If you build it, they will come. “They” being the investors, and “it” meaning the major company building activity over the past decade. Not just Austin this week my people, we saw deals getting knocked out all over the state. A couple major early-stage rounds and a casual 9 figure exit from the state capitol, PE giant Thoma Bravo with a major acquisition out of Houston, and then heaps of activity out of DFW. That’s my kind of fireworks show!
Austin Financing Activity
Babson Diagnostics, a diagnostic blood testing technology company, raised a $31M Series B led by Emerald Development Managers with participation from Prism Ventures and Lago Consulting Group. This brings Babson’s total funding to nearly $45M.
Sevco Security, a cloud-native security asset intelligence platform, announced its launch alongside a $15M Series A round led by SYN Ventures this week. The round also had participation from .406 Ventures, Accomplice, Bill Wood Ventures, and fama Ventures.
SeekOps, an emission and leak detection technology company focused on the renewable energy sector, closed a $14M Series B round led by Schlumberger with participation from Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc.,Equinor Ventures, and OGCI Climate Investments. SeekOps, a spinoff from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, plans to use the funding to scale its drone-powered onshore and offshore services.
Elite Sweets, an Austin-based high-protein donut maker, raised a $2M seed round led by Siddhi Capital with participation from Constellation Capital, Capital Factory, Sputnik ATX, and others.
Schoox, a learning and talent development platform, received a strategic growth investment from Vista Equity Partners, coming out of its Endeavor Fund.
Austin M&A Activity
Voyant, a financial planning platform, was acquired by AssetMark (NYS: AMK), a subsidiary of Huatai Securities (SHG: 601688), for $145M.
Myriad RBM, Developer of molecular diagnostic tests, was acquired by Q2 Solutions, a subsidiary of IQVIA (NYS: IQV), for an undisclosed amount. The company was previously acquired by Myriad Genetics (Nasdaq: MYGN) for $80M in 2011.
SparkCognition, an Austin-based AI company, announced it has acquiredMaana, a Palo Alto-based digital knowledge platform. The financial terms of the deal are not available. Spark Cognition has raised $163.6M in funding to date and provides AI solutions for defense, oil and gas, financial services, and other large industries.
Other Texas Deal Activity
TPG, a Fort Worth and San Francisco-based private investment firm, led the largest funding round raised by a US edtech company, a $300M equity investment in Age of Learning, a Los Angeles-based company best known for its ABCmouse software. This round brings Age of Learning’s total funding to $481.5M. This also comes as TPG is eyeing options to go public, at approx. $10B.
Alto, a Dallas-based ride-hailing platform, closed a $45M Series B round led by Tuesday Capital and Goff Capital with participation from Franklin Templeton among other investors. This bring’s Alto’s total funding to $60M.
Simpli.fi, a Fort Worth-based programmatic advertising solutions company, has received an investment from Blackstone. Although the specifics of the deal were not disclosed, the deal gave the company a nearly$1.5B valuation. The investment allows Blackstone to join GTCR as majority shareholders of the company.
Complexity Gaming, a Frisco-based esports company, has been acquired in a $27M all-stock transaction by GameSquare(GSQ.CN), a Canadian esports company. The Jerry Jones Family and Goff Capital, both shareholders in Complexity, are investing an additional $8.5M CAD into GameSquare.
Bloom Health Partners, a Dallas-based developer of custom health solutions for workforce safety and healthcare preparedness, reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Maitri Health (CNQ: MTEC) for $25M.
Hunt Perovskite Technologies, a Dallas-based solar cell tech developer which is a part of Hunt Consolidated, merged with 1366 Technologies, a Massachusetts-based solar wafer manufacturer, and has received $25M in funding from Hunt Consolidated’s energy-focused investment arm, First Solar, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
The Citizenry, a Dallas-based home decor company, raised a $20M Series B round from NextWorld Evergreen. This round follows a $2.8M Series A at the end of 2019.
Calaxy, a Katy-based social marketplace for creators, raised $7.5M of venture funding from Animoca Brands, RedBeard Ventures and ArkStream Capital
Spectral MD, a Dallas-based wound-treating technology company, has begun trading publicly on the AIM market, London Stock Exchange’s market for small and medium-size growth companies. The move generated gross proceeds of $16M off a valuation of over $100M, leading to net proceeds of a little more than $13M.
iOffice, a Houston-based developer of workplace experience and asset management software, was acquiredby Thoma Bravo through an LBO on July 1, 2021 for an undisclosed sum.
Exeter Finance, an Irving-based tech-enabled indirect auto finance company, is being acquired by Warburg Pincus with funds managed by Blackstone. The terms of the deal were not disclosed
Arcade, a Dallas-based developer of a workforce productivity software, raised a $4.5M seed round led by Stage 2 Capital. The company has raised $7.5M to date.
Illuma Labs, a Plano-based secure voice authentication platform, landed a $2.5M investment from Curql Collective’s flagship fund.
Beyontec Solutions, an Irving-based insurance tech company, entered into a definitive agreement to beacquired by Azentio Software, via its financial sponsor Apax Partners, for an undisclosed amount.
Austin People
Bazaarvoice (NASDAQ: BV), an Austin-based customer insights platform, appointed Tom Addis as president. Addis has served as CEO of Kineticaand CRO at Box. Bazaarvoice has a market cap of over $1.7B.
UpEquity, an Austin-based mortgage platform which expects to originate more than $700M in mortgages this year, appointed Andy Pruitt as CTO. Pruitt was previously CTO at OppLoans and co-founded Backstop Solutions. UpEquity has more than tripled its headcount from 15 to 65 since a $25M funding round in February.
Austin News
ATX Venture Partners closed a $150M third fund this week which will focus on early-stage technology startups. Their portfolio includes AlertMedia, SourceDay, ZenBusiness, and Slingshot Aerospace.
Austin's semiconductor industry could help address global chip shortage, offset Chinese competition
And speaking of chip shortage, as Samsung scouts for $17B factory location
These 5 Austin Tech Companies Raised a Combined $317M in June
The top Austin tech and startup executive hires and promotions (June 2021)
SKU and Naturally AustinSelect 10 Startups led by Diverse Founders for new SKU M/O Track
Pensa's Adoption by Johnson & Johnson, General Mills and Circle K Points to Expanded Demand
Like the pros: Texas college athletes can now profit off of their name, image and likeness
Central Texas ZIP codes with fastest-rising home prices
Texas jobless claims fall to near pandemic low as economy rebounds
Amazon is gearing up to hire 1,000 employees — mostly in picking, packing and shipping roles — ahead of a planned August opening of its 3.8 million square-foot fulfillment center in Pflugerville.
Thank You!
Mason Rathe
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