In Texas deal news, Fort Worth’s Yesway took the week with a $280M IPO, pushing the convenience store operator’s lifetime raise past $1.8B.

Meanwhile, Austin chipped in two early-stage deals across consumer health and telehealth, while Dallas and San Antonio rounded out the slate with some seed-stage activity of their own.

Here’s the rundown.

Austin

• Frozen One, a high-protein ice cream maker, raised $2M in a Seed round led by Supernatural Ventures and The Angel Group with participation from Tonic Ventures and Lucinda Capital. $2M raised to date.

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Happy Sunday! Hope tax weekend treated you gently.

Just one Austin deal this week, but it’s an interesting one. Parachute’s premise is “get paid for your plasma, and book it in our app.” The company pulled in $38M and is now up to $148M in total funding.

Meanwhile, Greater Texas stayed on brand: three Houston-area deals, all industrial or energy tech, led by a $29M Series A for Nanotech Materials in Katy.

Ont

Austin

• Parachute, a consumer marketplace that lets people book plasma donations through an app and get paid, raised $38.15M in a deal from undisclosed investors. $148.75M raised to date.

Greater Texas Market

• Algo8 (Houston), a developer of AI-powered optimization solutions for industrial operations, raised $2.02M in a deal led by Chemelex. $2.92M raised to date.

• NOC Energy (Houston), an energy technology company focused on optimizing oil and gas operations, raised $2.7M in a deal led by 360 Capital with participation from SOSV and Desai Ventures. $2.7M raised to date.

• Nanotech Materials (Katy), a developer of advanced materials designed to improve energy efficiency and thermal performance, raised $29.4M in a Series A led by HPI Real Estate Services & Investments with participation from Milliken & Company and GOOSE Capital. $43.8M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

As founders and investors converge on the Palmer Events Center this week for SaaStock USA, the deals keep coming! Here are your deals for this week in Austin and Greater Texas.

Austin

• Cyberhill Partners, a developer of enterprise AI platforms, raised $11M in a deal led by Baleon Capital. $11.25M raised to date.

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Happy Easter!

Did you hear that Austin’s city council passed a resolution this week making it easier for residents to run small businesses from their front yards? It means less red tape for people selling artisanal goods, running garden stands, doing small-scale repairs, etc. It’s good to see the spirit of entrepreneurship alive and well in the capital city.

At the other end of the capital spectrum, the city’s venture market had a typically busy week, with deals ranging from a $1.5M seed to a $1.75B defense raise.

Let’s get into it.

Austin Deals

• Saronic, a developer of autonomous surface vessels for defense applications, raised $1.75B in a Series D led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from Advent International, Bessemer Venture Partners, BAM Elevate, DFJ Growth, 8VC, and Caffeinated Capital. $2,595M raised to date.

• Axzon, a developer of battery-free wireless sensors for real-time industrial and supply chain monitoring, raised $1.5M from undisclosed investors. $11.4M raised to date.

• Coder, a developer of cloud-based software development environments, raised $90M in a Series C led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with participation from Uncork Capital, Qube Research & Technologies, and others. $172.8M raised to date.

• Easy Street Capital, a provider of financing solutions for real estate investors, raised $69.56M from undisclosed investors. $69.56M raised to date.

• Fields Good, a producer of better-for-you functional cookies designed to support focus, energy, and sleep, raised $1.83M from undisclosed investors. $1.83M raised to date.

• Insight Health AI, a developer of AI-powered healthcare analytics tools, raised $11M in a Series A led by Standard Capital with participation from ElevenLabs, Invariantes Fund, Wedbush Ventures, MKT1, Kindred Ventures, 43, RTP Global, Eudemian Ventures, and Pear. $11M raised to date.

• Mars Men, a developer of men’s wellness and grooming products, raised $27.5M in a Series A led by L Catterton with participation from other undisclosed investors. $27.5M raised to date.

• Rosella, a provider of AI-powered commercial insurance brokerage services, raised $3.7M in a deal led by Peak XV Partners with participation from Intact Private Capital. $3.7M raised to date.

• Supra Elemental Recovery, a developer of mineral extraction and recovery technologies, raised $2M in a deal led by Crucible Capital with participation from Rio Tinto, Climate Capital, Portmanteau Ventures, Founders Factory, and The University of Texas at Austin. $2M raised to date.

Greater Texas Market

• Latitude (Spring), a developer of financial infrastructure software for digital assets, raised $8M in a deal led by New Enterprise Associates with participation from Paxos, Solana, Coinbase Ventures, Bitso, and Faction Ventures. $8M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

Happy Sunday! Here are your deals for this week in Austin and across Texas. We’ve got everything from AI-powered healthcare and defense tech to distributed energy and carbon capture.

Austin

• Certuma, an AI-first doctor that assesses symptoms and recommends care, with every decision verified and signed off by a real physician, raised $10M in a deal led by 8VC with participation from undisclosed investors. $10M raised to date.

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3D printing… carbon removal… drone swarms… Austin’s latest startup deals are showing our city's usual eclectic range as the city calms after SXSW. Dallas adds a couple of notable raises of its own, including a $30M deal that signals continued investor appetite for specialty healthcare platforms.

Let’s get into it.

Austin Deals

• Brevy, a platform that helps families access government benefits and get paid to care for loved ones at home, raised $3.07M in a deal led by GreyMatter with participation from undisclosed investors. $3.22M raised to date.

• Creative 3D Technologies, a provider of advanced 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, raised $7.5M from undisclosed investors. $13.16M raised to date.

• High Frequency Entertainment, a production company, raised $16M from undisclosed investors. $16M raised to date.

• Ironlight, a fintech company developing infrastructure for tokenized securities, raised $21M in a Series A led by Greg Braca, Laidlaw & Company, and Sei Development Foundation. $33M raised to date.

• SuperCritical, a carbon removal marketplace and procurement platform for enterprises, raised $3.05M in a deal led by American Ventures. $3.05M raised to date.

• Supernova, a developer of industrial-grade 3D printing systems, raised $1.12M from undisclosed investors. $4.12M raised to date.

• Surf Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing therapies for neurological disorders, raised $6M in a deal led by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Mir Imran, and Evoce Capital with participation from Vertical Venture Partners, Device of Tomorrow Capital, Pioneer Fund, SOSV, and Jumpspace Ventures. $6M raised to date.

• Swarmer, a software platform that makes drones work together in coordinated swarms without needing pilots, raised $15M in its IPO on the NASDAQ. $33.2M raised to date.

Greater Texas Market

• Cembra Holding Company (Dallas), a permanent capital holding company that acquires and operates businesses for the long term, raised $21.95M from undisclosed investors. $21.95M raised to date.

• Lantern (Dallas), a specialty care navigation platform that steers patients to high-quality providers while reducing healthcare costs, raised $30M in a deal led by Echo Health Ventures and Morgan Health. $30M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

Just one Austin deal to report this week, but the broader Texas market kept things interesting. Houston had an especially strong week. Here are the details:

Austin Deals

• Esper, a system of record platform for policy and regulation, raised an undisclosed amount in a deal led by 8VC and Cota Capital with participation from Stand Together Ventures Lab. $23.75M raised to date.

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Austin deals had a strong week, led by a pair of major raises for Findhelp and Nominal, with legal tech startup Skribe adding a smaller seed to round things out.

Zooming out to the broader Texas market, Cart.com, Smack Technologies, and Dotwork headlined a busy stretch of activity.

Here are all the details:

Austin

• Findhelp, a provider of social care network infrastructure that connects individuals with community services, raised $250M from The Rise Fund. $304.05M raised to date.

• Nominal, a developer of software for monitoring and managing complex hardware and industrial systems, raised $155M in a Series B round co-led by Founders Fund and Sequoia Capital with participation from Avenir Growth Capital, Pax VC, Lux Capital, General Catalyst, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. $182.50M raised to date.

• Skribe, a developer of AI-powered workflow and documentation tools for the legal industry, raised $5.5M in a deal from Long View Tech Ventures, The Legal Tech Fund, Golden Section, Kingdom Venture Funds, and other undisclosed investors. $5.50M raised to date.

Greater Texas Market

• Dotwork (Georgetown), a provider of AI-powered strategy and portfolio management software, raised $18.51M in round from Jim Crane, Tim Arnout, Hunter Nelson, and other undisclosed investors. $18.51M raised to date.

• Cart.com (Houston), a provider of ecommerce software, logistics, and fulfillment infrastructure, raised $180M in a round led by Springcoast Capital Partners. $936.02M raised to date.

• Sitemetric (Houston), a provider of construction site management software and services, raised $5M from undisclosed investors. $35.00M raised to date.

• Smack Technologies (San Antonio), the first frontier AI lab for national security, raised $32M in a round led by Geodesic Capital and Costanoa Ventures. $32.00M raised to date.

• PIG Air (Southlake), a manufacturer of compressed air systems and industrial equipment, raised $1.67M from undisclosed investors. $1.67M raised to date.

• Oh YAAS (Dallas), an experiential trading card company transforming collectibles into interactive experiences, raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round led by Charles & Potomac Capital.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

Texas kept the deal flow going this week, with Austin and Houston both showing up with fresh capital across healthcare, defense tech, and good old-fashioned blank check companies.

Austin Deals

• BrainCheck, a provider of digital cognitive assessment and care management solutions, raised $13M in a Series A round led by Next Coast Ventures with participation from UMP Cares and S3 Ventures. $49.68M raised to date.

Read more

Another busy week in Austin's startup scene. Deals ranged from a $1.3M seed round to a $450M blockbuster raise for restaurant financing platform inKind.

Property tax fighters, payments infrastructure, and enterprise software all got some love too.

Let’s get to the details…

Austin Deals

• 6lock, a secure payments platform that helps private equity firms move large sums of money, raised $4.84M from undisclosed investors. $4.84M raised to date.

• Abony Acquisition I, a special purpose acquisition company formed to pursue business combinations, raised $206.35M through a $200M initial public offering and an additional $6.35M from BTIG and other undisclosed investors. $206.35M raised to date.

• Epicor Software, a developer of enterprise resource planning software for manufacturing, distribution, retail, and services industries, raised $203.58M from undisclosed investors. $203.58M raised to date.

• inKind, a provider of restaurant financing and customer acquisition solutions through prepaid dining credits, raised $450M in a deal led by Magnetar Capital with participation from MarcyPen Capital Partners, Jerry Yang, and other undisclosed investors. $486.87M raised to date.

• Ownwell, a developer of a property tax protest platform that helps homeowners reduce their tax bills, raised $87M in a Series B round led by Alpha Edison and Mercato Partners with participation from Wonder Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, First Round Capital, Left Lane Capital, PROOF, and other undisclosed investors. $113.5M raised to date.

• Raveum, a provider of structured access to U.S. real estate investment opportunities, raised $1.3M from undisclosed investors. $1.3M raised to date.

Greater Texas Market

• American Drone Network (Dallas), a platform that connects businesses with vetted commercial drone pilots and provides training, hardware, and operational support for drone programs, raised $1.85M from undisclosed investors. $1.85M raised to date.

• RedCritter (Flower Mound), a gamified rewards platform for tracking and recognizing achievements., raised $1M from undisclosed investors. $5.41M raised to date.

• Elevate Clinical Research (Houston), a provider of clinical trial site management and research services, raised $1M from undisclosed investors. $1M raised to date.

• Utility Global (Houston), a developer of modular hydrogen production systems for industrial decarbonization, raised $100M in a Series D round led by Ara Partners and APG Group with participation from other undisclosed investors. $183M raised to date.

• East Texas Financial (Kilgore), a financial services company, raised $59.12M from undisclosed investors. $59.12M raised to date.

• SpendRule (Prosper), a developer of healthcare-focused accounts payable automation software, raised $2.5M led by Abundant Venture Partners with participation from MemorialCare Innovation Fund, Diatonic Healthcare, Zeal Capital Partners, and other undisclosed investors. $2.5M raised to date.

• KLOwen Orthodontics (Richardson), a producer of custom orthodontic appliances and digital treatment solutions, raised $8M from undisclosed investors. $51.95M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

We had a big week in ATX’s startup scene, dominated by Apptronik’s $935 million raise that values the humanoid robotics company at around $5.3 billion. Insurance tech startup Equal Parts also closed a $23 million round to buy up independent agencies and modernize them with AI.

Up I-35, two Dallas special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) raised a combined $363 million in IPOs, reflecting investor appetite for alternative routes to taking companies public.

Let’s get to the details…

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Hope you’re enjoying your Super Bowl Sunday… and that you’re not OD’d on football and snacks.

This week's deal activity was dominated by two large Austin rounds: Ares Interactive's $70M Series A for immersive gaming and Good Culture's $55M growth round for cultured dairy. Meanwhile, climate tech and critical mineral recovery drew smaller early-stage investments.

Austin Funding Activity

• Ares Interactive, a developer of immersive gaming experiences and interactive entertainment, raised $70M in a Series A round led by General Catalyst with participation from Niccolo De Masi. $70M raised to date.

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We’re still freezing, but not slowing! After a major January, with over $700M in venture activity (including yours truly’s MontyCloud Series B) and big M&A moves like ProsperOps’ acquisition by Flexera, we’re off to the races in February.

This week alone brought in over $400M in activity, but the biggest buzz is coming from a different arena: Austin is launching its new Arts District, and it kicks off with the grand opening of Laura Rathe Fine Art.

Add more beautiful to your life! Don’t miss it, make sure to register!

Austin Funding Activity

• Ethos Technologies, a provider of tech-enabled life insurance, raised $200Min its initial public offering on the Nasdaq under the ticker “LIFE”. $513.38M raised to date.

• Mythic, an analog compute-in-memory AI chip startup, raised $125M in an oversubscribed funding round led by DCVC with participation from New Enterprise Associates, Atreides Management, Honda Motors, Lockheed Martin, and others.

• Gyde, an AI-native brokerage platform for insurance, health, and wealth services, raised $60M in a deal led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Optum Ventures, MVP Ventures, Virtue, Crystal Venture Partners, and others. $60M raised to date.

• Virtuix, a developer of virtual reality omnidirectional treadmills and immersive VR hardware, completed its direct listing on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and raised $11M in a deal led by Chicago Venture Partners through a private placement. $88.52M raised to date.

• Jupiter Power, an Austin-based developer and operator of utility-scale battery energy storage systems, closed a $500M upsized corporate credit facility to advance its project pipeline across the U.S.

• Austin-based Asto Consumer Partners Fund LP has invested $45M into Oats Overnight, one of the fastest growing companies in Phoenix. Asto Consumer Partners is led by Clayton Christopher, who has built, grown and sold Sweet Leaf Tea, Deep Eddy Vodka, Waterloo Sparkling Water and others.

Austin M&A Activity

• Abrigo, a locally based risk management software developer for financial institutions, is acquiring South Dakota-based Journey Technology Solutions for an undisclosed amount. Abrigo’s last significant funding event was a strategic growth investment from Carlyle Partners in August 2021, alongside existing backer Accel-KKR.

Greater Texas Market

• M Evo Global Acquisition II (Farmers Branch), a special purpose acquisition company targeting US critical minerals, raised $225M in its initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MEVOU. $225M raised to date.

• Datatruck (Irving), a provider of freight marketplace logistics technology, raised $12M in a Series A led by Avenue Growth Partners with participation from AloqaVentures, IT Park Ventures, DOMiNO Ventures, and Silkroad Angels Club.

• Ares Materials (Plano), a producer of industrial composite materials, raised $12M in a deal led by Black Diamond Ventures. $24.99M raised to date.

• Origin (Houston), a provider of pelvic floor and women’s musculoskeletal physical therapy services, raised an undisclosed amount in a Series B led by SJF Ventures with participation from Blue Venture Fund, Gratitude Railroad, California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, and others.

• DexMat (Houston), a producer of advanced conductive and carbon nanomaterials, raised $5M in a deal led by non sibi ventures with participation from Governance Partners, Tailwind Futures, BetterWay Ventures, and Capital Factory. $8M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

We have good news and bad news. Due to the winter storm, Austin ISD canceled school tomorrow, which triggered a domino effect of daycare closures. So, many of you will have an extra set of (very sticky) hands helping around the house tomorrow.

The good news? You still get Austin Weekly Deal Highlights. And honestly, we’d call it a net win, especially since Austin companies still pulled in over $500 million in deal funding last week.

Austin Deals

• Noveon Magnetics Inc., the San Marcos-based recycler and maker of rare earth magnets, closed a $215M series Cfinancing round as it aims to help shift the industry away from places like China. The financing was led by a $200M investment from One Investment Management. The company has raised $422M raised to date.

• Neurophos, a semiconductor company developing photonic AI inference chips, raised $110M in a Series A round led by Gates Frontier with participation from M12, Carbon Direct Capital, Aramco Ventures, Bosch Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, Space Capital, and others. $120M raised to date.

• DealHub, a provider of enterprise‑grade quote‑to‑revenue and AI‑driven sales orchestration software, raised $100M in a round led by Riverwood Capital. $184.5M raised to date.

• Mia Labs, who developed AI-powered customer conversations for auto dealers, raised a $20M Series A led by Chicago-based Permanent Capital Ventures. Other backers included Norwest, Eniac Ventures, Vine Ventures, Analog Ventures and Logos Fund. That brings Mia’s total funding to $29M.

• AI chip company Ambiq Micro Inc., which IPOed last July, has launched a follow on offering that could raise up to $81.7M.

• Autopic Inc., an early-stage Austin startup developing AI agents to help CTOs and DevOps teams, has raised a seed round backed by several local tech leaders. The company’s agentic AI platform helps engineers detect and repair software problems, as well as access metrics and gather telemetry data.

Austin M&A Activity

• Diligent Robotics Inc., an Austin startup that has developed autonomous robots for hospitals and health care settings, is being acquired by Bay Area food delivery company Serve Robotics Inc. (Nasdaq: SERV) for $29M in Serve common stock and a potential earn-out up to $5.3M tied to certain milestones. The deal, announced Jan. 20, is expected to close this quarter. Diligent Robotics was founded in 2017 by Thomaz and co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Vivian Chu. It raised about $90M in funding from backers including Tiger Global, Canaan and True Ventures. Ubiquity Ventures, Next Coast Ventures and Grit Ventures have also invested in the startup over the years. The company has also secured grants from the National Science Foundation.

• Austin-based Wonderbelly, who sells FDA-regulated medicines for digestive aid has been acquired by one of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods corporations, Procter & Gamble Co. Terms of the deal weren’t announced. Wonderbelly has raised $15.4 million total to date, including a Series A last year led by Loft Growth Partners.

Greater Texas Market

• Radial Power (Houston), a developer of on-site clean energy systems (solar, battery storage, and EV charging) for large commercial real estate portfolios, raised $355M from Goldman Sachs. $580M raised to date.

• Sage Geosystems (Houston), a provider of next‑generation geothermal power generation and energy storage solutions, raised $97M in a Series B round co‑led by Ormat Technologies and Carbon Direct Capital Management, with participation from Exa, Nabors Industries, Ignis H2 Energy, and others. $141.81M raised to date.

• CellMo Materials Innovation (College Station), a developer of highly porous metal foam materials for industrial applications, raised $5.71M from undisclosed investors. $5.71M raised to date.

• Wash42 (Irving), a provider of vehicle washing services, raised $5.13M from undisclosed investors. $5.13M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

Before we get to our usual weekly roundup of deal activity, it seems like an ideal time to step back and look at the bigger picture of VC funding in Austin.

First up, where did VC money go by sector over the past five years?

As you can see, tech still owns Austin’s funding game, taking more than a third of all capital. Healthcare and B2B split the next two biggest pieces pretty evenly.

Now let’s look at the overall funding trend since 2021:

After a rough few years, 2025 brought total capital back to 2021 levels. But deal count kept dropping. Fewer companies are getting funded, but the ones that are raising are getting bigger rounds.

Next, what do those rounds actually look like?

Deal sizes doubled over this period while valuations more than doubled. The market has shifted toward backing more mature companies with proven traction rather than spreading money across early-stage bets.

Finally, what were the biggest deals of the past five years? Here are the top 10 - notice that 3 of 5 happened last year!

1. Base Power – Residential energy platform offering home battery storage and grid services, raised $1B on Oct 8, 2025

2. TelcoDR – Disaster recovery and continuity solutions for telecom operators, raised $1B on Oct 18, 2021

3. Saronic Technologies – Defense technology company building autonomous maritime surface vessels, raised $600M on Feb 18, 2025

4. AvantStay – Short-term rental and hospitality platform focused on premium group travel, raised $500M on Feb 16, 2022

5. NinjaOne – IT management and endpoint monitoring software for MSPs and enterprises, raised $500M on Feb 24, 2025

6. Outpost – Space logistics company enabling in-orbit manufacturing and refueling, raised $500M on Mar 8, 2023

7. Ontic – Protective intelligence software helping organizations identify and mitigate targeted threats, raised $426M on Oct 27, 2025

8. Apptronik – Robotics company developing humanoid robots for industrial and commercial use, raised $403M on Mar 18, 2025

9. ICON – Construction technology company pioneering large-scale 3D-printed homes, raised $392M on Feb 18, 2022

10. Homeward – Real estate platform enabling buyers to make cash offers through buy-before-you-sell solutions, raised $371M on May 14, 2021

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming… last week’s deal activity in ATX and beyond!

Austin

• webAI, a platform for running custom AI models locally on enterprise hardware, closed their Series A at a $2.5B valuation led by TIME Ventures with participation from Atreides Management, Forerunner Ventures, and OXCART Ventures. $61M+ raised to date.

• Accelsius, a developer of two‑phase, direct‑to‑chip liquid cooling technology for AI and HPC data centers, raised $65M in a Series B led by Johnson Controls International with participation from Legrand. $107.07M raised to date.

• Creative 3D Technologies, a developer of modular, all-in-one 3D printing systems for flexible, decentralized manufacturing, raised $1.05M from undisclosed investors. $6.71M raised to date.

• GoodDay Software, an AI‑native ERP for inventory‑driven Shopify brands, raised $7M in a seed round led by FirstMark Capital with participation from Ridge Ventures, Seguin Ventures, Adverb Ventures, Flex Capital, and Long Journey Ventures. $13M raised to date.

Greater Texas Market

• VelaFi (Plano), a developer of stablecoin-based infrastructure for global payments and settlement, raised $23.75M in a Series B led by Ikuyo and XVC with participation from BAI Capital, Alibaba Investment, and Planetree Partners. $40M raised to date.

• TenFore Golf (Bulverde), a platform for managing golf course operations, raised $7M in a Series A led by Blueprint Equity. $7M raised to date.

• Cosmetic Physician Partners (Dallas), a network of physician-led medical aesthetics practices, raised $40M from undisclosed investors. $140M raised to date.

• NXTClean Fuels (Houston), a developer of renewable fuel production technologies, raised $4.51M from Sojitz Corporation Of America and other undisclosed investors. $87.79M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

I find people like Jen’s work fascinating, especially when it comes to helping middle-market and private-equity backed companies hire new CEOs. Even if you sit on a board or are a big-time investor, you’re probably going …

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Here’s your summary of Texas deal activity from last week. Just one Austin deal on our radar, but there are several more from across the state:

Austin

• Luxury Presence, an AI‑powered growth and marketing platform software for real estate agents, raised $37M in a Series C led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from NextEquity Partners, GSBackers, TPC, and Adam and Jade Mills. $94.3M raised to date.

Greater Texas Market

• Buda Juice (ASE: BUDA) (Dallas), a producer of citrus juices and other CPG products, raised $20M in an initial public offering led by MDB Capital. $23.14M raised to date.

• Milkify (Houston), a provider of breast milk freeze-drying services, raised $5.86M in a deal led by Symbiotic Ventures and Central Texas Angel Network. $8.23M raised to date.

• Starlab Space (Houston), a developer of a commercial space station for research and manufacturing in low-earth orbit, raised an undisclosed amount from Okeanos, Mercury Fund, and Blanck Capital with participation from Janus Henderson Investors, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, and Seven Grand Managers.

• Care Continuity (Irving), a developer of patient navigation software for healthcare networks, raised $5.47M from undisclosed investors. $25.15M raised to date.

• Bloodhound Tracking Device (Webster), a developer of real-time cargo tracking and monitoring technology, raised $8.47M from undisclosed investors. $20.21M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

Happy New Year!

While we look forward to a 2026 filled with deal activity in Austin and across Texas, we’ve got another slow holiday week to recap for you below.

Austin Deals

• 83Bar, a provider of patient journey management and activation technology for clinical trials and commercial healthcare clients, raised $14.62M from undisclosed investors. $40.62M raised to date.

Greater Texas Market

• Nacuity Pharmaceuticals (Fort Worth), a clinical-stage biotech developing antioxidant therapies to treat blinding eye diseases caused by oxidative stress, raised $12.89M in a deal led by Foundation Fighting Blindness’ Retinal Degeneration Fund and National Neurovision Research Institute with participation from other undisclosed investors. $40.59M raised to date.

• Frontier Direct Care (Harlingen), a provider of employer-funded healthcare delivering integrated primary care, virtual care, and prescription services, raised $28.90M in a deal led by Mehshah Capital, Amerisource Business Capital, Health Advance Partners with participation from other undisclosed investors. $33.82M raised to date.

• Buildforce (Houston), a construction workforce tech platform connecting skilled tradespeople with contractors, raised $7.67M undisclosed investors. $20.18M raised to date.

See you next week! —Mason & Joel

This edition was supported by Bradford Martin.

Subscribe to Joel Trammell’s CEO Newsletter, Managing the Future.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you’re gearing up for an excellent New Year!

It was another slow holiday week, but there is some activity:

Austin Deals

• Plant People, A provider of plant-forward functional wellness supplements, raised $7.93M in a Series A led by Manna Tree Partners with participation from Unilever Ventures and other undisclose…

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It’s a rare skill in business when you can see around corners.

In 2022, before OpenAI had debuted ChatGPT, Wes Cummins pivoted his Bitcoin mining operation into building AI data centers. It turned out to be a case of seeing the future before it got here.

Today, these AI data centers power our world’s insatiable hunger for GPUs. Cummins’ Dallas-based Applied Digital now has $16 billion in contracted revenue over the next 15 years and two hyperscale customers. Its first facility came online this month, putting it well ahead of many others who are just breaking ground.

In the conversation that follows, Cummins told me about how he saw the demand spike coming, why the CEO role feels like going from fan to head coach, and whether we’re hyping AI like it’s 1999.

Take us back to 18-year-old Wes. What was your grand plan?

I grew up on a potato farm in Idaho. Leaving and going to St. Louis, Missouri to school was a big shock for me.

By 18, my professional football aspirations had gone out the window. I did play football in college, but at an academic focused institution. It was a great experience. I started doing electrical engineering and my premed curriculum because I didn’t know what I was going to do. I decided to take some business classes and I just fell in love with it.

From there, I got an internship at an investment firm. This was right in the dot-com era, 1999 and 2000. So I got a lot of exposure to tech investing – the good part at first and then the bad part after that.

I fell in love with investing and technology, and from there I ran my own hedge fund. That was until about five years ago when I saw a big market shift. I’d seen these shifts as an investor before. This time I decided I would go all in and actually start a business to seize on that shift. That’s how Applied Digital started.

CEOs and investors see the world very differently. What was your biggest surprise switching from an investing role to running the business?

A lot of investors say they take the long-term view. Before I was CEO, I thought I worked with a long-term view.

But when you’re looking at it from a CEO horizon, things look really different. I saw how short-term-oriented I really was as an investor. Even as a long-term investor, you’re basing decisions on no more than a year out. That feels “long term” in public markets. As a CEO, you’re thinking more like three to five years out. That’s been a huge shift for me.

The other aha moment had to do with managing people. In the investment world, I could run a big successful hedge fund with very few people and one or two specific skill sets. As CEO, especially as we grow fast, I need lots of different people with very diverse skill sets.

What I’ve loved about it is feeling like the head coach. I’ve got to make sure I’m putting the right players on the field. As an investor, I was more of a fan. What does the fan do? They get really upset or they get really happy depending on whether the team wins or loses. But as the head coach, you’re much more invested. You’re developing the team, you’re developing the team strategy, you’re developing everything.

Applied Digital started out building infrastructure for Bitcoin. Can you talk about the pivot to AI?

When we took on the opportunity to build Bitcoin data centers in the United States, we did the hyperscale route for Bitcoin and helped make Marathon the largest Bitcoin miner in the world. Now we’re doing that same thing for AI. There are other Bitcoin miners who transitioned to do AI, but we were really early – we started in 2022, before ChatGPT.

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