Founded in 1979, Austin Ventures has grown from start-up size to one of the Southwest's - and the nation's - more prominent venture capital firms. With a focus on the Lone Star state, the company has funded well over 100 ventures since its founding, and shows no sign of slowing down. Indeed, in November 1999, the firm closed Austin Ventures VII with commited capital of $825 million, bringing the firm's total capital under management to $1.6 billion.

Investment strategy: the Lone Star state

The defining feature of Austin Venture's investment strategy is geography. Austin Ventures has invested about half of its money is Austin-based companies, and invested 75% of its funds in companies located within Texas. The second most important aspect of Austin Venture's investment philosophy is a focus on technology. The company invests its capital in companies within 5 sectors of information technology: applications and infrastructure, business-to-business services and e-commerce, business-to-consumer e-commerce and media, communications, and semiconductors. With its latest fund, Austin Ventures plans to invest $12 to $15 million per company over the life of the investment. Austin Ventures is also affiliated with an incubator company, AV Labs, which recently raised $60 million. AV Labs plans to focus on early stage Internet companies, and will provide operating expertise as well as funding to portfolio companies. According to a recent report by Private Equity Week, "Austin Ventures recently committed to investing more capital in companies in the software, communications and semiconductor industries."

Portfolio: 5 sector strategy

As mentioned previously, the firm invests in five different sectors of information technology: applications and infrastructure (@hand, Vignette), business-to-business services and e-commerce (Convio, eLaw.com), business-to-consumer e-commerce and media (Deja.com, eGreetings), communications (Classic Cable, STARTech), and semiconductors (Silicon Metrics, Agere).

Partners: Crimson South