Texas Ventures

Texas Ventures is a Houston-based private equity and venture capital firm with deep expertise in structured finance, capital markets and technology. Its investment philosophy is to identify emerging trends and opportunities before they are recognized by the broader market, and to take a proactive, hands-on approach working alongside entrepreneurs and managers building world-class companies; the team typically engages more closely with management than a traditional venture firm, and it is willing to lead. The firm focuses on communications, fintech and software, healthcare and life sciences, specialty finance, and energy transition and renewables. With more than 25 years managing venture investments and over 20 active investments, Texas Ventures has built a portfolio of roughly 44 companies, recording one IPO and eight acquisitions, with notable holdings and exits including Data.World, Arbe and YapStone; its most recent disclosed exit was Machfu in December 2024. The firm is led by founding and managing partner E. Scott Crist, a serial entrepreneur and CEO of AI computer-vision company Osperity, former CEO of Telscape International and Matrix Telecom, with an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School. The partner team includes Andrew Clark, covering SaaS, communications, energy-tech, hardware, life sciences, fintech and IoT; Harvin Moore, covering aerospace and aviation, public and private investments, education and SaaS; and Aruna Viswanathan, covering AI, cloud, SaaS, semiconductors and e-commerce, with Greg Smith as CFO. The firm has also sponsored a series of Texas Ventures Acquisition SPACs, including a $200M Nasdaq IPO in 2025. Texas Ventures blends venture and structured-finance expertise with hands-on engagement.