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Since in 2015, the city has seen a flurry of firms moving from other cities, launching new offices, or opening a secondary office to fill the void left behind.

is the latest entrant, and founders , 25, and Brandon Allen, 24, are hoping to bring a fresh perspective to the city鈥檚 venture scene.

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The pair of Princeton University grads are focused on investing in startups they believe are addressing the rising millennial and Gen-Z markets.

鈥淲e see a millennial takeover happening across venture, especially in Austin,鈥� Stroud told 附近上门 News.

TXV first opened an office in Dallas in January but soon realized it needed a physical presence in Austin as well. Stroud relocated to the Texas capital while Allen now maintains a home in both cities.

鈥淲e figured out really quickly that the tech scene in Austin is becoming one of the premier locations in country,鈥� Stroud said. 鈥淲e knew we needed a footprint in a city that was becoming the birthplace for so many great companies. We wanted to have feet on the ground rather than coming up from Dallas every week.鈥�

TXV has a target of raising $50 million and currently has $10 million in soft commitments, according to Stroud. It plans to fund about 10 to 15 companies per year with investments ranging from $500,000 to $3 million, he said.

鈥淲e can be the lead or co-invest as well,鈥� Stroud added.

As for industries, TXV will focus on financial services, consumer products, sports, and media & entertainment. NFL legend and former Managing Director is an official mentor, per Stroud. TXV鈥檚 advisors include former MLB player turned investor ; NFL legend turned investor ; and聽, CEO of Alta Financial Solutions. (In case you鈥檙e wondering about all the athletic connections, Stroud鈥檚 father also played in the NFL and Stroud himself played football at Princeton.)

So far, TXV has made one investment, leading Austin-based streaming company $500,000 seed round.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e since been approached by a major Silicon Valley venture firm that wants to lead a Series A in a few months,鈥� Stroud said. 鈥淲e beat out a lot of premier VC funds for that but ultimately, they saw the value in working with partners around their age.鈥�

Venture Upstarts

For the duo, the road to becoming venture capitalists hasn鈥檛 been long, but it has been illustrious.

Stroud was raised in the small town of Prosper, Texas, before playing football at Princeton where he received his A.B. in Religion. After graduating, he worked as a fixed income analyst on Wall Street. He then ended up joining Austin鈥檚 , a multibillion dollar alternative asset manager.

It was there that Stroud was recruited by current advisor Torii Hunter to lead the , a conglomerate of celebrity investors that sought to co-invest with VCs. Ultimately, he decided he wanted to branch out on his own.

At TXV Partners, Stroud aims to put to use his deal sourcing ability as well as operational and fund growth to expand TXV.

Allen grew up in Boston, Mass., and after attending Princeton, he went on to consult at strategy firm where he focused on a variety of product categories, from consumer goods to B2B software companies to light industry. Allen then moved on to consulting at .

Earlier this year, Stroud and Allen decided to team up to form TXV.

Driving Change

Stroud and Allen are aware of just how underrepresented minorities are in venture and tech in general. They view their being young and black in a predominately white industry as an asset.

鈥淧eople are shocked at our age. Plus, you don鈥檛 really see two black kids from Princeton in VC,鈥� Stroud told 附近上门 News. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been a shock for some, too.鈥�

But the challenge of being minorities is not one they are at all afraid of or worried about.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got such a different approach in terms of risk mitigation, deal strategy, and equity retention,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what sets us apart even more.鈥�

, co-founder and CEO of Austin-based (which has not been funded by TXV), has been outspoken about the challenges he has faced over time as a black startup founder.

(Only around one percent of venture capital-backed startups are led by African-Americans, according to a 2015 White House. There are no official figures on how many blacks are VCs; however, it鈥檚 likely safe to assume they鈥檙e underrepresented.)

He welcomes the addition of TXV to the Austin venture community.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty clear that there鈥檚 a severe lack of diversity in the VC industry鈥攂oth in terms of gender and ethnicity,鈥� he told 附近上门 News. 鈥淪o anytime I hear about African-Americans starting a VC fund, my ears perk up and I鈥檓 interested in the people behind it and what their point of view is. I鈥檓 also excited that more people are fundraising and getting in front of different LPs so that more people are getting exposed to African-American VCs. That will be helpful to both founders and other VCs.鈥�

Even more, though, Spearman is intrigued by the firm鈥檚 focus on millennials and the Gen-Z population.

鈥淏lack people in America are not only consumers of culture but also creators and instigators of culture and behaviors in a lot of ways,鈥� he said. 鈥淲henever you have African-Americans pursuing VC, it鈥檚 rooted almost fundamentally that there is a certain understanding of culture, consumer behavior and technology adoption we inherently have. I think their (TXV鈥檚) millennials focus is even more interesting when you think about tech adoption…That unique point of view is going to be a differentiator for any VC.鈥�

Overall, Spearman is encouraged by the increasing number of venture funds in the Austin area.

鈥淭here鈥檚 strength in numbers, and when founders have a few different firms to pitch to, that鈥檚 a great place to be,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot different from a few years ago. Multiple, diverse funds here鈥攚hether they鈥檙e African-American or female-led鈥攖hat鈥檚 just better for Texas.鈥�

, co-founder and CEO of an Austin-based pre-accelerator focused on ethnically diverse and women founders, agreed with Spearman.

He believes that TXV鈥檚 focus on seed and early-stage VC capital will help meet demand for more such capital in Austin. James also thinks that TXV鈥檚 focus on fintech, blockchain, and consumer products are a good fit considering all are 鈥渞apidly emerging or high growth sectors鈥� in the Austin startup ecosystem.

鈥淎lso, you have two members of this firm that are African American, which inherently broadens the Austin startup ecosystem perspectives and networks by having investors that are ‘non-traditional,’ thus adding more diversity to the ecosystem, especially at the investor level,鈥� James wrote via email.

Austin has historically been criticized for its general lack of diversity (and probably rightfully so), but here鈥檚 to hoping that slowly changes with the presence of TXV Partners and others like it in the future.

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