Local retailers are banking from the popularity of Pokemon Go, two Plano natives get their big break in the tech world with $100,000 grant, and a Dallas coworking space is doubling its desk space.
Pokemon Go is more than just fun and games, it means business for retailers such as Grapevine-based GameStop. The augmented-reality mobile game brings Pokemon characters to life by projecting them into real-life environments, leading its players to different locations in their communities. Companies incorporated into the game as “PokeStops” or gyms are seeing an increase in foot-traffic. For GameStop, that’s translated into a 100 percent increase in sales. The Dallas Morning News has more on how other businesses can join the Pokemon craze.
Two former Plano students are getting paid to take a break from school. Sohail Prasad and Brian Truong are two young entrepreneurs and among the most recent recipients of the 2016 Thiel Fellowship. The elite award founded by technology entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel gives $100,000 to entrepreneurs, who are ages 22 or younger, to put toward their technology-based companies. Other benefits include mentorship and networking among the Thiel Foundation community. Only 29 fellows were chosen out of 6,000 applicants from around the world. Their selection allowed Prasad and Truong to reconnect after both attending the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science in Denton. The Plano Star Courier has more on the ideas that earned them this recognition.
Dallas-based NoD Coworking doubled in size as it celebrates two years of operation. The coworking space provides freelancers and entrepreneurs an alternative to working from home or a coffee shop. NoD, located off Preston Road, now occupies 15,000 square feet and added four employees to its team. The growth also includes classroom space for an Austin Coding Academy campus, and plans are in the works for a healthcare innovation center called Catalyst. D CEO has more on the opportunities for North Texas professionals.
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It's the first acquisition by WeWork as a public company since its new CEO's arrival. Common Desk, founded in Dallas by Nick Clark in 2012, has grown its network to serve 4,000 customers at 23 locations in Texas and North Carolina. It will now operate as "Common Desk, a WeWork Company."
