Dallas’s RevTech accelerator—formerly known as VentureSpur—has announced the startups that will make up its first class as a retail- and restaurant-focused program.
The five startups are working on innovations related to gambling, loyalty marketing, digital printing, and other industries. Each will receive $40,000 in seed capital and participate in a 14-week program at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center, where they will receive office space. A pitch day is scheduled for sometime in September.
RevTech, when it was known as VentureSpur, was a Dallas-based accelerator that focused broadly on nurturing tech startups. But David Matthews, RevTech’s co-founder and managing director, told me last December that he believed recasting the program’s focus to more closely resemble the North Texas economy’s expertise in hospitality makes the accelerator more useful.
“Having a vertical focus gives the entrepreneurs a lot of connections” within that sector, he told me. “For the accelerator, it’s the ability to focus on the hair-on-fire issues affecting the industry.”
Here are the startups in its inaugural class. All but one are based in the North Texas region:
—UrComped connects “high-value” slot and table game players with casinos and cruise lines in order to receive special privileges. The software also includes a social media engagement tool to help build its community.
—PnP Loyalty provides a white-label software-as-a-service package to help small- to mid-sized restaurant and retail chains support customer loyalty programs.
—The Citizenry is an e-retail site that partners with artists and crafts-makers around the world to sell “ethically crafted home goods without the markup of luxury boutiques.” The site says it has partnered with about 200 artisans in three countries.
—Everthread is an e-commerce site with on-demand digital printing targeted to create customized printed fabrics for interior designers and others.
—Eskalab is a software company based in Colombia that uses data analytics to help food and beverage businesses analyze customer behavior and use that information to alter menu selections and prices.
