Austin Startup Ecosystem 2026: Top Startups, Investors & Programs
Austin has moved from SaaS to hard tech: energy, robotics, defense and space companies raising record rounds, with UT Austin talent and no state income tax.
Last updated 2026-10-03. Figures are cited inline.
Austin startups by the numbers
Austin startups raised a record $7.19B across 272 deals in 2025, up 65% on 2024 and above the 2021 peak of $6.1B, according to Crunchbase. Deal counts have fallen while round sizes have grown: 403 deals raised $3.1B in 2023. (Crunchbase News, Mar 2026)
2026 has been even bigger, and lumpier. Opportunity Austin counted $4.2B in the first quarter, just $771M in the second and a record of at least $5.6B in the third, taking the year to date above $10.5B. Three companies, The Boring Company ($3B), Base Power ($1B) and Fab2 ($500M), made up most of the third quarter. (Austin American-Statesman, Jul 2026; Austin American-Statesman, Oct 2026) For a typical seed founder the market is healthy, but much less frothy than the headline totals suggest.
Global rankings reflect the momentum. Startup Genome placed Austin #18 in the world in 2026, up from #30 a year earlier. (Refresh Miami / GSER 2026; Refresh Miami / GSER 2025) Recent exits include Firefly Aerospace’s Nasdaq IPO in August 2025, which raised about $1B, Turn/River Capital’s $4.4B take-private of SolarWinds, and Texas Instruments’ pending $7.5B acquisition of Silicon Labs. (Kirkland & Ellis, Aug 2025; GovConWire, Apr 2025; Spectrum News, Feb 2026)
What changed is the mix. The biggest Austin rounds now go to physical products: batteries, robots, autonomous boats, drones, tunnels and rockets. Austin still has a large B2B software base, but its fastest-growing companies make things, helped by Tesla’s Gigafactory, Samsung’s Taylor fab, which began prototype 2nm chip production for Tesla in 2026, and a deep pool of hardware engineers. (Seoul Economic Daily, Sep 2026)
Top Austin tech startups in 2026
The most valuable and fastest-growing startups in the Austin metro. Each one links to its source and date.
Base Power
Home batteries & energy
Raised a $1B Series D at $13B in August 2026; powers 30,000+ homes and builds its batteries in Austin. (CultureMap, Aug 2026)
NinjaOne
IT management
Raised $400M+ at $12.3B in June 2026, with more than $600M in annual recurring revenue. (Angel Investors Network, Jun 2026)
Saronic
Autonomous naval vessels
Raised a $1.75B Series D at $9.25B in March 2026, led by Kleiner Perkins; 1,300+ employees. (Cision, Mar 2026)
Apptronik
Humanoid robots
UT Austin spinout behind the Apollo humanoid; its Series A reached about $935M in February 2026. (Apptronik, Feb 2026)
The Boring Company
Tunneling
Raised a $3B Series D at $23B in September 2026, led by the UAE. (TechCrunch, Sep 2026)
Function Health
Consumer health
Raised a $298M Series B at $2.5B in November 2025, led by Redpoint. (TechCrunch, Nov 2025)
Allen Control Systems
Counter-drone defense
Raised a $200M Series B at $2.2B in June 2026. (FinSMEs, Jun 2026)
Avride
Robotaxis & delivery robots
Received up to $375M from Uber and Nebius in October 2025. (Dallas Innovates, Oct 2025)
Anaconda
Python & AI platform
Raised $150M+ at about $1.5B in July 2025, with more than $150M in annual recurring revenue. (Yahoo Tech, Jul 2025)
Firefly Aerospace
Space launch
Listed on Nasdaq in August 2025, raising about $1B in its IPO. (Kirkland & Ellis, Aug 2025)
ICON
3D-printed construction
Last valued around $2B in 2022; cut about 25% of staff in early 2025. (TechCrunch, Jan 2025)
Austin startup accelerators and incubators
Techstars Austin is no longer running. Techstars paused the program in December 2023 after 15 cohorts, and Austin is not on its current list of accelerators. (TechCrunch, Dec 2023; Techstars) Many older guides still list it.
Capital Factory is the center of the downtown scene. Its All Access program admits about 100 companies a year and gives them its network of mentors and investors in exchange for common stock, but it is not a cash investment. (Capital Factory) Its Texas Fund does invest cash, from seed to Series C, in deep tech, national security, healthcare and industrial companies, and its portfolio includes Apptronik and Saronic. (Capital Factory)
UT Austin’s programs are the other pillar. The Austin Technology Incubator has helped 300+ companies since 1989, producing 10 IPOs and 50+ acquisitions. (ATI) Texas Venture Labs gives startups a semester of free consulting from MBA students without taking equity, and 42% of its 380 companies have gone on to raise funding. (McCombs)
Capital Factory
Downtown Austin hub. All Access gives about 100 startups a year network access in exchange for common stock, with no cash; its Texas Fund writes seed-to-Series C checks in deep tech.
Austin Technology Incubator (UT)
UT Austin’s deep-tech incubator since 1989: 300+ graduates, 10 IPOs, 50+ acquisitions. Energy, health, mobility, microelectronics and more.
Texas Venture Labs (McCombs)
Free, equity-free consulting from MBA teams over a semester. 380 companies since 2010, which have raised $2.17B.
Genesis
Student-run UT fund giving equity-free checks of $500–$5,000 to full-time UT student founders.
SKU
Consumer packaged goods accelerator founded in Austin. The 12-week Austin program needs $100K+ in revenue.
Q-Branch
Dual-use defense and R&D accelerator on East 6th Street, with a soft-landing program for foreign companies.
Tech Ranch Austin
Programs focused on market entry and international founders landing in Texas.
University of Texas at Austin startups
UT Austin is one of the most productive startup universities in the US. Its Discovery to Impact office reported 300 invention disclosures and 112 new licensing agreements in 2025, and 48 startups spun out in the past three academic years. UT says that makes it #2 among US public universities for startup creation. (UT News, Jan 2026) Apptronik, the humanoid robot company, is a UT spinout.
How investors can find UT startups:
- Discovery to Impact’s business development team lists university startups and handles introductions. (Discovery to Impact)
- Texas Venture Labs works with 30+ startups a semester, says its companies are open for investment, and invites investors to judge its investment competition. (Texas Venture Labs)
- The Austin Technology Incubator’s portfolio companies regularly raise seed rounds.
UT’s own $10M Seed Fund invests up to $250K in three or four companies a year, but only in startups built on UT-owned IP, and it does not take outside investors. (UT News, Nov 2022) Genesis, the student-run fund, makes equity-free grants of $500 to $5,000 to student founders. (Genesis)
Austin venture capital firms and angel groups
Austin-based investors that lead early rounds. Descriptions come from each firm’s own site.
S3 Ventures
Seed to Series B in business software and health tech; $500K–$15M+ initial checks and $1B+ under management.
LiveOak Venture Partners
Pre-seed to Series B, investing only in Texas-based founders.
Silverton Partners
Early-stage fund with $844M+ managed across seven funds; backed WP Engine and SailPoint.
Next Coast Ventures
Emerging and growth-stage investor; backed Everly Health and Diligent Robotics.
ATX Venture Partners
$250K–$5M initial checks in defense, industrial AI and health.
Moonshots Capital
Veteran-led early-stage fund with a syndicate that has invested $65M+ in 40+ companies.
Santé
Biotech, medtech and healthtech investor with $1B+ across venture and public markets.
Capital Factory Texas Fund
Seed-to-Series C checks in national security, healthcare and industrial tech; backed Apptronik and Saronic.
Central Texas Angel Network
About 140 accredited angels; $142.4M invested in 233 startups since 2006.
How to invest in Austin startups
- Join the Central Texas Angel Network. CTAN has about 140 accredited members and has invested $142.4M in 233 startups since 2006, including $8M in 2025. It reports a 4.3x return on invested capital across its portfolio. (National Law Review, Jun 2026) It runs up to six funding cycles a year. (CTAN)
- Join a syndicate. Moonshots Capital’s syndicate has put $65M+ into 40+ companies. (Moonshots Capital) Capital Factory also runs its funds through AngelList.
- Source deals from UT. Texas Venture Labs and Discovery to Impact both introduce investors to university startups (see above).
- Invest in a local fund. Many Austin VCs take outside limited partners, which spreads your money across many companies. Ask each firm directly; some, such as S3 Ventures, have a single LP.
Most of these routes require accredited investor status.
Texas taxes and law for startups
No personal income tax. The Texas constitution bans a personal income tax, which matters most for founders and employees at exit. (Texapedia)
Franchise tax. Texas taxes business margin at 0.75% (0.375% for retail and wholesale), but companies with annualized revenue of $2.65M or less owe nothing for reports due in 2026 and 2027. They only file an information report by 15 May. (Texas Comptroller)
Sales tax on software. Texas treats SaaS as a data processing service, and 20% of the charge is exempt. Sales tax therefore applies to 80% of the price, at a state rate of 6.25% plus up to 2% local tax. (Texas Comptroller; Texas Comptroller) If you sell software to Texas customers, collect it from day one.
R&D credit. From 2026 the state credit is 8.722% of qualified research spending, or 10.903% when you work with a Texas university. It is refundable for companies that owe no franchise tax, which covers most early-stage startups. (Reed Smith)
Texas vs Delaware. Texas opened a specialist Business Court in September 2024, with an Austin division. (Norton Rose Fulbright) In 2025, SB 29 codified the business judgment rule and let companies limit shareholder lawsuits. (Greenberg Traurig, Jul 2025) Tesla and Coinbase have reincorporated in Texas, but the wider “DExit” has not happened: only two existing companies moved from Delaware to Texas in the second half of 2025. (Harvard Law Forum, Mar 2026) The new Texas Stock Exchange in Dallas began trading in July 2026. (Venable, Jul 2026) For a venture-backed startup, a Delaware C-corporation is still the safe default.
Talent and costs
- CBRE ranks Austin #5 in North America for tech talent, behind only the Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto and New York. (CBRE Scoring Tech Talent 2025) CompTIA projects Austin will add about 5,700 tech jobs in 2026. (CompTIA, 2026)
- The metro population reached 2.5M in 2023 after growing 20% in seven years, and its concentration of IT jobs is nearly three times the national average. (Dallas Fed)
- A one-bedroom apartment rents for about $1,267 a month, down about 15% in a year as new supply arrived. (Zumper, Sep 2026) That is less than a third of the $4,295 median in San Francisco. (Zumper, Sep 2026)
- Office vacancy is 25.8%, and direct asking rents average $53.76 per square foot ($60.66 for Class A), so tenants have room to negotiate. (JLL Q2 2026)
Compare Austin with Dallas, Atlanta and San Francisco, or model your burn with our runway calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much venture capital do Austin startups raise?
Austin startups raised a record $7.19B across 272 deals in 2025, according to Crunchbase, up 65% on 2024. 2026 is bigger still: Opportunity Austin counted more than $10.5B in the first three quarters, but a few mega-rounds such as The Boring Company’s $3B and Base Power’s $1B account for much of it.
Is Techstars Austin still running?
No. Techstars paused its Austin accelerator in December 2023 after 15 programs, and Austin is not on its current list of programs. Austin founders now look to Capital Factory, the Austin Technology Incubator, Texas Venture Labs and SKU, or apply to Techstars programs in other cities.
What does Capital Factory offer startups?
Capital Factory’s All Access program gives around 100 startups a year access to its mentors, investors and downtown space in exchange for common stock, without a cash investment. Separately, its Texas Fund writes cash checks from seed to Series C in deep tech, national security, healthcare and industrial companies.
How can I invest in Austin startups as an angel?
Accredited investors can join the Central Texas Angel Network, which has about 140 members and has invested $142.4M in 233 startups since 2006, or join syndicates such as Moonshots Capital’s. Texas Venture Labs at UT also introduces investors to the startups it works with.
How can I invest in University of Texas at Austin startups?
Contact UT’s Discovery to Impact office, which lists university startups and handles introductions, or Texas Venture Labs, which connects investors with its startups and invites them to judge its investment competition. The Austin Technology Incubator’s portfolio is another source. UT’s own $10M seed fund invests only in companies built on UT-owned IP and does not take outside investors.
Do Texas startups pay state income or franchise tax?
Texas has no personal income tax, and its constitution bans one. Businesses pay a franchise tax of 0.75% of margin, but companies with annual revenue of $2.65M or less owe nothing and only file an information report. The state R&D credit is now refundable for companies that owe no franchise tax.
Is SaaS taxable in Texas?
Generally yes. Texas treats SaaS as a data processing service, 20% of which is exempt, so sales tax applies to 80% of the price at up to 8.25% combined state and local tax.
Should my startup incorporate in Texas instead of Delaware?
Usually not yet. Texas opened a specialist Business Court in 2024 and passed company-friendly corporate law changes in 2025, and Tesla and Coinbase have reincorporated there. But very few companies have followed, and most venture investors still expect a Delaware C-corporation. Ask your lawyer and lead investor before choosing Texas.