Topline
Joshua Baer, the founder and CEO of Austin-based startup incubator Capital Factory, was identified as the only person who died after a private jet crashed onto a Texas highway in Laredo on Tuesday night, his company first confirmed to the Austin-American Statesman.
Six people were onboard the private jet from Mexico to Austin, which crashed on a highway in Laredo.
Associated Press
Key Facts
Baer was one of the six people onboard a private jet that crashed onto a highway in Laredo on Tuesday night, in a shocking landing leading nearby motorists to leap from their cars and try to break into the burning aircraft to rescue victims, according to footage published by the Associated Press.
The jet was a private flight operated by NetJets flying from San José del Cabo, Mexico, to Austin, Texas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, and crashed just south of Laredo around 10 p.m.
The other five passengers and crew members were all hospitalized, the Laredo Police Department told CNN, as well as one motorist whose vehicle was struck by the plane, and five responding officers.
Capital Factory confirmed Baer’s death to the Austin American-Statesman on Wednesday, who the company’s president Bryan Chambers called “a fearless leader, a brilliant partner, and a dear friend to so many of us.”
The company, which serves as an early-stage investor and incubator for robotics, bioscience, aerospace and other tech firms, will be “continuing his mission of backing unstoppable founders,” Chambers said in a statement to the newspaper.
Key Background
Baer was recognized as one of the key figures in Austin’s growing tech sector. His firm, Capital Factory, was founded in 2009 and has since provided funds for numerous now-growing tech firms, including humanoid robot firm Apptronik, aerospace firms Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace, and Colossal Biosciences, the biotech company trying to resurrect extinct species. All of these companies received funding from Capital Factory’s Texas Fund, according to the company, which it says is designed to invest early startup money in “companies solving problems at the edge of what’s possible.”