Central Texas Angel Network

CTAN was in Georgetown today for Launch GTX, organized by the City of Georgetown Economic Development as part of Texas Venture Fest. Gary Forni and Katelyn Bentley led our Pitching to Angels 101: Think Like an Investor workshop, breaking down how investors evaluate a pitch, what information matters most, and how founders can communicate their business clearly. We appreciated the thoughtful questions from the founders in the room and the opportunity to share a look at the angel investment process. Thank you to the City of Georgetown Economic Development team for including CTAN in this year’s Launch GTX.

Two more weeks until our Cycle 5 Virtual Info Session! This is the CTAN's last Funding Cycle of 2026. Founders, if you're planning to apply for funding in Cycle 5, you don't want to miss this session on Tuesday, October 13 at Noon CT. Learn about CTAN's Funding Cycle process Upcoming deadlines Live Q&A with CTAN members RSVP in Eventbrite to attend the virtual session: https://lnkd.in/dKdCGf4w

Join CTAN and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP TOMORROW for this cybersecurity panel with OpenAI, Perplexity, and Runtime Ventures. Register in Luma to attend: https://luma.com/gxj2gcx0

A packed house at CTAN's recent Pitch Night! More than 50 members and guests joined us to hear six companies pitch, ask questions, and get a firsthand look at CTAN’s investment process. The pitches are over, but the real work starts now as Cycle 4 heads into due diligence. Want to be in the room for the next one?  Accredited investors interested in joining us for our final Pitch Night of the year can email director@ctan.com for more information and an invitation. #accreditedinvestors #angelinvesting #startupecosystem #austintx #investing #entrepreneurs #angelinvestors #startups #startupfunding

October at CTAN is packed. Don’t miss out. We’re heading into one of our busiest stretches of the year with something happening nearly every week: 📅  𝐎𝐜𝐭. 𝟏: 𝐂𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐍 + 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐰 Open to accredited investors. Register: https://luma.com/gxj2gcx0 📅  𝐎𝐜𝐭. 𝟕: “𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐲” 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 & 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 Open to accredited investors. Request to attend: https://lnkd.in/dMqSbcYV 📅  𝐎𝐜𝐭. 𝟏3: 𝐂𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝟓 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 Founders, learn about CTAN's funding cycle process and have your questions answered ahead of our Cycle 5 application deadline. Register: https://lnkd.in/dKdCGf4w 📅  𝐎𝐜𝐭. 𝟏𝟓: 𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 We reserved a few seats for accredited investors who are not yet CTAN members. Register: https://luma.com/gage24v2 📅  𝐎𝐜𝐭. 𝟏𝟔: 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 Founders, don't miss your chance to sit down 1:1 with angel investors. Register: https://lnkd.in/dzQRNhpi 📅  𝐍𝐨𝐯. 𝟓: 𝐂𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝟓 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 Accredited investors invited to attend. Email our team at director@ctan.com for an invite. Learn from experts. Meet founders. Spend time with fellow investors. And get in the room for our final funding cycle of 2026. October is going to be a good one.

Sign up for CTAN's 1st Annual Poker Tournament! Join us October 15 for the CTAN Poker Tournament: an evening of poker, friendly competition, and a chance to get to know the investors behind one of the most active angel networks in the country. While the game is for fun, it comes with serious bragging rights, and a massive CTAN Poker champion belt ala professional boxing. Rick Timmins (of Worldwide series of poker fame) will be moderating the game.  We’ve saved a limited number of seats for accredited investors who aren’t CTAN members yet to join us for the night. ♠️ October 15 | 5:30–8:30 PM 💰 $100 buy-in 🏆 Custom CTAN championship belt for the winner Only a handful of non-member seats are available. Accredited investors can request a seat here: https://luma.com/gage24v2

We’re pleased to welcome Justin Garcia to the CTAN Board of Directors! Justin brings experience across technology, international business, entrepreneurship, and wealth management, including six and a half years at Amazon. Since joining CTAN, he has become an active angel investor and contributor to the network, with a strong appreciation for the collective expertise and rigorous due diligence behind our investments. His perspective as an operator, entrepreneur, and investor will be a valuable addition to the Board. Welcome, Justin!

55 investors and guests. Six companies. A lot of good questions at CTAN's Funding Cycle 4 Pitch Night. The companies who pitched: Endurance Bio Inc. KwikKart (Aaron Gyure) Winter Innovations, EasyWhip (Lia Winter) SynBotics (Feng M.) Persevere Therapeutics (Greg Bosch) CTAN portfolio company Pixion Batteries The pitches are over. Now we find out which companies our members want to spend the next few weeks digging into. Due diligence starts next week. If you’re an accredited investor who wants a seat at the table, join us at ctan.com. Founders, you have one more chance to pitch CTAN in 2026. Applications for our final funding cycle are open now at ctan.com.

You’re invited! Join CTAN and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on Thursday, October 1 for a rare conversation with leaders from OpenAI, Perplexity, and Runtime Ventures on the topic of Cybersecurity in the Age of AI: What Angel Investors Need to Know. It is not often that angel investors get three leading cybersecurity and AI experts together in one room. What makes this panel even more remarkable is that all three live and work right here in Austin and bring a different perspective on how AI is changing cybersecurity: 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐳, Product Security Lead at OpenAI 𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲, Chief Information Security Officer at Perplexity 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐫, Co-Founder/GP at Runtime Ventures (cybersecurity investors) The conversation will focus on what angel investors need to understand as they evaluate and support early-stage companies. What should investors look for during due diligence? What level of security is realistic for a five-person startup? What should boards expect from management? How is AI changing the balance between attackers and defenders, and critically where could that create new investment opportunities? Rather than a technical deep dive, this will be an investor-focused discussion of the practical cybersecurity questions showing up in diligence, boardrooms, and early-stage companies today. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 Thursday, October 1, 2026 5:30–6:00 p.m. — Guest check-in, cocktails and networking 6:00–6:45 p.m. — Moderated panel discussion 6:45–7:00 p.m. — Audience Q&A 7:00–9:00 p.m. — Food, drinks and conversation on the 19th floor 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑: https://luma.com/gxj2gcx0 Come for the conversation, stay for the food and drinks, and leave better prepared to evaluate cybersecurity risk and opportunity in the age of AI.

Why did one of Europe’s top-performing angel networks come to Austin? To compare notes on what drives returns. Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN) has 630 members and €526M invested. This week, their team is in the U.S. studying early-stage investing, and today they met with CTAN's Gary Forni and Katelyn Bentley at Capital Factory to dig into how our model works. The numbers gave us plenty to talk about. CTAN has maintained a 4.33x MOIC and 28% IRR across our portfolio. For comparison, the NASDAQ has historically returned roughly 12% annually. We shared how CTAN operates, what we’ve learned along the way, and some of the factors that have contributed to those returns. And the learning went both ways. Angel investing may look different across markets, but stronger networks are built by sharing what works. CTAN engages globally, invests nationally, and mentors locally. Thanks to the FiBAN team for making Austin and CTAN part of your week in the U.S.