The outlook for Austin's venture capital deal flow just got significantly better.
Silverton Partners, one of Austin's top firms, announced Friday it has closed on a $108 million fund.
In February last year, the firm set out to raise $100 million. But, after seeing several of Silverton's portfolio companies cruise through significant exits, Silverton seems to have drawn even more interest, surpassing their initial target by $8 million.
This is the fifth fund for Silverton, which was founded in 2006, and the firm is already deploying that new money. Overall, it has invested in about 50 deals and manages $250 million in capital.
“Fund V, our largest fund to date, is the culmination of a lot of hard work and evidence over the last twelve years that our approach to venture investing is working,” Morgan Flager, general partner at Silverton Partners, said in a news release. “With this latest fund, we’ve been very fortunate to expand our roster of top-tier institutional LPs who believe in our differentiated strategy and vision for the future of our franchise.”
Along with the new fund, the firm revealed that five of its portfolio companies have either received huge private equity investments or been acquired, generating more than $1.1 billion in market capitalization since the start of this year.
The firm's portfolio companies have, indeed, had a remarkable 2018 so far. WP Engine started the year with a $250 million investment from Silver Lake, the same private equity firm that has invested heavily in Dell. Meanwhile, on-demand delivery startup Favor was acquired by H-E-B; YouEarnedIt landed an undisclosed investment from Vista Equity Partners; SpareFoot acquired SiteLink and gave a majority stake in the combined company to Boston-based private equity firm Cove Hill Partners. And Watermark was acquired by TCV.
“We continue to see meaningful increases in entrepreneurial activity in our hometown of Austin, TX, which continues to be one of the top markets in the U.S. for startup activity," Kip McClanahan, general partner at Silverton, said in a news release.
