ATX Venture Partners says it has made a key hire that will help it grow through its next chapter of investing in startups in Austin and beyond, especially in later-stage and follow-on investments.
The Austin-based venture capital firm appointed Jeff Thompson, who has invested in ATX's funds as a limited partner since its early days, as partner and president. Thompson was most recently the northeast divisional managing director at Wells Fargo, and he has overseen major transactions with Legg Mason and Merrill Lynch. Thompson has lived in Austin, but is now based in Connecticut.
"He's a friend, an ally and an LP. He's watched the money being made," ATX Venture Partners Partner and co-founder Chris Shonk said in a recent interview. "He's already invested in the firm. And to have someone of that caliber say, 'You know what, I see where the hockey puck is going.' This is exciting."
Danielle Weiss Allen, Chris Shonk and Brad Bentz launched the firm as ATX Seed Ventures in 2014 and rebranded as ATX Venture Partners in 2016. The firm closed its third fund, a $100 million war chest with a hard cap of $150 million, in June last year.
The firm is now raising a $125 million primary fund for seed and series A investments and a $250 million to $500 million growth equity fund, Thompson said, noting that he'll be focused on capital formation, investor relations, marketing and internal strategy. He also said the firm will start to source capital from larger institutional investors, which are often more interested in later stage deals. That larger fund will be dedicated to maintaining its equity stakes in follow-on rounds from its earlier investments, as well as new opportunities.
"It's not that we're changing our investment thesis or focus," said Thompson, who noted that 80% of the fund will go to follow-up investments.
The firm has a focus on supply chain startups, but significant variety in its portfolio. The firm's investments have included Austin-based startups such as purchasing software startup SourceDay Inc., business tools unicorn ZenBusiness Inc., as well as space simulation and communication startup Slingshot Aerospace Inc. and sales compensation software startup QuotaPath.
Partners said they have several investments in the works, and Thompson has an expansive roadmap for the firm to continue building upon what it started.
"That's a real exciting place for us to be," he said. "We have a track record to run on and growth. The vision of ATX is moving beyond Austin. We started here and that's the roots. But we want to take this thing global."
Shonk said adding Thompson is a game-changer for the firm that also helps it stand out in Texas and throughout the mid-continent region.
"This is so fundamental and important and strategic to us that we we absolutely as a firm want to make room for someone of that caliber as a partner in franchise to go the next level, because a lot of firms don't," he said. "They just kind of get kind of fat and happy and sort of just sunset away. They kind of ride it into the land of mediocrity. You've got to level up."
