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Moves in VC: week of july 12 - july 18. This week's Moves in VC contains 20 Moves and 11 new fund announcements, compiled from 40+ sources. Icymi. Kirk Hourdajaian left his role as a Partner at Montauk Capital. Montauk Capital is a venture capital firm focusing on the electron economy. Eastern US. Ali Afridi and Chelsea Zhang were promoted to Partner at Equal Ventures, while Sophia Dodd was promoted to Principal. Equal Ventures is a seed-stage venture fund investing in companies that deploy technology to legacy industries. Jeff Berger left his role as an Operating Partner at FJ Labs. Jeff joined Hubble Contacts as CEO. FJ Labs is a stage-agnostic venture fund. Loubaba El Ayoubi joined Northzone as a VC Investor. Loubaba recently graduated from Stanford University with a Master's in Management Science & Engineering. Madeline Behr was promoted to Investor Relations and Capital Formation Principal at SOSV. SOSV is a deep-tech venture capital firm. Sam Schwartzben left his role as an Investor at Affinity Partners. Sam will be building House Capital as a Partner. Affinity Partners is an investment firm focusing on American and Israeli companies. Interested in having your job posting featured here? Western US. John Edgar and Jane Lee transitioned to Investment Partner and Marketing Partner, respectively at Maple VC. Maple VC is an early-stage venture capital firm backing Canadian founders. Catie Calcagno joined Playground Global as a Director of Investor Relations. Catie previously worked at The Westly Group as the Head of Investor Relations. Playground Global is an early-stage deep tech venture capital firm. Simran Arora joined Gigascale Capital as the Head of Finance. Simran previously worked at SemperVirens Venture Capital as a Director of Finance. Gigascale Capital is a venture capital firm focusing on companies rebuilding the physical economy. HK (Hyukmin Kwon) joined SK hynix as a Venture Investment Director. HK previously worked at Entegris Ventures as a Senior Principal. SK hynix invests in the AI infra stack. Eric Fett left his role as a Vice President at NGP Capital and is joining Gradial as the Head of Strategy and Business Development. NGP Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm focusing on B2B companies in Europe and the US. Luke Riggan joined Amplify Partners as an Associate Investor. Luke previously worked at EGB Capital as a Venture Partner. Saveena Mandadi is leaving her role as a Venture Partner at Mantis Venture Capital. Saveena joined Mesh Optical Technologies, one of Mantis' portfolio companies, as a Business Operations and Finance Lead. Mantis Venture Capital is an early-stage technology venture capital firm focusing on B2B software companies. Southeastern US. Patrick Bailey was promoted to Senior Investment Diligence Manager at SC Launch Inc. SC Launch Inc., is the investment affiliate of SCRA (South Carolina Research Authority). Canada. Evan Kerr joined Sagard as a General Partner focused on their AI fund. Evan previously worked at Georgian as a Lead Investor. Sagard is a global multi-strategy alternative asset management firm. Middle east. Naftaly Gluskin joined Vine Ventures as a Principal. Naftaly previously worked at Essentia Venture Capital as an Investor. Vine Ventures is an early-stage, technology-focused venture capital firm. Africa. Tramayne Monaghan is stepping down from his role as a Chief Venture Officer at NEXT176. NEXT176, backed by Old Mutual, focuses on the future of emerging economies. Asia. Chris Starkey was promoted to Head of Finance at Woven Capital, while Jarek Khoilian and Manas Punhani were promoted to Principals. Woven Capital is a growth fund focusing on the future of mobility. New funds. These firms are ready to write checks, with new funds recently closed. Menlo Park-based Greylock Partners closed $1.5B for its eighteenth early- stage fund. San Francisco-based Omni Ventures closed its first $33M fund to focus on early-stage startups building the next generation of manufacturing technology. San Francisco-based Paradigm raised $1.2B to invest in 'technical frontier' startups. San Francisco-based Drumbeat Capital launched its debut $50M fund to invest in early-stage deep tech companies. Milan-based Primo Capital launched its second $137M fund aimed at civil and defence space technology. Milan-based Panakès Partners closed its first $22.8M fund to advance early-stage therapeutics startups in Italy. The University of Toronto, McMaster, and the Ontario government teamed up to launch a new $40M fund to back early stage life science spinouts. San Francisco-based B Capital closed its third $500M Ascent fund to back AI and frontier tech founders. Arlington-based Marlinspike Partners closed its second $127M fund to support companies operating at the intersection of national security and next-generation industrials. Warsaw-based Expeditions closed its second $225M fund to shape the future of European security. New York-based AlleyCorp closed its second $335M fund to support early-stage founders. For emerging managers. Join over 3,000 VC professionals receiving key legal insights by Chris Harvey. Discover the "Law of VC" Substack with free checklists, forms, and guides. Stay tuned for next week's Moves in VC!

Texas weekly deal highlights. July 12, 2026. Jul 12, 2026 Two of every three public companies looking to leave Delaware this year want to set up shop in Texas instead. New data from Georgeson's early 2026 proxy season review shows that of the 17 shareholder proposals seeking to reincorporate out of Delaware, 11 (65%) named Texas as the destination, and nearly all that have gone to a vote have passed. The trend has a nickname now: "DExit." The departures are driven in large part by frustration with Delaware's Court of Chancery, long the default venue for corporate law, whose recent rulings companies increasingly see as unpredictable. Tesla decamped for Texas in 2024 after a Delaware judge voided Elon Musk's pay package, and Coinbase followed, with its chief legal officer publicly citing the erosion of legal certainty in Delaware. Texas has courted the exodus, standing up a dedicated business court and codifying friendlier governance rules. The companies in this week's roundup are mostly new and private, but the throughline is the same: more and more, when a business decides where to plant its flag, the answer is Texas. With that, let's get to this week's deal activity: Austin. * Haven Advisors Holdings raised $10M in a Seed from undisclosed investors. $10M raised to date. * Legible, a developer of an AI-native policy intelligence platform for government affairs professionals, raised $3.5M in a deal led by Acadian Software. $3.5M raised to date. * BistroCat, a developer of an automated wet cat food feeder for pet owners, raised $2.06M in a deal from undisclosed investors. $4.11M raised to date. Greater Texas market. * Venus Aerospace (Houston), a developer of rotating detonation rocket engine technology for defense and space propulsion systems, raised $91M in a Series B led by Mercury Fund with participation from Airbus Ventures, America's Frontier Fund, Auxilium Partners, BroadVision Group, and others. $139.28M raised to date. * Hephae Energy Technology (Spring), a developer of ultra-high-temperature robotics for next-generation geothermal drilling, raised $17.8M in a Series A led by Susquehanna Sustainable Investments and Underground Ventures with participation from Alfa8, Baruch Future Ventures, Centaurus Capital, Elemental Impact, and others. $24.15M raised to date. * Otovo (Houston), a provider of AI-driven home energy services spanning solar, storage, and EV charging, raised $7.25M in a deal led by EIC Rose Rock with participation from Energy Innovation Capital. $7.25M raised to date. * Adaptive Insurance (Bee Cave), a provider of parametric specialty insurance products addressing climate and weather risks, raised $5M in a deal led by Congruent Ventures and Peconic Partners with participation from Connecticut Innovations, Firemark Ventures, Montauk Capital, Room & Pillar, and others. $10M raised to date. * Frontlands (Dallas), a provider of asset-backed lines of credit secured by mineral and royalty rights, raised $4M in a deal from undisclosed investors. $65.43M raised to date. * The Boardroom Mastermind (Grapevine), a real estate education company operating peer groups for investors, raised $1.73M in a Seed from undisclosed investors. $1.73M raised to date. * Climb Group (Dallas), a provider of Databricks-focused data and AI consulting services for enterprises, raised $1.4M in a Seed from undisclosed investors. $1.4M raised to date. * Skybound Medtech (Houston), a developer of dual-use medical technologies for space medicine and defense applications, raised $1.25M in a Seed from undisclosed investors. $1.25M raised to date. See you next week! - Mason & Joel This edition was supported by Malik Osumah. Texas CEO Magazine is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.