Startup

The Last Word: Toyota’s Stacey Gee‑Miller on the Women of Innovation Summit

by | Jul 22, 2022
Of three summits to be held during Dallas Startup Week, the Women of Innovation Summit is right in Miller's wheelhouse. The summit is powered by her company, Toyota Financial Services, and will celebrate women who transform their ideas and ambitions into a reality. The goal? To set women leaders up for success, says Miller.
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DI People: Flix, Keurig Dr Pepper, StackPath, GenelQ, and More Make Leadership Moves
by | Jul 22, 2022
In this week’s roundup of hires, promotions, and accolades in North Texas, you’ll also find news from Jackson-Shaw, Perkins&Will, Aimbridge Hospitality, Molecular Testing Labs, Axxess, Education Opens Doors, Make-A-Wish North Texas, LVTRise, and more. 
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Digital Fight Club Is Coming Back IRL to the Granada for Dallas Startup Week
by | Jul 22, 2022
A night of tech founder battles, raucous crowd roars, and BS-calling corporate refs will hit the Granada Theater on August 11. That's when Digital Fight Club returns to its in-person, party-fueled finest during Dallas Startup Week 2022. Ten top local tech leaders will go 1-on-1, fighting with their wits on five disruptive tech topics. "We plan on breaking molds again," says Michael Pratt, the event's founder and host.
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See What’s on Tap for Dallas Startup Week’s Disrupt Dallas Summit
by | Jul 20, 2022
The Disrupt Dallas summit will highlight "champions who are disrupting the entrepreneurial ecosystem and talent pipeline,” says The DEC Network. The summit on August 8—part of Dallas Startup Week's multi-day event—offers education and programming from local entrepreneurs of color on how to help support and grow a business. Dear Fathers, a media platform for Black fatherhood, was co-founded by Jesse Alex and Lamar Johnson Jr., who "turned their pain of not having real father experiences growing up" into a positive mission. [Image: Dear Fathers] Dear Fathers is a platform “dedicated to telling stories of black fathers from all angles while also empowering our community with tangible resources that inspire, heal, and strengthen the Black man.” Odell Beckham, Sr. Lamar Quinn Dessie Brown, Jr. LaDarius Campbell
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Cash Flow Is King.
This Dallas Fintech Tackles Challenges for Businesses, 1099 Workers in the Ever-Changing Gig Economy

by | Jul 20, 2022
Gig Wage has found new ways to help business owners manage cash flow and payment speed. But even more so, it aims to help create "a social safety net for 1099 workers" by offering non-predatory Faster Pay solutions and other features, with a debit card and mobile app offering also in the works.
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Dallas Invents: 139 Patents Granted for Week of June 28
by | Jul 20, 2022
Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 10 for patents out of 250 metros. Patents granted include: AMI Investments' remote monitoring of water distribution system, Avrio Genetics' transdermal patch with separated regions for delivery of immunomodulators, Cenergistic's building automation and control system modeling and reporting, Change Healthcare Holdings' augmented reality pharmacy system and method, DT Labs' apparatus for customer authentication of an item, Global E-Dentity's biometric authentication for an augmented reality or a virtual reality device, Lennox Industries' demand defrost with frost accumulation failsafe, Magic Leap's matching content to a spatial 3D environment, Salesboost's voice analysis training system, The Container Store' clothes hanger, Toyota's vehicle seat with morphing portions, and Wells Fargo Banks' complaint prioritization.
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Frisco’s OpTic Gaming Acquires Dallas Streamer Tool Startup Botisimo
by | Jul 19, 2022
Frisco-based OpTic Gaming—which rebranded from Envy Gaming last month following its November merger with OpTic—has acquired Dallas streamer tool startup Botisimo.

Botisimo's tools reach more than 36 million unique viewers each month for 30,000+ streamers including Snoop Dogg, Monstercat, and Dude Perfect. OpTic believes it's "one of the most powerful tools a creator can use to engage with their audience," said OpTic CEO Adam Rymer, who joined the startup's board last year.
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AllOY Emerges from Stealth to Bring EV, Autonomous Technology to Boating
by | Jul 19, 2022
Sensors and autonomous tech have made cars and trucks safer for years. Now Grapevine-based AllOY aims to do that for boats—by building its own line of electric-powered, autonomously enhanced boats complete with sensors and backup cameras.

“Sitting on the back of the boat with a glass of wine, it just became clear that those same things were going to have a radical impact on marine,” CEO Brandon Cotter told Dallas Innovates.
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DI People: Gamestop, Dave & Buster’s, OrderMyGear, and More Make Leadership Moves

by | Jul 15, 2022
In this week’s roundup of hires, promotions, and accolades in North Texas, you’ll also find news from Exela Technologies, Newmark, OrangeGrid, RailPros, Aimbridge Hospitality, Integrity Marketing Group, Smoothie King, Bank of Texas, MD7, Salvation Army, and more. Plus, you'll find board appointments including Texas Mutual Insurance, Zimperium, and the Ebby Halliday Foundation.
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Follow the Money: Fort Worth Biotech Raises $16M, VC Firm Raises $25M for Debut Fund, S2 Capital Surpasses Blackstone as Region’s Most Active Multifamily Investor, and More
by | Jul 15, 2022
Plus, Dallas real estate startup Nada raises $5.7M, Arlington's Wonder Works Studios raises $5.53M, Exela Technologies in talks to sell off $200M-revenue business unit, PE firm Crossplane Capital closes $325M second fund, and more North Texas deals.
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New Age Capital Raises $25M for Debut Fund to Invest in ‘Historically Underfunded Founders’
by | Jul 14, 2022
Co-founded by Dallasite LaDante McMillon and Brooklyn-based Ivan Alo, New Age Capital has raised $25 million for its debut fund. Formed in 2016, New Age focuses on seed-stage rounds for startups with Black and Hispanic founders.

Looking ahead, New Age wants to be the “go-to institutional VC firm” in their space.
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Women of Innovation Dallas Startup Week 2022
Here’s What’s Happening at Dallas Startup Week’s Women of Innovation Summit
The Women's Innovation Summit during Dallas Startup Week celebrates women who transform their ideas and ambitions into a reality.

The summit, powered by Toyota Financial Services, features a dynamic group of leading visionaries to give all women in business greater insights and knowledge into the trends and possibilities of the future. The goal? To set women leaders up for success, says Toyota's Stacey Gee-Miller. Here's what you can look forward to on August 10.
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Dallas Invents: 112 Patents Granted for Week of July 5

by | Jul 13, 2022

Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 12 for patent activity out of 250 metros.

Patents granted include:
Knomadix's dynamic number board game for adaptive learning
Pro Star Energy Solutions' energy-reducing retrofit apparatus for a constant volume HVAC system
Texas Scientific Products' analytical nebulizer
7-Eleven's network-enabled fuel dispensing system
AT&T's aggregation of application and systems for services for 6G or other next-generation network
• Easybaby Products' safety gate
Honeywell International's worker monitoring system
Red River Tea Company's still beverage brewing method
Toyota's adaptive headlights

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The Last Word: TatumTek’s Edwin D. Tatum on Modular Home Construction
by | Jul 12, 2022
Tatum told D CEO he got the idea for his modular construction firm after he stopped playing pro basketball in Latin America and started investing in residential construction.  “I became frustrated with the change orders, inspection process, and delayed times. I distinctly remember telling myself, ‘There has to be another way.’" Tatum told D CEO. Today his company can build a home in eight to 16 weeks, and do it more sustainably, he says, with a forecast of over $50 million in revenue this year.
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Horned Frog Investment Network Aims to Boost Deal Flow in Fort Worth and Beyond
by | Jul 12, 2022
The Horned Frog Investment Network—which launched earlier this year through TCU's Neeley School of Business—aims to fund startups across the country and lift up Fort Worth's entire venture funding ecosystem.
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Bitewell Launches its ‘Healthy Eating Ecosystem’ in Dallas
by | Jul 12, 2022
Bitewell—which has already served about 5,000 subscribers in a months-long pilot—is officially launching its personalized meal planning app in the Dallas area. The platform helps users make healthy eating decisions when eating out or dining in. After launching in Dallas with backing from several seed funders, it plans to expand to cities like Chicago in the future. “Our mission as a business is to make healthy eating simple and accessible for all,” says Bitewell co-founder and CMO Samantha Citro Alexander.
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