Austin Next

"The world does not work on 'If you build it, they will come.'" Samantha Lewis

?? This week’s Austin Bio & Health Roundup highlights a new health center of gravity summit, infrastructure momentum, strategic partnerships, & insights from ecosystem innovators?? ??? Community Health Supernova, hosted by Capital Factory, is moving to Austin on June 12. This year’s themes: Advancing Patient-Centered Care, Frontier Tech, & Texas Fundraising. The advisory group includes James J. Geracci, MD, Rebecca Beattie, Sarah Churchill Llamas, Jeff Levine, Ted Rohan, Tricia Moose & now, you have a man in the room, Me. ?? to Bryan Chambers, Luis Martinez, Cyndi Schultz, Drew Yashar, Nicole Moughrabi, & Haley Guerin for including me. What must I make sure to include? ?? Partnerships and M&A PayrHealth & SlicedHealth are partnering to enhance payor contracting & revenue cycle management for healthcare providers. Congrats to Armando Cardoso & team. ?? Insights from Local Builders and Innovators Autumn-Kyoko Cushman & the ShiftRx team analyzed how staffing, burnout, and patient loads impact medication errors. Medical errors remain a massive issue: 7 million patients harmed annually, with 9,000 deaths directly linked. ??? Infrastructure The University of Texas at Austin & MD Anderson Cancer Center launched the “Collaborative Accelerator for Transformative Research Endeavors,” an accelerator driving breakthroughs in cancer prevention, diagnosis, & treatment. Five teams have already been selected to receive up to $4.5M each over five years. ?? Texas Bio Triangle Woodlands: Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. signed a $1B+ exclusive license deal with Novo Nordisk for rights to its oral obesity drug candidate, LX9851. What’s Next?

"Texas is open for business & not only are we open for business, but we're innovating." Samantha Lewis

Building the narrative of the ecosystem at Red Fridge Society

Big Announcement! I’ve officially made the move to Austin to continue growing Mercury’s footprint in this incredible city. Houston has been so good to me over the past 15 years (go Rice Owls!), and while it’s bittersweet to leave, I’m genuinely thrilled to embark on this next chapter—both professionally and personally. Professionally: I’m eager to deeply connect with Austin’s vibrant tech ecosystem and support building the next generation of innovative startups right here in Texas. My passion lies in cultivating authentic relationships with visionary founders, dynamic co-investors, and dedicated ecosystem partners. I’d greatly appreciate any introductions or insights as I settle into the community! Personally: We couldn’t be happier to welcome our second baby boy as an official Austinite this June! His big brother, Sasha, is already thriving amidst Austin’s nature and wonderful community, and we’re excited to grow roots in this amazing city. Finally, a heartfelt shoutout to Jason Scharf for the warm welcome through our recent conversation on the Austin Next podcast. As I shared on the pod, Mercury’s vision for Austin is simple yet powerful: “We are so excited to just hang out and see everybody, meet entrepreneurs, hopefully build a big fintech community here as time goes on…The more VC firms that are here, the better. The more entrepreneurs that are getting funding here, the better.” Austin friends, old and new—let’s connect! Aileen Allen Aziz Gilani Lisa Roberts Jackie Pfister Maryann Menzies Alspaugh Juliette Richert Tatiana Fofanova, Ph.D. Ali Motroni Lindsay Lightman Alex Houghtalin Kathleen Rodgers Angela Pierce

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Check out our host Jason Scharf as he takes the TEDx stage on May 3rd.

Austin is the convergence of atoms, bits, & intelligence. Amir Husain's Forbes' piece is a great exploration of Austin's future at the dawning of a new age. He quotes the line that has now become standard for any Austin Next discussion on innovation ecosystem: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” - Oscar Wilde It was during our episode with Amir that we learned the second half of this famous quote "...that mediocrity can pay to greatness" completely changing its entire meaning!

If X's $1B raise is included in the data, Austin's Q1 is at ~$3.1B in funding, easily breaking all previous quarterly records ($2.8B in Q1 2022 was the previous high) My guess is we will be 4th in the country when all the numbers come out. 3 months in & 2025 is already Austin's 3rd highest year ever! What's Next?! ?? ?? ??

Austin had the largest population growth (~11%) across the top 50 metros from '20 to '24. In the most recent year, we still came in 4th. Don't believe headlines claiming Austin or Texas is "over", follow the data (Houston & DFW were also top 5)! The boom continues. ?? ?? ??