San Antonio’s startup scene is maturing.
Since we started this list in 2019, our annual compilations (see our lists from 2020, 2021, and 2022) have highlighted startups disrupting industries and growing steadily. Companies on these lists, such as Plus One Robotics, Allosense, and FloatMe, are scaling operations, hiring talent, and scoring investment dollars.
San Antonio’s startup ecosystem reflects innovation across many different industry sectors. This year, we’ve included founders leveraging advanced technologies in real estate development, on-demand personal security, drones, biotech, and digital health.
Criteria
We do not repeat company mentions from year to year.
Our unranked alphabetical list of startups features early-stage companies leveraging innovation with promising early-stage traction and market-product fit.
These startups are:
- Privately-owned companies
- Have revenue potential (if they are pre-revenue)
- Generate $5 million or less in revenue
- Employ 50 or fewer employees
- Have raised Series A or earlier funding rounds
- Have been in existence for five years or less
The 2023 San Antonio Startups to Watch
Darkhive.AI
Darkhive closed a $1.1 million pre-seed funding in 2022 for its affordable drones explicitly designed for military and public safety use. Defense industry executive and U.S. Special Operations veteran John Goodson launched Darkhive in Sept. 2021.
In 2022, Darkhive was awarded five research and development contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense valued at $1.6 million. The startup expects an additional $30 million in equity-free funding from Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III government awards in 2023.
Read: Darkhive drone startup closes $1M pre-seed funding
Developmate
San Angelo native and Developmate founder and CEO Christian Garcia moved to San Antonio in 2019 after touring Geekdom, a startup community and co-working space based in downtown San Antonio. Earlier in 2022, he began to develop his startup idea for Developmate, a software platform that simplifies real estate due diligence for developers.
After only six months, the startup has earned $100,000 in revenue. Plans in 2023 include rolling out new products and scaling Developmate to other cities across the U.S.
Read: Developmate solves due diligence challenges for real estate developers
Hera Biotech
Biotechnology startup Hera Biotech closed an oversubscribed $1.9 million seed financing round in 2022 that will help the company bring the world’s first non-surgical diagnostic test for endometriosis to market. Co-founder and CEO Somer Baburek launched Hera Biotech in 2020 to address women’s unmet health and reproductive medicine needs.
The company is conducting a Series A raise of $7 million in 2023 to support the commercial launch of its product by 2024.
Read: Hera Biotech closes $1.9M seed funding for endometriosis diagnostics
LASO Health
LASO Health is a mobile and desktop application directly connecting healthcare consumers with physicians, specialists, and healthcare services such as MRIs. The product was launched in early 2020 to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, LASO Health raised $8 million in early-stage angel funding. The startup will announce ambitious plans and new features in early 2023 that will enable patient consumers everywhere in the U.S. to easily use LASO for healthcare needs at a firm, fixed price.
Read: LASO Health raises $8M for innovative healthcare platform
NeuScience
CEO and co-founder Guillermo Vela launched NeuScience in 2019 to focus on applying an AI software platform to cancer drug discovery, given his former Johns Hopkins cancer researcher background. NeuScience’s AI-driven platform works with computer vision to detect unique markers for cancer. Computer vision can “see” in more detail the unique signatures that are biomarkers for cancer tumors.
NeuScience collaborates with another academic center and plans a clinical trial in 2023 designed to show how NeuScience’s platform can expand upon the current survival rates for brain cancer patients.
Read: NeuScience Launches Fundraising for Cancer Drug Discovery AI Platform
Secur
Secur delivers accessible, affordable on-demand personal security to individuals and small businesses across Texas. Secur offers a range of plans for individuals, families, and small businesses to provide affordable, high-quality security at a previously unavailable price for private citizens.
The San Antonio-based startup launched its service last August and serves Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. The bootstrapped startup is launching an angel investment round in 2023 to fund the national expansion of its service.
Read: Secur launches on-demand private security app
The featured image is of a military service member releasing a Darkhive drone, designed for military and law enforcement use. Photo credit: Darkhive.
