Capital Factory

AGI and De-Extinction: John Carmack and Ben Lamm Join Venture Dallas 2025 Lineup

by | Aug 26, 2025
Set for Oct. 30 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, this year's Venture Dallas conference will assemble more than 500 entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders for a day of transformative ideas and connections.
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Why These Founders, Educators, and Executives Moved to Dallas‑Fort Worth—and Stayed
Startup culture, higher ed, advanced tech, and quality of life drew them in—but what kept them here is more personal. Meet the 10 transplants who now call North Texas home. As one newcomer put it: “We’re living our best life in Texas.”
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Dallas-Based Worlds’ Pioneering ‘Large World Model’ Platform Could Be the Next Leap Forward in AI’s Evolution
by | Oct 16, 2024
CEO Dave Copps says Worlds is delivering AI for the real world, in real time. Spotlighted by Gartner, Worlds’ breakthrough tech for enterprise creates a dynamic “index of everything” from any camera or sensor. The goal? To radically transform how organizations monitor, measure, and automate their operations.
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Venture Dallas Names First Round of Speakers for 2024 Summit
by | Oct 11, 2024
Featuring leaders like Jesse Draper of Halogen Ventures, Jim Lee of the Texas Stock Exchange, and Christopher Darby, former CEO of In-Q-Tel, the October 30 event at the Bush Center in Dallas will focus on emerging trends in sectors such as healthcare, national security, and the creator economy.
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Plano-Based Illuma Labs Raises $9M Series A to Fuel Voice Verification Solutions for Banking Fraud

Passive voice authentication "isn’t just for verifying customers," Illuma Founder and CEO Milind Borkar tells Dallas Innovates. Illuma's solutions address threats like fraud, voice cloning, and deep fakes, and he expects companies to use the tech "to combat the risk of help desk fraud that's exposed some major corporations to penetration of their IT systems."
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Innovation Meets Investment: Venture Dallas 2024 Summit Returns With J.P. Morgan and Perot Jain Leading the Charge
by | Aug 19, 2024
With heavyweight backers like JPMorgan Chase and Perot Jain returning, the North Texas venture capital summit is gearing up for its fourth edition. Ahead of the event, the board offers insights on the region's tech boom and offers a glimpse of what’s to come.
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The first-ever AI 75 — the most innovative people in artificial intelligence in Dallas-Fort Worth — is revealed on May 2 at Convergence AI.
Presenting the First-Ever AI 75: Meet the Most Innovative Leaders in Artificial Intelligence in Dallas-Fort Worth
by | May 2, 2024
Dallas Innovates, the Dallas Regional Chamber, and Dallas AI have teamed up to launch the inaugural AI 75 list. The 2024 program honors the most significant people in AI in DFW in seven categories—the visionaries, creators, and influencers you need to know.
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The Last Word: Quincy Preston On the ‘Most Innovative People in Artificial Intelligence’ in Dallas-Fort Worth
by | Feb 22, 2024
At Capital Factory's "Future of AI" salon Tuesday, the AI 75 list—a new program recognizing the most innovative people in artificial intelligence in Dallas-Fort Worth—was officially announced by Dallas Innovates in partnership with the Dallas Regional Chamber, and Dallas AI.
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Dallas Smart Baby Monitor and Remote Night Nanny Startup Raises $3.7M

by | Feb 2, 2024
Co-Founded by Mizzen+Main Founder and CEO Kevin Lavelle, along with Co-Founder and CPO Charlie Hill, infant care tech startup Harbor offers a "revolutionary" baby monitor and Remote Night Nanny service. The seed funding round was led by Trust Ventures, with backing by Morrison Seger and Capital Factory—as well as by former NFL QB Tim Tebow and current New York Jets punter Thomas Morstead, among others.
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‘Innovation Meets Investment’: Venture Dallas Sets Sights on National Stage with New Branding, Expanded 2023 Summit
by | Sep 27, 2023
The rebrand "marks the start of our next chapter of growth," says Venture Dallas Chair Aaron Pierce. The nonprofit's 2023 summit, backed by JPMorgan Chase and Perot Jain, is set for October 25.
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How UTDesign Established Itself as a ‘Secret Weapon’ Turning Tech Hurdles Into Business Game-Changers
From vacuum cleaners that can climb stairs, to robots built for firefighting, students in UT Dallas's UTDesign Capstone program are solving modern tech challenges. Companies in need? They're tapping into this pool of innovation, getting fresh solutions in AI, AR, robotics, bioengineering, and more.
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Meet the Top VCs in Dallas-Fort Worth, According to Business Insider
by | Mar 3, 2023
If you've founded a North Texas startup, chances are you'd love to meet a venture capitalist. Here are a four to know in North Texas.
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The Last Word: Co-Founder Brent Bushnell on Engineering Entertainment and Social Fun at Dallas’ New Two Bit Circus

by | Jan 11, 2023
After a soft open two months ago, Two Bit Circus officially launched yesterday at Dallas' Shops of Park Lane, featuring 35,000 square feet of tech-enhanced entertainment. Attractions include arcade games; VR, AR, and "extended reality" experiences; "story rooms"; reimagined carnival games; and more. We talked to the co-founders about how playing in groups is a big part of the fun, why their VR games prove "humans are hackable," and more.

Here's a look inside the Texas-sized micro-amusement park.
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Legendary Dallas Innovator John Carmack Raises $20M for Artificial General Intelligence Startup Keen Technologies
by | Dec 16, 2022
Carmack—the former CTO of VR giant Oculus—has taken goggle-gazing to the next level, programmed Doom and Quake, and founded a Mesquite-based space tourism startup. Now he's on a mission he says "could change the course of human history": artificial general intelligence. Keen's focus on AGI could lead to "something that behaves like a human being or like a living creature, and that can then be educated in whatever ways that we need to," he says.

Carmack believes AGI will hit the market in less than a decade. enabling AIs to interact socially with each other—or with actual people.  
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‘It’s a Different World Out There’: Investors Share Their Insights on the Changing Funding Landscape
by | Nov 14, 2022
At the recent Venture Dallas conference, a panel of leading investors talked market trends and shared insights to help those on both sides of the cap table. Here are key takeaways—from tips for fundraising founders to what startups need to offer to what makes Dallas an exciting place to invest. “As an entrepreneur, just hustle. Don't take ‘No’ for an answer. You're going to get a lot of ‘No’s,’ so just keep at it," said Pialy Aditya, chief strategy officer at Republic.
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