附近上门

Last month, Austin-based announced it had tapped to serve as a principal. After getting her MBA at the University of Texas, Floreani worked at the now-defunct and numerous Austin startups such as and.

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At the time, Next Coast told me the addition of Floreani was notable for a few reasons. For one, the firm saw her addition as 鈥渁 testament to the homegrown investor base that’s on the rise in Texas, as opposed to having Bay Area investors relocate, which is often the norm at her level.鈥�

Floreani鈥檚 appointment also highlighted the fact that she鈥檇 be one of the few female principals in the Austin VC scene.

This leads me to another topic I鈥檝e been saving for the right time to cover, and now it feels like the right time is here.

Early this year, , an investor at , and Next Coast Ventures鈥� director of marketing communications realized that the women working in the Austin VC community needed a formalized way to get together.

鈥淲e realized that VC can be an industry based on pre-existing networks and groups and that men in the industry seemed to have these organic groups. They were formally or informally meeting frequently in their free time,鈥� Pruner told me. 鈥淪ince the industry is so network-reliant, we realized we had to make our own network.鈥�

And that鈥檚 when Austin Women in VC was born.

For Kamin and Pruner, the organization started as an initiative to get all females working in VC in Austin in the same room. But over time, it has grown to more than 40 members from about 25 investment firms. Members range from fellows and interns to general partners.

鈥淣ow we have a woman from every VC firm or accelerator in town,鈥� Pruner noted.

For a city that鈥檚 had its share of struggles with diversity, this is good news.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not only a safe place for all to get together. It鈥檚 definitely led to some results. I鈥檝e already looked at several deals thanks to conversations with women in the group,鈥� Kamin told me.

, a general partner with Austin-based (which is focused on investing in women-led businesses,) says the meetings have been refreshing.

鈥淚鈥檝e been in the VC ecosystem for a while and already have a mentor relationship with some people,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut this is helping us build real relationships with people we only knew from emails and phone calls previously in a formal setting.鈥�

Meanwhile, venture funding in the city is on track for a record year. Read more in my piece here.

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