LiveOak Ventures

What LiveOak Ventures does

LiveOak Ventures is an Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm that provides early-stage capital and company-building support to technology and tech-enabled service startups founded in Texas. Founded in December 2012 by Krishna Srinivasan and Venu Shamapant, the firm invests from Pre-seed to Series B with initial check sizes ranging from $500K to $10M, leading or co-leading rounds and engaging actively across the full portfolio company lifecycle. The firm has built a portfolio of over 60 investments over the past decade spanning healthcare technology, legal technology, real estate technology, fintech, cybersecurity, and AI-forward enterprise software.

The firm operates a multi-fund platform: LiveOak Fund I closed in March 2014, Fund II in March 2019, Fund III at $210 million in November 2021, and Select Fund I in September 2023. Capital is sourced from institutional limited partners, family offices, and corporate investors. LiveOak generates revenue through standard VC economics — management fees on committed and invested capital plus carried interest on successful exits. Notable realized outcomes include the IPO of DISCO (NYSE: LAW) at a first-trade market capitalization above $2.5 billion in July 2021, plus strategic acquisitions of Mavenir, StackEngine (Oracle), Opcity (News Corp), Digital Pharmacist (K1), and Eventador (Cloudera).

LiveOak's differentiation rests on a regionally concentrated thesis: 25+ years of continuous Texas investing experience, deep local founder networks cultivated through proprietary community events (CEO Summit, Startup Soirée, LiveOak Launch, Startup Bash), and a partnership bench drawn from Austin Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Kleiner Perkins, McKinsey, and KPCB. The firm layers its venture activity with a philanthropic program (LiveOak Gives) that has donated over $1.4 million to 24 nonprofits and supported 14 scholars. Geographic and thesis concentration in Texas is a deliberate strategic choice, trading breadth for depth in a single ecosystem.

Name

LiveOak Ventures

Legal name

LiveOak Ventures

Website

https://liveoak.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

LiveOak Ventures is an Austin-based early-stage venture capital firm investing $500K–$10M in Texas-based technology and tech-enabled service founders from Pre-seed through Series B, with over 60 portfolio investments and four institutional funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

HoldCo / Permanent Capital ETA (FSANALAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Endowment / OCIO-Style Multi-Manager Platforms (FSANAGAG)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Early-stage investments
• Seed funding
• Series A capital
• Texas startup funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: LiveOak Ventures manages multiple venture funds (Fund I, Fund II, Fund III, Select Fund I) and earns management fees from Limited Partners (institutional investors, family offices, corporations). The firm also earns carried interest (performance fees) on successful portfolio company exits.
2. Portfolio Company Equity: LiveOak generates returns through equity ownership in portfolio companies, with notable exit including DISCO's IPO (NYSE: LAW) at over $2.5B first trade market cap.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

LiveOak Ventures is an Austin-based venture capital firm that makes early-stage investments in Texas-based founders building tech and tech-enabled service companies. The firm provides initial check sizes ranging from $500K to $10M across Pre-seed, Seed, Series A, and opportunistically Series B stages, and engages actively across the full company-building lifecycle as a strategic advisor and partner.

Product overview

LiveOak Ventures is an Austin-based venture capital firm that provides early-stage investment capital and strategic partnership services to exceptional Texas-based founders building tech and tech-enabled service companies. Their offering spans from Pre-seed to Series B stages, with initial check sizes ranging from $500K to $10M. The firm engages actively across the full lifecycle of portfolio companies, providing company-building assistance, strategic advisory, and access to their deep networks. As a service-oriented firm rather than a product company, LiveOak does not offer discrete software products or modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LiveOak Fund I First institutional venture fund from LiveOak Ventures, with final close in March 2014, used to invest in early-stage Texas-based companies.
• LiveOak Fund II Second institutional venture fund from LiveOak Ventures, with final close in March 2019, used to invest in early-stage Texas-based companies.
• LiveOak Fund III Third institutional venture fund from LiveOak Ventures, closed at $210 million in November 2021, used to back Texas founders from Seed through Series B and opportunistically Pre-seed and Growth stages.
• LiveOak Select Fund I Select venture fund from LiveOak Ventures that closed in September 2023 to expand the firm's investment capacity for Texas entrepreneurs.
• Early-stage venture investment program LiveOak's core investing program delivering $500K to $10M initial checks to Texas-based tech and tech-enabled service founders from Pre-seed through Series B, with active company-building support across the full lifecycle.

Quantifiable outcome

• DISCO IPO with first trade market cap above $2.5B
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers36 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Silverton Partners: Austin-based early-stage VC also focused on Texas founders. Silverton Partners is the most directly comparable peer, often co-investing alongside LiveOak (e.g., Uptiq rounds) and serving the same Texas-first mandate at the seed and Series A stages.
• Capital Factory: Austin-based accelerator and seed investor. Capital Factory sources Texas deal flow at pre-seed and seed stages and frequently co-invests with LiveOak (e.g., Artis seed round), making it a direct peer in the Texas early-stage funnel.
• S3 Ventures: Austin-based early-to-growth VC focused on Texas and the Southwest. S3 overlaps with LiveOak on stage (seed through Series B), geography (Texas-heavy), and check size, making it a directly comparable regional VC.

Regional players

• Mercury Fund: Houston-based early-stage VC investing across Texas. Mercury Fund competes for Texas deal flow at the seed stage and shares the Texas-only thesis, though it skews toward Houston and enterprise software.
• Active Capital: San Antonio-based VC fund focused on B2B SaaS companies with ties to Texas founders. Active Capital is a regional peer in the Texas early-stage market with comparable check sizes and stage focus.
• Wild Basin Investments: Austin-based early-stage VC investing in Texas founders across consumer and enterprise. Wild Basin is a comparable regional peer at the seed stage.
• ATX Seed Ventures: Austin-based seed fund focused on Texas startups. ATX Seed Ventures competes for the same early-stage Texas deals and shares a similar regional specialization.

Broad incumbents

• Lerer Hippeau: NYC-based seed-stage VC. Lerer Hippeau is a broadly comparable incumbent peer at the seed/Series A stage in tech-enabled services, with similar check sizes, though it operates nationally rather than regionally.
• Greycroft: National early-stage VC investing across consumer and enterprise. Greycroft is a comparable incumbent at the seed and Series A stages, though it does not share LiveOak's regional Texas focus.

Emerging players

• Antler: Global early-stage VC that has co-invested with LiveOak (e.g., Fastn seed). Antler operates a founder-first, pre-seed-led model with US presence in Austin and shares deal flow at the earliest stages.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/liveoakvp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/liveoak-venture-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments145 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LiveOak Ventures