SACC Austin: State of Venture in Texas

State of Venture in the U.S. & the Nordics

A conversation with Eric Engineer, General Partner at S3 Ventures, and Henrik Johansson, President & Co-Founder of Gembah.

What VCs are actually funding in 2026, where Nordic startups have a genuine edge, and what founders need to know before making the transatlantic leap.

For one evening on a downtown Austin rooftop, the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce Texas (SACC TX) is bringing the Nordic-American business community face-to-face with powerhouse voices in the venture and startup ecosystems.

Eric Engineer and Henrik Johansson will walk us through the shifting landscape of U.S. venture capital and product development. They will cover what’s getting funded, how valuations are moving, which sectors present the strongest crossover between Nordic strengths and U.S. appetite, and what international founders need to understand before approaching U.S. capital. Texas has emerged as one of the most active startup ecosystems outside the coasts, and these are two of the key players building and scaling within it.

The evening will feature two presentations, followed by a candid, high-signal discussion and rooftop networking with the SACC Texas community.

What you'll take away

• A clear read on U.S. venture in 2026: Deal volume, current valuations, and exactly where capital is flowing right now.

• The Transatlantic Advantage: Identifying where Nordic startups have a genuine edge in the American market.

• Texas-specific insights: How Austin and Dallas compare to traditional coastal hubs, and why the state is a premier launchpad.

• The VC Meeting Playbook: What U.S. investors actually want to see from international founders entering the market, and what it takes to walk into a meeting ready.

• Direct, in-room access: Connect with a top-tier Texas investor, a wildly successful serial entrepreneur, and the vibrant Nordic-American business community.

Who this is for

Nordic founders, operators, investors, and executives building or scaling in the U.S. — and anyone serious about how venture capital is evolving across Texas and the Nordics. If you are considering U.S. expansion, this room is built for you.

Event Details

📅 Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2026 🕠 Time: 5:30 PM CT 📍 Location: Rooftop · 215 Brazos Street · Downtown Austin 🎤 Agenda: Two presentations · Discussion · Networking

Seats are limited. Register here: https://lnkd.in/ezJVgi-D

About our Speakers

Eric Engineer Eric Engineer is a General Partner at S3 Ventures, which he joined in 2018. He currently serves on the boards of AllStacks, Arpio, Kamiwaza, Mavvrik, MontyCloud, Opine, QbDVision, RepVue, Rest, and Videate. Previous board roles include Briggo (acquired by Coca-Cola), Sumatra (acquired by Stripe), Interplay Learning, Liquibase, and VUV Analytics. Before S3, Eric was CEO of Invodo (acquired by CoCreativ in 2018) and a Partner at Sevin Rosen Funds in Dallas. He began his career at Trilogy Software in Austin and held product management, product planning, and enterprise sales roles at Microsoft. Eric holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an MSc in Distributed Systems and a BA cum laude in Computer Science from Rice University in Houston, where he was raised.

Henrik Johansson Henrik Johansson is the President and Co-founder of Gembah, a pioneering global marketplace for product development that demystifies the process of researching, designing, and manufacturing products for entrepreneurs and businesses worldwide. A serial entrepreneur with deep expertise in scaling startups and technology-enabled services, Henrik previously co-founded and built Boundless into a $100M promotional products company before its acquisition by Zazzle. His extensive background also includes serving as a co-founder and board member of OutboundEngine, President of EverydayWealth, and Co-founder of Creditland. Henrik is an expert in global supply chains, building world-class teams, and navigating the startup lifecycle from inception to acquisition. When he isn't scaling Gembah, you can find him trail running or eating Mexican food around Austin.