided. The deal follows HID’s acquisition of Utah security company HydrantID earlier this month.
VC Firm Activity
Mithril Capital, an VC firm that recently moved from San Francisco to Austin, led a $45M investment into Glance, a segment of India-based InMobi Group that uses AI to provide personalized content on smartphones. Mithril Capital co-founder Ajay Royan is joining Glance’s board of directors as part of the deal. Mithril, which has invested more than $1B in startups since its 2012 founding by Royan and Peter Thiel, moved the firm to Austin about a year ago. Worth noting: Mithril Capital was reportedly being investigated by the FBI, according to a Sept. 12 report in Recode. A firm representing Mithril provided the following statement: “This is a foiled plot by a self-serving ex-employee. There are no allegations from any government agency, or any [investor.] Nevertheless, our attorneys are in contact with government authorities in order to protect [investors], employees, and portfolio companies against any extortionate behavior.” Mithril has also filed a lawsuit against its former general counsel, Crystal McKellar.
Rob Adams, a former founder and fund manager who founded Texas Venture Labs at UT, launched a new venture business called Congress Avenue Ventures. “I’m thrilled to announce I’m back in the venture business with the formation of Congress Avenue Ventures,” he wrote in a tweet. “Building on all the results from Texas Venture Labs and my experience running AVLabs.” Its site says it will make 20-30 investments per fund and those will be in different stages, sectors and geographic areas. It plans to invest $100k to $500K checks. And it co-invests alongside other firms. Its portfolio already includes Austin-based High Brew Coffee, as well as Casper, Florence Healthcare, Capella Space and Mission Bio.
Silverton Partners filed paperwork for its sixth fund — called Silverton Partners VI, L.P. It’s aiming to raise $120M, which would be Silverton’s largest fund since it launched in 2003. The filing shows no money has yet been committed to the fund, but the filing indicates they’re ready to start securing commitments. Silverton also filed paperwork for a fund called Silverton Opportunities I, L.P., which seeks to raise $20M, mostly likely as a vehicle to for follow on investments in portfolio companies.
Capital Factory, the most active investor group in Texas, filed paperwork for Capital Factory 6, which seeks to raise $20M, which would its largest fund yet.
A new venture firm in Austin called Ironspring is targeting those heavy machinery innovations with a post-seed to Series B investments. A new SEC filing shows the firm has raised $47.5M in pooled investment fund interests. According to its webpage, the firm is led by co-founders Peter J. Holt and Adam Bridgman. Holt is the chairman of Spurs Sports & Entertainment and CEO of heavy equipment dealership HOLT CAT. Bridgman is a partner at NextGen Venture Partners in Austin and a former partner in HOLT Ventures, according to his LinkedIn.
Several VC firms also made key hires in September. Check them out in our local hiring roundup.
