Joshua Baer, founder of Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm Capital Factory, died June 16 in a plane crash. He was 50.  

Baer was among six people — four passengers and two pilots — in a private jet that crashed in Laredo, Texas. The others on board, including Baer’s son, survived.  

Baer was a prolific investor in startups across the technology landscape, with more than 800 companies in Capital Factory’s portfolio, according to the company. 

Baer was a “fearless leader” who built “an incredibly resilient organization and a deeply capable team,” Capital Factory President Bryan Chambers told KVUE Austin in a written statement. 

“Capital Factory remains fully operational, and we are completely committed to continuing his mission of backing unstoppable founders,” Chambers said.  

Fintechs in Capital Factory’s portfolio include:

• Financial planning and analysis platform CoFi;
• Commercial lending platform CollateralEdge;
• Embedded finance company Deposits;
• Health savings and flexible spending account payments platform Gale;
• Digital banking solutions provider Greenwood; 
• Accounts receivable automation platform Invoiced;
• B2B payments platform ModoPayments; 
• Payments platform for college athletes myNILpay;
• Investments and home equity platform Nada;
• Lending app SoLo Funds; and
• Manufactured home financing platform Zippy.  

Capital Factory, founded in 2009, also invests in tech startups across AI, healthcare, space, energy, defense, robotics and hardware sectors.  

Capital Factory has been the most active early-stage investor in Texas every year since 2010, with more than 2,000 total investments, according to PitchBook.  

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