Startup

Dallas Invents: 138 Patents Granted for Week of June 7

by | Jul 6, 2022
Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 11 for patents out of 250 metros. Patents granted include Amazon's authorization orchestration for distributed systems, Bank of America's system for real-time mining of data in test and development environments, Capital One's visual inspection support using extended reality, Toyota's smart realtor signs synchronized with vehicle, and more.
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Report: Dallas is No. 1 in Small Business Employment and Earnings Growth Among U.S. Metros
by | Jul 5, 2022
Small business employment growth is booming in metro Dallas and Texas, with both ranked No. 1 on the Small Business Employment Watch report from Paychex and HIS Markit. Metro Dallas took the top spot among other metro regions across the U.S. in both small business employment growth and hourly earnings growth.
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Frisco Student Loan Startup Meritize Gets New Funding, Aims to Change the Way Access is Provided
by | Jun 30, 2022
Meritize CEO Chris Keaveney, in a previous stint as a student loan credit officer, saw that "educational finance was really not student lending—it was family lending. And the loans were really made to prime and super-prime co-signers."

Meritize provides an alternative to the traditional way of securing an educational loan, he says. The platform looks at a person's "potential to succeed," providing options that can help get workers trained and placed in a variety of industries.
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Dallas-Founded Biopharma Firm Raises $120M to Expand its Pipeline
by | Jun 29, 2022
ReCode Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical startup using a non-viral lipid nanoparticle delivery platform for gene therapies, has closed a $120 million extension to a funding round it raised last year to help bring its lead programs to human trials and “follow the science” to target new diseases. With a research team working out of BioLabs' life sciences facility at Pegasus Park, ReCode aims to grow its global team from about 70 to 100 over the next year.
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Two Pioneering Dallas Ad Agency CEOs Launch Multicultural-Focused YouNite Media

by | Jun 28, 2022
Pedro Lerma, CEO of LERMA/, and Rodrigo Vallejo, CEO of RO2 Media, have launched YouNite Media—a demand-side platform that helps advertisers connect with audiences in an automated, anonymously trackable way. The new startup leverages both "cultural intelligence" and the co-founders' deep experience in multicultural marketing. "Lots of brands in the last couple of years have felt the urgency of being more in tune with their increasingly multicultural audiences," Lerma told Dallas Innovates. "YouNite hopes to let brands live up to their multicultural commitments."
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Fast-Growing ‘People Development’ Software Startup Relocates HQ as It Changes the Game in HR and Leadership Development
by | Jun 28, 2022
Leadr has tripled its revenue by focusing on employee engagement and performance as a natural outcome of developing the whole person.

There's "a real tiredness in the industry" around traditional performance management, says co-founder Chris Heaslip. His startup is on the vanguard of change in manager and employee relationships.
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Rideshare Startup Alto To Open New ‘Community-Centric’ HQ in Dallas Design District
by | Jun 27, 2022
The ridesharing startup is moving into bigger digs in Quadrant Investment Properties' Manufacturing District development in the Dallas Design District.

The relocation follows Alto's $45M Series B round last June and a recent expansion to Silicon Valley. Alto's new 16,000-square-foot HQ offers "community-centric" amenities like Lounge 141, a shared rooftop lounge with panoramic views of downtown Dallas. 
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Meet the 11 Winners of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Central Plains Award
by | Jun 27, 2022
Ten of the 11 winners are from North Texas.
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Follow the Money: Sherman Lands $5B Silicon Wafer Plant; Dallas Investment Firm Raising $35M Fund, Robotics Startup Raises $14.6M from Local VCs, and More

by | Jun 24, 2022
Plus, Primoris Services acquires PLH Group for $470M; Keurig Dr Pepper acquires rights to non-alcoholic cocktail brand; Harvest Returns raises $4M for new fund; and more North Texas deals.
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Eleven North Texas Black Designers Wow 1,500 at Legacy West Fashion Show
by | Jun 23, 2022
The first Juneteenth Fashion Show—here and in the U.S.—was held Sunday at the Legacy Hall Box Garden at Legacy West in Plano. Produced by Think Three Media, the show featured fashion creations by 11 history-making Black designers.

"Putting a spotlight on our incredible Black creatives, designers, and artists here in DFW was undoubtedly the icing on the cake," said Think Three CEO Leah Frazier.
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Aakha Biologics Relocates from BioLabs Pegasus Park to Permanent North Texas HQ in Frisco
by | Jun 22, 2022
The startup—which discovers and develops immuno-oncology therapeutics for cancer patients—was an inaugural tenant of BioLabs Pegasus Park, a 37,000-square-foot coworking laboratory and office space that opened in March. Aakha had previously been working out of interim space managed by BioLabs at UT Southwestern. “With the premier facility and synergies available within Pegasus Park, we moved from concept to a solid preclinical stage company in the course of one year," Aakha Founder and CEO Hemanta Baruah said.
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Marine Vet Creates Evacuation Tech To Light Up ‘Pathways To Safety’ in an Emergency

by | Jun 21, 2022
Go-To-Green's patented audio-visual system can detect both the sound of a fired gunshot and the pressure change made by a bullet in the air. The system lights up to direct people to the safest exit—and tracks the source of shots.

In North Texas, the system is currently being installed in Anna's city hall, and talks are underway with three school systems and a grocery chain, the startup's CEO told us.
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It’s On: 1 Million Cups Dallas Is Back

After a pandemic hiatus, 1 Million Cups Dallas is back for connection, conversation, and coffee. A “grand relaunch event” for the gathering of entrepreneurially-minded people will be held both in-person and virtually on Wednesday, June 22....

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DI People: PGA of America, The DEC Network, Blackshaw Partners, Exela Technologies, And More Make Leadership Moves
by | Jun 17, 2022
In this week’s roundup of hires, promotions, and accolades in North Texas, you’ll also find news from Avodah, Skylark Equity Partners, Stream Realty Partners, Sesami Cash Management Technologies, and others.
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Follow the Money: Video Game Studio Raises $46M for Web3 Play, Medical Device Maker Goes Public, Real Estate Investor Raises $1.8B, and More
by | Jun 17, 2022

What companies are finding funding or having a big exit? From startup investments to grants and acquisitions, Dallas Innovates tracks what’s happening in North Texas money....

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