Another day another dollar. The central Texas acquisition spree continues this week, as Outbound Engine and Pathwire get acquired, adding to the high profile exits occurring this fall (Convey, Levelset last week). Love to see it. These exits typically mean that talent cycles back into the economy, joining the amazing growing companies we have, and creating the next cohort of influential startups. And on that note, this week I am launching deal highlights Job of the Week, where I’ll showcase a prime career opportunity with a local venture backed company. This week, please shift your attention to the account executive role at SchooLinks. I can biasedly assure you, this is the best sales trajectory with the quickest growing venture-backed company in Texas. And let’s see, what else. Is Austin the US insurtech capital? Last month we saw Hippo, who has a major Austin presence, go public on the NYSE. This week, we have Loop’s $21M Series A, joining the ranks of other notable local companies in the category such as Zebra ($150M Series D in April), Spot ($17.5M raised in July). Check out the rest of this week’s highlights below.
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Austin Weekly Deal Activity
Dropoff, a same-day delivery service and logistics platform, announced a $30M venture loan facility, with $20M coming from Horizon Technology Finance.
Loop, an insurtech company focused on automotive sector, raised a $21M Series A led by Foundry Group and 01 Advisors. Concrete Rose Capital, Uprising, New Voices, Freestyle Capital, Nasir Jones and Blue Fog Capital.
Olea Edge Analytics, a smart water platform for managing critical utility assets, raised a $34.9M Series C from undisclosed investors. The company previously raised approx. $15M from investors including Renewal Funds, Mercury Fund, and Donovan Ventures.
FaceFirst Inc., a facial recognition technology firm, reported raising $11M from 14 investors. Previously, FaceFirst had received an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Kayne Partners.
Prism, a live music management software company, announced an $8M Series A funding round, led by Stephen Cook and Jay Jensen, bringing their total funding to $11.2M.
Central Texas M&A Activity
Pathwire, a San Antonio-based email APIs and marketing firm, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Sinch (XSTO: SINCH) for $1.9B, made up of $925M in cash and 51M new shares in Sinch. The company was previously acquired by Thoma Bravo for $298M in 2019.
OutboundEngine, a marketing software company, has been acquired by Elm Street Technology for an undisclosed amount. Having previously raised approx. $48M from investors S3 Ventures, Silverton Partners, and Capital Factory, OutboundEngine now joins Elm Street Technology’s Elevate platform for real estate professionals.
Membersy, a digital dental health company, announced a 100% equity funding round of $66M from Spectrum Equity Management LLC, with plans to expand their Barton Springs headquarters and hire 20 to 30 employees over the next couple years.
Mitratech, a legal and compliance software company, has acquired Alyne, a governance, management, and compliance platform, for an undisclosed amount. Mitratech is funded by private equity firm HG Capital.
Eagle Eye Networks, a video surveillance firm, has acquired Uncanny Vision, an India-based AI company, for an undisclosed amount. Eagle Eye Networks closed their $40M Series E round in late 2020, led by Accel, with previous investors including MSD Capital and Austin Ventures.
Linnworks, an England-based ecommerce solutions company with U.S. headquarters in Austin, has a new majority owner in Marlin Equity Partners, who invested an undisclosed amount for a majority stake.
Peak Rock Capital acquired SAM Companies, an Austin-based geospatial services company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
Other Texas Deal Activity
StemBioSys, a San Antonio-based biotech company focused on curing human diseases, raised $7 million of Series C venture funding from undisclosed, according to Pitchbook.
Eternal, an NFT marketplace, has announced a $4.5M funding round with investors including Dallas-based Mark Cuban, as well as Gary Vaynerchuk and Dapper Labs.
Intel 471, a Frisco-based cyber threat intelligence platform, received an undisclosed amount of development capital from Thoma Bravo.
Performix, a Houston-based life sciences manufacturing execution software platform, was acquired by Honeywell (NAS: HON) for an undisclosed amount. The company previously raised approx. $3M from RPM Ventures, Redhouse Associates, and Mercury Fund, according to Pitchbook.
FlyData, a San Antonio-based data management platform, was acquired by Xplenty for an undisclosed amount. The company had previously raised approx. $9M from investors including SPARX Group Company.
ASD.ai, a Red Oak-based app to help parents and caregivers keep track of the daily routines of patients with autism spectrum disorder, raised $1M of angel funding in a deal led by Determined Capital
Lone Star Analysis, an Addison-based predictive and prescriptive analytics company, received an undisclosed amount of development capital from HCAP Partners.
Velentium, a Katy-based a professional engineering firm that specializes in the design and manufacturing of therapeutic and diagnostic medical devices, received an undisclosed amount of development capital from Great Point Partners
LaunchBio, a national life sciences nonprofit network located in Dallas, received $2.1M via the Build to Scale program by the U.S. Economic Development Administration to expand its accelerator.
Austin People
John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, announced that he will continue serving as CEO through September 2022 after which he will retire. Current Whole Foods COO Jason Buechel will then become CEO.
Austin News
Austin's 5 Largest Tech Funding Rounds Totaled $481M in September
Coalition of tech CEOs opposes Texas' new laws on abortion, guns, other issues
Hiring ramps up at Tesla’s Austin-based gigafactory, though experts say it's just the beginning
Vorago Technologies, an Austin company that makes semiconductors, agrees to civil penalty over exports to Russia
Accenture and University of Texas have announced a $1.4M founding gift from the tech consulting firm to create a Business of Sports Institute within the McCombs School of Business.
CesiumAstro, a spacetech startup, launched two satellites into orbit, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Innovation Unit. CesiumAstro has raised about $28M through their Series A round and debt financing, from investors including Kleiner Perkins and Airbus Ventures.
Yeti, the cooler and drinkware supplies company, has cast the first stone against Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, placing a billboard saying “See Space. Save Billions.” atop their flagship Austin store, with company insiders saying it was intentionally meant as a dig at the billionaires’ space race.
Governor Greg Abbott, has named four new members of the Work Group on Blockchain Matters: Carla Reyes, assistant professor of law at SMU, Jennifer Buaas, director of engineering at the Texas Department of Information Resources, Dan Teczar, CIO for the Office of the Texas Secretary of State, and William Henning, executive professor of law at Texas A&M.
AlertMedia Inc., the emergency communications software company, has used part of its $400M majority stake investment from Vista Equity Partners to lease the top two floors at the RiverSouth office building south of Lady Bird Lake.
Austin City Council is looking to incentive developers to provide more permanent supporting housing to their future and existing development projects.
Thank you!
Additional research and newsletter support provided by Nirjhar Mundkur