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Houston Tech, Startup Community Marks Key Milestones in Q2

Published Jul 22, 2019 by Maggie Martin

LiveOak Venture Partners, an Austin-based, early stage venture capital firm that invests in Texas based tech and tech enabled service companies, reports Houston saw the largest influx in early stage capital in the recent term (Q2 2019), raking in $251 million. 

It's part of the VC firm's first issue of Houston Deal Highlights, which covers activity in the tech and startup ecosystem in Houston, from fundraising and mergers and acquisitions, to other major company announcements and Houston news. 

Here are some of the highlights from Q2 2019:

  • Houston Exponential fund of funds unanimously approved $5M investment into LiveOak Venture Partners’ $105M fund. This first investment from the HX Venture Fund marks an important milestone for the fund of funds, with investments aimed at attracting more venture capital to Houston. (Longtime Houston-based entrepreneur, aerospace executive, and tech investor Harvin Moore was named president of HX in June. Learn more here). 
     
  • In venture capital fundraising news:
    • LiveOak Venture Partners raised $105M for their 2nd fund. Initial investments will range from $1M to $4M and scale up to $10M over the full company life cycle. To date, they have invested in 25 companies across the state
    • Houston-based Chevron Technology Ventures launched a $90M fund for energy investments. The fund is CTV’s seventh and investments will be made in high-growth startups with technologies that have the potential to improve Chevron’s core oil and gas business performance.
       
  • Notable financing activity in Q2 includes:
    • Sunnova Energy, a Houston-based residential solar and energy storage service provider filed a for an initial public offering of up to $100M, which would value the company at over $1B. The company has raised almost $2B to date according to Pitchbook, from investors including Soros Fund Management, FS Investment Solutions, and Triangle Peak Partners.
    • OAG Analytics, a provider of artificial intelligence driven solutions for the oil and gas industry, raised $7.22M of angel funding from Rice Investment Group and other undisclosed investors.
       
  • LiveOak reports seven notable mergers and acquisitions in Q2, including:
    • Onit, a Houston-based provider of enterprise legal management software, acquired SimpleLegal, a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of modern legal spend, matter and vendor management software. 
    • Veriforce, the Woodlands-based provider of software and services intended to enhance workforce and community safety, was acquired by PEC Safety, via its financial sponsor Thoma Bravo, for an undisclosed amount.

See the full first issue of "Houston Deal Highlights" from LiveOak Venture Partners here. And find digital technology news from the Greater Houston Partnership here.

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