Startup

‘A Global Influencer of Technology and Innovation’: Richardson Opens HQ for Its Innovation Quarter

by | Sep 15, 2022
The 27,500-square-foot new HQ—in partnership with UT Dallas—anchors Richardson's 1,200-acre Innovation Quarter. A masterwork of vision planning years in the making, it's a catalyst to spark innovation and nuture collaborations—and attract hundreds of entrepreneurial businesses. Six new UT Dallas research centers will initially launch at the IQ HQ, helping to build businesses and commercialize research coming from the nearby university.

“We are a global presence," Richardson Mayor Paul Voelker said at the event. "And the vision that we have here is that we will be a global influencer of technology and innovation."
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Dallas Invents: 160 Patents Granted for Week of August 30
by | Sep 14, 2022
Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 10 for patents out of 250 metros. Patents granted include: Botsitter's remote monitoring, care and maintenance of animals, Socrates Health Solutions' blood glucose trend meter, Kyndryl's prioritization for charging electric vehicles while driving on the road, BNSF Railway's train simulator test set and method therefor, Alliance for Sustainable Energy's perovskite materials , TI's accelerated decision-tree execution, USAA's authentication in a virtual reality environment, JPMorgan Chase Bank's gamification-based engagement, Polara Enterprises' integrated accessible pedestrian system, and more.
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The Last Word: Bright Owl’s Sofia Babool Offers Advice to College Students Launching a Startup
Babool graduated from UT Dallas a few months ago with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience—and a new business she was getting off the ground. Last month she officially launched Bright Owl, a virtual tutoring company that's already served K-12 students from Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, California, Canada, and Pakistan.
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Plano-Based CG Infinity Launched Its First Spinout in IgniteConnex; Here’s How Its ‘Drag-and-Drop’ Platform Is Transforming Businesses
by | Sep 13, 2022
Earlier this year, Plano-based IT consulting firm Cyber Group rebranded as CG Infinity, launching a new innovation lab and investing in a new 33,000-square-foot Plano HQ and innovation lab. Now we look behind the scenes of its first startup spinout, IgniteConnex—whose low-code, drag-and-drop platform connects and integrates businesses' legacy technology. "Our mantra behind this is you shouldn't have to redo all of your infrastructure," IgniteConnex President and Co-founder Rob Palacios tells Dallas Innovates.
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Dallas Startups Deposits.com and DUKE.AI Land Google As New Backer

by | Sep 8, 2022
Two Dallas companies have been awarded $100,000 each by the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, which aims to help close racial disparities in VC funding given to diverse founders. The startups will also receive Google Cloud credits and hands-on support from Google. They join several other North Texas companies that received earlier grants from the fund. “Across the U.S., there are amazing Black startup founders who are building great companies yet are locked out of access to the funding that's critical to their success,” Google wrote in a blog post.
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Dallas-Based nVenue Raises $1M to Fuel Growth in Sports ‘Micro-Betting’ Market
by | Sep 7, 2022
The startup found early traction in 2021 as part of the Comcast NBCUniversal SportTech Accelerator. Its predictions are now displayed on two MLB games per week on Apple TV+’s Friday Night Baseball.

That work with broadcasters is "helping get the market used to the type of real-time analytics," says Co-Founder and CFO Drew Williams. nVenue innovates in the watch-and-bet market and aims to turn prediction displays into actionable betting items for fans, "providing operators almost a million markets that they can take today."
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Dallas Invents: 121 Patents Granted for Week of August 23
by | Sep 7, 2022
Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 121 for patents out of 250 metros. Patents granted include:7-Eleven's Event Trigger Based On Region-Of-Interest Near Hand-Shelf Interaction, Coronado Aesthetics' Delivery Of Nanoparticles, Her Technologies' Skin Rejuvenation Device, IBM's Assisted Smart Device Context Performance Information Retrieval, Intuit's Optimization Based On Archetypes, Match Group's System And Method For Modifying A Preference, Red River Tea's Touchless Beverage Dispensing Valve, Sigl-G's Geothermal Power Generation, Solo Brands' Combustible Fuel Burning Stove With Spark Arrestor, Toyota's Off-Highway Auto Ev Mode, ZscalerCloud-Based Virtual Private Access Systems And Methods For Application Access , Siemens Industry Software's Isometric Control Data Generation for Test Compression and Vive Scientific's Apparatus For Tissue Ablation Using Radiofrequency Energy And Method Of Use
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CPRIT Is Funding the Development of Products That Fight Cancer
by | Sep 6, 2022
The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas has provided more than $3.1 billion in funding toward the development of cancer-fighting therapeutics, devices, diagnostics, and tools since 2010. It's now issued a call for startups and early-stage companies to apply for product development research grants for the 2023 fiscal year. “CPRIT’s mission is to invest in the research prowess of Texas institutions while expediting breakthroughs in cancer cures and prevention,” CEO Wayne Roberts said last May.
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Dallas Startup Immerss Aims To Be the ‘Go-To Solution’ for Live E-Commerce

by | Sep 1, 2022
Working with San Antonio-based bootmaker Lucchese, Immerss delivered a use case that gave the brand a real kick, with a live e-commerce shopping experience that moved the majority of Lucchese sales to direct-to-consumer. That turned the bootmaker from client to investor through a $1.1 million seeding check. Now Immerss is looking to raise millions more to become the "go-to solution" for live e-commerce. Co-founder Patrick Jacobs told Dallas Innovates an early meeting with Lucchese's president led to a "lightbulb moment"—one that set Immerss on an innovative new path.
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Wealth Management Tech Startup VRGL Raises $15M to Help Firms Acquire Clients, Manage Proposals
Founded in 2021, Dallas-based VRGL is an automated data and analytics platform for wealth management firms. Aimed at streamlining time to revenue and increasing initial check sizes, the platform can present a "complete and transparent view" of a prospect's entire portfolio within minutes—serving a need that's "ripe for innovation and disruption," one investor said.

“The VRGL team quickly took a one-firm product and turned it into a platform every advisor can use,” two other investors added in a joint statement.
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Dallas Startup Von Perry Looks to Raise $2M to Build More 3D-Printed Homes Across Texas
by | Aug 31, 2022
Von Perry's first 3D-printed geopolymer concrete home is slated for completion in October in the small town of Nevada, Texas. As the startup prepares to kick off its $2 million fundraising effort on the StartEngine crowdfunding platform, it's planning six other custom projects in Texas—and thinking big. “We are actually building real houses using 3D printers, and that is a jaw-dropping moment for [people]," says Von Perry's co-founder and CTO. "Because they don't even believe it is possible."
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Dallas Invents: 155 Patents Granted for Week of August 16
by | Aug 31, 2022
Bank of America's correction, synchronization, and migration of databases, Berkshire Biomedical's computerized oral prescription administration with refillable medication dispensing devices, UT Systems' cancer cell trap, Cleanspray USA's disinfection system for mass transit vehicles, Fujifilm Medical Systems' detecting errors in artificial intelligence engines, Knightscope's autonomous parking monitor, Micron Technology's modified checksum using a poison data pattern, Texas Instruments' handling non-correctable errors, Textron Innovations' fuel cell powered line-replaceable thrust module, The Nielsen Company's methods and apparatus to improve usage crediting in mobile devices, and UNT's ultrasonic through-wall sensors.
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$100K Black Girl Magic Pitch Competition Winners Announced, Including Two Dallas Startups

by | Aug 30, 2022
The fourth annual Black Girl Magic Summit—presented by Dallas-based Boss Women Media and Capital One—was released as a video experience on Amazon's Prime Video Saturday. Here's a look at the winners of its pitch competition, from a Creole fusion-inspired founder to moms who actually get real about motherhood to a woman who's juicing her way to success.

The winners had lots of competition. This year's contest had 10,033 entrants nationwide—almost double the number from 2021.
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Follow the Money: P10 Acquires California Investment Firm, SmartMoving Lands $41.5M, and More
by | Aug 29, 2022
In this week’s North Texas deal flow, you’ll also find news about Biotech Renibus Therapeutics raising $8.48M to fight cardio-renal disease; Deposits raising $5M for its plug-and-play financial services platform; Lion Real Estate Group targeting multifamily properties in the Sun Belt with a $200M fund, and more.
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Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson Taps Attorney Carlos White as Franchise Impact Ambassador
by | Aug 26, 2022
Johnson launched the ‘Mayor’s Franchise Initiative’ to foster economic growth earlier this week. Carlos White’s goal will be to make Dallas “a global hub for franchising” by forming partnerships that can help teach city residents how to create, systematize, and scale successful businesses.
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DI People: American Airlines, StackPath, Infolob, and More Make Leadership Moves
by | Aug 26, 2022
In this week’s roundup of hires, promotions, and accolades in North Texas, you’ll also find news from the cities of Dallas and Plano, the North Texas Commission, TPG, ParkHub, Vistra, CyrusOne, Van’s Kitchen, ROBOAMP, and more.
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