Joshua Baer, a leader in the tech space, died Tuesday night in a private plane crash in Laredo.
Austin American-Statesman file photo
When people think of the Austin tech boom, Joshua Baer comes to mind.
Baer, 50, was a giant in the Austin tech scene best known for founding Capital Factory, one of the city’s most notable and successful venture capital firms, in 2009. He died Tuesday in a small-plane crash in Laredo.
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“Nobody has built a company in the last 20 years without crossing paths with Joshua Baer,” Austin Tech Council CEO Thom Singer said.
Baer created Capital Factory on his mission to “help people quit their jobs.” Both accelerator and later-stage investment firm, Capital Factory shaped the Austin startup ecosystem and got several major companies off the ground.
The firm has been the most active early-stage investor in Texas since 2010, according to Pitchbook data. It has helped fund companies like Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Aalo Atomics, Colossal Biosciences and Creative 3D Technologies. It helped companies like defense tech firm Saronic Technologies and Neuralink competitor Paradromics launch.
It was among the first investors in humanoid robotics maker Apptronik, one of its most successful ventures.
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Apptronik CEO and cofounder Jeff Cardenas met Baer while he studied at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Through the years, he has always supported my journey, and eventually Apptronik’s journey, and I couldn’t be more grateful for his guidance and mentorship,” Cardenas said in a statement. “He poured his heart and soul into creating a place for entrepreneurs to build the future, and his work and legacy is going to live on forever.”
Baer also co-taught the Longhorn Startup Seminar and Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, an accelerator that has helped push student startups into the real world. He served as an Entrepreneur in Residence for the Department of Computer Science.
Baer lived in Austin with his wife, Amy, and their three children.
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Forging a path in the startup sphere
Baer grew up in Nashua, N.H., and started his first company, an email marketing firm called SKYLIST, from his dorm room at Carnegie Mellon University in 1996. SKYLIST was later acquired by New York Internet marketing firm Datran Media for about $10 million in 2006.
He moved to Austin in 1999, when he was recruited to join Trilogy Inc. as a software developer. At Trilogy, he co-founded e-commerce software maker IveBeenGood.com, which was sold to Network Commerce for $20 million in 2000.
Scott Francis, a fellow founder, investor and entrepreneur in Austin, remembered Baer from their first meeting while working at Trilogy.
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“Josh, you could feel he was brash, confident and unapologetic about their excitement and optimism,” Francis said. “He wasn’t someone that necessarily took direction well, but those are the kinds of things that make for great entrepreneurs and investors. They don’t follow conventional wisdom. He had the kind of personality where everybody knew who he was very quickly.”
A brash, confident leader in the Austin tech scene, he left his mark by rapidly investing his personal money in startups.
Capital Factory CEO Josh Baer listens to entrepreneurs at a Capital Factory event room in Downtown Austin on Oct. 26, 2018. Baer’s work at Capital Factory helped shape the Austin tech and startup ecosystem and helped launch several major companies, including Apptronik and Saronic Technologies.
Austin American-Statesman file photo
Baer’s Capital Factory was part coworking space, part venture firm and part startup lab. Its offices in the Omni Hotel hosted coding competitions, startup meet-and-greets and events dedicated to the tech community.
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He was one of the tech industry’s biggest cheerleaders, friend and Austin lawyer Adam Loewy said.
“I really don’t think there’s anyone who’s ever been quite like him in that regard,” Loewy said. “He just was someone who was always trying to sell the tech community. He always was very well known, and he was just very optimistic about it, always.”
In 2017, Baer wrote “The Texas Manifesto,” a tech insider manual in which he called on Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio “to connect together entrepreneurs, investors, customers, talent and press in meaningful ways.”
Capital Factory has grown to about a hundred employees and stretched to offices across the state. In 2022, it installed its Center for Defense Innovation program in a 5,000-square-foot office at the Tech Port Center + Arena in San Antonio to further its mission to build partnerships between the private sector and the Defense Department.
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After becoming ATC’s CEO about four years ago, Singer said the first call he got was from Baer. He said he had big ideas for how to make the tech scene great, how to make it better and how to promote it beyond the glory it has now, Singer said.
“His passion, his drive was that other people could have the advantages of a career and a life in technology that he was able to have, and he wanted everyone to know it,” Singer said. “He wasn’t the type who said, ‘Let’s go make money’ and then disappear. He genuinely cared and it was evident.”
Baer was inducted into the Austin Tech Hall of Fame last year.
Family philanthropy and giving
Baer was a transplant who fell in love with Austin, its live music scene and jumping into Barton Springs pool.
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He donated money to Austin City Limits Live before it ever moved to its current home at The Moody Theater downtown.
He and his wife also donated and volunteered with the Austin Anti-Defamation League, a local chapter of the advocacy organization that seeks to fight antisemitism and hate.
The couple established their own foundation, the Baer Family Foundation, to support disadvantaged children and inclusive entrepreneurship.
“Austin lost one of the people who absolutely built this tech community,” Singer said. “He didn’t just found companies, he shaped how an entire generation of founders here got their start. When I think about all the people he impacted? You can’t even count them.
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“The whole community has a hole in their heart this morning, whether you’re in tech or not,” he continued. “Austin has a massive hole in its heart today.”
Josh Baer, Capital Factory founder, speaks during a ribbon cutting event for new space in the Capital Factory on the first floor of the Omni Hotel with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Austin Mayor Steve Adler on May 5, 2017.
Austin American-Statesman file photo
State and national leaders remember Baer
Austin leaders and community members responded to news of Baer’s death on social media.
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Rep. Lloyd Doggett posted a selfie with Baer and called him a “great entrepreneur,” writing that Baer was a “driving force through Capital Factory in Austin’s tech story, helping make us the dynamic, international city we are today.”
In their own tributes, Senator Ted Cruz called Baer “one of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America” while Senator John Cornyn mourned him as an “innovative and creative leader” in Austin.
Heidi and I are deeply saddened by the passing of Josh Baer and the tragic plane crash in Laredo.
Josh has been one of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America. In Texas, he made our state a global leader. His impact was incalculable.… pic.twitter.com/XwSQRjCpLu
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 17, 2026
Deeply saddened to hear of the tragic passing of @CapitalFactory founder and my friend, @JoshuaBaer. Josh was an innovative & creative leader in Austin’s entrepreneurial culture and a stalwart supporter of growing Central Texas’ military ecosystem. I and countless others will… pic.twitter.com/UsnpguZkXg
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 17, 2026
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s leader Kelly Loeffler said she had the “privilege” of visiting Capital Factory earlier this year.
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Saddened to hear of the passing of Josh Baer, founder of @CapitalFactory. I had the privilege of visiting the hub earlier this year to see Josh’s vision in action – driving incredible innovation, creating thousands of local jobs, and uniting the Austin community behind a shared…
— Kelly Loeffler (@SBA_Kelly) June 17, 2026
“For all of his prodigious talents and breathtaking knowledge, Josh was simply a marvelous human being. He was decent, generous, kind, menschlichkeit and, maybe more than anything, loving,” wrote Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. “He was a friend who I will miss for the rest of my life. I feel lucky to have known him and his memory will inspire me forever.”
The world lost a genius last night. I lost a cherished friend. @JoshuaBaer z”l died in a plane crash that robbed the world of one of the most passionate, thoughtful and visionary people I’ve ever known.
Josh was an entrepreneur who didn’t just build businesses — he was as a…
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) June 17, 2026
Former Austin City Council member Mackenzie Kelly also remembered Baer.
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Heartbroken to hear of the passing of Joshua Baer.
I had the opportunity to meet Joshua early on when I authored a cryptocurrency policy while serving on the City Council, and I was always grateful for the incredible impact he had through @CapitalFactory.
Joshua helped make… pic.twitter.com/ZON3tDxXIF
— Mackenzie Kelly (@mkelly007) June 17, 2026
The University of Austin called Baer a “true friend” to the institution and praised him for his generosity.
Josh Baer was a true friend to UATX — generous with his time, his resources, and his belief in what we’re building.
Austin has lost one of its great builders, and we’ve lost a valued ally. Our thoughts are with his family and everyone at Capital Factory. pic.twitter.com/lzhzmkUV5t
— University of Austin (UATX) (@uaustinorg) June 17, 2026