Austin Weekly Deal Highlights for August 19th, 2018

From: “Mason Rathe” <[email protected]> on behalf of “Mason Rathe” <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, 20 August 2018 02:03
To: [email protected]
Subject:Austin Weekly Deal Highlights 8-19-18

Austin Weekly Deal Highlights

By Mason Rathe – August 19, 2018

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Here I thought I was going to lay off speaking about Amazon’s HQ2 decision until the long awaited, (very) much hyped decision was made, but every newsletter needs an intro, so here we go. CNBC has a new ranking of Amazon HQ2 finalists and Austin stands out, praising the infrastructure, business climate, and technology scene. Also this week, we saw startups raise over $12M in new deals, Multicoin Capital add on to its cryptofund, and Bumble announce the launch of their fund to invest in diverse female founders.

Austin Financing Activity

• Multicoin Capital, an investment firm investing in cryptocurrencies, filed a Form D indicating it has raised a $12.8M fund. Back in March, Multicoin had roughly $50M committed for an anticipated $250M fund, with investors including VCs Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, and former PayPal COO David Sacks.
• Amgine Technologies (HelloGbye), provider of a travel plans app, raised $3.8M of angel funding from undisclosed investors. The company has raised approximately $6.8M to date.
• Infinite io, a developer of data storage intelligence systems, raised $3M in equity funding and other securities. Investors in the company include Chicago Ventures and CTAN.
• Listing Spark, a tech-based real estate brokerage company, raised a $2M Series A from Silverton Partners.
• Prism.fm, a talent buying and venue management software for the music industry, raised $1M in equity funding and other securities.
• Cerberus Interactive, developer of cross platform mobile video games, raised $1.4M of angel funding from undisclosed investors.
• Living Security, a data security platform centered around gamified experiences, raised a $500k Seed round led by San Antoniobased Active Capital.
• Appclose, an app to help divorced parents and lawyers coordinate family matters, raised $600K in new equity funding. The company previously raised approximately $840k.

Austin M&A Activity

• The acquisition has been completed of rugged tablet maker Xplore Technologies (NAS: XPLR) by Zebra Technologies — a company that makes handheld scanners, printers and other portable hardware— for approximately $90M, a premium on the company’s market cap of about $65M at time of announcement. Xplore IPO’d in 2012, after raising approximately $45M in venture funding.
• Adlucent, a local adtech firm that helps internet retailers with consumer-focused ads, acquired Austin-based Directional Cue. Directional Cue offers e-commerce strategy, advertising and content to help boost a brand’s sales on Amazon..

Other Relevant Deal Activity

• PE firm Thoma Bravo acquired Quorum Software, a Houston-based provider of ERP software for the oil and gas market, for an undisclosed amount. Previously, the company was acquired by Silver Lake Partners through a $310M LBO in 2014.
• Datatrak International, a College Station and Cleveland, Oh.-based provider of cloud-based technologies for the life sciences industry, raised $8M in funding from Tabafund.
• Expedi, a Houston-based e-commerce and procurement marketplace for the oil & gas industry, raised $2.25M in seed funding. Investors include Bowery Capital and Blue Bear Capital.
• Dell Technologies Capital backs Portland-based container security startup Twistlock In $33M funding

Austin People

• SpyCloud, an account takeover prevention platform, hired Jennifer Parker-Snider as its CFO. Parker-Snider was previously CFO at cybersecurity company NSS Labs. SpyCloud last raised a $5M Series A in March from Silverton Partners and March Capital Partners.
• DISCO, a Houston-based ediscovery software company appointed former Bazaarvoice CFO Jim Offerdahl to its board of directors and as its chair of the board’s audit committee. Disco last raised a $20M Series D in December from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners and LiveOak Venture Partners.
• Digital coupon marketplace RetailMeNot hired Microsoft’s former director of global diversity and inclusion, Sharon Brogdon, to lead and expand its own diversity and inclusion efforts. RetailMeNot was last acquired by Harland Clarke Holdings for $630M in 2017.
• The Moody College of Communications at UT has appointed Erin Reilly as its director of innovation and entrepreneurship. Reilly, who is also a professor of practice in the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, was previously part of the founding team for the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California.
• Digital marketing agency Springbox makes changes at the top in wake of merger. They named John Ellett as its new CEO. Ellett was co-founder of nFusion Group, which merged with Springbox this year. Ellett replaces Tom West, owner and prior CEO of Springox, who is now chairman of the board.
• Startup incubator Station Houston named longtime education executive Gabriella Rowe its new CEO, who will take over from former CEO John Reale, who co-founded Station Houston in 2016. Reale will remain on the board.
• Tecovas, a designer and retailer of handcrafted Western boots, who raised a seed round from YETI Capital last September, is searching for a Director of Retail for its omnichannel business.

Austin News

• Austin-based dating app Bumble Creates Fund to invest in diverse female founders. Bumble told Forbes it committed more than $1M to invest in those businesses, and that the fund plans to invest between $5,000 to $250,000 in each deal.
• CNBC has a new ranking of Amazon HQ2 finalists and Austin stands out
• MassChallenge Awards $500K to Eight Startups in Texas Accelerator
• There are 93 Austin area companies on the annual Inc 5000 list, including 6 local tech firms. Favor placed the highest at No. 138, followed by Student Loan Hero at No. 140, Axzon at No. 233, MediaSmack at No. 299, HookBang at No. 390, and Simple Booth at No. 414.
• Dell is partnering with CognitiveScale to use its AI-driven insights to create personalized customer journeys
• Mmmpanadas wins shelf space at HEB, $25,000 in grocery chain’s annual contest

Upcoming Events

• August 23rd, Techstars Impact is hosting the 2018 class’s Demo Day. If investors would like to meet with any of the companies directly, please email Techstars Impact’s Managing Director, Zoe Schlag
• August 29th, Scale Up Presented by CDW
• September 14th, applications due for DisrupTexas, an undergraduate pitch competition hosted by Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship at UT Austin, with $50k in cash and prizes.
• October 4th, ATX Startup Crawl at Austin Startup Week 2018
• October 11th, Austin Inno’s 50 on Fire 2018

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.

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