Softeq Continues Growth of Venture Fund, Welcomes H2 2022 Venture Studio Cohort with Increasing Global Representation

On Oct 4, 2022

Guiding the development of future technologies and supporting entrepreneurs in med tech, sports tech, fin tech, and the eCommerce and Web 3.0 technologies that enable them

HOUSTON, October 04, 2022–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Softeq Development Corporation (Softeq), a Houston-based global hardware and software services development company serving Fortune 500 companies, continues its growth trajectory following on its expansion earlier this year by welcoming 22 new startups through the Softeq Venture Studio, the company’s accelerator program, bringing the total number of startups in the portfolio to 49. This cohort includes entrepreneurs from several global locations as diverse as the United Kingdom, Iceland, Mexico, and Peru.

Additionally, the Softeq Venture Fund, which has also seen explosive growth this year from new investors in several categories including family offices, investment firms, and high net worth individuals, both in and outside the United States, has announced its latest Limited Partner. Houston serial entrepreneur Craig Ceccanti, co-founder of Pinot’s Palette and sEATz, is the latest investor to join the $40M Fund which is anticipated to close by the end of 2022.

“This year has been a significant one for the Softeq Venture Fund and our portfolio companies. Due to the hard work of our team and the success achieved by previous founders, we’ve seen our investors and our entrepreneurs evolve to be more global than ever, and with more ambitious plans to revolutionize their industries. We continue to attract world-class founders to Houston for our program that de-risks startups and investments,” said Christopher A. Howard, founder and CEO of Softeq.

On the forefront of emerging consumer demand for health and wellness, the H2 2022 cohort includes a number of entrepreneurs focused on med tech and sports tech along with others focusing on the technologies and tools that enable these industries to thrive, including fin tech, eCommerce, and Web 3.0 applications.

“Investors constantly search for opportunities that balance opportunity and risk, and ones that help us grow and maximize returns while maintaining a measure of stability and diversification,” said Craig Ceccanti. “Joining the Softeq Venture Fund is an exciting opportunity because it provides a de-risked investment opportunity plus the ability to participate in a hands-on fashion in Houston within these high-growth industries.”

As part of the most recent effort, the 22 new startups will receive mentoring support and guidance throughout the three-month program from the Softeq Venture Studio staff, Softeq engineers, local mentors, investors, and earlier cohort members at FUSE Workspace in Houston, a co-working space.

“During our startup journey, we participated in leading technology accelerator Y Combinator. Later on, we realized through our users’ feedback we needed to improve our product with additional technology expertise and support to reach our full potential,” said Gerardo Briones, founder and CEO of startup Pagaloop of Mexico City. “That’s why we chose to participate in the Softeq Venture Studio. Softeq engineers have experience building enterprise-grade applications that scale up. We also get more opportunities to meet investors to bring our product to all of Latin America.”

The latest news builds on earlier funding activity. In early August, Softeq announced an additional commitment of $5 million to the Softeq Venture Fund and the creation of a satellite venture studio from a new group of venture capital investors in New Hampshire. To date, the Softeq Venture Fund has raised more than $25 million, surpassing the halfway mark of the fund’s $40 million goal.

The upcoming H2 2022 cohort of the Softeq Venture Fund includes the following companies:

Adkaddy gets brands out of your email and into a powerful brand management tool. From discovery to promotions, shipping and receipts, this is digital commerce your way.
Allkind is benefiting reproductive healthcare globally by innovating fertility matching, empowering personal goals & improving modern family building.
atease is where 133 million government and military employees with strict rental requirements find approved, affordable, and reimbursable lodging options.
Boxes provides convenient, space-efficient, highly measurable, sampling and trial vending technology for premium CPG companies looking to reach customers where they shop and live.
Hapi is a stock trading platform with no minimums and no commissions focused on consumers in Latin America.
HelloDoctor puts qualified, responsive, and affordable doctors on the screens of 89 million cell phones of patients in Mexico. Healthcare just got better in Latin America.
Hightag is an automated media capture and delivery system that helps mountain bikers, skiers, and other action sport athletes capture and share their greatest moments.
IncentiFind is the nation’s go-to database of green building incentives, transforming U.S. real estate through $70 billion in incentives.
JamFeed aggregates artists’ social media and music streaming content into an automated no-code website where artists can control their brand, their business, and their relationship with fans in one platform in less than 5 minutes.
Lesson Squad helps brands turn their customers into loyal users by creating a branded hub where customers can take lessons, enter competitions, and discover products.
LVED is an easy to use expert guided platform that provides everything families need to plan, organize, legally document end of life wishes, and memorialize loved ones.
Mesada is a digital remittance company that is utilizes blockchain technology to offer fast, efficient, and easy money transfers throughout the Latin American region.
Motusi is a whole-body wearable with AI to generate deeper insights related to movement quality and injury insights to help athletes progress in their performance or recovery.
MyShoots is an app for shooting sports organizations to connect with and market to their clients more efficiently, while allowing field-sports brands to connect with their customers.
Pagaloop is a fintech company that allows Latin American businesses more control over their cash flow when performing B2B transactions.
RESCUNOMICS offers a mobile app that helps save lives by expediting rescuer protocols and providing visibility into building floor plans and more.
sEATz connects fans to concessions and merchandise for in-seat delivery or pick-up reducing concession lines, increasing throughput, improving sales, and driving fan satisfaction.
SpecsX is transforming eye care into a virtual care model reducing costs, inconvenience for patients and providers, and giving everyone access to perfect vision.
Struttur Sports is an NFT platform where athletes share their experiences by connecting and combining digital and In Real Life events to create the deep interactions sports fans crave.
Svarmi is a digital platform that defines and prioritizes areas where business and progress influence nature providing meaningful, insightful metrics and proof of regulatory compliance.
SynvergySvn digitizes the movements of athletes with integrated wearables like the J-Sleeve so players, coaches, and trainers can diagnose muscle memory and improve repeat performance.
WulfTech protects and preserves the health of high-value K9 working dogs through smart wearable technology for government agencies, the military, and first responders.

To learn more about the Softeq Venture Studio and submit an application for the upcoming H1 2023 cohort, visit www.softeq.com/venture-studio.

About Softeq Development Corporation

Founded in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Softeq Development Corporation provides early-stage innovation, technology business consulting, and technical solutions to enterprise companies and innovative startups. The company’s clients are often disrupting existing industries or going through digital transformation—an effort that requires a broad range of business and technical skills. Softeq offers a full spectrum of consulting services plus full-stack software, firmware, and hardware engineering services all under one roof and delivered by 400+ employees globally. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and maintains sales and delivery offices in Los Angeles, London, and Munich, Germany. The company’s development centers are based in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Monterrey, Mexico. Softeq bridges technology gaps in knowledge-intensive projects and builds end-to-end solutions for connected devices and IT systems from the ground up. To help clients transition from analog to digital, the company provides expertise in various trending technologies, including the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Industrial Automation, Robotics, Blockchain, and AR/VR. Softeq enterprise customers include AMD, Disney, Epson, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Verifone, and Verizon. Startups include Arrival, Halo by PAWS, GetScouted, Home Outside, Medly Theraputics, Vela Bikes, and many others.

In 2020, the company launched the Softeq Innovation Lab to provide an environment where corporate intrapreneurs and preeminent innovators from Houston and beyond can collaborate, create the technologies of tomorrow, and expedite the commercialization of ideas. In 2021, the Softeq Venture Studio was created to help early-stage startups build their products and get follow-on funding. The Softeq Venture Fund was launched in 2022 to provide capital to the Venture Studio and make follow-on investments in the top portfolio companies. Learn more at softeq.com.

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Contacts

Bradlee Borgfeldt
bborgfeldt@piercom.com