Austin Weekly Deal Highlights(10-14-18)

Austin Weekly Deal Highlights

Austin Weekly Deal Highlights for October 15, 2018

From: “Mason Rathe” <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, 15 October 2018 01:16
To: [email protected]
Subject:Austin Weekly Deal Highlights 10-14-18

Austin Weekly Deal Highlights

By Mason Rathe – October 14, 2018

Subscribe to this Newsletter

Don’t we have a smorgasbord for you today. Little bit of everything this week, including TrueCar Bernie Brenner’s new company Rollick raising their Series A, Moonshot Capital’s new $20M fund, OJO with a key acquisition, and SolarWinds pricing their IPO with an estimated $5.5B market cap. Let’s go Astros!

Austin Financing Activity

  • Rollick, a platform that provides RV and other outdoor equipment manufacturers and retailers with an efficient marketing solution, raised an $8.3M Series A led by LiveOak Venture Partners. Rollick, which was launched by TrueCar cofounder Bernie Brenner, has raised approximately $14M to date.
  • Kahoot!, a game-based learning platform based in Norway with US headquarters is in Austin, raised a $15.4M Series B at a $300M valuation, led by repeat investor Datum AS, with Microsoft and Northzone also participating. The company last closed on a $17M round in March.
  • Shipwell, an online business freight shipping platform, raised a $10M Series A led by Fifth Wall. The company has raised approximately $12M to date from investors including Global Founders Capital, Aspect Ventures, Base10 Partners, and First Round Capital.
  • The Guild, an Austin company that turns upscale apartments into tech-enabled hotel suites, raised a $9M round led by Seattlebased Maveron with participation from Convivialite Ventures and Corigin Ventures. The company has raised approximately $14M to date.
  • Austin Cocktails, a crafted cocktail company, raised $4.3M in equity funding. The company previously raised approx. $2M from investors including CTAN and Wild Basin Investments.
  • Astrotech Corporation (NASDAQ: ASTC), a tech commercialization company, announced a private sale of equity securities valued around $3M.
  • Hops & Grain, an Austin craft beer startup, raised $125K from undisclosed investors. The company previously raised $1M in 2016

Austin M&A Activity

  • OJO Labs, an AI-powered real estate technology platform, acquired real estate data company WolfNet Technologies, for an undisclosed amount. The combined company will have about 290 employees. OJO has raised approx. $26M to date from investors including LiveOak Venture Partners.
  • NuPark, a custom parking management platform, was acquired by Charlotte-based Passport, which makes parking, transit and tolling platforms, for an undisclosed amount. NuPark raised approx. $3M to date from investors including Wild Basin Investments.
  • Glenmount Global Solutions, a provider of engineering and technology services, is being acquired by E-Technologies Group, a Cincinnati area manufacturing tech firm, for an undisclosed amount. Glenmount was previously acquired by Palisade Capital Management in 2010.

Other Relevant Activity

  • Houston Exponential raises $25M fund of funds to bolster city’s tech scene, where it will help provide capital to startups through qualified venture firms
  • Austin’s CAVU Venture Partners led a $20M Series B for Once Upon a Farm, a Berkeley, Calif.-based provider of organic, coldpressed baby food, applesauce and smoothies.
  • Alto, A Dallas-based on demand ride sharing platform, raised $13M of angel funding from undisclosed investors, according to Pitchbook.

Austin People

  • OJO Labs, the AI and machine learning platform, hired Peter Kappler as CTO and Qingqing Ouyang as its VP of engineering. Kappler was Google’s 150th hire and opened Google’s Austin office in 2007, and Qingqing was previously the head of engineering for Austin-based Main Street Hub. OJO is a LiveOak portfolio company and has raised approximately $26M to date.
  • The Guild, who announced their $9M Series A above, hired Justin Krost, a former corporate finance and accounting manager at HomeAway and former director of accounting at Phunware, as its head of finance.
  • Rental property management platform TurnKey Vacation Rentals hired Michael Joseph and Tom Feldhusen, co-founders of InvitedHome. Joseph’s title is VP of owner success, and Feldhusen will be director of owner onboarding and product. Turnkey has raised approx. $70M to date from investors including Adams Street Partners and Silverton Partners.
  • Vapor IO, a developer of hardware and software solutions for edge computing, hired Alan Bock as VP of business development. Bock is a former VP of telco infrastructure at Crown Castle. Vapor raised a $50M Series C led by Berkshire Partners in September.

Austin News

  • SolarWinds, an IT infrastructure management software maker, plans to raise $756M in an IPO at an approximate $5.5B market cap. It posted revenue of $213.8M in 2017 and loss of $351.8M. Thoma Bravo Funds and Silver Lake back the firm.
  • Moonshots Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm, announced its inaugural fund totaling $20M. Moonshots has already made a few investments, in companies including Threatcare, New Knowledge and Shep.
  • Seed-stage venture capital firm and incubator Quake Capital moves HQ to Austin. Earlier this year, Quake Capital was in the midst of raising $30M for its second fund. Its first fund closed in 2017 with $18M.
  • Piper Jaffray’s private equity arm eyes Texas deals with new $130M fund
  • Austin Venture Capital Flow Slows in Q3 as U.S. is Poised for a $100B Year
  • Oracle Names 6 High-Profile Austin Startups to Its U.S. Global Startup Hub: data.world, Eventador, Pilosa, ROIKOI, Senseye, and Transmute.
  • The University of Texas ranks No. 6 on Reuters list of the nation’s most innovative universities – up from it’s No. 9 spot last year. The report is based largely on patents issued to innovators at each school and the success and use of those patents.
  • The Entrepreneur’s Essentials by Brett Hurt, CEO of data.world and cofounder of Bazaarvoice.
  • 4 Austin Startups on CNBC’s annual list of 100 promising startups to watch, Upstart 100 List, including data.world, Hypergiant, JASK and RigUp.
  • US Army looking to invest in Austin tech scene
  • Dating app Bumble lands on TIME’s 50 Genius Companies List
  • Health insurance startup Sana Benefits moves headquarters to Austin
  • Moniker Guitars, an Austin startup that allowed online custom design of guitars and basses, has closed up shop.

Upcoming Events

Thank you!
Mason Rathe
Twitter: @mason_rathe

LiveOak Venture Partners

Think you might be a fit for LiveOak, if I missed a deal, or have feedback, you can reach me at [email protected] If your company is recruiting for a senior level position, happy to include a shout-out.

View on Web | Subscribe to this Newsletter
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
This email was sent to [email protected]
why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences
Austin Weekly Deal Highlights · Austin, Texas · Austin, TEXAS 78731 · USA