Houston-based enterprise software developer Umbrage raises $2M seed round

Umbrage, a local developer of software offerings for enterprise clients, has raised new growth funding.

The Houston-based digital studio announced March 23 it closed a $2 million seed financing round. The funding round was led by Rice Investment Group, a $200 million investment fund based in Carnegie, Pennsylvania.

Umbrage develops custom software products for enterprises in oil and gas, health care, supply chain, e-commerce and a variety of blue-collar sectors. The firm partners with enterprise clients undertaking a digital transformation to develop software products that can be implemented and scaled quickly across the entire organization.

“Umbrage is a new way that enterprises can overcome the inherent challenges of building and scaling digital solutions,” said Will Womble, founder and CEO of Umbrage. “Umbrage partners with internal technology teams to create scalable products that directly impact businesses’ success. And by training our clients to effectively scale and improve these custom-built solutions, we’re setting up our customers for long-term, sustainable success.”

Despite a challenging business climate during the pandemic, Umbrage has grown to nearly 40 employees since the company’s founding in 2019. The software developer also managed to become cash-flow positive within weeks of launching, Umbrage said.

“We’ve utilized Umbrage’s custom solutions in our portfolio companies with great success, and we can attest to the customer value proposition,” said Danny Rice, a partner at Rice Investment Group. “We’re thrilled to support Umbrage’s growth and enable forward-thinking businesses to unlock the business potential that digital solutions from Umbrage can deliver.”

Software-focused startups in Houston have seen growth in venture capital investment in recent years. Companies specializing in Software-as-a-Service were the most prevalent targets for VC investments in 2019, up from the fifth-most prevalent investment target in 2010, according to a recent report from the Greater Houston Partnership.

Year to date, there was approximately $1.3 billion in capital committed by venture firms to Texas-based startups through March 11, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of PitchBook data. That’s just shy of the record $1.5 billion raised across Texas in the first quarter of 2020.