Texas · 7 metros tracked
The Texas tech triangle is now a hexagon
Austin still leads, but the gap is closing. Houston's energy-tech rebound and DFW's defense AI cluster are reshaping the state's center of gravity in ways the old Austin/Dallas/Houston narrative misses.
01 Texas metro rankings
| Metro | Score | VC 2025 | Active Startups | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | 94 | $2.4B | 1,842 | AI, semiconductors, climate |
| Dallas-FW | 86 | $1.9B | 1,421 | Fintech, telecom, defense |
| Houston | 81 | $1.4B | 983 | Energy tech, space, health |
| San Antonio | 72 | $620M | 554 | Cybersecurity, biosci |
| El Paso | 58 | $180M | 142 | Border AI, logistics |
| Lubbock | 47 | $72M | 61 | Agtech, water tech |
| Corpus Christi | 44 | $58M | 48 | Maritime AI, energy |
02 Five Texas signals worth tracking
- Houston's energy-AI flip: Energy majors are now the #2 buyer of AI compute in the US after hyperscalers. Houston-HQ AI startups raised $640M in 2025, up from $90M in 2022.
- DFW defense AI: Lockheed, Raytheon, and Bell are headquartered around DFW; defense-AI startups in the metro raised $310M in 2025, almost all in autonomy and ISR.
- San Antonio cybersecurity: NSA Texas and the 16th Air Force created a cybersecurity cluster that now feeds 40+ commercial spinouts.
- El Paso border AI: CBP modernization contracts are creating a small but rapidly growing border-tech sector — 18 startups, mostly logistics and surveillance.
- Lubbock agtech: Texas Tech's plant science program is the seed for an agtech cluster — water tech, drought genetics, drone applications.
03 Texas vs the rest
Texas as a whole now hosts 12.4% of US-based emerging-tech startups by count, up from 8.1% in 2020. California's share dropped from 38.2% to 33.1% in the same window.
Texas share of US emerging-tech startups (%).