After launching its Innovation Fund, aimed at attracting tech startups headquarters to the city, the McKinney Economic Development Corporation initiative has now brought more than a dozen new or expanded workplaces in the city.
The most recent is Alanna.ai. The McKinney-based title and land industry-focused AI software startup announced receiving a grant from the MEDC’s Innovation Fund, with plans to more than double its workforce. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Our mission is to enable title companies with technology that improves operational efficiencies while providing an exceptional customer service experience” said Alanna.ai co-founder Hoyt Mann in a statement. “We see demand within the industry only continuing to increase, you start to see the scalability of our platform considering where our monthly recurring revenue is a year into sales, it is a consistent upward trend.”
Alanna.ai was created in 2018 by CEO Randall Nelson and president Mann, who are also the co-founders of local tech companies RamQuest Software and PhaseWare. Using “trainable” AI software, Alanna.ai’s technology helps to streamline title and land transaction processes like document requests and closing cost estimates.
“Alanna saves real estate agents, lenders, buyers and sellers time by providing real-time information during the entire closing process” Nelson said in a statement. “By making the communication experience between the title company and their customers faster, simpler and smoother, our platform is able to lead to lower costs for everyone involved.”
With the new funding, Alanna.ai plans to increase its headcount from seven to 27 within the next three year, each position with an average salary of $90,000. To accommodate the expansion, Alanna.ai is leasing an additional 3,000 square-feet of office space to its current headquarters near North Central Expressway and U.S. Route 380.
“Alanna’s growth as well as the awarding of this grant will allow us to scale much quicker, it was a great experience working with the McKinney EDC,” Nelson said.
The grant funding announcement for Alanna.ai comes on the heels of other recent moves and expansions in McKinney. Most recently the Innovation Fund invested in its largest company to date earlier in October, announcing grant funding to local telehealth platform MyTelemedicine, which plans to expand in the city and add nearly 40 new positions in the next three years. The fund has also been used to lure companies to the region, like health care software startup Invene and Italian tech firm EnginSoft in recent months.
Launched at the beginning of the year, the MEDC Innovation Fund is geared towards helping seed stage to Series A tech companies and startup grow within the city. With requirements like having a minimum number of employees and keeping the business in McKinney for at least three years, the MEDC hopes the fund will create a diverse, high-density innovation ecosystem in the city.
“Alanna.ai is one of the larger startups we’ve invested in so far and through data aggregation, we’re starting to see that industry diversity and our streamlined economic development process is what is allowing us to attract future industries that will continue create new jobs” said Danny Chavez, senior VP at the MEDC, in a statement “We’re seeing that AI companies continue to look at McKinney and this sector continuing to grow in our community."
