Let’s get caught up on the latest innovation news from Texas’s startup communities.
Austin:
—Valence Health, a Chicago-based organization with offices in Austin and Corpus Christi, has sold the majority of its business to Evolent Health for $145 million in cash and stock. Founded in 1996, Valence provides advisory and administrative services to hospitals, insurers, and physicians around providing value-based care. Valence is receiving $35 million in cash and 5.84 million shares of stock in Evolent (NYSE: [[ticker:EVH]]), which is based in Arlington, VA. Valence shareholders can gain another 3.9 million shares in a potential earnout. Evolent is not buying Valence’s business division for state insurance cooperatives, which will remain owned by Valence shareholders and operated as a separate entity. Evolent says Valence, which received $45 million in venture funding since 2012, is expected to generate as much as $85 million in revenue this year.
—Stellarray, an Austin imaging startup, is working with NASA to create a light, portable imaging device that can provide two-dimensional X-rays as well as 3-D computer generated images for long-term space missions. The project is part of a $125,000 phase 1 SBIR grant awarded to the company.
—Virtuix, which makes the Omni virtual reality gaming device, has partnered with Hero Entertainment, a Chinese gaming company, to develop virtual reality content. The joint venture’s first major customer, UNIS, intends to purchase as many as 10,000 Omni units and sell them to arcades and entertainment centers, Virtuix said. UNIS is one of China’s largest suppliers of amusement machines.
Dallas:
—Flux Farms is bringing smart technology to hydroponic farms. The Dallas startup will begin selling its software and hardware packages this fall which uses artificial intelligence and sensors to tell farmers when crops need additional nutrients or water. Flux Farms’s technology comes from the Israeli military, which used it for security purposes.
—Dallas police’s use of a robot to kill a sniper who ambushed and killed five police officers is believed to be
