Rick Patch

Weather delays. Compliance gaps. Lost days and lost dollars. Every contractor knows the pain. Pavewise, based in North Dakota and built by operators who’ve lived it, has just raised a $2.5M seed round led by C2 Ventures Fund II, alongside Connetic Ventures, Service Provider Capital, M25, gener8tor 1889, and Broadwater Capital. Their platform brings real-time compliance, weather, and production tracking to road construction, helping crews make better calls, cut rework, and keep projects on time. This is exactly what we mean when we talk about our thesis, Dirty, Dull, and Dangerous innovation: solving real operational problems in essential industries with durable tech. https://lnkd.in/eecPMHdN

41

1 Comment

Big milestone for Doppler Finance: Doppler just raised a $3M seed round led by Reforge, with participation from DCG, Maven 11, HashKey Capital, GSR, CMCC Global and others. Their goal? Unlock institutional-grade yield infrastructure on the XRP Ledger, something that’s been missing since day one. Here’s the opportunity: -> XRP’s ~$200B market cap has less than 0.1% in DeFi. -> Ethereum, by comparison, has ~20% of its market cap active on-chain. That’s hundreds of billions in idle XRP and Doppler is building the rails to activate it. With custody integrations (Fireblocks, Copper, Bitgo), verifiable proof-of-reserves, and plug-and-play APIs for wallets/custodians, they’re building for regulated capital but with open access. Their $500M+ capital pipeline speaks volumes. This is a major unlock for #XRPFi and one of the most promising attempts to bridge compliant yield infra with an underserved but globally significant asset. Excited to see how this one plays out.

96

5 Comments

AI isn't just powering software. BrightAI just raised $51 million to automate inspection and other hardware-based AI capabilities. As Alexa von Tobel, co-founder of Inspired Capital put it: “So many people are so focused on the future of digital AI, but we’re excited about this new layer of AI: the physical world AI.” We are in the early innings of a series of AI-fueled innovations! https://lnkd.in/enhmafvH

47

When we started Texas Venture Partners, we weren’t sure if there were enough Israeli defense tech startups to invest in. We quickly realized we were wrong. The real challenge wasn’t finding great startups—it was that we couldn’t invest in all of them. So we looked for other ways to support the companies we met, even if we couldn’t invest directly. But as a small team, that quickly became unsustainable. Within weeks, we were stretched too thin. So we asked ourselves: How can we scale our hands-on approach to help more Israeli startups break into the U.S.—without breaking the fund’s economics? It took six months, but we think we’ve found the answer. Introducing TVP’s DoD Readiness Program. An equity-advisory program designed to take startups from the battlefield to the boardrooms that matter most. 12 weeks. 10 companies. 1 goal: Never again. Applications are now open.

519

108 Comments

Check out the latest funding news from across the Techstars portfolio. → Zipline (Techstars 2011), a drone delivery and logistics startup, raises more than $600M in new funding, boosting its valuation to $7.6B, as it expands commercial deployments. → Language learning startup Preply (Techstars 2015) raises $150M and becomes the 23rd known unicorn from Techstars accelerators. → Hydrosat (Techstars 2019) raises $60M in Series B funding → Tive (Techstars 2017) receives a $20M investment, valuing the shipment-tracking systems developer at slightly more than $500M. → Parambil (Techstars 2023) raises an additional $6M in seed funding ($8M to date). → Seasats (Techstars 2021) receives $24M in Department of War APFIT funding to accelerate the fielding of its autonomous surface vessels. → Hawaiian Airlines’ newly announced $600M Kahuʻewai Hawai‘i Investment Plan features a strategic investment in Ampaire (Techstars 2018) to support hybrid-electric aviation in the islands. → Fintalo (Techstars 2025) secures $500K+ in oversubscribed Pre-Seed funding. → PraxisPro (Techstars 2024) closes an oversubscribed $6M seed round. → Samara Aerospace (Techstars 2024) closes $10M seed round to help bring more stability to sats in orbit. → MyARC (Techstars 2022), a platform that enables fitness creators to train their communities at scale, secures £1.5M investment. Massive congratulations to these incredible portfolio companies!   🔗  Read more at https://lnkd.in/dxtCTvrg 

155

6 Comments

🚀 Meet PACT, simplifying SBA-backed acquisitions with investors. Think YC’s SAFE, but built for Main Street M&A. 📘 What is PACT and why we built it PACT (Partnership Acquisition Commonsense Terms) is a free, balanced starting point for the agreements used in SBA-backed acquisitions with outside investors. For too long, SBA-backed acquisitions with outside investors have been the wild west: every deal is different, inefficient, and confusing, especially for first-time searchers raising capital. PACT gives everyone a common baseline so reviews are faster, expectations are clear, and operators can focus on acquiring the business. 🧩 SAFE for ETA Y Combinator’s SAFE gave startups a shared template that made early investing easier to execute. PACT brings that same idea to ETA. It teaches the key concepts in plain English, aligns searchers and investors on the economics, and sets a fair place to start. Our goal is for PACT to become the default baseline for investor-backed small business acquisitions using SBA loans. 🤝 Who contributed 🏛️ Legal input from top SMB M&A attorneys: Joseph Spina (Cullen and Dykman LLP), Mark Dittrich (Groundswell Advisors, LLP), and Eric Hsu (Clear Focus Law, PLLC) provided feedback on drafts. 💼 Early investor adopters: Jordan F. (Shareholder Ventures), Grant Hensel (Entrepreneurial Capital), Jason Ehrlich (Fruition Capital), Sean Smith (Search Fund Ventures), Adam Kaplan (ETA Funding Partners), Jacob Hall (Kando Capital), Tony Cappaert (Workbench Capital) and Adam Markley (PROX Search Capital) have adopted PACT on new deals. 🎓 Community support: Chelsea Wood and Walker Deibel at the Acquisition Lab and Buy Then Build have committed to start educating the community on how investor deals work using PACT. 👉 What to do next 🔍 Searchers: download the docs and ask your lawyer to start from PACT. ⚖️ SMB M&A Law firms: review the templates and send feedback so the next version is better. 💸 SMB investors: adopt PACT as your starting point and share redlines from real deals. This is a community-led standard, and we will keep versioning PACT as feedback comes in from all sides. 📝 Thanks: Special thanks to Joseph Spina for leading the legal drafting with me and helping shape a true middle ground. 🔗 Download PACT and see the key terms: ETAPACT.com (link in the comments) Let’s make investor-backed acquisitions clearer, faster, and fairer for everyone. 🚨 DISCLAIMER: PACT is not legal advice. Searchers must engage experienced SMB M&A counsel to review and tailor these documents to their deal.

65

27 Comments

🚀 Venture Capital Strategies with Martin Tobias! Dive into the Pacific Northwest venture capital scene with our latest episode of "Sound Investments." I spoke with Martin Tobias, Managing Partner at Incisive Ventures, to explore unique investment philosophies, tech trends, and transformative strategies in the B2B software space. Whether you're an aspiring founder or seasoned investor, you’ll enjoy this insightful discussion! 🎙️ Listen now: https://pod.fo/e/2bf291 #VentureCapital #Podcast #Seattle

77

2 Comments

🚀 Turning Space Ambition into Venture-Ready Companies I’m thrilled to see Seraphim Space partner with Space Florida to launch the #SpaceTech Investor Readiness Program, an initiative designed to help high-potential SpaceTech founders transition from breakthrough innovation to scalable, investable businesses. Florida’s space ecosystem combines deep heritage, world-class infrastructure, and ambitious founders. By bringing together Seraphim’s global investor network and SpaceTech investment expertise with Space Florida’s ecosystem leadership, this program focuses on a pivotal moment for founders: connecting the right companies with the right capital at the right time. The pilot program brings experienced investors together with seven standout Florida-based SpaceTech companies, while also engaging local investors to deepen understanding of the opportunities emerging from the state. Seraphim are delighted to support: Aloft Biotechnologies AMROK Arachnid Systems BlackStar Orbital Eta Space Micro-gRx X-Lumin At Seraphim, we’ve always believed that SpaceTech ecosystems thrive when investor readiness, global connectivity, and strong local leadership come together. Florida is a powerful example of what’s possible and it’s exciting to see the momentum building. 🚀 The journey is just beginning... Reach out to our team if you'd like to find out more: Alexander Holt, Ellie Gyaurova, Alessandro Braglia, Aida Khalil. Isabella Simmonds Read the full release here: https://lnkd.in/ewXSXx8w #SpaceTech #VentureReady #NewSpace #Aerospace #Investing #GlobalCapital #Startups #SeraphimSpace #SpaceFlorida

61

5 Comments

Seed Stage Venture Debt? Most early founders think venture debt is something you raise at the Series B or later. It is seen as something you layer on once the business is fully “bankable” and later stage. But what if this paradigm is limiting growth for early stage companies? And what if founders can utilize a flexible product at the early stages to reduce dilution? At Top Corner we see it differently: - We underwrite The Founder and to enterprise value, not formulaic metrics - We believe debt can work much earlier, typically right after product-market fit (Seed/Series A) - Our debt is designed to support founders, not constrain them - Our structures are flexible, with none of the traditional debt mechanics that weigh down early stage founders (financial covenants, MAC defaults or investor support clauses) - Our process is fast (think weeks, not months) - Our capital is significantly less dilutive than equity, but can be used just like a dollar of equity: to hire, build, experiment and scale When used for growth, debt can help teams hit more milestones and empower founders to raise their next round on stronger term, all while preserving meaningful ownership for both founders and early investors. A recent example: Top Corner partnered with NxLite in February 2025, providing Seed stage debt capital that allowed the company to acquire critical equipment and fully prepare its 45,000 squarer foot production facility prior to raising additional equity. NxLite produces advanced coatings for windows and transparent barriers that dramatically reduce energy consumption and support a more sustainable built environment. With this early capital, NxLite achieved production capacity to serve a strong roster of Fortune 500 enterprises, creating a strong foundation for its next phase of growth. NxLite closed a $9.2M Series A in September 2025 at a meaningful valuation increase. We’re excited to support David Mather and the NxLite team as they build on this momentum. https://lnkd.in/g-Fipd9K

37

1 Comment

I wanted to share this post I wrote for our Higher Order Capital blog on "The Liberation of Domain Experts." These observations are just the beginning of what we will see across industries—a revolution where domain experts no longer have their transformative ideas held back by technical dependencies. The article makes a compelling case for how modern automation frameworks are finally breaking these chains, allowing professionals to implement solutions directly without lengthy software development cycles. The companies that systematically empower their experts this way will undoubtedly outpace their competitors. Worth a read if you're interested in creating more value per FTE and building more innovative teams. #Automation #HigherOrder https://lnkd.in/gcEWJWF4

10

Great conversation with Taylor Anderson at Inman on the state of PropTech and whether the "PropTech winter" is finally ending. The past few years have been defined by a capital markets, financial, and emotional malaise across the PropTech ecosystem. The Cambrian explosion of companies that followed the COVID boom collided with rising rates, frozen transactions, and a sharp reset in valuations. Many didn't survive. The companies that did have adapted. They built across fundamentals, repositioned their businesses, and focused on where technology truly intersects with real estate. Now there are signs of renewed momentum. Leadership is returning to the category. Capital is re-entering the market. More enterprise value is being created than destroyed. The thaw has begun. Read the full piece: http://bit.ly/3WnWxxU

27

1 Comment

I'm baffled hearing VCs justify investing in contech because of a lack of efficiency gains in our industry. However, they are putting a lot of money into AI 2D take-off. AI 2D take-off will not materially improve preconstruction. It's really simple. You do not spend months and years in precon doing takeoff. You do months and years in precon validating scope and cost. You don't buy quantities. You buy work. Real gains are going to be made buy companies, like Ediphi, that help you justify cost and scope early in precon. That's before the drawings have accurate quantities. https://lnkd.in/gdHcYCXC

99

24 Comments