Startup

Mammoth Interest: The CIA Invests in Dallas-Based Colossal Biosciences

by | Oct 11, 2022
The Central Intelligence Agency has invested in Colossal through its nonprofit VC investment arm, In-Q-Tel, reports The Intercept. Named in honor of Q—the tech genius from the James Bond novels and movies—the VC firm was founded in 1999 to keep U.S. intelligence agencies on the cutting edge of "innovative and impactful technologies coming out of Silicon Valley and beyond." So why Colossal? "Strategically, it’s less about the mammoths and more about the capability," In-Q-Tel says.
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SMU Cox Caruth Institute of Entrepreneurship Releases Alphabetical Dallas 100 List
by | Oct 7, 2022
CEOs of the 100 fastest-growing privately held companies in the Dallas region joined the SMU Cox Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship for the kickoff of its annual celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit on Thursday. 

Now the countdown begins for the institute's Nov. 2 reveal of which one is THE fastest-growing privately held company in Dallas-Fort Worth. Here are the contenders.
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Mark Cuban-Backed Opioid Recovery Startup Sonara Health Raises $3M for Medication Monitoring Platform
by | Oct 5, 2022
Founded in 2020, Dallas-based Sonara Health has a big mission: "We want to end the opioid epidemic and save lives." To help tackle it, Sonara secured a patent last month for a take-home methadone monitoring system. With the new funding and earlier support from backers including Mark Cuban, the startup has raised $5M to date. "In a world where we send billionaires to space in reusable rockets, I thought we ought to be able to create a solution that helps patients with opioid use disorder to get their daily medication in a way that does not disrupt their daily lives," said CEO Michael Giles, M.D.
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Venture Dallas Brings ‘the Premier Venture Capital Conference in North Texas’ to George W. Bush Presidential Center this November
by | Oct 4, 2022
Venture Dallas 2022—a full-day conference to be held Nov. 3 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center—will connect investors from all over the U.S with the “best founders in our region” with the goal of sparking “collisions” and “meaningful connections," co-founder Aaron Pierce says. He adds that those could potentially lead to fundings—and successful exits. Here's a look at why the North Texas startup and VC scene is hopping, and what Venture Dallas 2022 could mean for you.
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Dallas Invents: 95 Patents Granted for Week of September 27

by | Oct 3, 2022
• AT&T’s 5G edge cloud network design
• Recaro Aircraft Seating’s life vest device
• Berg’s treating or preventing tumors of the central nervous system
• Chirp Systems’ access control for property management
• Apple’s message mapping via frequency and/or time indexing
• USAA's monitoring of data to predict road conditions
• Omnitracs’ integration of hours of service and navigation
• Atlas Global Technologies’ doppler mode in a wireless network
• STMicroelectronics’ robotic device with time-of-flight proximity sensing system
• Textron Innovations’ autonomous hydrogen refueling
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Dallas Invents: 144 Patents Granted for Week of September 20
by | Oct 3, 2022
Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 10 for patents out of 250 metros. • Frito-Lay’s plant protein snack with meat-like texture
• Treble Innovations’ portable wireless endoscope
• Toyota’s systems and methods for automatically cleaning wheels
• Good Sportsman Marketing’s communication device for hearing protection devices
• Panacea Quantum Leap Technology’s bidirectional sensor circuit
• Badge’s biometric public key system providing revocable credentials
• AMS International AG’s method and device for estimating ambient light
• Heart Test Laboratories’ quantitative heart testing
• Futurewei Technologies’ transaction-based hybrid memory
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o9 Solutions Targets Supply Chain Disruptions With New Supply Sensing Platform
by | Oct 3, 2022
Dallas-based unicorn o9 Solutions is using its Digital Brain technology to predict weather patterns, transportation hiccups, and employment fluctuations months before problems occur. Then its digital twin technology can recommend solutions. CEO Chakri Gottemukkala says o9's new Supply Sensing tool applies longstanding methods to "predicting and steering clear of future supply disruptions."
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The Last Word: Colossal’s Ben Lamm on Seeing His Startup Fuel a ‘Jeopardy’ Answer
by | Oct 3, 2022
In August, Colossal Biosciences announced it is working to "de-extinct" the Tasmanian tiger with the help of an Australian university and “marsupial biobanking.” It didn't take long for the TV show "Jeopardy" to notice—and work it into an answer.
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DI People: Southwest Airlines, Hyosung, GlassView, and More Make Leadership Moves

by | Sep 30, 2022
In this week’s roundup of hires, promotions, and accolades in North Texas, you’ll also find news from ECI Software Solutions, CIEN+, Daseke, Richardson Chamber of Commerce, Schneider Electric, INFOLAB, Meritize, and others.
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Follow the Money: Book.io Aims to Put E-Books on the Blockchain with New Funding, Tech Startup Kalpa Aims to Raise $1M, and More
by | Sep 30, 2022
In this week’s North Texas deal flow, you’ll also find news about crowdfunding platform Harvest Return landing $2.5M; Supply’s acquisition by Foundry Brands; Moss Adams acquiring local CPA firm Kurtz & Company P.C.; Tri Global Energy being acquired for $270M by Canada's Enbridge; and more.
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Supply, the Fort Worth-Based Men’s Grooming Brand of ‘Shark Tank’ Fame, Acquired by Foundry Brands
by | Sep 29, 2022
Husband-and-wife co-founders Patrick and Jennifer Coddou launched their men's grooming startup Supply out of their spare bedroom, stored products in their garage, and shipped from their laundry room. After raising $256K on Kickstarter and getting a $300K investment on ABC's "Shark Tank," they expanded their business. Now, with the acquisition by Foundry Brands, Patrick is living what he calls the most attainable American Dream: "Have an idea, work your tail off for years, scale it to millions, sell it for millions," he wrote on Twitter.
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With Fresh Funding, Firehawk Aerospace Is Developing Rocket Engines and 3D-Printed Fuel As It Plans Move to New HQ in Addison
by | Sep 28, 2022
Firehawk Aerospace is developing hybrid rocket engines and 3D-printed solid rocket fuel to provide a safer, more cost-effective approach to launching payloads as it nears the close of a $17 million fundraising effort.

Co-founder and CEO Will Edwards has said his company's rocket engine "will power the next generation missile and defense systems and plans to support both launch and other systems requiring in-space propulsion."
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Form Bio Spins Out of Colossal Bioscience to Offer Scientists the ‘Missing Piece’

by | Sep 27, 2022
Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences, the de-extinction company behind plans to bring back the woolly mammoth and thylacine, developed its own software solution "after reviewing everything available on the market." Now it's sharing the platform with the launch of Form Bio.

The spinout's technology tools can help drive the “entire molecular revolution” that is occurring in the life sciences and biotech space, in addition to bolstering the Lone Star state as a hub for the industry, says Chief Strategy Officer Claire Aldridge.
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Follow the Money: tree3 Aims to Raise $2M, Traveller Capital Raises $28.5M, IBM Acquires Dialexa, and More
by | Sep 26, 2022
In this week’s North Texas deal flow, you’ll also find news about Universal EV Chargers landing $10M in grants; The Beneficient Company Group's plans to go public in a deal valued at $3.5B; NTT DATA’s acquisition of Apisero, ‘one of the largest all-stock transactions in the mid-to-upper-management recruiting space'; and more.
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The Last Word: Sentiero Ventures’ David Evans On the Pure Entrepreneurship Narrative: ‘Find a Need and Fill It’
by | Sep 22, 2022
Writing on LinkedIn, Evans links to an intriguing AIGA Eye on Design story: "We Spoke With the Last Person Standing in the Floppy Disk Business." According to the article, the long-ago-and-faraway floppy disk is "more in demand than you'd think," as the founder of FloppyDisk.com could tell you.
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The Shadow CEO:
A Founder’s Guide to Calculating Share Price
by | Sep 21, 2022
Entrepreneur, investor, and corporate governance authority Dennis Cagan shares insights on seldom-taught things an entrepreneur needs to know about equity and governance—before making needless mistakes—in The Shadow CEO series.

Part 10: Calculating Share Price
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