Want to stay up to date on the latest startup fundings, 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.

Flippa

Founded in 2009, Australian startup Flippa has relocated its headquarters to Austin, and has already raised millions in new funding. Flippa’s recent funding round was led by Sydney-based OneVentures, totaling its new capital to $317 million. 

Flippa is a marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. According to Austin Inno, these businesses get matched with potential buyers by using an algorithm. Flippa matches businesses according to  who’s most likely to want and operate a particular business. Flippa has seen massive growth in the past couple of years. In addition to its year to year transaction volume seeing 100% growth, 300,000 new users have used Flippa, adding on to its already 3 million registered users. As Flippa continues to thrive, more specifically in Austin, the company plans on doubling its employee headcount in the next year.

Sante Ventures

According to Silicon Hills, Austin-based investment firm, Sante Ventures has raised $260 million in its recent funding round. This funding has contributions from investors worldwide, including Pennsylvania PublicSchool Employees’ Retirement System and other institutional investors in Asia and Latin America. With its new funds, Sante Venture plans on building a 15-25 investment portfolio across industries like biotech, health tech, and medtech. 

Sante Ventures was founded in 2006 by Kevin Lalande. This startup provides cutting-edge technologies by combining different healthcare industries that’ll fuel the future of patient care and unlock a new market of opportunities. Since its launch, Sante Ventures has made 76 investments. Since Sante is a first-mover in the healthcare and life science sectors, it usually leads fundraising rounds for similar companies. As Covid evolves and technology continues to show great adaption, Lalande believes that the company’s portfolio will create new venture opportunities. 

Self Financial 

Self Financial is an Austin-based fintech company that helps customers kickstart their financial journey by building credit with a Credit Builder Account. According to Silicon Hills, the Credit Builder Account created by Self Financial makes it more accessible and easier for the millions of Americans with low to no credit scores. In addition to raising $40 million last December, the company has recently introduced a $50 million Series E funding round, bringing  its total funding to $127 million. Self Financial will use its new funding to increase services for the 100 million Americans struggling with building credit. 

Rocket Dollar 

Founded in 2017, fintech company Rocket Dollar turns self-directed retirement accounts into alternative investments, which is  anything outside of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. To make it easy for customers to convert their assets, Rocket Dollar uses a flexible investment IRA and Solo 401K allowing people to invest in different opportunities. According to Silicon Hills, customers can use their retirement accounts into alternative assets such as real estate, startups, private equity, and cryptocurrency.  

Recently, Rocket Dollar has closed an $8 million Series A funding round. This funding was led by Park West Asset Management and had contributions from Hyphen Capital, Moneta Venture Capital, Kraken Ventures, and Primetime Ventures. These funds will be used in sectors like product development, customer service, and cybersecurity. 

About Michelle Vernaza: Michelle is a Business Development 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.