Joshua (JT) Taylor

A blistering funding run has me revisiting a question I posed after Q3's VC funding data came out. Was Austin's modest $1.6B in H1 2024 signaling a slowdown or was Q3's $1B surge the real indicator? November's explosive activity gives us our answer: 💥Tricentis: $1.33B raise ($4.5B valuation) New 🦄 💥FireFly Aerospace: $175M ($2B valuation) 💥Ladder: $105M 💥Halcyon AI: $100M ($1B valuation) New 🦄 With these mega-rounds, Q4 is already approaching $2B with several weeks remaining. I am hearing about more significant rounds in the pipeline, though I don’t know whether they will announce in Dec or early '25. What a difference a quarter makes! Austin sits at ~$4B YTD, knocking at the door of 2023's $4.2B. The first half numbers now look more like timing quirks than a true slowdown. Our sector diversity (seen here in AI, Space, Bio & Health and Cybersecurity) reinforces what Peter Walker's analysis shows below; Austin's strength comes from our broad foundation & tech convergence. As Peter notes in his original post, "Austin is good in many areas, great in few." I see this as a strength, not a weakness (not implying that he was making this implication either). With ATX consistently ranking somewhere between 5th-7th in funding, and having strong momentum metrics, we have a bright future ahead. What's Next?

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Today's Boring Biz: Pool Leak Detection Company - $2.3M Revenue - $610K Cashflow - South Carolina - Day 39 of "50 States In 50 Days" Note: We do not represent this deal, highlighting for informational purposes only for viewers What do they do? 1. Leak detection services 2. Electronic detection equipment 3. Pool inspections Investment Highlights 1. Strong market demand 2. Established reputation 3. Business systems in place Investment risks/concerns 1. What is the competition 2. Customer concentration 3. Length of contracts #SMB #ETA #finance #Cashflow #investing #search #searchfund #privateequity #microprivateequity #smallbusiness #venturecapital #vc #entrepreneur #business #businessowner #pool #leakdetection #southcarolina #servicecompany Disclaimer: Hypothetical and illustrative only. Please do your own research (DYOR) or work with tax and legal professionals before making a decision. This video are intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice, nor should be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any security by SMB PE LLC or any third party

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Summary: Texas-based firm, Tacora Capital, has raised $268.7 million for its second fund which specializes in venture debt for startups and other businesses. Key takeaways: Tacora Capital has raised $268.7 million for its second fund, showing demand for "flexible, non-leveraged" financing options for startups. Peter Thiel, a prominent Republican billionaire and investor, was a major investor in Tacora's first fund, but it is not clear if he is involved in the second fund. Founded in 2021, Tacora has a focus on lending to capital-intensive companies in industries like fintech and hardware. Counter arguments: The risk with venture debt is that startups may not be able to pay back their loans, which could lead to financial struggles for the company. Tacora only backs loans against strong assets owned by well-positioned companies, but the specific companies they have backed are not disclosed, leaving room for speculation. #venturecapital #vc #tech

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Private Markets (PE, VC, Growth Equity) are asset classes largely inaccessible to public investors, yet there's a lot of demand. This locks individual investors out of the market for innovative companies, and also reduces liquidity opportunities for employees, founders and angels (opaque secondary markets with high tx fees and approval hurdles don't count). Is there a way to solve this using technology, potentially GAI, in a regulated way to give retail investors access to private markets in the UK? It would for sure encourage more entrepreneurship and innovation as well. This was one of the topics we discussed yesterday at the panel at Fund Finance Association , where I was invited to give the Founder's & Entrepreneur's view. Thanks for having me Joel Buckett and very insightful to hear the different perspectives of Muhammad Billal Malik, CAIA, Ibrahim Khan and Mohamed Azzam Khan, CFA

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Big Company or Big Network: Which is the better partner? When you think partnerships, It’s easy to think of collaborating with companies. But have you considered partnering with a network? When I was in Austin, I struck a deal with Capital Factory. Community of 100,000 entrepreneurs. Portfolio valuation of $21 billion. This partnership opened doors to New brands, New investors, New level of growth. The takeaway? Partnering with a network doesn’t just add value— it channels it 🔮 #Networking #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

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The results are in. Emerging managers and especially sub-$25MM funds are out-performing their larger counterparts, even in a sub-optimal market. TVPI metrics for 2017 vintage was 3.8x versus 2.7x for a $100MM+ fund. Even a 2022 vintage is seeing a 1.1x vs a 1x TVPI. I'm personally working with a top-quartile sub $50MM fund that has delivered a 1.6x TVPI from a 2020 vintage with gains of over 100% for it's LPs (and no it's not pre-seed). Another solo-GP has averaged 60x MOIC. Smaller funds are more nimble, have more skin in the game and are quicker to react. Whilst it's predominantly smaller bets at an earlier stage (i.e. more risk), it also means a larger, more diversified portfolio where it only takes 1 to 2 wins to return all the capital to LPs = earlier upside. Add to that a much more favorable cost-structure, it's a relative no-brainer. A bit like startups, this segment is in it's infancy, so I expect we'll see much more data in coming years. (P.S- as I'm seeing some fantastic new operators come to the market, and we still have so much to learn, share and exchange about emerging managers, make sure to sign-up to upcoming newsletter! I'll be sharing much more in-depth insights, fund launches and interviews with GPs and LPs to create a vibrant and meaningful community- link in comments).

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🧬 This week's Austin Bio & Health Roundup covers new funding, insightful data, expanding footprints, local innovators' thoughts, recognitions, & booming developments across the Texas Bio Triangle. 🧬 💰 Funding Thoughtful AI has raised a $20M Series led by Drive Capital led by Nick Solaro. With that funding Thoughtful launched AI agents focused on claims processing, patient eligibility verification, and other healthcare back office functions. Congratulations to Alex Zekoff and the entire team! Drive Capital's investment in Thoughtful parallels their expansion into Austin putting feet on the ground with new Seed General Manager Anish Zuté. I expect we'll be hearing about more investments from them soon. Modicus Prime raised $3.5M to prevent drug product quality failures in biomanufacturing. A great example of Austin funding Austin as Silverton Partners led the round. Congrats to Taylor Chartier and team! A reminder: You may have seen some media covering SEC filings and trying to scoop startups on their funding announcements. I only announce funding when the companies do as I am not a “journalist” and I'm here to catalyze & support the builders 📊 Data Peter Walker released new Carta data breaking down the sector diversity of funding since 2022 in top. In Austin, Healthtech ranked number 3 at 13%, behind SaaS at 42% and Fintech at 13% (likely a decimal difference). Note that Carta breaks Bio & Health into three subcategories (Healthtech, Pharma/Biotech, and Med Device). Where would the sector rank when combined? Peter, any comment? 🚀 Launches, Expansions, and Milestones Neuralink, the brain computer interface company founded by Elon Musk, is expanding its presence in Texas with a new 100,000+ facility, further solidifying our region's position as a key neurotech hub. Given the recent news about the relocations of X to Austin and SpaceX to Starbase, Texas; might we see an even larger presence (maybe even HQ) for Neuralink in the future? 💡 Insights from Local Builders and Innovators Jaleh Daie, PhD shared her thoughts in SynBioBeta on building a durable bioeconomy and what it will take to get there. 🏆 Recognition Kerry Rupp, partner at True Wealth Ventures, has been appointed to the @Ascension Seton Foundation Board. Having VCs on the hospital boards (including the Foundation) will help further connect them to the innovation ecosystem. 🚩 Texas Bio Triangle Houston-based Octagos Health | The Future of Digital Health raised a $43 million Series B to advance AI-driven cardiac device monitoring. Congrats to Shanti Bansal, M.D. and the whole team! MD Anderson and Rice University are joining forces to launch a cancer bioengineering collaborative, focused on speeding up the movement of innovations from the lab to the market. What’s Next?

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Relative to yesterday's golf match between leading PGA Tour and LIV Golf players, the winners received $10 million in Crypto.com's Crono utility cryptocurrency. What are the uses of Crono? … Cronos (CRO) is a cryptocurrency token that has multiple uses within the Crypto.com ecosystem: Transaction fees: CRO can be used to pay for fees on the Crypto.com platform and the Cronos Chain Staking: Users can stake CRO to earn rewards like higher cashback, discounts, and voting rights DeFi features: CRO holders can access decentralized finance (DeFi) features and services Store of value: CRO can be used as a store of value that's backed by the success of the Crypto.com platform Governance: CRO holders can participate in governance decisions Asset transfers: CRO can be used to facilitate asset transfers between Cronos dApps CRO is the native token of the Cronos blockchain network, which is a sidechain of the Crypto.org Chain. CRO is also supported by Ethereum's ERC-20. You can deposit and withdraw CRO through the Crypto.com app. When trading or transferring CRO within the Crypto.com ecosystem, you don't need to consider the network type. However, you will need to choose the network type when depositing or withdrawing from external wallets. With the upcoming administration change favoring cryptocurrencies, will we see a resurgence of utility cryptocurrency... thoughts? #crypto.com #cryptocurrencies #cronos

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If you're building a fintech startup, you likely know of this investor, but just in case... This week's findfunding.vc spotlight is on Neil Kapur from TTV Capital. He: 🛫 Is based in SF & Atlanta 💲 Has spent time at Google in consumer-facing payments & at two fintech startups  🏔️ Loves alpine mountaineering and has climbed Kilimanjaro, Denali, Rainier, and more!! Amongst founders, Neil and the team at TTV Capital , including Gardiner Garrard, Mark Johnson, Sean Banks, Lizzie Guynn, and Laney Lewis are known for saying “lift, not lean.” They believe that their job as investors is not to create work for founders, but instead ask the right questions and help navigate to the best outcomes. Knowing Neil well personally, he's not only my go-to person for anything related to fintech but I can also highly recommend having him on your cap table - he's the kind of human you want to have in your corner during both good times and bad. Make sure to: ✉️ Pitch him at [email protected] ➡️ Follow TTV Capital on LinkedIn For more, check out our funder spotlight card below along with TTV Capital's profile on findfunding.vc (link in comments).

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The actions of a bankrupt Austin based accelerator, Newchip, have put over 1,000 startups in jeopardy. This hits close to home for me, as one of the startups I recently joined on its advisory board is directly affected by this issue. Apparently, Newchip charged startups $18,000–$20,000 to join its program with promises to upskill the founders and connect them to investors. While it's questionable if the startups that joined the program received proper training, hardly anyone got references to investors. At the time of joining the program Newchip also signed warrants with each of the startups. The warrant gave Newchip the right to buy $250,000 worth of shares in the company within a 24 month period, and at their current valuation. Now that Newchip has gone bankrupt, it has offered up the over 1,000 warrants it has with different startups as part of the settlement with its creditors. And the court has sanctioned the sale/auction. I find this sort of situation worrisome, because most of these startups hardly have lawyers that guide them through the execution of these documents. In fact, the founder of the startup I advise on its advisory board told me directly that he never read the warrant document! And he is one of many subjected to predatory accelerators and investors that can literally bleed a business dry. This is why some of us invest and also advice startups. There are a lot of sharks out there, and we have to protect them. If you are a startup founder and you want to join an accelerator program out there, here are three simple but important tips I will give: 1. 𝐃𝐮𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Before joining any accelerator program or entering into investment agreements, conduct thorough due diligence. This includes researching the accelerator's reputation, track record, and any past controversies or legal issues. 2. 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬: Carefully review and understand the terms of any agreements they enter into, including the rights and obligations related to warrants or other financial instruments. 3. 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Be aware of your legal rights and options in case of disputes or unexpected events, such as bankruptcies. Seeking legal advice and understanding the implications of legal agreements is crucial for protecting the interests of the startup and its founders. While there are no guarantees of success, taking proactive steps and seeking professional advice can help startups protect their interests and minimize the potential negative impact on their businesses.

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BTC Nashville 2024 in a word...Enlightening!! If you're an Accredited Investor and recognize the need to participate in bitcoin, but are wary of a direct investment in BTC, SOVRN CAPITAL has launched "Digital Midstream Genesis". LP with all the benefits of RE, Equip Financing and Energy Arbitrage + the upside of bitcoin. SOVRN is making it easy to capitalize on this asset class while still investing in what got you here. DM me for info.

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Excited to roll out a new series: Allocators Anonymous a new recurring Austin Venture Association series for senior fund managers in town or passing through during peak times. With so many event invitations flooding your inbox, it can be tough to know which events will give you the best return on your time. Some are mismatched based on seniority. Some on the goal of the community. Some simply because you may already know everyone in attendance. Using my own experience on both sides, I've curated a high-quality, vetted gathering for senior professionals from early to late stages to come connect with each other. Our guest list featured partners from the top funds in town, founders of fund of funds, pensions, family offices, and a handful of founders who are allocators themselves, through angel investing or their own funds. And if you know me, you know every event needs a fun, tongue-in-cheek name, hence Allocators Anonymous 🤫. Huge thanks to Powder Room for hosting and huge huge thanks to everyone who carved out some time in their very busy schedules to attend on a Monday evening. If this sounds like your crowd, I’d love to get you an invitation to the next event as I work to keep bringing fresh faces into the group. And if you're interested in partnering, let's chat about how we can work together to continue supporting Austin's venture capital ecosystem. Remember.. rising tides lift all ships!

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Q3 funding data doesn't really clear up where Austin's innovation ecosystem stands post-bubble. The US is down, Austin is up, but then that's after a slow 1H 2024 for ATX. 🤷 Austin's Startup Funding Q3 2024: ● Q3: $1B (6th in US) ● YTD: $2.6B (7th in US), following sluggish Q1 & Q2 ($0.8B each) ● 2024 projection: $3.4B-$3.6B vs $4.2B in 2023 Q3 2024 Top Funding Rounds: ● Saronic Technologies $175M Series B (Austin's newest unicorn) ● webAI $43M Series A ● Infinitum $35M Series E ● Gymdesk $33M Growth Round ● Setpoint $31M Series B Sources: Pitchbook & CB Insights Austin pace is slower than the 2021-2023 boom and may be one of the few major metro areas to see a decrease from 2023.  My guess, we do not have the volume or scale of AI rounds driving many other metros. At the same time, we're still trending up compared to pre-bubble levels (2019: $3.2B, 2020: $2.7B). So, what’s going on? Is this just a temporary dip in the first half, a return to pre-2020 growth trajectory, or the start of a new trend?

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Unlocking Innovation: Texas State Bill 1598 and the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Texas is leading the way in digital finance innovation with the proposed Texas State Bill 1598. This bill introduces a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve within the state treasury, marking a bold move to diversify state financial assets and embrace blockchain technology. At RFS Consulting, we’ve published a comprehensive white paper evaluating this initiative through a Risk Management Perspective. Key insights include: • Addressing Bitcoin’s volatility and liquidity risks. • Navigating regulatory and compliance challenges. • Ensuring custodial and cybersecurity for Bitcoin reserves. • Exploring the economic opportunities for Texas. Ready to learn more about how Texas can manage risks while pioneering digital asset adoption? 👉 Download the full white paper below #RiskManagement #Bitcoin #Blockchain #DigitalAssets #TexasPolicy #Innovation #CryptoPolicy #DigitalAssetsPolicy #Texasblockchaincouncil #digitalchamberofcommerce #RFSConsulting

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🚨The Q2 venture data is out & Austin is off to a rougher start with only $1.3B-$1.4B raised so far this year. How does that compare to previous years? 📅 H1 2024: $1.36B 📅 H1 2023: $2.7B 📅 H1 2022: $3.2B 📅 H1 2021: $3.7B 📅 H1 2020: $1.4B 📅 H1 2019: $1.3B At the moment, we are tracking to pre-bubble numbers. (Source: PitchBook) 🔍 What's behind the dip? Zero $100M+ deals in Q2; Largest rounds: Base Power Company ($68M) & CesiumAstro ($65M) Top Sectors so far this year: 🛡️Cybersecurity (Value: $329M | Deals: 11 | Top Deal: NinjaOne $232M) 🧬Bio & Health (Value: $245M | Deals: 20 | Top Deal: Harbor Health $95M) 🚗Transportation (Value: $97M | Deals: 6 | Top Deal: Uhnder, Inc. $50M) (Source: Dealroom.co) ☀️ Signs for Optimism: July (typically slow) has already seen $60M in funding in just 11 days 3 VC firms (Elsewhere Partners, Ironspring Ventures, & Texas Venture Partners) announced $450M in new capital. 🤔 Something to think about: In a previous analysis, I showed that every metro except SV, Boston, DC, & Austin had reverted to 2019 or earlier numbers in 2023. Is this Austin regressing to the mean, are we in a hiccup year, or something else? Is there anything that this data is missing good or bad? Any other data sets that adds to or refutes this narrative? What's Next?

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What is the nature of Austin startup innovation at the early stages? Peter Walker is out with new Carta data on Seed and Series A fundraising by metro & sector. Austin ranks 6th overall with 3.3% of total capital invested, between Seattle and DC. Seattle & ATX again seem to be a tier of their own. Not the first data set where I've seen this pairing & I don't expect it to be the last. Not sure what to make of this trend, yet. When you break it down by sector, the story of what is Austin innovation is beginning to change: 🔹 Healthtech: 4th (5.5%) 🔹 Consumer: 6th (4.6%) 🔹 Fintech: 7th (4.0%) 🔹 SaaS: 7th (3.0%) 🔹 Biotech: 8th (2.3%) 🔹 Hardware: Not ranked (surprising w/ our defense tech boom) ATX’s sector diversity & early stage volume paints a strong future. What's Next?

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🧬 This week's Austin Bio & Health Roundup features new data insights, key launches, community events, & updates from the Texas Bio Triangle. 🧬 📊 Data Hamza S. from Carta Insights has released their Q2 2024 State of the Markets. You can just feel the Austin vibe as it’s one of the featured regional profiles along with the SF Bay Area, NYC, and LA. (It could also be that I am loud and bug both him and Peter Walker all the time on all the things Austin...nah couldn't be that 😉) From a Bio & Health perspective, Healthtech came in as the 3rd largest sector behind Hardware & SaaS. If we combine Healthtech, Biotech, and Med Device, it would likely jump to 2nd. Reminder: Carta's data captures about half of all startups, so consider these values as representative and relative rather than absolute total. 🚀 Launches, Expansions, and Milestones Love.Life, the integrated health and wellness company co-created by Whole Foods Founder John Mackey, has opened its first holistic health and wellness club in Los Angeles. The club offers personalized care, advanced testing, fitness, and food services to promote overall well-being. When Elon Musk appeared on Lex Fridman’s podcast this past week, he announced that Neuralink has successfully implanted its brain-computer interface device in a second patient. While not headquartered here “yet,” Neuralink's growing presence highlights Austin’s depth as a key player in the neurotech. 🏙️ Community The Greenlight Guru True Quality Roadshow is coming to Austin on September 5th. This event brings together leaders in quality, regulatory, and product development for a valuable half-day of insights and networking. Austin Bio & Health entrepreneurs Lior Eshel Ansher of TestDynamics and Christopher Idelson of ClearCam Inc. will be taking the stage and representing the local ecosystem. Check out the comments for the registration link. 🚩 Texas Bio Triangle Houston based Coya Therapeutics, Inc. is expanding its pipeline and intellectual property portfolio with the filing of new U.S. patents for COYA 301 in combination with GLP-1 receptor agonists. The combo shows promise as a multi-pathway approach to treating neurodegenerative, autoimmune, and metabolic conditions. Congrats Howard Berman, PhD and the rest of the team! What’s Next?

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You are missing the point. You will never get funded by a VC. Why? VC firms want: 100X return on Seed investments. 15X return on Series A funding. 5X return on late-stage funding. All in 5 years. Why? 65% of VC backed companies fail to return their original investment. 50% of VC backed companies fail to return ANY invested capital. They go out of business. You need to show your competition is making these returns and why you will be able to. Saying you can or showing projections won't work. REG D or REG A+ offer a better alternative. Contact us today. Discover your options. We advise companies raising $10 million or more and where to find the money. Are you chasing the VC dream?