Business

Dallas-Fort Worth is a contender—not only nationally, but on the global stage.

Here's what real estate and economic development leaders have to say about the region's 'X factors.'

With around $4 billion total under management in its U.S. and Europe ETFs, ROBO Global tracks the performance of robotics, AI, and healthcare tech companies worldwide. Now it's leveraging that expertise to launch its first private fund in those areas, aiming to invest in early-stage startups "that are using innovation to grow the business."

The research team recently unveiled an imaging microchip that can see through low-visibility environments like fog, smoke, and snow. The product of more than 15 years of research, it could one day help drivers and autonomous vehicles detect objects in low-visibility conditions, assist manufacturers in package inspection, and help firefighters navigate through smoke and fire.

Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 10 for patents out of 250 metros. Patents granted include: Accenture's virtual objects in 3D environments, American Security Products' physical article exchange using a smart safe, Arm Ltd.'s tracking events of interest to mitigate attacks, Bank of America's interbot communication, BNSF's railroad virtual track block system, Capital One's payment card with removable insert and identification elements, Intellective AI's anomalous stationary object detection and reporting, Reliant Immune Diagnostics' code trigger telemedicine session, Siemens Healthcare's next-gen MRI spine evaluation, and Textron Innovations's stowable wing aircraft with dual, fuselage-mounted engines.