- Ironspring Ventures collected $61 million in a fundraising round.
- Augmentir is a service offering information and resources for remote workers.
- Ironspring has so far invested in four portfolio companies.
Heavy manufacturing has always been a significant part of the economy in the Lone Star State. From the chemical refineries that line the Gulf Coast to the oilfields of West Texas. Today, as venture capital comes into the state as part of a California exodus, a new fund blends the manufacturing history of Texas with its high-tech future. That fund is Ironspring Projects, which, almost two years after launching its fundraising activities, closed its first investment vehicle with $61 million.
The product of a relationship between the co-founders of an earlier investment vehicle named Holt Ventures, Adam Bridgman and Peter J. Holt, and Ty Findley, a former investor at G.E. According to Bridgman, the firm’s goal is to “accelerate digital adoption across legacy heavy industries,” Projects and the Pritzker Group. With industrial technology and deep roots in the Texas economy, each member of the Ironspring team has a long history. Findley is a managing partner. It grew up in East Texas in the middle of nowhere. But comes from a family of pioneers who has founded companies along the border between Texas and Louisiana.
Bidgman’s view
“I joined up with Peter Holt, our other co-founder, and managing partner,” Bridgman said. That was really phased one for us at the early stage of digital innovation to follow this wider goal of investing in the legacy industry. With Ty [Findley], we were lucky to find a good cultural alignment and a rare encounter. We got to know each other very well after co-investing for a certain period of time. We joined forces and over the past year-and-a-half, the formal start and formal closure of the fund in December has been a pleasant ride.
Augmentir is a service offering information and resources for remote workers. It was the first deal the three men participated in together. Findley said, “Everything comes back to these “digital industrial” words for us.” “There is this huge gap w.here people forget that manufacturing is almost the majority of GDP in this nation.”
Ironspring’s other investments
Ironspring has so far invested in four portfolio companies: Mercado, which is developing a service to enhance the import process; Icon Create, a business that develops 3D printing equipment and construction industry technologies; FastRadius, which offers prototyping and industrial design tools and services; and GoContractor, security, and enforcement management service. According to the company’s partners, the company’s average check size is about $2.5 million and investments will range from $1 million at the low end to $4 million at the high end. That means searching for what “post-seed” deals are named by the company.
And the company is looking for technology that transforms how companies plan, develop, and provide services for goods and function across a wide spectrum of industrial outputs. “We are trying to organize ourselves around those themes,” Bridgman said.
