As SXSW Ends, Austin Ventures Goes to Work

At the South by Southwest Interactive conference, which ran March 9-13 in Austin, Tex., deciding among the panoply of parties, panels, and media stunts could be daunting. But for hometown entrepreneurs, there was one event not to be missed: the Austin Ventures party, a Sunday morning smorgasbord of tacos, Bloody Marys, and live music. It was a chance to meet the most prominent venture capitalists in town. “They’re the big players,” says Martin Floreani, an Austinite who attended the party in hopes of raising money for his sports media startup, Flocasts.

Austin Ventures, a 33-year-old firm with $3.9 billion under management, doesn’t have the name-brand recognition of some of its Silicon Valley venture capital competitors, such as Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. What it does have is a laser focus on the Austin tech scene, which over the past decade has turned into an innovation hub. Austin came in second to San Francisco in a recent ranking of startup hot spots based on median annual pay and number of jobs available, according to PayScale. The city is home to more than 3,800 technology companies and 91,000 tech workers.