Austin Weekly Deal Highlights(11-14-2021)

From: “Mason Rathe”
Sent:Monday, 15 November 2021 01:45
To: [email protected]
Subject: Austin Weekly Deal Highlights – Nov. 14, 2021

Austin Weekly Deal Highlights November 14th 2021

Well that was unexpected. As a graduate of the The University of Texas at Austin, it was surprising to see that a University of Austin just sprang up seemingly out of nowhere right around the corner. Unlike the University of Texas, who is known for producing incredibly talented individuals, as well as the incredible ability to blow football games, the University of Austin is not accredited, does not have a physical campus, and is not offering degrees (at this point). This university bucks the common framework of higher ed, and rather has a “commitment to freedom of inquiry”. It is cofounded by Joe Lonsdale (8VC partner and founder of Palantir). I cannot confidently say I have an opinion about this venture yet; however, I am assured in saying that our football team is better than theirs. And would ya look at that, Austin went and got itself another unicorn. Congrats to the whole team at ZenBusiness on their $200M Series C!

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Quick word from this issue’s Company Spotlight sponsor – Wilson Sonsini. Our Austin-based attorneys are among the most active and experienced in representing Austin’s entrepreneurs and the investors who finance them in the full range of legal needs from corporate formation and venture financings all the way to and through liquidity events such as M&A, IPOs, and de-SPACs. Most importantly, our deep ties to Austin’s vibrant business community of companies, investors, and other organizations as well as the global marketplace are all aimed at helping our clients succeed. For more information, contact a member of our Austin office.

Austin Weekly Deal Activity

• ZenBusiness, the one-stop guided platform tailored for the entrepreneur’s journey to launch, run, and grow a successful business, announced a $200M Series C round, led by Oak HC/FT and including Cathay Innovation, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Greycroft. ZenBusiness, now valued at $1.7B, has raised approx. $275M in total.
• Elevate Brands, an Amazon third-party seller business, announced a $55M funding round led by Soroban Capital and including Upper90 and Oaktree Capital Management. Elevate has now raised $372.5M from investors including FJ Labs and Novel TMT Ventures.
• Seasoned, a hiring platform and network for restaurant workers, raised $18.7 million in Series A funding. Horizons Ventures led, and was joined by TPG Growth.
•  Ladder, an online fitness platform, announced a $6.5M seed round, led by LivWell Ventures and
  including Keller Capital and athlete Danny Amendola.
•  Entytle, Inc., an installed base data platform to help Industrial OEMs unify, organize, and analyze customer information, reported a $2.5M equity round, from undisclosed investors. Entytyle has now raised $8.1M, including funding from investors Accel Ventures and Moment Ventures.
•  Haxor Inc., a developer experience testing platform, reported raising a $1.8M equity round from
  an undisclosed investor.
• Stocked Robotics, Inc. (Stocked SIERA.AI), an AI autonomous driving software company, reported an $1.5M equity round to boost their $4.5M equity funding from 2020. Stocked Robotics has now raised $6.8M, including seed funding from Texas HALO Fund.

Austin M&A Activityy

• F45 (NYS: FXLV), a fitness center franchise that IPO’d in July, announced the acquisition of Vive
  Active, a health company focused on pilates, under undisclosed terms.
• Earth Class Mail, an online mail digitizing service, was acquired by LegalZoom (NAS: LZ) for
  $63M. The company was acquired by Scaleworks in 2016 for an undisclosed amount.

Other Texas Deal Activity

• Zix, (NASDAQ: ZIXI), a leader in SaaS-based email encryption, threat protection and compliance cloud solutions for SMB’s, entered into an agreement to be acquired by OpenText (NAS” OTEX), for $860M.
• Vaxxinity, a Dallas-based clinical-stage biotech with vaccine technology, raised $88M from its IPO. In addition to its lead Alzheimer’s disease program, Vaxxinity’s pipeline includes product candidates for Parkinson’s disease, migraine, and Covid-19.
• SafeRide Health, a San Antonio-based non-medical emergency healthcare transportation solutions company, closed a Series B of undisclosed amount. The round was led by Sands Capital and included existing investors Meridian Street Capital and Bonfire Ventures.
• Smart Start, a Grapevine based alcohol breath-testing technology, entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Apollo Impact, via its financial sponsor Apollo Global Management, for an undisclosed amount.
• ProSoft Solutions, a North Texas-based accounting software intended for nonprofit and government entities, was acquired by Community Brands, via its financial sponsors Insight Partners and Harvest Partners, for an undisclosed amount.
• Ellie Diagnostics, a Richardson-based full-service veterinary diagnostics lab, announced an equity round raised from Avego Healthcare Capital.
• HungerRush is a Houston-based point-of-sale solution for the hospitality industry, acquired  Kansas-City based Menufy, an industry-leading Marketplace and Online Ordering platform. HungerRush was acquired by The CapStree Group in 2018.
• ComboCurve, a Humble-based energy operating system, raised an undisclosed Series A from “leading venture capital partners and energy industry leaders”.
• Lodging Controls, a Cedar Park-based hotel automation platform, was acquired by Visual Matrix, a subsidiary of Alpine SG, for an undisclosed amount

Austin People

• GJ Hart steps down as Torchy’s Tacos CEO. Mike Rypka, who founded Torchy’s 15 years ago as a single food trailer, has stepped in as interim CEO. Under Hart, Torchy’s evolved from a plucky regional chain to the upper echelons of fast-casual dining. It has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from the likes of General Atlantic and T. Rowe Price, and earlier this year was rumored to
  be considering an initial public offering.

Austin News

• New $1 billion project will power up 400 jobs in the Austin suburbs. Southern California-based Chem-Energy Corp., whose specialties include petroleum products, unveiled plans to build amsolar power storage plant and a battery power storage plant in Caldwell County.
• Work collaboration tool Miro Is Opening a Massive New Austin Office, Plans to Make 200 Hires
•  Tesla’s next business line…. They are now approved to sell electricity to Texas consumers
• Why Austin lost 250-job Smart Wires HQ to North Carolina
• Texas ranks No. 3 in latest Site Selection look at best business climates
• Lifestyle Communities, a home building company, has broken ground on a 1,050 house community near Pflugerville, with a focus on making ‘blocks’ to provide an urban feel in suburbia