Next Coast Ventures, an Austin, TX-based venture capital firm, closed three funds, totalling $310M.
The capital was raised across three funds:
- Next Coast Ventures III, the largest of the funds, raised $195m to invest in and support early-stage tech businesses and entrepreneurs.
- A $50m opportunity fund, NCV Select I, will enable the firm to continue to support companies from Funds I, II and III.
- Next Coast ETA raised $65m for entrepreneurs to acquire, manage and eventually exit small and medium-sized businesses.
In addition to existing investors, the raise was supported by new investors including university endowments, pension funds and family offices.
The firm, which now has more than $520M in assets under management (AUM), intends to use the funds to continue to invest in companies in Texas and other emerging technology hubs. It provides early-stage capital to high-growth startups in “Next Coast” markets, using macro trends and themes to guide its investment strategy. Next Coast provides its group of portfolio companies with hands-on help, Company Building Playbooks, an Expert Network, and the founders’ own experiences as entrepreneurs and operators.
Led by managing directors Mike Smerklo and Thomas Ball, as well as Kaitlyn DeBernardo, who recently joined Next Coast as a Partner and the Head of Platform, Next Coast Ventures had multiple exits from the first two funds, including:
- AlertMedia, an Austin-based company that offers emergency warning communications services, sold a controlling stake to Vista Equity Partners in March 2021.
- Tenfold, an Austin-based customer experience integration platform, was sold to LivePerson (NASDAQ: LPSN) in October 2021.
- Chargeback, a Salt Lake City-based real-time dispute management for merchants, was sold to Sift in May 2021.
- Navegate, a supply chain management and third-party logistics services company headquartered in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, was sold to Radiant Logistics (NYSE MKT: RLGT) in December 2021.
- Other notable exits include Clarity Money (sold to Goldman Sachs in 2018), OnRamp (sold to LightEdge in 2018) and Dosh (sold to Cardlytics – NASDAQ: CDLX in 2021).
High-growth, innovative businesses in its current portfolio include:
- Everly Health (Austin): A provider of comprehensive diagnostic services for both consumers and enterprises.
- ICON (Austin): The builder of 3D-printed homes.
- GOJA (Miami): An industry leader in creating, buying, and scaling Amazon-focused brands.
- Enboarder (Austin): A developer of an onboarding platform that allows employers to create engaging experiences for new employees.
- UpEquity (Austin): A tech-enabled mortgage platform, as well as
- Other notable investments in Austin companies such as BOXT, BrainCheck, Diligent Robotics, First Dollar, Osano, Stoplight and TrustRadius.
FinSMEs
30/03/2022