San Antonio Startup Launches Fall 53% in 2025
A San Antonio State of Innovation report found new startups dropped sharply while venture funding fell nearly 80% last year.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Startups
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New startups in San Antonio fell 53% in 2025 from the prior year, according to the San Antonio State of Innovation report. Venture funding in the city also dropped nearly 80% over the same period.
Why it matters
The decline points to weaker momentum in the metro's innovation economy, even as employment in innovation-intensive sectors grew. The report was produced by four tech and innovation hubs and Greater SATX.
New startups fell from 49 to 23 and venture funding dropped from $141 million to $31 million in 2025, while a D&B Hoovers measure counted 1,759 companies founded across the innovation industries, up 3.4%. The report does not explain why the startup and funding figures diverge from the broader company count.
The players
Greater SATX
Greater SATX is the regional economic development corporation for the San Antonio area that helped produce the San Antonio State of Innovation report.
Southwest Research Institute
Southwest Research Institute is a major independent nonprofit research organization based in San Antonio that is a leading recipient of federal research contracts in the region.
The details
The San Antonio State of Innovation report analyzed nine innovation-intensive sectors, including biotech, software, cyber, defense and advanced manufacturing. San Antonio ranks ninth among 10 comparable cities in innovation-sector employment share.
Timeline
2025: New startups fell 53% and venture funding dropped nearly 80%.
November 4, 2026: First San Antonio State of Innovation report released.
Market Landscape
The drop in new startups measured by Crunchbase data signals a contraction in early-stage company formation in the San Antonio metro. Those figures sit against a regional base of 55,054 innovation-sector workers and a federal research contract footprint of $2.5 billion.
For San Antonio residents weighing startup careers or local founder opportunities, the sharp drop in new companies and venture funding narrows near-term options for early-stage hiring. Employment in innovation-intensive sectors still grew 2.5%, offering some stability for workers already in the field.
The takeaway
Regional innovation health depends on both new company formation and sustained capital, and San Antonio's 2025 figures show both weakening at once. Tracking the next State of Innovation report will reveal whether the decline is a one-year dip or a longer trend.
Further reading
Explore more coverage of San Antonio Startups to see how regional founding activity is tracking.
Source note: This article includes information reported by San Antonio Express-News.
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