Center of Gravity: Capital Factory Kicks Off New Dallas Digs With Startup Crawl and Health Supernova Event

Capital Factory is opening a new physical presence in the region, and it’s ringing in the news with two events aimed at health-tech entrepreneurs.

The Austin-based accelerator and investor plans to launch a Center for Health Innovation at Pegasus Park in Dallas. The new center will connect startups, corporates, and research players in the space with each other, locally and across the state.

Josh Baer

“The rapid pace of change in the health sector makes it difficult to keep tabs on what new technology is available—and viable—and where to invest,” said Joshua Baer, Capital Factory CEO, in a statement. “By partnering with Pegasus Park, we’re excited to see that portfolio continue to gain momentum while helping connect the Pegasus Park community to our unmatched innovation partners in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.”

Entrepreneurial events

Capital Factory will celebrate the announcement with its Dallas Startup Crawl on Monday, May 9, giving attendees a chance to hear pitches and connect with innovative health and biotech startups from the organization’s portfolio.

That event will be followed up on Tuesday, May 10, by UT Dallas’ and UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Health Supernova event, where attendees can learn about medical devices, digital health, and preventative care from companies working in the fields like Taysha Gene Therapies, McKesson, Lazarus 3D, and NASA. The event will also include the Biotech+ Investment Showcase, a pitch competition with $100,000 up for grabs.

Capital Factory’s new digs

Partnering with companies like McKesson and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas’ C1 Innovation Lab to launch the Center for Health Innovation, Capital Factory expects to open its doors on the 16th floor of Pegasus Park before the end of 2023.

While the new space at the biotech-focused Pegasus Park development bears the name “Health Innovation,” the center will be open to startups working in various industries. It aims to bring together early-stage companies working on different solutions to interact with companies and university researchers already operating at Pegasus Park to spark new ideas and find ways to apply solutions from other industries into the healthcare space.

After operating in Austin for more than a decade, Capital Factory made its first expansion beyond the state capital in 2018, opening the 26,000 square-foot, DEC Network-affiliated Dallas space at The Centrum in Uptown. After putting a pause on in-person activity and having to furlough dozens of employees due to the pandemic, Capital Factory shuttered its operations in that space in November 2020.

Claire Aldridge

“The Center for Health Innovation has the potential to improve health and create new industries in North Texas by bringing together key stakeholders in healthcare and connecting them to innovators with cutting-edge solutions,” said Dr. Claire Aldridge, senior VP and chief of staff and business operations at Taysha Gene Therapies, in a statement. “Capital Factory’s experience in bridging these groups will further accelerate our potential to lead regionally, nationally, and—ultimately—globally in improving patient outcomes and health economics.”