Texas

Introduction

Texas is known for its strong economy and entrepreneurial spirit, making it a thriving hub for technology and innovation in the United States.

The state’s startup ecosystem is characterized by a diverse range of industries, from oil and gas to healthcare and biotech.

Texas is currently ranked as the fourth largest state in the US for VC following only California, New York and Massachusetts.

It is home to over 7k funded startups distributed across several major cities, including Houston, Austin, and Dallas, amongst other startup hubs as well as over 70 unicorns.

Explore real-time data on the Texas tech ecosystem

Venture Capital

By stage

Texan startups raised $6.8B of VC investment in 2023, a 30% drop on the previous year.

While investment fell across major US tech hubs, amid a global pullback in venture capital investment, the drop in Texas's startup ecosystem was more modest than average levels seen across the US and globally.

Below we break venture capital into three distinct stages:

Startup stage ($0-15M rounds)
Breakout stage ($15-100M rounds)
Scaleup stage ($100M+ rounds)

This provides more consistent and timeless segmentation of the startup & venture capital landscape (more so than self-reported round labeling, which are applied inconsistently, especially between business cycles).

Startup stage

Access early-stage funding rounds into Texan startups here on the Dealroom platform.

Breakout stage

Access breakout-stage funding rounds into Texan startups here on the Dealroom platform.

Scaleup stage

Access scaleup-stage funding rounds into Texan startups here on the Dealroom platform.

By region

Austin, Houston, and Dallas form the cornerstone of what is known as the Texas Tech Triangle, each city a major hub for technological advancement.

Austin has carved out a niche for itself with its vibrant startup scene and cutting-edge tech innovation.

Meanwhile, Houston stands out for its significant contributions to healthcare and biotech innovation. Dallas rounds out this trio with its strong focus on fintech innovation. Together, these cities drive forward the technological frontier in Texas.

Explore VC investment trends within the state of Texas and across the US here on the platform.

Texas is currently ranked as the fourth largest state in the US for VC investment following only California, New York and Massachusetts.

Explore VC investment by U.S state for 2024 in the map below.

Texas cities are also strong amongst North American ecosystems.

By industry

Enterprise software, Health and Transportation startups in Texas have raised the highest VC funding in recent years.

Explore VC investment trends by industry and sub-industry here on the platform.

Find below some of the leading tech segments for VC investment in Texas in 2024 so far or explore the data on the platform here.

Unicorns

Texas is home to many household unicorn names such as Tesla, Bumble and The Boring Company.

Currently, there are over 125+ verified unicorns that have originated from Texas, making the state the 4th largest in the US by unicorn count.

Explore Texas unicorns on the Texas ecosystem platform

Investors

Most active investors in Texas

There are more than 300 investors based in Texas that have made more than 1 investment.

Of those investors headquartered in Texas, Seed investor 8VC has been the most active in the last five years.

Explore the data for the most active investors into the Texas startup ecosystem as well as the most active Texan investors here on the Dealroom platform.

Patents

Combined with other innovation data, patent intelligence add an entirely different perspective to innovation mapping, with a different set of industry players and longer time horizons.

Looking at the different patent subclasses, Storage and Processors are historically the subclasses where patents are being the most filed in Texas.

Patents by subclass