Austin-based venture capital fund Next Coast Ventures has closed its debut debt investment fund at USD85 million, oversubscribed by USD35 million.
One of the largest funds in Austin within the last three years, Next Coast’s limited partners include institutional investors, funds of funds and family offices.
“Austin has already arrived in the VC realm but now it needs to evolve,” says Mike Smerklo, co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures. “We are finding outsized opportunities between the coasts with talented, tech-savvy entrepreneurs with vision. Our connections to Silicon Valley mean we can ink deals that accelerate our start-ups’ growth and open them up to national and international markets—turning the middle of the country into the centre of the next tech revolution.”
With a focus to transform the traditional venture capital model, Next Coast Ventures has a thematic approach to investing backed by entrepreneurial experience. The fund will concentrate on software-powered, full-stack business models designed for digital natives as well as innovative companies in the education, retail, B2B and B2C sectors, addressing surging regional demand for progressive start-up capital.
“The time is ripe to build something in Austin that drives real impact,” says Tom Ball, co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures. “It is a privilege and honour to work with an amazing group of investors as well as some of the very best entrepreneurs in the world. We’re thrilled to bring a hands-on, thematic and focused VC experience to the market, better serving the community and building amazing companies in the process.”
To date, Next Coast Ventures has deployed capital from its inaugural fund into four Austin start-ups—Umuse, Dropoff, OnRamp and Phlur, one San Francisco-headquartered start-up Cloverpop and one New York-based start-up Clarity Money.
