Let’s catch up on the latest innovation news in Texas.
—Coder, a cloud-based software development startup out of Austin, announced it has raised $4.5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Uncork Capital and Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Founders Fund, Capital Factory, John Kodumal, Quinn Slack, Grant Gregory, Alec Guettel, David Rosenblatt, and Gregory Kennedy, a company blog post stated.
—The Dallas Innovation Alliance recently released a report looking at its Smart Cities Living Lab project, which the DIA, along with its partner AT&T, launched in March 2017 in a four-block area of the West End neighborhood in downtown Dallas. The area has embedded environmental and pedestrian sensors, smart lights, an interactive digital kiosk, and other IoT tools that city officials are using as a research and development lab, much in the same way that universities and corporations do. The DIA reports that smart lighting has led to a 35 percent reduction in energy use, which translates to at least $90 million in savings over the life of the LED bulbs. The report also says the sensors and other technologies could improve how the city informs residents about unhealthy air quality, by, for example, detecting increased levels of pollutants following 4th of July fireworks.
—Billd, a payments tech company in Austin, has raised $8.43 million in funding, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fintech startup offers short-term loans to sub-contractors to help them bridge the gap between purchasing materials for a construction project and getting paid by a general contractor, the company’s LinkedIn page states.
—Medici, an Austin health IT company, announced it has acquired DocbookMD, which makes a secure text-messaging app for physicians. Medici, which raised $22 million in June, also makes a communications app for doctors that includes functions such as in-app billing, electronic prescriptions, and referrals. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Docbook, which is also based in Austin, was founded in 2008.
—Grid4C, an Austin maker of artificial intelligence software for the energy industry, announced it has raised $5 million in funding. The investment was led by ICV, a venture capital firm focused on industrial technology, with participation from French energy company ENGIE, other utilities in Europe and Asia, iAngels, AxessVentures, and others, according to a Grid4C press release.
