You’ve got to love the consistency of deal activity out of Austin. This week, we had several rounds of $20M or greater, which results in these companies attracting more talent to Austin, expanding our economy, and setting the stage for long lasting employment demand. And per the usual, we had a couple acquisitions to boot this week, which means more talent is cycling back into the economy, joining the amazing growing companies we have, and creating the next cohort of influential startups. Shooot, no wonder Austin is the biggest winner from tech migration! I hear the people are saying Austin will have the most growth of all tech hubs over the next 10 years. Kool-Aid is here, drink up!
Austin Financing Activity
Aunt Bertha, a search and referral platform which operates the network findhelp.org, raised $27M in funding led by Warburg Pincus with participation from Pershing Square Foundation, Techstars Ventures, Noro-Moseley Partners, Digitalis Ventures, and The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund. This brings Aunt Bertha’s total funding to $49.2M
Unchained Capital, a bitcoin native financial services company, announced a $25M Series A led by NYDIG and Stone Ridge Holdings Group. In addition to leading the equity round and increasing their minority stake, NYDIG has made an incremental lending commitment of $100 million and will continue to be the principal funding partner to Unchained in support of its leading bitcoin-backed multisig lending platform. This increase brings NYDIG’s total lending commitment with Unchained to $150 million.
Hypori, an Austin mobile security company, closed a $20M Series A round led by GreatPoint Ventures. The new funds, which bring Hypori’s total funding to nearly $34M, will be used to help it branch into new markets, including fintech and healthcare.
DealHub.io, an Austin sales software platform, closed a $20M Series B round led by Israel Growth Partners with participation from Cornerstone Venture Partners. This brings DealHub’s total funding to $24.5M.
Volcon, an Austin-area electric dirt bike and UTV company, raised $17.5M in funding, $2.2M of which was raised through a Wefunder campaign with around 1K investors. Volcon will use these funds to expand production lines, add staffing, and move to a new HQ in Liberty Hill, where it plans to build a riding track and other customer experiences.
SourceDay, an Austin-based supply chain company, received funding from Coupa Software’s (NASDAQ: COUP) newly formed $50M venture fund. The size of the investment was not disclosed but it follows a $12.5M Series B round in April led by Baird Capital with participation from Silverton Partners, ATX Ventures, and Draper Associates, bringing their total funding to over $24M.
Earthly Labs, a provider of small-scale carbon capture systems, received $5M of funding from Chart Industries (NYSE: GTLS).
Austin M&A Activity
A Cloud Guru, an Austin-based cloud skills development platform, is being acquired by PluralSight Inc., a Utah-based workforce development platform acquired by Vista Equity Partners last year for $3.5B. The financials of the deal were not disclosed, but A Cloud Guru has received over $42M in funding and reportedly hit $80M in annually recurring revenue last year.
Skipjack Supply Chain, a Saas-based logistics platform, was acquired by Redwood Logistics, via its financial sponsor CI Capital Partners, and combined to create Redwood Parcel, a comprehensive integrated parcel solution. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Denim Group, a San Antonio-based cybersecurity company focused on application risk assessment, remediation, and prevention, was acquired by Coalfire Systems, via its financial sponsor Apax Partners. The full terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources say Wipro (NYSE: WIT) sold 33% of its stake in Denim Group to Coalfire for $22.4M.
Other Regional Activity
New $38 Million Innovation Hub Opens In Houston’s East End
Tyler Technologies(NYSE: TYL), a Plano-based public sector-focused software solution provider, announced its plans to acquireVend Engine, a Tennessee-based electronic payments company focused on corrections facilities, for $84M. Tyler Technologies has a market capitalization of $16.4B.
Stellanova Therapeutics, a Houston-based cancer biotech company, raised a $15.5M Series A round led by Sporos Bioventures.
Siemens Digital Industries Software, a Plano-based product lifecycle management software company, acquiredNextflow Software, a French fluid simulation software company, for an undisclosed amount. Nextflow raised a €3M ($3.65M) Series A last year led by Ouest Ventures III, Litto Invest, and Bpifrance.
Buff City Soap, a Dallas-based manufacturer of plant-based personal care products, announced new funding from General Atlantic. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company plans to use the new funds to expand its product lineup and grow its ecommerce business.
Vitaltech, a Plano-based digital healthcare technology designed to help manage health, fitness, and personal well-being, raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding i from BayMed Venture Partners. The company had previously raised approx. $13M according to Pitchbook.
Austin People
Sonim (NASDAQ: SONM), an Austin-based company that manufactures smartphones and other devices designed to handle heavy use, promotedRobert Tirva to the positions of president and COO from his previous role as CFO. Tirva was previously CFO of Intermedia and corporate controller at Dropbox(NASDAQ: DBX). This news comes as CEO Tom Wilkinson departs Sonim, having led the company since 2019. Sonim has a market cap of $32.7M.
BioAustin appoints new leadership and unveils an expanded strategic focus in central Texas as BioAustinCTX. Changes include Scott Collins, CEO of Austin Innovation Group, appointed as President.
Austin News
Austin Is Biggest Winner From Tech Migration, LinkedIn Data Show. Over the past 12 months, Austin had 217 software and IT company workers flow into town per 10K existing tech jobs, the highest rate in the nation.
Austin's 5 Largest Tech Funding Rounds Totaled $866M in May
The top Austin tech and startup executive hires and promotions (May 2021)
TikTok is in the market for new office space in downtown office, potentially eyeing 150K sq. ft. of new office space. Sources say the social media platform, which has had a presence in Austin since 2020, is considering space in the nearly complete 32-story tower at 300 Colorado.
Switch Inc.(NYSE: SWCH), a Las Vegas-based tech infrastructure company, agreed with Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) to purchase land on their campus in Round Rock to be used for the company’s fifth data center, its first in Texas. The 1.5M sq. ft. facility will be powered with 100% renewable energy and has the potential to attract thousands of customers over time. Switch has a market capitalization of $4.9B and made headlines last month after it announced plans to buy Austin’s Data Foundry Inc. for $420M in cash.
Productable, an Austin-based innovation implementation and management platform, landed a $1.2M multi-phase contract with the U.S. Air Force’s CyberWorx unit. Part of Sputnik ATX’s 2020 summer cohort, Productable has received a total of $120K in pre-seed funding to date.
National workers shortage reaches heights in Austin with half as many available workers for every open job
Tesla set to build cars in Austin, but still can't sell directly to Texans
Thank you!
Mason Rathe
Additional research and newsletter support provided by William Scheffrahn.