Mary Ann Azevedo@bayareawriter
At the height of the pandemic and the global shift to remote work, tech founders and investors alike flocked to Austin, Texas, drawn to a more business-friendly environment, relatively lower housing costs, and the city’s hip reputation.
Venture firms that set up shop in the Texas capital city included Bedrock Capital, Breyer Capital, and 8VC , among others. Elon Musk famously moved Tesla’s headquarters to Austin in 2021, while also purchasing a house and establishing a residence there.
But as more employees returned to in-office work, Austin slowly fell out of favor with the tech community, some of whom said it had been overhyped as a startup hub.
There were reports of tech workers who had moved to the city during the pandemic and claimed to regret it, saying they were going back to places like the Bay Area. Musk relocated Tesla’s engineering headquarters back to California in 2023.
Undeterred by the “tourists,” the startup and venture community in Austin kept plugging away. And those efforts are reflected in a surge in funding for startups headquartered there last year, with 2025 posting an all-time high in Austin venture investment, Crunchbase data show.
Read my deep dive on @crunchbasenews (article link in comments)
