Everything's bigger in Texas, or so the saying goes.
Now, two busloads full of investors, most of whom aren't from Texas, are finding out for themselves on a week-long tour of startup ecosystems in Dallas, Houston and Austin.
The Texas Startup Roadshow, organized by Capital Factory and J.P. Morgan, might not cover every corner of this sprawling state. But the venture capitalists from across the U.S., Mexico and Canada got a deep dive into the Dallas startup scene on Tuesday.
The Dallas lineup included a stop at Old Parkland, a former hospital that has become home to some of the metro's most powerful family offices. The crew then made the short trek to Capital Factory's Dallas space, where investors spent an hour and a half in a series of quick, one-on-one meetings with Dallas founders. Next, we explored Neighborhood Goods, a department store-type concept that brings many e-commerce brands into a physical space. Finally, we made the jaunt up to Frisco to check out the GameStop Performance Center, where e-sports team Complexity is based, and the Dallas Cowboys' headquarters and practice facility.
Next up: The busses head to Houston where, on Wednesday, the tour will make stops at WeWork, NASA and TMCx. Finally, on Thursday, the tour heads to Austin to meet with local companies and party down at Capital Factory's 10th anniversary celebration.
Among venture firms represented on the trip are Blueprint Local, Central Texas Angel Network, Chicago Ventures, Edison Partners, Geekdom Fund, Espresso Capital, ff Venture Capital, Jump Capital, Mistletoe, Moonshots Capital and many more -- roughly 40 people altogether.
We'll have more on the Texas Startups Roadshow in coming days. In the meantime, let's cut to a short video of some of the sights and sounds from the Dallas leg of the trip.
Photos and video by Brent Wistrom.
