Austin's LiveOak Venture Partners makes $3.5M investment in its first DFW startup

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Tom Galvin is the CEO of Razberi Technologies, which just raised $3.5 million in Series A funding from LiveOak Venture Partners in Austin.

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Danielle Abril

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Austin's LiveOak Venture Partners made its first investment in a Dallas-Fort Worth company, leading a $3.5 million Series A funding round for Razberi Technologies.

The Carrollton-based company, led by CEO Tom Galvin, develops network video solutions for security surveillance. It plans to use the infusion to increase its marketing, sales force and sales channels and accelerate its product development.

"LiveOak sees about 500 companies a year, and they invest in three – so it's a very rigorous selection process," Galvin said, adding the deal took five months to complete. "It says a lot about the business we've built."

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The investment represents a strategic move for LiveOak, which has been actively pursuing Dallas companies to add to its $100 million fund that comprises a portfolio of seven Texas startups. But it won't be the last for the investment firm, as its still looking for a few more DFW companies to add to its portfolio.

"We've been wanting to get active in Dallas for a while," said Krishna Srinivasan, LiveOak general partner, adding that the investment firm met with at least 60 DFW startups before investing in Razberi. "We are very interested in the activity in Dallas.

"It feels like it's had a nice rebirth in entrepreneurial activity."

Razberi, a three-year-old company that employs 25 people in DFW, plans to hire between six and seven software engineers within the next six months to help with research and development. It's also working to make its black box surveillance device more durable for outdoor environments, such as public city centers and oil, gas and energy facilities.

Danielle covers technology, retail, restaurants and hospitality for the Dallas Business Journal. Subscribe to our new TechFlash email newsletter.