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Brett Hurt is a distinguished Venture Capitalist at Austin Ventures and a highly successful serial entrepreneur. He is best known for founding Coremetrics, which was acquired by IBM, and co-founding Bazaarvoice, which went public. His career is marked by a deep understanding of technology and business scaling.
As a VC at Austin Ventures, Brett Hurt primarily invests in high-growth technology companies. His key focus areas include B2B SaaS (Software as a Service), e-commerce infrastructure, and data analytics platforms. He seeks companies with strong product-market fit and scalable business models.
Brett Hurt works as a Venture Capitalist at Austin Ventures. He leverages his extensive entrepreneurial and operational background to identify and support promising startups within the technology sector.
Brett Hurt is the Co-founder and CEO of data.world and the Principal of Hurt Family Investments, based in Austin, Texas. Previously, he founded and served as CEO of Bazaarvoice, leading the consumer review platform to a 2012 initial public offering, and established Coremetrics, an analytics firm acquired by IBM in 2010. He formerly operated as a Venture Partner at Austin Ventures and earned his MBA from The Wharton School after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. Under his leadership, data.world has secured over $130 million in total funding, including a $50 million Series C round, to develop its cloud-native enterprise data catalog and artificial intelligence governance software. His career centers on scaling enterprise data management platforms while actively funding early-stage technology startups through a family office portfolio that exceeds 100 total investments.
Brett Hurt stands out as a prominent Venture Capitalist at Austin Ventures, distinguished by a remarkable career that seamlessly blends successful entrepreneurship with astute investment acumen. His unique perspective as a founder who has built and scaled multiple companies provides an invaluable edge in identifying and nurturing the next generation of market leaders. As a VC at Austin Ventures, Brett Hurt is deeply committed to supporting innovative technology companies, particularly those poised for significant disruption and growth.
Hurt's investment focus at Austin Ventures primarily centers on sectors where he possesses deep operational expertise. This includes B2B SaaS (Software as a Service), e-commerce infrastructure, and data analytics platforms. He has a keen eye for companies that leverage data to create competitive advantages, enhance customer experiences, or streamline business operations. His thesis often revolves around scalable business models that demonstrate strong product-market fit and have the potential for widespread adoption in enterprise or consumer markets. Brett Hurt's approach is not merely capital provision; he actively engages with portfolio companies, offering strategic guidance derived from his own experiences in building and exiting successful ventures.
Before his impactful role as a VC, Brett Hurt established himself as a serial entrepreneur. He founded Coremetrics, a leading marketing analytics company that was later acquired by IBM, demonstrating his foresight in the burgeoning field of data-driven decision making. Following this success, he co-founded Bazaarvoice, a pioneering platform for product reviews and user-generated content, which he led through a successful IPO. These experiences provided him with firsthand knowledge of the challenges and triumphs involved in scaling technology companies from startup to market leader, insights he now generously shares with the founders he backs at Austin Ventures.
His career background as a founder gives Brett Hurt a distinctive lens through which he evaluates potential investments. He understands the intricacies of product development, market penetration, team building, and strategic exits. This operational empathy allows him to forge strong relationships with entrepreneurs, offering mentorship that extends beyond financial backing. While specific investment details from his time at Austin Ventures are proprietary, his broader investment philosophy has consistently led him to support companies that are building foundational technologies or disrupting established industries. Examples of the types of companies he has historically supported include those in the fintech, edtech, and developer tools spaces, all characterized by strong recurring revenue models and significant market potential. Brett Hurt's contributions as a VC at Austin Ventures are instrumental in fostering innovation and driving economic growth within the technology ecosystem.
