Silverton Partners Research
Investment Thesis
Silverton Partners is an Austin, Texas-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2006. The firm's thesis is people-driven: it partners with exceptional, technical entrepreneurs attacking growth markets with proprietary products or services, where technology can be used to build durable competitive barriers over time. Every partner at the firm is a former entrepreneur, and the team emphasizes that if it "can't add value beyond our cash," it won't invest. Silverton has built its identity as the most active venture capital investor in Texas and the anchor institutional investor for the Austin startup ecosystem, with a stated belief that "if Austin wins, we win."
Sector Focus
Silverton invests broadly across technology-enabled sectors rather than a single vertical, with a demonstrated concentration in:
- Enterprise software and SaaS (SailPoint, Ping Identity, WP Engine, Convey, Pingboard)
- Security, identity, and cyber (SpyCloud, Clarity Security, Living Security, Ontic, ControlTheory, Neon Cyber, 443ID)
- Fintech and payments (Self Financial, Routefusion, Bilt, Kickfin)
- Insurtech (The Zebra)
- Logistics and supply chain (project44, uShip, SourceDay)
- Healthcare/insurtech services (Wheel, The Helper Bees, Mobile Tech RX, Pepper Bio)
- Applied AI / AI infrastructure (Modicus Prime, Uptiq, Vsimple, Dappier, DocJuris)
- Marketplaces and consumer (Vacasa, Favor, Literati, Copper Cow Coffee)
Stage Focus
Silverton is exclusively an early-stage investor, focused on Seed and Series A rounds. The firm is typically the first institutional investor and the lead investor in the companies it backs, taking board seats and acting as the "go-to" partner within the syndicate.
Check Size
Public disclosures do not give an explicit check-size range, but seed rounds it has led or anchored in recent years (ControlTheory $5M, Clarity Security's $9M Series A, Centerseat's $2.7M seed) suggest a typical initial check in the $1M-$10M range, with reserves held for follow-on participation in later rounds (e.g., continued participation through Ontic's $230M Series C).
Lead Tendency
Leads. Silverton describes itself as "typically the first institutional investor and the lead investor in the companies we back," and its own portfolio press consistently frames rounds as being "backed by," "secured from," or "led by" Silverton at the seed/Series A stage.
Recent Activity
Fund VII ($248M, the firm's largest to date) closed in July 2022 alongside a companion Opportunities II fund, bringing total assets under management to $844M+ across seven funds. Deployment has remained active through 2025 and 2026: ControlTheory's $5M seed (April 2025), Vsimple's Series A (April 2025), Clarity Security's $9M Series A (May 2025), Neon Cyber's stealth-exit seed round (September 2025), Uptiq's $25M Series B (February 2026), and Modicus Prime's $8M total raise (May 2026, participating alongside lead investor Frist Cressey Ventures). The firm also continues to support later-stage portfolio companies, including Ontic's $230M Series C led by KKR (August 2025).
Portfolio Highlights
With 75+ portfolio companies and 30+ acquisitions/IPOs, Silverton has one of the deepest track records in the Texas ecosystem. Notable outcomes include Vacasa (NASDAQ IPO via SPAC, ~$4B market value), SailPoint (IPO, later acquired by Thoma Bravo), WP Engine, Silicon Labs (public), project44 (reached $2.4B valuation), BlackLocus (acquired by Home Depot), StackEngine (acquired by Oracle), CopperEgg (acquired by IDERA), TrendKite (acquired by Cision), and The Zebra (insurtech unicorn). Active later-stage names include Self Financial, Ontic, Wheel, AlertMedia, and Ping Identity.
Team
- Morgan Flager — Managing Partner; named to Business Insider's 2025 top 100 seed investors list
- Kip McClanahan — General Partner
- Mike Dodd — General Partner
- Roger Chen — Partner; also named to Business Insider's 2025 top 100 seed investors list
- Alyssa Dadoly — CFO & Partner
- Matthew Saitta — Principal
- Addie Rasche — Principal
- Kristen Dumbeck — Principal
- Aimee Smith — Executive Assistant + Operations & Finance Manager
Decision Process
Partnership-based. The firm operates as a small, hands-on partnership (three GPs, three principals, one CFO/partner) rather than a large investment committee, consistent with its self-description as a "go-to" hands-on syndicate partner.
Founder Preferences
Silverton favors technical, execution-oriented founders attacking large growth markets with defensible, technology-driven products. The firm explicitly values founders willing to make "numerous mid-course corrections" as an early company scales, and prioritizes long-term, multi-company relationships with repeat founders (e.g., Mark McClain across Waveset and SailPoint; Rob Taylor across two enterprise SaaS companies).
Geographic Focus
Primarily Austin and Texas, extending across the broader U.S. (recent portfolio additions span Fort Worth, Dallas, and other U.S. markets), with the firm branding itself explicitly as "the most active venture capital investor in Texas."
Recognition
Named to TIME/Statista's Top Venture Capital Firms of 2026 (2025 list also cited), and identified by CB Insights as the most active VC investor in the state of Texas.