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Michael Kowski
Image: NTXIA
North Texas–Backed Smart Cities Challenge in Barcelona Offers Global Startups Prizes, Path to U.S. Market Entry
by Lance Murray | Aug 20, 2025
NTXIA, Frisco, McKinney, Plug and Play, and Curiosity Lab are teaming up again for the 2025 Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge. Five international startups will pitch live for a shot at funding, U.S. pilots, and real-world deployment opportunities. Applications are open now and close Sept. 10.
by Quincy Preston |
Aug 6, 2025
At the statewide TUNIE meeting hosted at SMU, top local economic developers laid out how they’re teaming up with universities to drive innovation and entrepreneurship. Leaders from Dallas, Richardson, Frisco, and McKinney talked anchor institutions to smart-city pilots—but for better partnerships, one ask rose to the top: “Who do I call first?”
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by Lance Murray |
Nov 13, 2024
Boosting its Innovation Fund grant program, McKinney EDC is now offering non-diluted capital of up to $200K for qualifying early-stage startups—and up to half a million dollars in support for established or relocating later-stage startups who set up their HQs in the city.
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by David Seeley |
Sep 23, 2024
The Georgia-based Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners is also partnering on the pitch competition, which will be held November 6 during this year's Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The goals: seeking innovations for the future of transportation, sustainability, and pedestrian safety.
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[Illustration: metamorworks/iStock]
Plug and Play Launches Fintech Startup Accelerator in Frisco and McKinney
by Lance Murray | Feb 7, 2024
The global innovation platform opened offices in the two North Texas cities late last year, announcing accelerators for Sportstech and Enterprise & AI. Now Plug and Play is banking on a new way to make Frisco and McKinney key players in another disruptive industry.
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by Quincy Preston and David Seeley |
Dec 21, 2023
Sherif Saadawi, VP of partnerships at Plug and Play, calls his platform "the most active VC in the world by volume of deals"—and that's just one of three pillars it's bringing to Frisco and McKinney, along with corporate-startup matchmaking and sector-focused accelerators.
"In almost every metric that we look for that makes a good ecosystem, DFW really ticks all the boxes," he tells Dallas Innovates.
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by David Seeley |
Aug 29, 2023
Michael Kowski brings extensive long-term city planning experience to MEDC, including urban development and design, land acquisition, and capital improvement projects, the organization said. He most recently served as the Director of Parks and Recreation for the city of McKinney, where he oversaw multiple eight-figure projects.
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by David Seeley |
Jun 26, 2023
Wilson Creek Trail joins a network of more than 1,300 existing national recreation trails in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico—and it's the only trail in Texas to earn the designation this year.
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![Erica Kosemund, Chief Brand Officer, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Gillian Breidenbach, Chief Partnership Officer, North Texas FWC Organizing Committee; Chief Gary Batton, Chief of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Monica Paul, Executive Director of Dallas Sports Commission and President of North Texas FWC Organizing Committee; John Hobbs, Senior Executive Officer of Communications, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; and Heidi Grant, Senior Executive Officer of Commerce Administration, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, celebrate Choctaw Casinos & Resorts becoming an Official Dallas World Cup 2026 Host City Supporter. [Photo: North Texas FWC Organizing Committee/Choctaw Casinos & Resorts]](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FIFA-Choctaw-dec-2025.jpg)
