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Every Last Word
Dallas Innovates’ signature series capturing what leaders across North Texas are saying — in their own words — about innovation, impact, and what’s next.
California's Kairos Power is one of the companies working on advanced nuclear reactors. [Photo: Kairos Power]
The Last Word: Gov. Greg Abbott on Texas’ Advanced Nuclear Energy Future
by David Seeley | Nov 21, 2024
Earlier this week, Governor Abbott announced the release of the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group’s final report on Texas’ plan to build "a world-leading advanced nuclear power industry to enhance electric reliability and energy security, promote economic development, and unleash new opportunities for the growing Texas workforce."
by David Seeley |
Nov 20, 2024
Founded in 2019, Thrift for Good enables people to buy and donate used goods while helping out charities, in an industry where 84% of donated clothes end up either dumped in a landfill or destroyed. Cooper and her fellow co-founder and co-owner, Taylor Watts, are building AI-based software for thrift stores to try to reduce that waste and inefficiency—while working to grow their DFW footprint.
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by David Seeley |
Nov 19, 2024
Dallas-based Chili's says its Triple Dipper—a plate loaded with cheese pulls, burger bites, and sauced Chicken Crispers—went viral on TikTok this year, snagging "over 200 million views." Now the company's following that up with an eye-opening (uh, make that closing) marketing stunt.
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by Quincy Preston |
Nov 18, 2024
McKinney-based Maverick Power tops both Dallas Business Journal's Fast 50 and SMU's Dallas 100 private company rankings with record-breaking recent growth.
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Topping out ceremony for Texas A&M Fort Worth's Law and Education Building [Photo: TAMU]
The Last Word: John Goff on ‘Topping Out’ Texas A&M-Fort Worth’s Law and Education Building
by David Seeley | Nov 13, 2024
Texas A&M is putting a major stamp on downtown Fort Worth, thanks to a $350 million research campus under construction in the Panther City. On Monday, a milestone was marked 250 feet above the future site of Texas A&M Fort Worth, which is slated to become a major hub for education, research, and innovation for years to come.
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by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report |
Nov 12, 2024
Inside the sprawling, cowboy-chic Texas Barn at the Perot family’s Circle T Ranch in Westlake late last month, an elite group of investors, founders, and key stakeholders gathered for an exclusive VIP event kicking off the 2024 Venture Dallas business summit. Ross Perot Jr. sat at center stage in a fireside chat with Venture Dallas Co-Founder and Board Chair Aaron Pierce and Anurag Jain, founder and managing partner at early-stage VC firm Perot Jain.
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by David Seeley |
Nov 7, 2024
Irving-based TXU Energy and the Dallas-based Texas Trees Foundation are launching a statewide tree-planting campaign, celebrating 20 years of working together to create “greener, healthier communities” via the TXU Energy Urban Tree Farm and Education Center at Dallas College's Richland campus.
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by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report |
Nov 6, 2024
Mike Fey—co-founder and CEO of Dallas-based enterprise browser unicorn Island—launched his company in 2020 during the pandemic and has since seen its valuation rocket to $3 billion. Speaking at the Venture Dallas conference last week, he talked about why he decided to found his company in Dallas instead of in Silicon Valley.
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UT Dallas Assistant Professor Dr. Yaqing Jin [Photo: UTD]
The Last Word: UTD Professor on Being Inspired by Seal Whiskers to Keep Offshore Wind Turbines Safe
by David Seeley | Nov 4, 2024
Offshore wind turbines are a growing ingredient in the race to develop clean and renewable energy sources. But the turbines—which are attached to the ocean floor with cables and "float" on platforms high above—face risks from high winds and harsh storms that lash the open sea. UT Dallas' Dr. Yaqing Jin has found a potential solution inspired by an unlikely source: seal whiskers.
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by David Seeley |
Nov 1, 2024
Strive Enterprises—a financial services firm co-founded in 2022 by former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy—has announced its headquarters relocation from Columbus, Ohio, to Dallas. Paired with its HQ move, Strive announced Friday that it’s launching its wealth management business in Dallas as well, in the wake of its recent close of a $30 million Series B financing round led by New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald.
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The Last Word: Dude Perfect’s Coby Cotton on Planning a New 80K‑SF Video Production Studio in Frisco
by David Seeley |
Oct 30, 2024
At the Venture Dallas summit today at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Dude Perfect CEO Andrew Yaffe unveiled plans for a new 80,000-square-foot video production studio to be located near the trick-shot YouTube stars' new $3 million Frisco HQ.
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by David Seeley |
Oct 29, 2024
The Deep Ellum Foundation is installing new streetlight pole banners on Elm Street, Main Street, and Exposition Avenue that celebrate the neighborhood by highlighting business owners, artists, musicians, and other stakeholders "who have invested their talent, sweat, and tears into the incomparable Deep Ellum Cultural District," the foundation said.
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UT Arlington Associate Professor Warda Ashraf [Photo: UTA]
The Last Word: UTA’s Warda Ashraf on Developing Eco‑Friendly Concrete Based on an Ancient Roman Recipe
by David Seeley | Oct 23, 2024
Ashraf was quoted in a recent New York Times article, "Reinventing Concrete, the Ancient Roman Way," about using 2,000-year-old Roman secrets to create concrete for underwater use in bridges, breakwaters, and artificial reefs. But unlike the volcanic ash used by Roman engineers as a key concrete ingredient, Ashraf and her team are using clay mixed with the mineral kaolinite. The recipe required heating to about 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit—only half the temperature needed to produce modern Portland cement.
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by David Seeley |
Oct 22, 2024
Benjamin Franklin pioneered "electrostatic motors" in the mid-1700s, creating force through static shock- like interactions between negative and positive charges in components. More than 270 years later, Wisconsin-based C-Motive has developed a modern iteration featuring a proprietary mix of industrial organic fluids and electronics that switch at super fast speeds. C-Motive's motors are now being tested by FedEx Supply Chain to run conveyors at a distribution center near Fort Worth, FedEx automation technician Mark Crowley told the Wall Street Journal.
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by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report |
Oct 18, 2024
Griffin doesn't believe AI can save the world. "But," he posted recently on LinkedIn, "it might just help your business save money, reduce waste, retain customers, educate your employees, and optimize operational performance." And a lot of what's driving these possibilities is happening right here in North Texas. Last month, the DRC published an in-depth report on the subject titled "The Business of Artificial Intelligence," which explores how Dallas-Fort Worth's diverse economy "is an incubator for applied AI."
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by David Seeley |
Oct 16, 2024
Sara Blakely founded Spanx shapewear in 2000, achieving the perfect fit for a massive success. In August—three years after Blackstone acquired a majority stake in Spanx, valuing the company at $1.2 billion—Blakely launched her next big idea: Sneex—a $500-plus luxury shoe line that mashes up high heels with sneakers. Reviews have been decidedly mixed, the Wall Street Journal reports—and it reached out to Dallas-based personal stylist Molly Hudson to help explain why.
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