Sent: 31.07.2023 00:45:06 (+02:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: Austin Weekly Deal Highlights – July 30, 2023
Austin Weekly Deal Highlights
July 30th, 2023
Good to see some familiar faces this week. Brian Sheth, who was once co-pilot of the Austin-based private equity behemoth Vista Equity, made a splash this week when his new private equity firm, Haveli Investments, announced it was acquiring San Jose-based Certinia, for a cool $1 billion. Also this week, a stalwart in the Austin CPG scene was picked up. Canned coffee maker High Brew, who has received more than a few bucks from me, received a majority investment from Argentina-based beverage producer Beliv for an undisclosed amount. And there’s more where that came from! Don’t miss any of the other highlights below…
In 2022 VW FWD, a Vela Wood initiative, donated $57,000 to causes that support justice and equal rights for marginalized communities as part of our pledge to donate $500,000 over ten years. Explore the VW FWD Impact Report 2022 to learn more about our pledge and commitments, donations and scholarships, educational efforts, and more.
Austin Financing Activity
- Fetch, a provider of off-site package acceptance and delivery services for apartment buildings, raised $4.7M of venture funding from undisclosed investors. The company has raised over $130M to date from investors including Rose Park Advisors, Signal Peak Ventures, Pando Ventures, and Iron Gate Capital.
- High Brew Coffee, a producer of ready-to-drink brewed coffee drinks, received a majority investment from Beliv, for an undisclosed amount. 78% of the American company was sold to Beliv, with the remaining shares continuing to be held by its founder, David Smith, and current investors. The company had raised approx. $40M to date from investors including Charles Street Partners and Boulder Investment Group Repreise.
- HiddenLayer, a cybersecurity software provider, raised $31.9M of venture funding from undisclosed investors. The company has raised $37M to date from investors including Ten Eleven Ventures.
- Turn Medical, an automated prone therapy technology to treat patients experiencing pulmonary complications, raised $4M of seed funding from undisclosed investors. The company has now raised approx. $8M to date.
Other Texas Deal Activity
- Reata Pharmaceuticals (NAS: RETA), a Plano-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company making drugs for rare diseases, reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Biogen (NAS: BIIB) for $7.3B. Biogen is paying $172.50/share, which is a 59% markup on Reata’s shares from close of the market on Thursday.
- Pickup, a Plano-based enterprise-grade, last-mile delivery service focused on larger item delivery and assembly, was acquired by Point Pickup, via its financial sponsor Hampstead Park Capital Management, for an undisclosed amount. Pickup had raised approx. $39M to date from investors including NewRoad Capital Partners, Artisan Venture Capital, Collate Capital, Venture 53, TDF Ventures, Autotech Ventures, and Noro-Moseley Partners.
- Velostics, a Houston-based logistics platform, raised $1.8M of venture funding from undisclosed investors.
Austin News
- Austin-based Brian Sheth, who launched Haveli Investments after leaving Austin-based PE behemoth Vista Equity in 2020, has lined up a reported $1 billion acquisition. It agreed to buy San Jose, California-based software vendor Certinia. It’s leading a group of investors that also includes General Atlantic LLC.
- Austin real estate prices have, on average, dropped by more than 10% over the past year, the most in the country.
- New Report says Austin is turning into life sciences “superstar” hub
- Episode Six, a global provider of enterprise-grade payment processing and ledger infrastructure, has appointed Brian Muse-McKenney as its chief revenue officer. MuseMcKenney joins Episode Six from his previous roles as chief business officer at HSBC Platforms and chief innovation officer at HSBC Global Payments Solutions. The company recently raised a $48M Series C in May.
- Hypergiant, who develops AI innovations for the space, defense and critical infrastructure industries, has received a $61M three-year contract with the U.S. Airforce.
- Freedom Solar cuts nearly 9% of workforce
- Austin tech company Phunware cutting third of employees
Thank you!
