The 4th Annual Texas Venture Fest will convene more than 3,500 entrepreneurs, investors, and community leaders across 10-plus cities and 20-plus venues on October 1, 2026, according to organizers. Described as the largest state-focused innovation experience in Texas history, the event is designed to celebrate local startup communities while linking them into a unified statewide network.
Driven by a coalition of venture capital firms, accelerators, universities, economic development corporations, and civic organizations, the festival showcases how Texas collaborates across regional lines to power economic growth. This year’s theme, “Innovation is Statecraft,” frames entrepreneurial innovation as a strategic engine for the state’s economy and national leadership.
“We bring together a statewide coalition with a shared purpose: amplifying the ecosystem of entrepreneur support,” said CS Freeland, Texas Venture Fest organizer. “When each co-host showcases their regional perspective and expertise, our collective work connects local strengths into a powerful statewide network.”
Regional programming spans the state. In Austin, the Austin Venture Crawl will feature Silverton Partners’ Oktoberfest kickoff, the Founders’ Outpost hosted by LiveOak Ventures, S3 Ventures, 512 Financial, and KPMG, plus space workforce roundtables by SWIFT and research panels from the Federal Labs Consortium and USPTO. In North Texas, Kiln Dallas will host ecosystem leaders, including Michael Phillips of T.D. Jakes Enterprises discussing capital access through the Good Soil Movement.
In El Paso and San Antonio, Pioneers 21 and UTEP’s Hunt G.O. Foundry anchor El Paso Startup Week activities, while San Antonio’s Emerge and Rise spotlights local founders and creators. In Central & Hill Country Texas, Pflugerville hosts a Women’s Summit and Venture Pfest; Georgetown offers angel investing workshops with CTAN; Round Rock Chamber features founder fireside chats; and Hill Country Venture Fest highlights rural student entrepreneurs at Mason’s historic Odeon Theater.
“Founders across Texas deserve access to a connected statewide ecosystem,” said McKenzie, host of The Building Texas Show. “Rural students pitching at the Odeon belong in the same conversation as founders in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, and San Antonio.”
In Houston and South Texas, Houston showcases health tech, energy transition, and space innovations, while the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo highlight binational trade, cross-border entrepreneurship, and logistics hubs. Buda joins the coalition with events on small business growth and suburban innovation.
Starting in 2022 as the Austin Venture Crawl with 700 attendees, Texas Venture Fest expanded to 10 cities and 2,000 participants in 2023, surpassed 3,000 attendees in 2024 with the debut of the Texan’s Choice Awards, and convened 3,500 participants across 25 venues in 2025. This year, it serves as an anchor event of Texas Startup & Tech Week, reinforcing the state’s position as a global innovation hub.
For more details, visit the official Texas Venture Fest channels.
