Overview
The greater Austin area is a hotbed of innovation. Frequently referred to as Silicon Hills, our vibrant region is home to both world-renowned software enterprises and scrappy, high-tech startups.
The greater Austin region is home to 4,444 technology companies developing and delivering thousands of cutting edge technologies throughout the world. Collectively these companies employ approximately 109,000 Central Texas residents, constituting 13.5% of the regional workforce base. Payrolls of Austin's high tech firms constitute 26.6% of the regional total – almost $11 billion. Clearly technology drives the Austin economy.
The regional sector is a mix of large established, public corporations likes the headquarters of Fortune 500 "Dell" and the innovative "National Instruments" to regional divisions/headquarters of Apple, Google, Facebook, LegalZoom, 3M and many others. Top 100 high tech employers are located throughout the greater Austin region.
Startups abound in all key industry sectors of technology innovation like gaming, software, mobile, clean tech and life sciences. In this regional hotbed of innovation, startups are embraced, encouraged and proliferative. In fact, Angel List catalogues over 487 regional startups and the region is one of the top VC investment spots in the country. The Central Texas Angel Network has been named one of the top five angel networks in the country and Austin is home to the largest entrepreneurial gathering in the world – SXSW. All in all, technology is our business.
At the Chamber, our technology efforts are aimed at firmly establishing Austin as the preferred region for technology innovation as well as company formation, expansion and relocation. To get there, we strive to provide leadership through our Tech Partnership that identifies next generation technology trends.
Our business climate includes globally respected educational and research institutions and a young, educated workforce. The Chamber connects experienced, out of market talent with Central Texas employers through AustinTechSource.com, a technology talent web portal designed to recruit and retain a skilled workforce to the Austin area.
Patent Activity
Austin has earned its reputation as a city of creativity, innovation and invention. Patents are one of the best measurements of innovation and Austin has always been extremely competitive in the number of patents issued yearly. The University of Texas is third in the nation in the number of patents earned.
According to a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office geographic analysis patent activity in the 1990s, Austin outpaces much larger and more economically diverse regions such as Phoenix, Seattle, Denver and Raleigh-Durham. This demonstrated capacity for generating new ideas has only increased in the new century. In 2006, The Wall Street Journal named Austin the No. 3 Most Inventive City due to patent activity.
Patents Awarded to Austin Area Inventors
Note: Additional patent data is available via the Chamber's Economic Indicators page.
Source: U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
Venture Capital
| Accent Capital | Communications/telecom, services, healthcare, & manufacturing |
| Access Venture Partners | Mid-continent technology |
| Adams Capital Management | Disruptive technologies in the information technology & telecommunications/semiconductors industries |
| Advantage Capital Partners | Diversified |
| Agave Capital | Firm may be fully invested and not seeking new investment opportunities |
| ARCH Venture Partners | Information technology, life sciences & physical sciences |
| Austin Ventures | Software, hardware & services |
| Black Diamond Capital Partners | Insurance sector investments |
| Capstar Partners | Media & broadcasting, healthcare, e-commerce, financial services |
| Castletop Capital | Technology, software & business infrastructure companies |
| Centennial Ventures | Network enterprises, enabling technology, software |
| CenterPoint Ventures | Firm may be fully invested and not seeking new investment opportunities |
| Daylight Partners | Technology-related mid-stage Texas companies |
| Emergent Technologies | Institutional & university-based life sciences technologies |
| G-51 Capital | Software, hardware, Web 2.0, cleantech |
| Guggenheim Venture Partners | Distressed-company deals, esp. high tech |
| Harris Preston & Partners | Established companies in small & middle market of corporate finance & buyout sectors |
| Hunt Ventures | Software, communications, semiconductors |
| JatoTech Ventures | High tech, semiconductor & related areas |
| Limestone Ventures (formerly Gefinor Ventures) | Communications, specialized semiconductor, software, medical technology |
| Live Oak Venture Partners | Early-stage technology startups in Austin & statewide |
| MPOWER Ventures | Early-stage financial services companies focused on underserved markets |
| Path4 Ventures | Medical device/LDR Spine |
| PTV Sciences | Medical devices, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, bio-materials, electronics, advanced materials, & nanotechnology |
| S3 Ventures | Information technology & medical device sectors |
| Sant Ventures | Medical technology & health care |
| Sentient Ventures | Enterprise & communication software, semiconductor & nanotechnology/MEMs, life sciences, IP commercialization |
| Sevin Rosen Funds | Telecom hardware/infrastructure, semiconductor, software, photonics components/systems |
| Silverton Partners | Enterprise software industry |
| STARTech Early Ventures | Medical tech, wireless, infrastructure, e-business, microelectronics |
| Techxas Ventures | Information, life, molecular & energy sciences |
| Texo Ventures | Life sciences |
| TF2 Ventures | Film |
| TGF Management Corp. | Small to middle-market Texas companies in mfg., distribution & services |
| Trellis Partners | High tech |
| Triton Ventures | Enterprise software, IT, communications technology, advanced materials |
| Venio Capital Partners | Hardware & software companies |
| Virgo Capital | Technology-enabled services companies |
Note: Listings are those VC Firms with an Austin staff/office.
Venture Capital Investment in Austin Area Companies
Source: PricewaterhouseCooper/Venture Economics/NVCA MoneyTree Survey.
Over the past 15 years, small businesses have accounted for the majority of private-sector net job creation, says US SBA.
