Austin — Two angel networks in Texas have been the most active investors in the state since 2010.
The Houston Angel Network leads the list with 145 investments during the past nine years, followed by the Central Texas Angel Network in Austin with 144 deals, according to data compiled by Seattle-based PitchBook. Capital Factory, which runs a co-working space abd accelerator in Austin, and also invests in startups, was third on the list with 97 deals. PitchBook compiled the list ahead of South by Southwest, the business, music, and film festival that is beginning in Austin this week. The report looked at investments made since the start of 2010 through March 4 of this year.
The most active traditional venture firm since 2010 was Austin Ventures, which notably stopped making new deals in 2015 (though it does still make follow-on investments). It had 89 deals. Silverton Partners, also based in Austin, was fifth on the list with 85 investments. Silverton has been more active since 2014, according to data provider CB Insights, which reported Silverton as the most active Texas investor in the past five years. Houston-based Mercury Fund was the sixth most active investor since 2010 with 70 deals, according to PitchBook.
Investors poured $3.11 billion into Texas companies in 2018, the most since at least 2010, according to the PitchBook data. The size of the deals appears to have increased, too: The number of deals in 2018, 461, is down from a high of 592 investments in 2015, when Texas companies brought in only $2.5 billion. Some of the largest funding rounds in the last year went to software makers, from Austin-based real estate platform maker Bungalo’s $250 million funding in September to the $64 million that went to e-commerce business Bigcommerce in April. But plenty of other startups have taken in big rounds too.
Startups in other industries have received some of the biggest fundings of 2019, including life sciences business Peloton Therapeutics’s addition of $150 million in February, the same month that food maker Siete Family Foods received $90 million in new funding. If the pace of the first two months of 2019 keep up throughout the year, it could be another record. Companies have raised $758.2 million as of March 4, setting up the year to finish at more than $4.5 billion if that pace continues.
Texas is fourth nationally for venture investment by state, behind California, New York, and Massachusetts, according to PitchBook.
