AUSTIN, Texas (May 07, 2024) — Opportunity Austin and Dealroom.co are unveiling an updated version of the Austin Ecosystem Platform, a free, open-source designed to help investors around the world match with Austin-based startups and scaleups, while also providing valuable leads for job seekers and professional services providers.
Already providing detailed information on nearly 4,400 verified local startups, more than 5,200 funding rounds, and thousands of job openings at local VC-backed companies, the two-year-old platform now features a menu that includes:
- A guide to the Austin region’s innovation ecosystem
- Leading sectors for investment
- Top 100 investors in Austin innovation companies
- Benchmark statistics comparing Austin VC investment to other cities
- Interactive widgets with real time data
A regional economic partnership fostering innovation, investment, workforce development, and livability across the Austin region, Opportunity Austin seeks to be a force multiplier for businesses. As part of this mission, the organization has long taken an usually proactive approach to nurturing local startups and scaleups, including attracting more investment capital to Central Texas.
Opportunity Austin began working on the Austin Ecosystem Platform in 2021. Global investor interest in Central Texas ventures had reached an all-time high, but even sophisticated large investors found it difficult to identify and gather data on all of the young local companies that met their criteria. At the same time, prospective innovation entities considering relocating to Austin found it cumbersome to find the data they needed to get a full picture of the region’s innovation ecosystem.
Launched in the fall of 2022, the platform currently has 1,142 locally-based venture capital firms, angel investors, corporate ventures, and small family offices. Using the Dealroom matching tool, local startups and scaleups can also access a far larger pool of global investors including more than 40,000 venture capital firms.
“Austin was one of the first cities in the nation to offer a free, searchable inventory of our innovation ecosystem, and the number of investors and companies using the site has far exceeded our expectations,” said Opportunity Austin Senior Vice President of Global Investment and Innovation Roland Peña. “Investors from around the world want to put money to work in Central Texas because our region offers unmatched economic growth and some of the fastest growing and innovative companies. This tool makes it easier for investors to find good prospects and for young companies to raise their profiles.”
Similar to a LinkedIn for Central Texas startups, the platform provides a wide range of benefits to different types of users:
- Investors and venture capital firms can source the most promising startups and scale-ups in the ecosystem with a granular list of 100+ data filters to narrow the search and easily identify the companies that meet their criteria.
- Startups and scaleups that register on the site and claim their company profiles can post useful information about their needs such as pitch decks and job postings, gaining visibility among potential investors, new hires, and accelerators.
- Job seekers specifically interested in working for startups and scaleups can easily identify job openings that meet their skill sets in specific sectors.
- Professional service providers can identify growing companies that are good leads for their services.
- Media, researchers and policy makers can assess combined valuations of startups in specific verticals, KPIs of university spinout startups, and the least funded sectors requiring investment in the region.
“The global prominence of the Austin Tech Hub is drawing in groundbreaking technologies and investments,” Peña said. “Opportunity Austin, together with investors, talent, educational institutions, and research centers, relies on trusted high-quality data to make crucial determinations about the health and vibrancy of the innovation ecosystem. Equipped with high-quality intelligence, we can further the potential of our mission to ensure our regional innovation community continues to flourish and prosper.”
About Opportunity Austin
Opportunity Austin is a regional economic development initiative aimed at fostering job-creating investment across the Austin region. OA’s priorities include boosting economic diversification to proactively strengthen the economy, deepening the talent pool through development and attraction, and keeping the Austin region attractive to entrepreneurs, business leaders and site selectors. OA specializes in providing confidential support for projects, including real estate research and the facilitation of all aspects of the site selection process. Since 2004, Opportunity Austin has helped bring more than 600,000 total jobs to the Austin region. Learn more about Opportunity Austin here.
