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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.
Photo: Black Sheep Coffee
The Last Word: U.K.-Based Black Sheep Coffee Co‑CEO on Entering U.S. Market in North Texas
by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report | Nov 5, 2024
Coffee with a British accent is politely muscling into North Texas, as anyone driving down East Mockingbird Lane in Dallas this week could tell you. Founded in London, England, in 2013 by college friends Gabriel Shohet and Eirik Holth, Black Sheep Coffee has 110 restaurant locations in the U.K., France, the United Arab Emirates, and Philippines. That total includes the newly opened 6240 E. Mockingbird location (housed in a former bank building) and one at Preston Parkway Center in Plano, which opened a few months ago.
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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Left: Sid O’Bryant, PhD, Scientific Founder and Advisory Board Chair at CxPM; Right: CxPM CEO Danguole Altman [Photos: CxPM]
The Last Word: Dr. Sid O’Bryant on His HSC Spinout CxPM Joining StartUp Health’s Alzheimer’s Moonshot Community
by David Seeley | Oct 24, 2024
Cx Precision Medicine—a diagnostics company founded on research by Dr. Sid O’Bryant at UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth—spun out from HSC to advance O’Bryant’s pioneering work on blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. The company recently gained higher visibility—and an even greater opportunity for impact—by being selected to join the prestigious StartUp Health’s Alzheimer’s Moonshot community.
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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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[Video stills: Dave Portnoy via X]
The Last Word: Barstool Sports Founder on a Pillow from Dallas-Based The Pillow Bar
by David Seeley | Oct 15, 2024
Portnoy was in Dallas over the weekend to catch the Texas-OU game and to do some of his "one bite reviews" of local pizza restaurants and the fried food offerings at the State Fair of Texas. But he ended up reviewing a different local business after he experienced "pillow hell" at the JW Marriott hotel in the Dallas Arts District. He'd gone to a local Mattress Firm to buy his own pillows before he found a nice note from the hotel in his room with new pillow options—including a selection from Dallas-based The Pillow Bar. His post about The Pillow Bar's side sleeper pillow has since racked up over 1 million views on X.
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by David Seeley |
Oct 11, 2024
For nearly 75 years, Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas (JFS) has provided critical services to those in need. The nonprofit—whose services include primary medical care, individual counseling and group support, career and financial coaching, a food pantry, and more—has been a cornerstone of the community since 1950. But lately it’s been “bursting at the seams” in its home in Far North Dallas. That’s about to change, though—thanks to the recent groundbreaking of The Karla and Larry Steinberg Building, JFS’ new 100,000-square-foot home at 16301 Quorum Dr. in Addison.
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by David Seeley |
Oct 10, 2024
The signature Jam Vino gourmet wine-infused jam created by Keller-based Chef Lorius was one 92 brands to receive a Golden Ticket during the annual Walmart Open Call. Available online now at Walmart.com, it'll reach the discount giant's shelves in 2025. "Jam Vino combines the heart of the South with the elegance of wine country, and our partnership with Walmart allows us to fulfill our mission of providing Everyday Luxury for Everyday People," Chef Lorious (AKA Lori Rogers) said in a statement.
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by David Seeley |
Oct 9, 2024
Divorceaversary is a new Dallas-based startup that puts a positive spin on the aftermath of going from "I do" to "I'm done." Aiming to transform how people approach life after divorce and breakups, its e-commerce site offers cards that celebrate new beginnings—in humorous, edgy, even NSFW ways. Some cards offer great advice ("I know things are bad but don't get bangs"), others are supportive ("Divorce looks good as hell on you"), and others express relief ("No one ever liked that asshole anyway").
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2024 Arlington High School graduate Mason Moore, first place winner at the 2024 Beats for Good competition [Video still: Mason Moore YouTube]
The Last Word: Winners Announced for Mid‑Cities ‘Beats for Good’ Competition
by David Seeley | Oct 4, 2024
Beats for Good—a high school music competition for students in the Arlington, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, and Mansfield school districts—invited students to put their best performances forward by submitting videos of their talent in action. Back on September 6, the top judged entries were posted online with visitors asked to vote for their favorites—and the winners are in. First place went to 2024 Arlington High School graduate Mason Moore and his spellbinding acoustic guitar rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
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by David Seeley |
Oct 2, 2024
North Texas grabbed the world's financial attention again this week with updates from the Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange, which introduced its expansive leadership team and board members and said it had raised over $135 million to date. But as Austin-based Paul O'Brien noted in his LinkedIn Startup Studio post last month, the TXSE is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to North Texas' sprawling fintech and financial universe.
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by David Seeley |
Oct 1, 2024
In June, TXSE Group announced plans to launch the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), focused on enabling U.S. and global companies to access U.S. equity capital markets via a “fully electronic, national securities exchange." In the months since, that's led to endless discussion of the impact of North Texas' "Y'All Street." It was capped by yesterday's announcement that the TXSE had raised over $135 million to date as it named members of TXSE's board—including former Texas Governor and former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry; former SEC Commissioner Rick Roberts; and Alex Bussandri, the global head of strategy at Citadel Securities.
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by David Seeley |
Sep 30, 2024
Salomon—who also founded the coworking space Dallas Fort Work and is the global director of the maps project for Open Coworking—has bagels in his blood. But unlike most Brooklyn-born Jews, he came to North Texas and did something about it, opening three locations of his Starship Bagels in downtown Dallas, Far North Dallas, and Lewisville. On Saturday, he proved he has the goods by schlepping back to NYC and winning three top prizes at the 2024 New York BagelFest—one year after winning "Best Bagel" there in 2023.
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