Houston's economic diversity Thread .. (Dallas, Austin: hardwood floors, restaurant, doctorate)

[Jack Lance]

Hypergiant deal boosts AI in Space City and brings new economic diversity to Houston's economy !

Artificial intelligence company Hypergiant Industries will use satellites as its next vantage point for collecting data and helping customers predict the future.

Austin-based Hypergiant announced Tuesday that it has acquired Satellite & Extraterrestrial Operations & Procedures, a Houston company that deploys satellites into space. Hypergiant also said it will open a new aerospace division in Texas’ hub for space exploration.



“Houston is and always will be a hub for space innovation,” Lamm said in the email. “We are only reinforcing that vision by bringing the best in the business to Texas, and making sure that we stay the key player in a rapidly expanding industry.”
https://www.chron.com/techburger/art...y-13588732.php

[Jack Lance]

Bill.com selects the Westchase area near Westheimer and Beltway 8 in West Houston as it's first office outside of California, bolstering Houston's digital tech sector, and increasing Houston's economic diversity !

“We conducted an extensive national search to select our first location outside the San Francisco Bay Area,” Bill.com. Chief Executive René Lacerte said in an announcement. “We’re growing at a high speed and it’s critical to find the right mix of talent, quality of life and business-friendliness in our next office location. We found all this and more in Houston and are delighted the city can support our next phase of growth.”

Bill.com aims to hire about 125 employees over the next three years. It will initially ramp up for engineering and customer service, but will hire for other roles once it moves into permanent office space.

The Greater Houston Partnership worked with the company for more than six months to aid the expansion to Houston. Bill.com also partnered with local tech connector Station Houston, and will participate in Station Startup Gigs and Rice University hiring events on Feb. 19 and 24.


https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bus...photo-16920677

Bill.com Announces Expansion with New Office In Houston

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Palo Alto, Calif. and Houston, Texas – February 12, 2019 – Bill.com, the leader in digital business payments, today announced it is expanding operations to Houston as the company enters a new phase of growth. With plans to open its 25,000 square foot space in the Westchase district in Spring 2019, the company is actively hiring a team including developers and customer support professionals with other roles to follow.
“We conducted an extensive national search to select our first location outside the San Francisco Bay Area. We’re growing at a high speed and it’s critical to find the right mix of talent, quality of life and business-friendliness in our next office location. We found all this and more in Houston and are delighted the city can support our next phase of growth,” said René Lacerte, CEO of Bill.com.
https://www.bill.com/about-us/press-...ffice-houston/

[Spade]

^^ looks like ion in Houston is starting to gain the eyes of some tech companies.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by Spade

^^ looks like ion in Houston is starting to gain the eyes of some tech companies.

Maybe it's BMC Software that's catching their eye, they are in that building too...

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Something I didn’t notice to be mentioned here (but maybe I just missed it). Fertitta bought Waitr App which moved their financial headquarters to Houston. And then Waitr bought Bite Squad putting Waitr in more than have the country. Food delivery apps seem to be a huge thing these days so this is a pretty big deal

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Something I didn’t notice to be mentioned here (but maybe I just missed it). Fertitta bought Waitr App which moved their financial headquarters to Houston. And then Waitr bought Bite Squad putting Waitr in more than have the country. Food delivery apps seem to be a huge thing these days so this is a pretty big deal

Thanks for posting. A little more detail, Fertitta owns Landcadia Holding, which acquired Waitr, which in turn has acquired Bite Squad.

The owner of the Houston Rockets got into the blank-check game more than two years ago. He’s finally scored a deal.

A special purpose acquisition company run by Texas businessman Tilman Fertitta has agreed to buy food delivery startup Waitr Inc. for $308 million, according to a statement Wednesday.

Landcadia Holdings Inc. is paying Waitr’s backers at least $50 million in cash and the rest in stock in a deal that will bring the food-delivery company public.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-startup-waitr

LAKE CHARLES, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Waitr Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: WTRH) (“Waitr”), a fast growing restaurant platform for online ordering and on-demand food delivery, today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Bite Squad, an online restaurant food delivery service, for an aggregate amount of approximately $321.3 million, subject to adjustments, based on the closing price of Waitr’s common stock on December 11, 2018. The purchase price consists of a combination of cash and shares of Waitr common stock.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...ire-Bite-Squad

[Mr. Clutch]

Jack, I love checking into this thread and seeing what's going on in the business development game in the city. Thanks for starting it.

[Jack Lance]

Cyber security experts and a cyber security conference in Houston helping to diversify the Greater Houston economy.

When attackers want to gain access to the network of a big target online, they typically target smaller companies that provide services to the larger business. Once inside the supporting player’s computers, they can use that as a pipeline to break into the the bigger prize.

To help small and medium businesses in Houston prevent such an attack, a group of cybersecurity leaders on Wednesday unveiled a free, web-based tool that lets any company assess its cyber readiness.

Available at assess.cyberhouston.org, the tool was the result of a year’s worth of work by Cyber Houston, a coalition of local cybersecurity experts and corporate officers, said Umesh Verma, group’s founder and the chief executive of Blue Lance, a Houston-based cybersecurity company.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/tec...s-13650264.php

Qatalyst Global's Cyber Security for Critical Assets Summit (CS4CA) Returns to Houston

IT & OT Security Professionals Unite to Safeguard America's Critical Infrastructure

HOUSTON, Feb. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- While cybercrime is steadily increasing in the U.S., organizations are held back from strengthening their protection and reaction strategies; perceiving cybersecurity as overwhelmingly complex. But ultimately, even the most advanced cyber threats can be broken down and mitigated - and this is the mission of CS4CA USA 2019, returning for the 7 consecutive year to Houston in March 26th-28th 2019.
The Cyber Security for Critical Assets Summit unites 250+ senior IT & OT security professionals to elucidate the most advanced cybersecurity information, debate policies and guidelines, and collaborate to protect America's critical industries: Oil & Gas, Energy, Renewables, Chemical, Utilities, Mining, Water, Power, and Maritime.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300791602.html

[ParaguaneroSwag]

The Waitr App is a pretty big deal because its the next business that's hot right now. The recent transactions put it in the position to compete with GrubHub and Doordash sooner than later. The good thing about being owned by Fertitta is that it sets it up to be too big of a company to get bought while other food delivery apps acquire eachother.

[Jack Lance]

Greenway Plaza attracting tech businesses that in turn help diversify Houston's economy.

Parkway Property Investments has landed several technology companies as tenants in Greenway Plaza.

ThoughtTrace has signed a 4,358-square-foot leased in Phoenix Tower, 3200 Southwest Freeway, for its U.S. headquarters. The company, which has regional sales offices in Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Oklahoma City and Pennsylvania, uses artificial intelligence to help enterprises review and validate information in contracts and legal documents. Allie Hubbard, Brandi McDonald and Christina Ott with Limestone Commercial represented the tenant. Rima Soroka and JP Hutcheson represented Parkway in-house. Move-in is planned in the first quarter.

DMC, a project-based engineering and software development firm based Chicago, has leased 6,403 square feet in 8 Greenway Plaza for relocation of its Upper Kirby office in the third quarter. William Padon of CBRE represented the tenant, while Soroka and Hutcheson represented Parkway.

Detechtion Technologies, a global provider of industrial “internet of things” and mobility solutions in the oil and gas industry, relocated its headquarters to 12,000 square feet at 8 Greenway Plaza. Amanda Nebel and Eric Siegrist represented Parkway in-house, while Joshua Brown and Evan Roland of Newmark Knight Frank represented the tenant.

The Greenway Plaza deals come on top of about 30,000 square feet of recent leases for NextSeed, Joule Processing, SkillGigs and Marker Therapeutics.

https://www.apnews.com/c7b9a654031d4dbd9aff7436134bb2dc