Austin's LiveOak Venture Partners is looking for startup deals in Dallas.
The venture firm has named Dallas investor and technology entrepreneur Ram Velidi as a venture partner.
LiveOak, founded by three former Austin Ventures investors, closed a $109 million fund in 2014. Its focus is early-stage technology and tech-enabled services companies in Texas and the Southwest.
"The founders of LiveOak have had tremendous success investing in Dallas-based companies while at Austin Ventures," said Venu Shamapant, co-founder and general partner. "We look forward to repeating that success at LiveOak. Having Ram on the ground in the DFW Metroplex will be a great way to accomplish exactly that."
Velidi was previously managing director of Plano-based Peroba Capital and president and chief operating officer of Net.Orange, a Dallas-based health care technology company. He was also an investment partner at Sevin Rosen Funds, a Dallas-based VC firm.
He will focus on investments in the Dallas Fort Worth Metropolitan area.
LiveOak's founding members have a long track record of investing in Austin. Prior to founding the firm, the team spent about 10 years at Austin Ventures whee Shamapant was a general partner, Krishna Srinivasan was a partner and Ben Scott was a venture partner.
While Austin has seen an increase in venture activity in recent years, Texas lags behind with venture capital investment, according to PitchBook data.
Last year, California companies raised $33.6 billion in venture capital, while New York received $6.2 million. Texas, meanwhile, brought in $1.2 billion, according to PitchBook.
About the Author
