Howdy folks,

Welcome to the 36th edition of the Dallas Venture Deals newsletter.

Before we get into the deals, we want to take a moment to honor Josh Baer. Widely regarded as the architect of Austin's tech hub, Josh had an incalculable impact on the Texas startup ecosystem, bridging its innovation communities and championing them on a national and global stage. A true mensch and super connector, he will be deeply missed. Our prayers are with his family and the entire Capital Factory community. May his memory be a blessing.

June was a strong month for DFW venture. AT&T Ventures participated in a $600M round for Cyera at a $12B valuation, Principal Mineral out of Southlake closed a $280M Series A — one of the larger early-stage rounds we've covered in this newsletter — and Long Table Growth Corp. pulled off a $172.5M SPAC IPO on Nasdaq. Defense tech, aerospace, and AI continued to dominate deal flow, while Mantle, a geothermal spinout of Hunt Innovative Technologies, was a notable early-stage highlight.

Now let's get into it.

Venture Deals

DFW-Based Company Fundings

Apogee Semiconductor (Plano, TX), a developer of radiation-hardened semiconductors for aerospace and high-reliability applications, raised $16.20M in a Series A-4 led by LDV Partners.
Haast Autonomous (Dallas, TX), a developer of autonomous VTOL aircraft for medical cargo transport, raised $1.85M in a Pre-seed from undisclosed investors.
Long Table Growth Corp. (Dallas, TX) closed a $172.5M IPO on Nasdaq (ticker: LTGRU), including full exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option. The SPAC is led by Chairman & CEO Gregory Ethridge (former CFO of Canoo, former Senior Partner at MatlinPatterson) and President & CFO Joshua Ernst (founder & former CEO of Backflip). The vehicle is targeting acquisitions in fintech, proptech, industrial technology/infrastructure, and energy transition.
Mantle (Dallas, TX), a geothermal spinout of Dallas-based Hunt Innovative Technologies, closed a $5M seed round led by Dallas’ 17Shoals Inc.
Principal Mineral (Southlake, TX), a producer of critical mineral and material inputs for electronics and defense, raised $280M in a Series A co-led by Overmatch Ventures and The New Industrial Corporation with participation from J2 Ventures, Ensemble VC.
Texas Junior Golf Tour (TJGT) (Irving, TX), a premier regional youth circuit known for its high-quality events and emphasis on player development, was acquired by Bolt Ventures, the family office of David Blitzer. Bolt Ventures intends to bring together the Texas Junior Golf Tour with the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour (HJGT), which Bolt acquired in April, to create a new, rebranded youth golf tour platform in 2027.
Valor (Fort Worth, TX), a specialty asset management company with expertise in providing mineral management solutions and oil and gas outsourcing, raised a Series B led by Ladd Wilks, of Cisco; the Moncrief family, of Fort Worth; and the Lamb family, of Midland.
Waldo (Dallas, TX), a developer of AI-powered research and automation tools for knowledge workers, raised $10.36M in a deal from undisclosed investors.
Wash42 (Irving, TX), a provider of vehicle washing services utilizing cutting-edge technology and pioneering solutions, raised a $6.28M Seed round.

DFW-Based Investor Transactions

17Shoals (Dallas, TX) led a $5M seed round for Mantle (Dallas, TX), a geothermal spinout of Dallas-based Hunt Innovative Technologies.
AMN Healthcare Services (Dallas, TX) acquired Jaide Health (Boston, MA), a real-time AI-enabled medical interpretation and translation platform for healthcare systems.
AT&T Ventures (Dallas, TX) participated in a $600M financing round for Cyera (New York, NY), an AI data security platform. The round was led by Evolution Equity Partners and included Accel, Blackstone, Coatue, and Spark Capital, valuing the company at $12B.
Avidity Partners (Dallas, TX) led a $50.7M Series D for Quanta Therapeutics (South San Francisco, CA), a clinical-stage biotech developing oral KRAS inhibitors for RAS-driven cancers. Existing investors Sofinnova Investments, Vida Ventures, Surveyor Capital, Longitude Capital, BVF Partners, and AbbVie Ventures also participated.
Balerion Space Ventures (Dallas, TX) led a $25M Series B for Dawn Aerospace (Christchurch, NZ), a developer of reusable spaceplanes and satellite propulsion systems, at a $195M post-money valuation. The round included Mana Ventures, ANA Future Frontier Fund, Green Eight Capital, Seven Peak Ventures, and others.
Cypress Growth Capital (Dallas, TX) invested $3M of Non-Dilutive Growth Funding in Ooga Technologies (Durham, NC), a company transforming non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection for the growing needs of safety-critical industries.
DTX Ventures (Dallas, TX) participated in an $11.5M Seed round for Nox Metals (Detroit, MI), an AI-powered metals processing company building vertically integrated factories for the American industrial base. Y Combinator, Palmer Luckey, Operator Collective, and Alumni Ventures also participated.
Fifth Growth Fund (Dallas, TX) participated in a $350M Series B for TensorWave (Las Vegas, NV), an AMD-exclusive AI cloud infrastructure provider. The round was co-led by Magnetar and AMD Ventures with participation from Maverick Silicon, Nexus Venture Partners, and Western Frontier.
Goldcrest Capital co-led a $250M Series D for Peregrine Technologies (San Francisco, CA), a government software platform serving public safety agencies, at a $6.8B valuation. Fifth Down Capital, Sequoia Capital, O.G. Venture Partners, XYZ Ventures, and Godfrey Capital also co-led.
NGP Energy Capital (Dallas, TX) participated in a $300M Series C for PhysicsX (London, UK), a physics AI platform for industrial engineering, at a $2.4B valuation. The oversubscribed round was led by Temasek and included NVIDIA, Applied Materials, Atomico, General Catalyst, Siemens, M&G Investments, and Intrepid Growth Partners.
Silent Ventures (Dallas, TX) led a $25M Seed round for Traysar Industries (Austin, TX), a defense tech company building autonomous subterranean platforms for tunnel breaching and underground reconnaissance. Lux Capital, Ora Global, and angel investors including Steve Blank and founders from Anduril and Erebor also participated.