Three North Texas entrepreneurs—Roberto Inetti, Fred Burns, and Kedreon Cole—have been chosen to participate in the highly selective Google for Startups Founders Academy, a six-month program that aims to assist budding startups in growing revenues and gaining access to capital.

The founders told Dallas Innovates today in a joint statement that they are three of 50 chosen for the equity-free program, which is comprised of U.S.-based “high potential startups from underrepresented entrepreneurs.” Inetti, Burns, and Cole will be part of the second cohort.

“Google is an amazing company that has been pushing the web forward since its conception,” Inetti said in the statement. “ROBOAMP’s commitment to making the web better and Google’s support will propel us to the next level. We are excited about this unique opportunity.”

Beginning on March 3, Founders Academy will consist of hands-on workshops geared toward topics such as customer acquisition, hiring, and fundraising. It’s the second rendition of the program; the model was piloted last year in Atlanta with 45 local companies.

“85 percent of participants from Google for Startups Founders Academy that we ran in Georgia reported that the program helped grow their startup, whether that be through job creation, fresh pathways to capital, new strategic partnerships, or increased brand and marketing exposure,” Jewel Burks Solomon, head of Google for Startups U.S., said in the statement. “By expanding the program nationally, we’re hopeful that we can continue to level the playing field for underrepresented founders and their startups by connecting them to the best Google has to offer.”

According to the founders, it comes at a critical time in their, and the country’s, history: They plan to use the program to learn more about customer discovery and go-to-market strategies as they work toward growing their technology’s footprint by 2022.

Inetti is the founder of ROBOAMP, a web optimization company that hopes to change how billions of people use the mobile web. Based in Rockwall, ROBOAMP uses its solution—just one line of code—to make any website load in a second or less on mobile.

Last year, Inetti says he and his team saw explosive growth that led to a partnership with Accenture and other projects with Radisson Hotel Group, Vodafone, and BBVA Bank, among others.

Burns is behind Safer Management, an attendance and time tracking platform that is powered by machine learning. The technology is geared toward the education system and its new safety measures.

The intent is to make children feel comfortable about returning to school, while giving parents a way to be proactive and prepared. The platform’s dashboard has features like a check-in screen, with attendance and temperature tracking and custom safety protocols, and incident reports for injuries or illnesses.

And Cole is the brains behind esports technology platform XR Sports Group, a B2B media platform comprised of a decentralized network of digital communities.

The goal of XR Sports is to enable influential entertainment properties—pro sports teams, college conferences, celebrity influencers—to create long-term value from fan engagement. Using gaming-inspired experiences and digital commerce solutions (like non-fungible tokens), the startup facilitates meaningful digital intersections between influencers, Gen Z, and brands.

“The Founders Academy will provide best practices from the Google team and help to prepare us for investor readiness,” Cole said. “This support from Google for Startups comes at a critical time and will be used to automate workflows across the XR Sports platform leveraging Google’s machine learning and gaming technologies.”

Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.

Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.