[Updated 6/17/14 1:10 pm. See below.] Another week, another slew of startup financings in Texas. Here’s the latest news:
—The Dallas Entrepreneur Center announced that Comerica Bank has funded a $50,000 pitch contest in North Texas. The DEC, a co-working space as well as incubator and accelerator, was founded a year ago by Trey Bowles, an Xconomist, in order to create a hub of startup activity in Dallas. Applications will be accepted starting July 1, and the pitch contest is scheduled for November, with four finalists presenting in front of a panel of celebrity judges.
—Wisegate, an online community of tech workers, raised $1 million last week. [An earlier version had an old membership number.] The Austin, TX-based company was founded in 2010 and sells $5,500 annual memberships to IT professionals for a secure online community to exchange ideas and solve problems.
—Savara Pharmaceuticals raised $4.5 million in debt financing last week. The Austin-based biotech is developing an inhalable antibiotic to treat cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition affecting about 30,000 Americans that causes the buildup of thick mucus in the lungs and disrupts breathing.
—Besomebody has raised $1 million in seed funding from The E.W. Scripps Company, a Cincinnati, OH-based media technology firm. Besomebody is based in Austin and plans to use the money to develop a mobile-based platform that highlights “passion-related” content such as inspirational talks and readings, as well as connect people with similar interests to create what the startup calls “passionaries.”
