Next Coast Ventures — Investment Thesis & Preferences

01Investment Thesis

Built for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs — NCV invests thematically in Next Coast markets (Austin, Midwest, Mountain West) at the Seed/Series A inflection point. They back glass-eating founders building category-defining companies in large markets, providing capital plus hands-on company building support via their 150+ expert network.

Exclusion Criteria

Avoids purely coastal (SF/NY) companies without connection to Next Coast ecosystems; avoids deep technology/hardware without software leverage; typically does not invest post-Series B without prior portfolio relationship.

02Investment Team

MS

Mike Smerklo

Co-Founder and Managing Director

TB

Thomas Ball

Co-Founder and Managing Director

KD

Kaitlyn DeBernardo

Partner, COO & Head of Platform

JD

Julie Dodd

Venture Partner

PR

Paul Rogers

Venture Partner

AR

Adam Rogers

Venture Partner

BS

Brian Sharples

Venture Partner

CC

Cotter Cunningham

Venture Partner

JC

Julian Castelli

Venture Partner

JD

Jason Dorsey

Venture Partner

SM

Scott Miller

Venture Partner (EIR)

03F4 Research Brief

Next Coast Ventures Research

Investment Thesis

Next Coast Ventures is an Austin-based venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Mike Smerklo and Thomas Ball under the ethos "Built for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs." Both founders are serial operators and entrepreneurs who believe the best VC partners are those who have built companies themselves. The firm invests in "Next Coast" markets — high-growth tech ecosystems outside the traditional Silicon Valley and New York corridors, including Austin, the Midwest, the Mountain West, and the Southeast.

Rather than investing by traditional sector classifications, NCV invests by themes — macro-level shifts in consumer behavior, technology, and demographics that they believe are creating durable market opportunities. Their eleven active themes include: Future of Work, Software 3.0, Retail (R)evolution, Digital Health, Meaningful Interactions, The Demographic Shift, The University Unbundled, Digital Dependents, Rent-Shifting, and Reimagining Marketplaces.

They target "glass-eating founders" — entrepreneurs who are tenacious, resilient, and mission-driven, building category-defining companies at the "make or break" inflection point. NCV aims to be the first institutional capital and a genuine company-building partner, not just a check-writer.

Stage Focus

Next Coast Ventures primarily invests at Seed and Series A. They occasionally lead pre-seed rounds for exceptional technical founders, and participate in Series B follow-ons for portfolio companies. Their sweet spot is the critical early stage when companies need both capital and strategic company-building support to accelerate into hyper-growth.

Check Size

Typical initial investment: $500K–$5M. They lead or co-lead most rounds at the seed stage and participate in larger Series A rounds ($8M–$20M). They have demonstrated willingness to lead $3.5M seed rounds (Loman AI, 2025) and $10M Series A rounds (Uplinq, 2025). The firm reserves follow-on capital for portfolio companies through NCV Select I, a $50M opportunity fund.

Lead Tendency

Next Coast Ventures typically leads or co-leads at the seed stage and participates in Series A rounds both as lead and co-investor. Evidence: They led Loman AI's $3.5M seed (Aug 2025) and led Uplinq's $10M Series A (May 2025).

Fund Structure & AUM

In March 2022, NCV closed three vehicles simultaneously totaling $310M in new capital:

Next Coast Ventures III: $195M flagship fund for early-stage tech investments
NCV Select I: $50M opportunity fund for follow-on investments in top performers
Next Coast ETA: $65M for Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (acquiring and building SMBs)

This brought total AUM to over $520M across six years of operation.

Recent Activity (2024–2026)

NCV has been actively deploying from Fund III:

January 2026: Flip raises $20M Series A (enterprise vertical AI)
January 2026: Portfolio exit — Diligent Robotics acquired by Serve Robotics
December 2025: Outlier raises $11M Series A (sports betting analytics)
September 2025: Scorability raises $40M (college sports recruiting platform)
August 2025: Led Loman AI's $3.5M seed (restaurant voice AI)
August 2025: Portfolio exit — SiteOwl acquired by ASSA ABLOY
June 2025: Portfolio exit — TrustRadius acquired by HG Insights
May 2025: Led Uplinq's $10M Series A (AI-powered bookkeeping for SMBs)
May 2025: Somite AI Series A led by Khosla Ventures (portfolio follow-on)
February 2025: CollX raises $10M Series A (sports card collecting marketplace)

Portfolio Highlights

NCV has backed 88+ companies with notable outcomes:

Exits:

Cardlytics (IPO, NASDAQ:CDLX) — digital advertising analytics platform
TrustRadius → acquired by HG Insights (June 2025)
Diligent Robotics → acquired by Serve Robotics (January 2026)
SiteOwl → acquired by ASSA ABLOY (August 2025)
Sift Science → acquired (fraud detection)
Everly Health → major growth exit (at-home lab testing)
First Dollar → acquired by Inspira Financial (December 2024)
BrainCheck → sold (cognitive health)
Clarity Money → acquired by Goldman Sachs (Marcus)
Dosh → acquired (cashback rewards)

Active Portfolio Highlights:

ICON Technology (3D-printed homes) — category-defining
Alert Media (emergency communication software)
Osano (data privacy platform)
Submittable (social impact software)
Scorability ($40M, college sports recruiting)
Loman AI (restaurant voice AI, 2025 investment)
Uplinq (AI bookkeeping for SMBs, 2025 investment)

Team

Mike Smerklo (Co-Founder, Managing Director) — Former CEO of ServiceSource (public company, SREV), prior Director of Business Development at Opsware. MBA Kellogg, BS Miami University. Author of "Mr. Monkey and Me," a book on entrepreneurship.

Thomas Ball (Co-Founder, Managing Director) — Former General Partner at Austin Ventures. Founded multiple companies: Razorgator/Openfield Technology, eCoupons. Former CEO at Lifeminders. MBA Stanford GSB.

Kaitlyn DeBernardo (Partner, COO & Head of Platform) — Early employee at Workrise (formerly RigUp, raised $700M+). Former equity desk at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MBA Stanford GSB, BA Economics Columbia.

Venture Partners — A deep bench including Brian Sharples (Co-founder/CEO HomeAway), Cotter Cunningham (Founder/CEO RetailMeNot), Julie Dodd (Operating Partner at Welsh Carson), Paul Rogers (CTO EquipmentShare, former CTO RetailMeNot), Jason Dorsey (Gen Z/Millennial research expert), Julian Castelli (serial SaaS entrepreneur), Scott Miller (Co-Founder TrustRadius), and Adam Rogers (former CTO/CEO Ultimate Software).

Decision Process

NCV operates as a partnership with two Managing Directors and multiple venture partners. Decisions are typically made at the partnership level. The firm emphasizes a genuine company-building relationship — they host Founder Summits, Digital Healthcare Breakfasts, Sales Leaders Lunches, and provide access to a 150+ expert network.

Geographic Focus

Primarily "Next Coast" markets: Austin/Texas, Midwest (Michigan), Mountain West (Colorado, Utah), and Southeast. They invest selectively nationally but have a strong emphasis on high-growth ecosystems outside SF and NYC.

Founder Preferences

NCV backs operators-turned-entrepreneurs — founders with real company-building experience who have domain expertise. They particularly value resilient, mission-driven founders building in large addressable markets. They describe their ideal founder as a "glass-eater" — someone who embraces the difficulty of building a company.

04Selected Portfolio