Want to stay up to date on the latest startup funding, launches, and expansions in Austin? Startup Over Coffee’s weekly roundup of Austin startups to watch will keep you in the loop on the latest Austin tech news. 

Catch up on previous weekly roundups here.

REX

REX is an Austin-based startup real estate company that recently secured $10 million in new financing from PIUS Limited, LLC. This deal also includes the potential to increase their funding to $45 million. Founded in 2016, REX has raised $135 million to date. 

With the goal of eliminating fees, REX has become one of the nation’s leading real estate reformers. They provide direct consumer relations instead of using the traditional agent method. With 5-star ratings on Zillow, REX’s main strengths are its online platforms and business model that is not based on commission. 

Firefly Aerospace

Cedar-Park startup, Firefly Aerospace, announced raising $75 million in a Series B funding round. This funding was led by a private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, LP. This investment will help grow the next stage of Firefly’s capital for future flights, lunar landing programs, and the development of additional launch and in-space solutions.

Firefly specializes in economical launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services. While their first launch last September blew up mid-flight, the company plans to launch their second rocket in Q2 of this year, after passing several stages of testing. 

Bedrock Capital

Bedrock Capital, an Austin-based VC firm, created an SEC filing with indications to plan on raising $650 million. While this firm typically leads Series A-C rounds of funding with $5-$30 million checks, this new filing is promising for new rounds of startups. Bedrock typically invests in “promising companies that are underestimated because they are incongruent with the storyline.”  

Founded by Geoff Lewis and Eric Stromberg in 2018, Bedrock now manages over $1 billion in assets across several funds including “Vercel, Plaid, Flock Safety, Check, Rippling, Workrise, Homebase, Bitcoin, and Ethereum.”

GoStudent

This startup unicorn, while based in Austria, has recently chosen Austin, TX for its U.S. headquarters. They plan to hire 130 positions in Austin including roles in customer success, sales, and tutor management. This will help further grow their online tutoring presence. GoStudent recently raised $340 million in Series D funding and was valued at $3.5 billion in January. 

GoStudent offers individual online tutoring for standardized tests including SAT, academic support, and interest-based learning. With 1.5 million sessions booked each month worldwide, they plan to grow their U.S. business to 150 thousand sessions monthly by the end of this year.

About Lara Tanner: Lara is an Account Associate Intern for Swyft, which is a tech PR firm in Austin and Houston and a top digital marketing and PR agency in Denver since its founding in 2011. Swyft also has a small satellite office where it offers tech PR in San Francisco. Swyft has been listed as one of the top tech PR agencies in Texas for two years running by the B2B services review site, Clutch.co.