Let’s catch up on the latest innovation news in Texas.
—Aeglea Biotherapeutics, an Austin biotech, raised $60 million in a secondary public stock offering Wednesday, according to a press release. The company is developing drugs to essentially starve cancers to death. In 2016, it raised $50 million in an IPO. In 2017, co-founder David Lowe, who led the company from pre-clinical stage, was replaced by Anthony Quinn as interim CEO. The next year, the company named Quinn as its president and permanent CEO.
—Hypergiant Galactic Systems, a division of Hypergiant Industries, announced Tuesday the acquisition of Satellite & Extraterrestrial Operations & Procedures, a Houston-based satellite developer and deployment company, according to a press release. Hypergiant’s space-focused business is the latest division of the company that also includes Hypergiant Sensory Services, which raised “more than $5 million” from an undisclosed group of investors in December.
—Celltex Therapeutics, a Houston-based stem cell banking and therapy company, and Texas A&M University have entered into an agreement with a Saudi Arabian research group to develop regenerative medicine technologies, the company said. The Saudi Arabia Research Product Development Company is a government organization focused on commercializing new technologies. A group of Saudi officials came to College Station, TX, this week to finalize the multi-year public-private partnership to investigate stem cell therapies to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
—The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Dallas announced Tuesday a partnership with the Blockchain Research Institute, a Toronto-based think tank focused on societal opportunities and challenges that could come from the use of blockchain. BRI partners like UT-D’s innovation institute have access to an exclusive platform to share best practices and research projects, the Toronto organization said. Among the BRI’s other partners include Cisco (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CSCO]]), IBM (NYSE: [[ticker:IBM]]), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: [[ticker:PG]]), and other major corporations, UT-D said in a press release.
—The Riveter, a women-run co-working and startup event space, announced it is opening an outpost in Dallas. The Riveter is also planning new spaces in Denver; Minneapolis, MN; Atlanta, and Portland, OR, the Seattle-based company announced. In December, The Riveter raised $15 million in funding and said the proceeds would be used to help pay for this expansion.
—Now that’s a lot of tacos. Siete Foods has raised $90 million from Stripes Group, a New York investment firm, according to Austin consumer products accelerator SKU. The Austin-based Siete makes grain-free tortillas and tortilla chips and was part of SKU’s fourth track of companies.
