Return on Inclusion | March 14, 2017

Startup ecosystems “between the coasts” get a boost

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Next Coast Ventures has raises $85 million for Austin’s startup scene. The firm’s founders said they want to boost Austin’s tech scene and support early-stage startups between the coastal tech hubs.

“We are finding outsized opportunities between the coasts with talented, tech-savvy entrepreneurs with vision,” co-founder Mike Smerklo said.

The oversubscribed fund already has invested in six companies and was backed by an unidentified mix of institutional investors, family offices and funds-of-funds.

In the U.S. southeast, Endeavor just launched an office in Atlanta, the 20-year-old impact mentorship network’s fourth U.S. market (others: Miami, Detroit, Louisville), to give a boost to the city’s growing startup scene.

The Atlanta office will be led by Aaron Hurst, a former VP at tech company Ceridian, while its board will include WebMD founder Jeff Arnold, PGi founder Boland Jones and CNN medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta.

endeaEndeavor launched in 1997 to back high-impact entrepreneurs in Latin America. It has since expanded to 27 markets and has nurtured more than 1,400 entrepreneurs at 800 companies. Together these companies generated revenues of $8.1 billion in 2015 and have created more than 600,000 jobs.

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Photo credit: Atlanta Startup Community