附近上门

Austin is perhaps best known for its annual tech-heavy SXSW conference, but it鈥檚 also as a haven for startups that are attracted to the city鈥檚 hip culture, talent pool, relatively affordable real estate, and growing tech ecosystem.

But if Austin’s funding performance in the first quarter is any indication, there鈥檚 still room for improvement in the Texas capital鈥檚 investment environment.

Put simply, Austin startups raised dramatically less in Q1 2017 than the same period last year. In fact, it is the weakest first-quarter showing the city has seen in more than five years:

Specifically, twenty-five companies raised $139.68 million in Q1 217, according to 附近上门 data. That鈥檚 less than half of the 54 companies raising $343.55 million in Q1 2016. Q1 2017 is聽even less than Q1 2013聽by a hair. In Q1 2013, 41 Austin companies raised $140.44 million. (But hey, at least the deals themselves appear to be bigger.)

Traditionally, Austin is known for its聽strong software sector. So it鈥檚 no surprise that shipping software maker brought in the biggest venture capital haul for Austen during Q1 2017聽with a聽 raise.

Despite the lower numbers, industry insiders do not appear worried about the weak first-quarter performance. The Austin venture scene remains a healthy one, venture capitalists and company leaders believe, with it just being a matter of time before the numbers bounce back up.

Investors鈥� Continued Optimism

Indeed, one of the city鈥檚 most active investors 鈥� 鈥� is in the process of raising a $100 million fund. hasn鈥檛 announced a new fund since its $109 million raise in 2014, but the firm is rumored to be raising money soon for a new fund. , another Austin-based firm, closed its $85 million debut fund in early March.

LiveOak Venture Partners Co-founder and General Partner wouldn鈥檛 comment on rumors related to a new fund; however, he did note his firm conducted several follow-on financings in the first quarter. Of the 17 companies , 13 are Austin-based. Looking ahead, he is optimistic that the macro climate in the second quarter will be more positive 鈥渁nd more indicative of the robust market.鈥�

Srinivasan also predicted that Austin will receive continued migration of top tech talent from around the country.

Tom Ball, co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures, believes deal flow in the Texas capital is at an all-time peak, regarding聽quality and quantity. Previously, Ball was a general partner at Austin Ventures before it folded in 2015.

Next Coast has invested in eight companies since its inception in March 2016. Of those eight, five have Austin headquarters. Although聽the firm did not close on any new deals during Q1 2017, it did lead in Austin-based software startup LeanDNA that closed last week.

鈥淗ere in Austin, the firms are a little smaller than in places like Silicon Valley, or New York, both in terms of dollars and number of partners, so when a firm is fund-raising, the partners are usually up to their elbows in it,鈥� Ball said.

An Entrepreneur鈥檚 Take

Richard Lebovitz, CEO and co-founder of LeanDNA, said his company was raising money in the first quarter but didn鈥檛 really have a hard time securing capital. The startup makes supply chain data analytics software for factories.

鈥淲e had quite a bit of interest,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was more about getting the right partner than difficulty in raising money.鈥�

In general, Lebovitz believes the startup ecosystem in Austin just continues to get stronger.

鈥淪tartups here are creating a lot of talent,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd the companies are only getting better.鈥�

, partner at , also takes the first quarter results with a grain of salt. He points out that 2015 鈥渨as such a crazy up year鈥� that it鈥檚 hard to sustain that sort of peak. Plus, his firm did not close any first quarter deals in Austin.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 one of those ebb and flow situations. We鈥檙e not seeing companies fume out of cash and I don鈥檛 remember seeing any companies struggling to raise money during the first quarter,鈥� Gilani told 附近上门 News. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see any blood on the streets or anything like that.鈥�

To Gilani, the fact that he has a hard time finding real estate for his Austin-based portfolio companies is a sign that there鈥檚 a lot of growth in the city.

鈥淲hen VCs are talking to architects and developers to find a place to put in an office, it鈥檚 clearly a very healthy market. I鈥檝e been investing here since 2009 and saw a drastic run-up from then through 2015,鈥� Gilani elaborated. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still way ahead of where those numbers were.鈥�

via Flickr user聽 under CC BY 2.0. Image has been cropped.