Verily, the Alphabet-owned health tech company, announced on Wednesday that it will shift its corporate headquarters to Dallas-Fort Worth. The decision elevates the company’s existing regional office in Dallas’ Cypress Waters development, opened three years ago, to its primary base of operations.

After months of consideration, Dallas-Fort Worth emerged as the frontrunner among several potential locations. Verily said it had been considering an expansion south of San Francisco, but then-Chief Operating Officer Stephen Gillett wanted to evaluate all the options.

“I said, let’s look at Boston, let’s look at Dallas, Raleigh-Durham,” said Gillett, now chairman and CEO. “We put all of the office options in the mix for consideration, and Dallas was the clear choice because of the strong business environment, not only from the Verily teams, but from Google.”

Dallas’ official designation as Verily’s principal place of business and corporate headquarters is expected in the third quarter.

Verily Chairman and CEO Stephen Gillett [Photo: Verily]

Moonshot to major player

Verily, born as a moonshot project at Google X, has consistently pursued ambitious goals in healthcare technology. The company develops advanced tools and solutions to help patients, providers, and researchers navigate the healthcare landscape. Its offerings range from consumer-facing products like diabetes management apps and retinal screening devices to sophisticated data analytics platforms for healthcare professionals.

Since establishing its Dallas office, Verily has rapidly emerged as a force in Dallas-Fort Worth’s growing healthcare and tech ecosystem.

Verily creates tools for biosensing. The Verily Study Watch is a wrist-worn device that’s used in clinical studies to collect health data passively. [Image: Verily]

Right place, right time

Verily sees the headquarters shift as critical to its long-term success, citing several business and financial advantages, including access to a broad talent pool and proximity to other Verily offices from DFW’s central location.

“Healthcare is playing a pivotal role in the local economy and community,” said Gillett, during the announcement at the Cypress Waters office, also acknowledging the region as a growing center for healthcare and technology innovation.

Currently, the U.S. healthcare industry is more than 17% of the U.S. GDP or roughly $4 trillion. And it’s expected to just keep growing as the population expands and ages.

Specific to the Dallas region, there are multiple examples of its rising status, including two announcements, made this year — the ARPA-H hub at Pegasus Park, which will focus on customer experience, and the $5 billion pediatric campus being developed by Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center.

[Photo: Verily]

Dallas: A rising healthcare hub

Kelly Cloud, vice president of life sciences at the Dallas Regional Chamber, was on hand at Verily’s announcement and underscored the regional strengths.

“CBRE just released a report for life sciences that shows we’re in the top 25 in R&D, medtech, and manufacturing,” said Cloud. “We have a strong tech workforce—second fastest growing in the country. From talent to scalability to connectivity, there’s no better place to be.”

Even with those accolades, Gillett said, getting Verily here was a team effort.

“I don’t just sign something, and it happens,” he said. “Relocating Verily’s headquarters had strong support from government leaders, the Dallas Regional Chamber, and other strategic healthcare players.”

Verily’s numetric retinal camera. [Photo: Verily]

Future plans

The Cypress Waters office currently houses sales, marketing, legal, and IT teams. About sixty people work at this site, with plans to roughly double that number. Gillett stated that the plan was never to move all open jobs to Dallas, but rather to have half the team there and the other half distributed around the country and the world.

Verily will continue business operations at other sites, including the Bay Area and Boston, with those employees remaining unaffected by the move.

For a company that prides itself on being “uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology, data science, and healthcare,” having its headquarters in Dallas-Fort Worth just makes sense.

[Image: Verily]

Voices contributor Nicole Ward is a data journalist for the Dallas Regional Chamber.

Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.

Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.