It’s the 16th year for the SXSW Pitch competition, which showcases innovative global startups. To date, finalists involved in the competition have raised more than $23 billion in funding since 2009, according to Pitchbook.
The categories for 2024 include Artificial Intelligence, Voice & Robotics; Enterprise & Smart Data; Entertainment, Media & Content; Extended Reality and Web3; Future of Work; Food, Nutrition, & Health; Innovative World Technologies; and Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability and Student Startup.
Austin had two finalists in the Artificial Intelligence, Robotics & Voice categories. They include Autonomize, which created AI for healthcare workers and healthcare institutions. The other Austin finalist is Nava AI, which created an AI assistant that helps immigrants navigate the complexities of the U.S. immigration system.
In the Enterprise and Smart Data category, Aiki of Austin is a finalist. It created a system prioritizing student safety with dynamic two-way communication, connecting occupants and first responders.
Applix of Austin is a finalist in the Extended Reality and Web3 category. It created an AR-based automated visual quality inspection app for automotive, industrial, and medical tech firms.
Connected Athletics of Round Rock is an alternate in the category. The company empowers athletes to forge meaningful connections and form relationships with key influencers to optimize their sports careers during/after their eligibility.
In the future of work category, Layerpath is an alternate. “Layerpath revolutionizes team efficiency with AI-powered interactive product demos. Our platform enhances self-serve help experiences and boosts software adoption among customers and employees,” according to the SXSW website.
In the Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability category, Austin-based Terralytiq is an alternative. It is a climate tech startup specializing in enterprise decarbonization through its SaaS platform.
In the Student Startup category, MACH Transit of Austin is a finalist. “MACH’s pilot product is a levitating camera vehicle utilizing maglev to maintain zero contact with its guideway, enabling the capture of ultra-stable footage at over 200 mph.” Paradigm Robotics of Austin is also a finalist for creating a robotic platform to provide mission-critical situational awareness for firefighting, disaster response, industrial/manufacturing, and other industries. Merge Conflict Studio is also an alternate. It is a minority-led video game development studio focusing on centering marginalized perspectives and environmental awareness.
In Austin, Logictry hosted World Logic Day on Sunday at the Long Center downtown.
According to one of the organizers, the event featured more than 300 speakers, and an estimated 850 people attended a Friday event and the day-long Sunday event. Logitrcy’s co-founders Chris Fronda and Chelsea Toler organized World Logic Day and a handful of other co-hosts.
“As co-hosts, Logictry is enthused to spearhead this catalytic forum bridging innovation and collaborative community engagement,” Fronda said.
World Logic Day began as a movement organized by UNESCO in association with the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences.
Emily Gupton, COO of FOLIO and Community Partnerships Director for Austin Women in Technology, is also a Co-Chair for World Logic Day Austin. “I am deeply passionate about community and collaboration as a cornerstone to rise the tides together,” Gupton said in a news release. “UN World Logic Day brings local and global communities together to drive solutions to real-world problems.”
World Logic Day focuses on the importance of logic in addressing contemporary challenges.
Logictry began hosting the United Nations Austin World Logic Day in 2019, and the event has grown dramatically since then. Logictry also unveiled its Logic.Wiki, which shares how AI, business leaders, creators, and community builders are partnering together to share knowledge.
The event started Sunday morning with a keynote on “Innovation and Impact: Charting the Course Ahead.” Quite a few of the following panels focused on artificial intelligence and its effect on the educational industry, healthcare, and business. Other panels discussed community building.
“In the face of this new wave of AI, we are all a little uncertain of the future, but together we can utilize tools like Logic.Wiki and communities like our Logic Circle to leverage this moment for positive change,” Chelsea Toler, co-founder of Logictry, said in a news release.
One afternoon panel focused on YouTube content creators. Collectively, the five panelists had more than 30 million followers. Kenzie Yolles, a 15-year-old beauty, makeup, and fashion content creator, has a manager.
The event concluded with a panel of changemakers, five women who were highlighted in the most recent issue of Austin Women Magazine. Austin Women Magazine compiled a World Logic Day Changemaker List.
“I see logic bringing a brighter future for all when sustained by character,” Sofia Sunaga, Co-Founder and Director of Intergen.Family and Co-Chair for World Logic Day Austin said in a news release. “Logic, coupled with character development, invites us to step deeper into the realm of AI, creating a future where human logic and ethical development go hand-in-hand.”
The event engaged people of all ages to discuss change and the problems that must be solved. Chief among them was Anika Chokhavatia, student leader, founder, and co-chair for World Logic Day. “We are the emerging leaders of tomorrow, and it is our responsibility to be aware of the changing world and our place in it,” Chokhavatia said in a news release. “This initiative fuels the future we hope to build. I’m particularly looking forward to the Responsible AI, Consumer Protection, AI Innovation, and Business panel, exploring concepts of accountability and bias in shaping our worldview.”
In the latest Ideas to Invoices podcast episode, Nilima Achwal, founder of The Female Founders Lab, provides insights from her entrepreneurial journal.
Previously, Achwal founded Iesha Learning, a technology education platform to teach sexual education to junior high school students in India. She also launched and ran SEED, a social enterprise incubation program at Villgro Innovations Foundation in Chennai. In addition, she was a Kiva Fellow in Bolivia and wrote business case studies at the University of Michigan.
In this discussion, Achwal gives her views on entrepreneurship and her commitment to fostering a more inclusive and humanistic approach in the business world.
Some key takeaways from the podcast:
1. Inspiration for Female Founders Lab: Achwal moved to Austin about half a year ago to focus on expanding the coaching accelerator she founded in 2019. She was inspired by the city’s tech ecosystem, which she described as vibrant and collaborative. The atmosphere embraced her like a big hug.
2. Background in Impact Ventures: Achwal has spent 15 years in the impact venture space, working with startups focused on healthcare, education, food systems, media, the future of work, and sustainability. She spent six years in India and has experience in various aspects of the technology industry and startups.
3. Motivation behind Female Founders Lab: Achwal’s motivation to start Female Founders Lab stemmed from her challenges as a founder. She sought to create a more holistic and deep approach to accelerator programs that focused on founders’ whole selves and aligned their vision with tangible results.
4. Challenges Faced as a Female Founder: Achwal highlighted the challenges female founders face in finding mentors and role models. She discussed the importance of creating a space where female founders can be authentic and not feel compelled to conform to traditional, masculine business norms.
5. Importance of Diversity and Inclusion: Achwal emphasized the intrinsic value of diversity in reducing risk in business. She expressed concern about the “hijacking” of the diversity and inclusion narrative by political forces and stressed the importance of aiming for excellence rather than artificially creating diversity.
6. Advice for Women Starting Businesses: Achwal advised women not to get distracted by external noise and to focus on tuning into their vision and values. She highlighted the significance of authenticity and encouraged women to trust their intuition and feelings to gauge if they are on the right path.
7. Fundraising Strategies for Female Businesses: Achwal discussed female founders’ challenges in securing venture capital funding. She advocated for values-aligned investors at the early stages and suggested leveraging angel investors for initial funding.
Achwal also recalled a lesson from her experience as an entrepreneur. She faced huge challenges making inroads in the Indian education industry with her sex education product. She highlighted the importance of surrendering to a larger plan and releasing external pressures. Ultimately, she struck a deal to license her product to Tata, the largest IT company in India. Her perseverance led to a breakthrough, demonstrating the power of staying the course and trusting the process.
You can listen to the entire podcast below or wherever you get your podcasts.
Nilma Achwal is the founder of The Female Founders Lab, a virtual accelerator and coaching service in Austin. Achwal moved to Austin about a year and half ago from Los Angeles. Before launching The Female Founders Lab, Achwal founded Iesha Learning, a technology education platform to teach sexual education to junior high school students in India.
Austin startups raised more than $1.12 billion in venture capital in the fourth quarter of 2023, an almost 10 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago, according to the latest Pitchbook-National Venture Capital Association Venture Monitor Report.
The fourth quarter VC funding is also an almost 46 percent increase from the $607 million Austin startups raised in the third quarter of this year.
The number of deals funded in the Austin Round Rock metropolitan area also hit 126 deals in the fourth quarter, an almost 11 percent increase from 114 in the fourth quarter of 2022.
For all of 2023, Austin startups raised $3.8 billion, down 30 percent, compared to $5.5 billion for 2022. The number of deals funded in the Austin Round Rock metropolitan area also dropped to 416 in 2023, down 15 percent from 492 deals in 2022.
The top deal financed in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $300 million to Firefly Aerospace, based in Cedar Park, creating rockets for commercial launches to orbit.
The second largest deal was Infinitum Electric, which makes electric motors and received $200 million in venture funding. The third largest funding went to Mach Industries, a defense startup developing hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicles, weapons, and generators, and received $84.1 million.
Deal, fundraising, and exit activity were down for the fourth quarter, according to the National Venture Capital Association. But the market isn’t in crisis, according to Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of the NVCA.
“Rather, the market has changed,” he wrote in a statement. “From interest rates to foreign conflict, the world looks very different than it did two years ago, and a new set of problems needs to be solved for.”
Overall, startups nationwide attracted $170.6 billion in venture capital, down $71.6 billion from 2022.
Austin-based Harbor Health, a primary and specialty clinic group, recently announced that it has secured an additional $95.5 million in funding.
General Catalyst led the round of funding with participation from Alta Partners and *VC. To date, Harbor Health has raised more than $128 million.
The company plans to use the funding to provide more primary care services and specialty care offerings.
Harbor Health was founded by Dr. Clay Johnston, Eric Scott (from 8VC), and Tony Miller.
“We realized in order to maximize the impact of our innovations, we needed to combine our efforts into one enterprise as a vertically integrated ‘pay-vider’ – both a payer and a provider,” Johnston said in a statement. “We have built a geographically dense care model that is organized around integrated practice units and focused on member health conditions. This new investment and our rapid growth confirm our innovative care model is working, and we’re meeting more people where they are with collaborative, team-based care.”
Harbor Health is creating a new healthcare model that puts consumers in control of their health.
“Eventually, we see a future where current care design and benefit design models become obsolete, replaced by a health-producing and health-promoting system that follows people along their life journeys,” Miller said in a statement.
This new approach and the history of success by both Johnston and Miller have attracted attention in the marketplace and from investors.
“There’s a strong appetite for a fresh approach to healthcare delivery among employers that prioritizes outcomes, enhances consumer engagement, and is proactive by design,” Chris Bischoff, Managing Director at General Catalyst said in a statement.. “We believe Harbor Health is providing ease of access to the largest covered population in the U.S. and bringing much-needed change as the company seeks to transform value-based care for the commercial sector. This aligns with our Health Assurance thesis. We look forward to supporting Tony, Clay, and the Harbor Health team in this new phase of growth.”
Harbor Health has eight locations in Central Texas, with more planned this year. It also launched two mobile health units. It employs 43 clinicians. Harbor Health touched consumers more than 25,000 times in Austin in 2023 with in-clinic appointments, virtual appointments, mobile clinics, and other modes of communication.
When frog design fired Doreen Lorenzo for doing great work for a client but not charging enough, Mark Rolston decided to leave the firm and start his own company.
It was the “actual kick in the pants to do it right then,” Rolston recalled.
He worked at frog for 20 years since 1994 and wanted to “remake what I enjoyed about frog” and roll it out into the marketplace. argodesign encourages a “culture of open willingness to argue” and challenges each other’s work to get the best possible solution and products. argodesign focuses on creating products that interact with technology.
Lorenzo, assistant dean of the School of Design and Creative Technologies at the University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts, interviewed Rolston at BigIdeasATX, a monthly event series hosted by Silicon Hills News. Unnanu, evisio, and Swyft sponsored the event.
Rolston founded argodesign in 2014, and in 2018, he sold to a $22 billion IT company, DXC Technology, for an undisclosed sum. Rolston, who has a more than 30-year career in the design industry, has worked with some of Austin’s most innovative startups, including Apptronik on its Apollo robot for NASA and ICON on its massive 3-D printer for houses and other structures. argodesign also works with Dreamworks, Sam’s Club, and others. argodesign has offices in New York, Amsterdam and Munich.
During an hour-long talk at argodesign’s headquarters in downtown Austin, Lorenzo asked Rolston about topics such as AI, creativity, copyright, technology evolution, and AI’s future.
Here are five key takeaways from the talk:
Shift in Technology and Product Development and AI in Software Development: Rolston talked about the evolution of the products being developed, from stereos and toasters to software and mobile apps. He discussed the challenges of creating AI tools for developers to make sense of AI at scale. He mentioned a shift toward dynamic, on-the-fly application creation, exemplified by the mention of Google’s Gemini.
Velocity of Change and Creativity: Lorenzo and Rolston talked about the rapid pace of technological change and its impact on creativity. They explored ideas on the potential for AI to create dynamic, ephemeral applications based on user requests.
Copyright Issues: Rolston said there is a need for potential regulation in the context of copyright, mainly as AI generates content inspired by existing works. He said there are challenges in existing copyright law, and there is a need for a rewrite to address AI-generated content.
Creativity and Human-AI Collaboration: Rolston acknowledged the role of humans in creativity and the belief that creatives will find ways to protect their work in the digital space. He believed that AI could enhance the creative processes and contribute a new form of collaboration.
Complexity of Emotion in AI and AI as a Tool for Empowerment: Rolston said detecting emotion in AI is a complex problem. Humans often attribute emotions to machines that are programmed to react like Furbys, according to Lorenzo. Rolston has a vision of designing AI systems that empower individuals to participate actively in conversations and the world around them.
Watch the entire talk in the YouTube video embedded below for more information.
BigIdeasATX with Mark Rolston, Founder and Chief Creative of argodesign Doreen Lorenzo, Assistant Dean, School of Design and Creative Technologies at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, will interview Mark Rolston at the event.
Former TrendKite Founder and CEO Matt Allison has raised $6.3 million in seed funding to launch Handraise.
Austin-based Handraise will create a platform powered by artificial intelligence to help companies increase the impact of their press coverage.
Allison built TrendKite into a top media monitoring and analytics platform, which Cision acquired in 2019 for $225 million.
“As we worked with the world’s foremost PR and communications professionals at TrendKite, I realized there is a massive opportunity to help everyone involved – brands, communications professionals, journalists, and news consumers – get more out of the news by connecting the right audience to the right content,” Allison said in a news release.
“TrendKite was known in the industry for delivering on its promises of being consultative thought partners to its customers,” Allison said. “We helped our customers prove their value through our intuitive analytics and domain expertise. We’ll deliver on those same promises at Handraise while using generative artificial intelligence to help our customers measure their business impact and amplify it.”
Handraise is leveraging large language models to deliver simple yet profound insights without manual effort. This allows users to focus on strategy and impact.
“We were excited to learn that Matt and his former TrendKite colleagues are back together building a new product in the PR technology market,” Morgan Flager, Managing Partner at Silverton Partners, said in a news release. “Matt and his team of industry veterans are experts in the space, and we’re thrilled to back them again.”
Silverton Partners, Floodgate, Bill Wood Ventures, Firebrand VC, Aperiam Ventures, Active Capital, Sputnik ATX VC, Capital Factory, and a handful of world-class angel investors back Handraise.
“The ongoing advancements in generative AI are creating opportunities we’ve never seen before in the earned media space,” Mike Maples, Jr., Co-Founding Partner at Floodgate and early investor in Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, and others, said in a news release. “We believe the Handraise team is best suited to leverage their industry expertise and unique implementation of AI to unlock the power of news for everyone.”
The money will pay for equipment, staff, and training needed for classrooms, dual credit labs for coursework, robotics and automation, and other manufacturing-related program-specific laboratories at Taylor ISD’s new CTE building at Taylor High School. The new center is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2025.
“This new investment from Samsung Austin Semiconductor underscores our shared commitment to the next generation of advanced manufacturing talent,” Jennifer Garcia-Edwardsen, superintendent of Taylor ISD, said in a news release. “Our students have enjoyed working as interns and learning about the semiconductor industry. We look forward to our continued long-term partnership in ensuring that our scholars are inspired, equipped, and empowered to achieve their unique potential.”
The district offers 16 CTE programs that provide hands-on experience in various careers, from engineering to health science.
In November of 2021, Samsung Austin Semiconductor announced Taylor as the site for a $17 billion manufacturing facility. Since then, Samsung has provided tours of its facility to students, hosted a summer internship program, provided funding for teachers, and awarded a one-time grant of $250,000.
“We are excited to expand our relationship with Taylor ISD and invest in the vital resources necessary to provide an effective learning method about the semiconductor industry,” said Samsung Austin Semiconductor president Bonyoung Koo in a news release. “We believe our partnership can help build the future workforce of Texas, and we look forward to supporting education that will encourage students to consider a career in the semiconductor industry; our partnership is important for Taylor, our state, and the nation, and the impact will be felt worldwide.”
“This collaboration and Samsung presence in Taylor will provide opportunities for our scholars to find great employment in their hometown,” Rachelle Finck, director of Behavioral Health & Student Services at Taylor ISD, said in a news release.
The founders of SXSW got the idea for the event from New Music Seminar or NMS, a New York-based music festival in the mid-80s.
NMS always featured many Austin-based bands, said Hugh Forrest, Co-President and Chief Programming Officer of SXSW. After a plan to organize NMS South in Austin fell through, the four founders created South by Southwest during Spring Break of 1987. They picked that week in March because it was the slowest week of the year for the music venue.
It started with just 700 people. Today, SXSW has 60,000 badge holders and hundreds of thousands of consumers.
Forrest started the discussion Thursday afternoon at Austin Startup Week on “Why & How Startups Rock SXSW” by providing a “very brief look at the SXSW origin story.”
“I love telling the SXSW origin story, particularly when talking to startups,” Forrest said. “As with a lot of origin stories, SXSW happened more by coincidence than by design.”
The big takeaway from SXSW is that entrepreneurs turn trash into treasures, Forrest said. He said there’s a lot to learn from SXSW’s origin story.
“Find something that everyone has overlooked and create intense value,” Forrest said. “Or find an idea that no one has thought of before and create intense value. Or execute on a great idea that no one has executed on effectively before.”
The key is to “persist, persist, and then persist even more – and don’t take no for an answer,” Forrest said.
The four founders of SXSW were Roland Swenson, Louis Jay Meyers, Louis Black, and Nick Barbaro.
“These four SXSW founders paved the way for so much more March entrepreneurism,” Forrest said,
Among the great entrepreneurs to emerge from SXSW, Forrest included Johnny Cash in 1994,
Foster the People in 2011, Billie Eilish in 2017, Grimes in 2012, and other musicians.
Another takeaway from SXSW is that entrepreneurs are rockstars and vice versa, Forrest said.
There are a lot of similarities between entrepreneurs and musicians, and that’s why SXSW has survived for so long, Forrest said.
“SXSW always focuses on Creativity, authenticity, originality, and innovative ideas,” Forrest said. Those are the traits and characteristics that define successful SXSW bands and startups, he said. Forrest said they want to be on the same stage and intermingle at SXSW. He also encouraged everyone to reconsider and broaden their idea of what an entrepreneur is today.
“What can you learn from other creative types that will help you as a startup,” Forrest asked. The mission of SXSW is to help creative people achieve their goals, he said.
The event has attracted big names like President Barrack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden through the years. It has also been a launching pad for companies like Twitter, Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Workweek, Meerkat, ICON, and others.
At SXSW, entrepreneurs are even more critical than celebrities, Forrest said.
Chris Valentine, event manager for the SXSW Pitch competition, gave a quick presentation on the SXSW Pitch competition. Applications for SXSW Pitch are due on Sunday. There’s still time to apply at SXSW.com/Pitch, Valentine said.
Since 2009, SXSW Pitch has showcased 647 startups, which have raised a combined $23.2 billion in funding. Google, British Telecom, Apple, and others have acquired seven percent of those startups.
SXSW Pitch competition alums include Klout, ICON, Hipmunk, Tubemogul, Siri, Foodspotting, and Tango.
More than 700 startups apply for the SXSW Pitch competition every year, Valentine said. Of those, 45 finalists are selected to compete in nine categories, he said.
Startups’ Valuations are down, and entrepreneurs must do more with less money and focus on their core business to become profitable.
The days of startups valued at 20 times revenue are over, and now, it’s more common to have five-, six– or seven-times revenue as a valuation, according to Mike Dodd, general partner of Silverton Partners.
He spoke on a panel during Austin Startup Week’s discussion on “The Shift of the VC Fundraising Landscape: What This Means for Texas Entrepreneurs” Wednesday morning at Capital Factory. Charlie Plauche, general partner of S3 Ventures, moderated the panel, which also included Venu Shamapant, founding partner of LiveOak Venture Partners, Kerry Rupp, general partner of True Wealth Ventures, and Tom Ball, Cofounder and managing partner of Next Coast Ventures.
“There was just a matter of time before this bubble burst,” Dodd said.
But the situation could be more dire. Dodd said the panel had $1 billion worth of “dry powder” or venture capital funds looking for an investment. Many of the firms raised significant funds a year or two ago, and they have been more discerning in the last three quarters of making investments.
That shows in the latest VC data on the Austin-Round Rock metro area. Austin companies completed 78 deals worth $589.9 million in the third quarter, down 33 percent in value and nearly 20 percent in deal volume from the same quarter a year ago, according to the latest Pitchbook-National Venture Capital Association Venture Monitor report.
In the first three quarters of 2023, Austin companies have raised nearly $2.8 billion in 290 deals.
“Austin will likely reach 400 completed deals for the third consecutive year in 2023,” according to the report. “That figure would be just a 20 percent decline from the 2021 high, making Austin one of the more resolute VC ecosystems of the major markets.”
“It’s been an entrepreneur-friendly environment for a while, but it’s shifted in the last ten months. It’s more investor-friendly,” Dodd said.
“It’s a very cyclical business,” said Ball, managing partner of Next Coast Ventures. Ball emphasized that there has never been a better time to start a business.
“You are in it for longer than the average marriage in America,” Ball said. “As long as you have a good idea and can fund it, it’s good.”
Ball said Next Coast Ventures has pushed all of its portfolio companies to reach profitability to survive. Three to four years ago, VCs told startups to pursue growth at all costs, and now they need to be profitable, Ball said.
“It’s a tough environment as an entrepreneur with all the different advice you get,” Ball said.
Entrepreneurs must focus on their core business, Rupp said.
Also, debt isn’t available like it was a few years ago, Shamapant said. He said the days of getting a low-interest loan from Silicon Valley Bank are gone.
Companies that have moved here need to know that things are going to get better, said Plauche, general partner of S3 Ventures.
Dodd said that Austin VCs have a lot of capital to focus on Austin investments.
In the past five years, Austin has seen a flood of people move from the California coast to Austin, and that’s been good for the ecosystem, Dodd said.
“I’m a bit of an Elon Musk fanboy,” he said.
In addition to relocating Tesla’s headquarters to Austin, Musk has brought SpaceX, the Boring Company, and Starlink operations here, and that’s good for everyone, Dodd said. He said that brings in many talented people, and some might decide to launch their own business.
“It’s better than it’s ever been,” Dodd said. “It may not look like that in your shoes right now because it’s hard to get capital. But I think we’re in a great spot.”
Silverton has made five new investments in the last three months; before that, it had yet to do any in the previous ten months, Dodd said.
Next Coast Ventures has also closed on five new deals in the last three months, Ball said.
Shamapant said he’s been in Austin for 24 years, and the venture capital industry is the healthiest it has ever been. Austin Ventures used to be the only venture capital firm in town two decades ago; now, there are dozens of firms, he said.
“Money has a lot better chance of getting to you when there are multiple firms in the market,” Shamapant said.
Austin needs to focus on its infrastructure to deal with the influx of new residents and companies, Shamapant said. In particular, there is a need for affordable housing.
“Inflation has hit here hard,” Ball said.
Californians have also driven up compensation levels, and startups need more capital at an early stage to build a company, he said.
“Every deal is going to need more money,” he said.
Plauche, general partner of S3 Ventures, asked the panelists what startup metrics they look at when deciding to invest.
At the early stage, many of the metrics True Wealth Ventures looks at in startups are qualitative, Rupp said.
“The first metric is the team,” she said. She said that it’s a bit more than just math at the seed stage.
“We don’t invest until we see efficacy that something improves health,” Rupp said.
Next Coast Ventures looks at the team and product market fit, Ball said.
LiveOak Venture Partners also looks at the team and product market fit, Shamapant said.
Silverton Partners focuses on product usage, Dodd said.
“If the usage is pretty high and becomes part of the daily workflow of the customer, then you are onto something,” he said.
Rupp said seed investors and series A investors want a well-thought-out plan for how the entrepreneur uses the money.
“It’s kind of a long exercise of iterating around what can I do with the capital to get to the next stage,” she said. “You need to have a plan that makes sense to the investor around the assumptions you’ve made.”
Raising money is like being a plane, Ball said. And he said the entrepreneur has to take the plane apart and put it back together again before it crashes.
Q3 2023 Top 10 VC Deals in the Austin-Round Rock Metro Area
SpyCloud $110 million Software Series D
Hidden Layer $50 million Software Series A
One Model $41 million Software Series B
Black Ore $40 million Commercial Services Series A
Diligent Robotics $26.5 million Computer Hardware Series B2
Osano $25 million Software Series B
Chipletz $23.2 million Computer Hardware Series B
CertifID $20 million Software Series B
Terminal Industries $17 million Software Seedstage
