Sandusky Ventures

Sandusky Ventures is the venture investment arm of the Sandusky Newspaper Group (SNG), a family-run media enterprise operating since 1869. Formed in 2013 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Sandusky operates as a captive corporate venture vehicle that leverages SNG's balance sheet to take strategic early- and later-stage positions in US-based startups across fintech, marketing and advertising technology, media and entertainment, and transportation. The firm writes seed-stage checks of roughly $1 million to $5 million and occasionally participates in later rounds of its portfolio companies. Across approximately 12 disclosed investments, Sandusky has produced 2 realised exits and backed one unicorn: Tackle, a B2B cloud sales platform first backed by Sandusky in 2019 that reached unicorn status in 2021. Other named portfolio companies include Rocket Dollar (self-directed IRA fintech), Umbel (sports and entertainment data analytics), Phunware (a mobile platform that IPO'd on NASDAQ in August 2016), and Austin Eastciders, the Austin-based cidermaker acquired by Blake's Hard Cider in November 2023. Sandusky operates as a lean, opportunistic fund without publicly named individual investment partners, deploying capital selectively from SNG's balance sheet rather than on a structured fund cycle. This captive family-office style gives the vehicle flexibility in both timing and deal size, and its Austin base positions it within one of the US's most active startup ecosystems. Public investment activity has been quiet in 2024 and 2025, consistent with a harvesting posture as earlier positions in Tackle and other companies mature.