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Trellis Partners
Bill Wood and John Long founded Trellis Partners in 2004, anchoring the firm in Austin during the city's emergence as a credible enterprise software hub.
Trellis Partners
Bill Wood and John Long founded Trellis Partners in 2004, anchoring the firm in Austin during the city's emergence as a credible enterprise software hub. Wood brought operating experience from high-growth technology companies, while Long contributed investment and board-level experience. The firm was structured from the start as a concentrated, partnership-driven venture investor targeting early-stage B2B software, infrastructure, and tech-enabled services companies, primarily in Texas and the broader US Southwest. Trellis focuses on Seed and Series A rounds, often serving as a first institutional investor. The firm's portfolio has historically concentrated on enterprise software, AI/ML, cybersecurity, and industrial technology. Confirmed positions include companies like ScaleFactor, the Austin-based automated bookkeeping platform, and OJO Labs, an AI-powered real estate search firm, both during their early-stage funding rounds. The firm invests predominantly in Texas-founded companies, with a secondary geographic reach into other under-ventured US markets, favoring capital-efficient, revenue-generating business models over cash-intensive, speculative growth plays. The firm maintains a lean structure — its partnership model is intentionally small, and the firm has not publicly disclosed AUM or headcount. From its Austin base, Trellis has no disclosed additional offices. March 2024: Trellis participated in the $18.5 million Series A for Bedrock Energy, an Austin-based geothermal heating and cooling startup, marking a rare climate-infrastructure bet alongside its core enterprise thesis (per Axios, March 2024). Unlike many peers, Trellis has not raised large multi-hundred-million-dollar funds, instead operating with a deliberate pace of deployment that aligns with a concentrated, high-conviction portfolio. Trellis distinguishes itself structurally by functioning as a near family-office-style venture partnership rather than a traditional, scaled venture capital firm. The partnership avoids institutional fundraising cycles that demand rapid deployment, which permits a patient capital approach and a governance model where partners make fewer, more deliberate bets. This architecture mirrors the original Austin venture model — long-term, operator-led, and uncorrelated with Silicon Valley's growth-at-all-costs machinery. The succession plan and governance remain tightly held by the founding partners, with no publicly disclosed transition framework.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2004
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Austin
Corporate office
Austin, TX, United States
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Trellis Partners?
Bill Wood and John Long, the co-founders, are the senior investment decision-makers. The firm operates with a lean partnership structure where both principals are actively involved in sourcing, evaluating, and managing portfolio investments. No external investment committee or junior partner-led check-writing authority has been publicly documented.
What investment stages does Trellis Partners typically target?
Trellis concentrates on Seed and Series A rounds, often as a first institutional investor. The firm targets companies with initial revenue traction and a clear enterprise or B2B software focus. Later-stage or growth-equity investments are not part of its observed historical deployment pattern.
Does Trellis Partners operate nationally or focus on a specific geography?
The firm's primary geographic focus is Texas and the US Southwest, with Austin as its anchor market. While it has selectively invested outside this region, the majority of its known portfolio companies are headquartered in Austin. This regional concentration is a deliberate element of its sourcing strategy.
How does Trellis Partners source proprietary deal flow?
Trellis relies on the founders' deep operator networks within the Austin and Texas technology ecosystems. The firm's multi-decade presence in Austin, combined with its concentrated portfolio approach, creates referral-driven deal flow from serial entrepreneurs, early-stage co-investors, and local startup accelerators.
Does Trellis Partners maintain a philanthropic or adjacent vehicle structure?
No philanthropic foundation, real-asset arm, or separate fund vehicle has been publicly disclosed as affiliated with Trellis Partners. The firm appears to operate as a single, focused venture partnership without ancillary investment or charitable structures.
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