After announcing plans earlier this year to launch the first Techstars program for Fort Worth, 10 early-stage startups are convening in the city to kick off the inaugural Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth Accelerator.
Dr. Sylvia Trent-Adams
From medical devices to movement-tracking machine learning technology, 10 companies from across the U.S. as well as from Canada, Switzerland, and Germany make up the first group in the global investment platform’s first-of-its-kind physical health-focused accelerator program.
“We believe that Fort Worth can become the physical health innovation capital of the world, and this is an incredible next step to making that vision a reality,” Dr. Sylvia Trent-Adams, the new president of the UNT Health Science Center, said in a statement. She will be acting as a mentor for the program.
Trey Bowles, the managing director of Techstars’ Fort Worth accelerator, believes it could lead to something momentous for the city.
“Physical health is an unbelievably large challenge to address, and there’s no place in the world that is a leading hub for that,” Bowles told Dallas Innovates. “[UNT HSC] saw Fort Worth could be—and is—that lead. There are a vast amount of resources that exist in North Texas for healthcare companies. Bringing those together in a collaborative and concerted manner will be part of the evidence that proves that Fort Worth is the center of the universe for innovation in physical health.”
Bowles calls it a win for a physical health company to be in Fort Worth. For the accelerator’s startups, “what they’re going to see is a conducive environment with resources, mentorship, and support,” Bowles said. “It’s not just business friendly, but startup friendly.”
Cameron Cushman
The 10 companies—selected from hundreds of applicants—will take part in an “intensive” 13-week mentorship and programming accelerator aimed at building new technologies, treatments, and therapies. The accelerator will be capped off with a Demo Day on December 8.
In addition to entrepreneurial programming, companies in the program will be eligible to receive up to $120,000 in seed funding capital provided by the UNT Health Science Center and Goff Capital. Both are part of the public-private partnership, including the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, that helped bring Techstars to the region in February. Over the next three years, UNT HSC and Goff aim to make nearly $10 million in equity investments into companies going through the program.
“There’s not another program like this in the world,” Cameron Cushman, VP of Innovation Ecosystems at UNT HSC, told Dallas Innovates. “Over the next three years, they are literally going to bring 30 different, really cutting-edge, high-tech companies in the physical health space to Fort Worth.”
Cushman sees the potential impact being even larger for the Panther City.
The startups “are going to get a really awesome opportunity to see Fort Worth up close and personal,” Cushman added. “Our hope is that some of them, if not all of them, stick around—because they find relationships here; they find a clinical trial here; they find a mentor here; they find an investor; and they find a really compelling reason to never leave.”
“You’re putting more bets on the table that it will lead to some sort of future economic growth that you probably can’t predict,” Cushman told Dallas Innovates. While not all of those companies may move here, he says, “others may open an office here or use Fort Worth as the U.S. jumping-off point for their foreign companies—or pack up their entire company to move here.”
And as Bowles says, those new businesses “will attract B2B SaaS companies, apparel companies, food companies, and more.”
Trey Bowles
The participating companies’ international breadth is by design. As noted by Tarrant County officials and business leaders, each will help bolster the region’s density of activity in the physical health space and increase the city’s early-stage startup momentum, which has been relatively lacking to date.
The companies’ teams will be physically located in Fort Worth during the program. Mayor Mattie Parker previously said she hopes the Techstars program acts as a “recruiting mechanism to bring the best and brightest minds in physical medicine and rehabilitation” to the city.
“The fact that Techstars picked Fort Worth as a spot for one of their new accelerators speaks volumes,” Bowles told us. “And it’s not just the work that Cameron Cushman and UNT HSC have done, but all of the other entrepreneurial support organizations that have been working in Fort Worth to demonstrate the health of the ecosystem.”
“Where a city really has an opportunity to thrive is when you have several different shareholders in an ecosystem all working together to support the entrepreneur,” he added. “There have not been many cities that I’ve seen do that as intentionally and with such great investment as they have in Fort Worth. I think that’s going to pay off.”
Techstars Fort Worth Managing Director Trey Bowles (standing, center) with “the few, the proud, the elite founders in the field of physical health,” as he puts it in an announcement of the inaugural class of the accelerator.
Here are the 10 companies joining the Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth Accelerator (with descriptions provided by Techstars):
In addition to welcoming its first batch of startups, the Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth Accelerator has tapped two entrepreneurs-in-residence for the program. Both have industry expertise as well as “successful track records” of building their own companies, Techstars said.
One is Dr. Richard Munassi. Most recently the co-founder of on-demand prescription delivery startup Medzoomer, Munassi has a long background of supporting other entrepreneurs. On the board of a number of companies, including Techstars cohort member Articulate Labs, Munassi is managing director of accelerator Tampa Bay Wave and entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Florida’s UF Innovate program. Munassi also works to identify commercial technologies for use in the space program as part of NASA’s iTech team.
The other entrepreneur-in-residence is Dr. Ed Buckley. A self-described “digital health and behavioral nerd,” Buckley is the founder and CEO of corporate wellness-focused digital fitness platform Peerfit, which was recently acquired by FitOn after raising nearly $50 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. In addition, Buckley is the vice president of the board of directors at Florida nonprofit Balance 180.
While this accelerator marks Techstars’ first entrance to the North Texas ecosystem, the organization has maintained a Lone Star presence since 2013 with the launch of its Austin accelerator program.
The Fort Worth program joins 11 others around the globe, including locations in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.
Since launching in 2006, Techstars said it has invested in more than 2,900 companies with a combined market cap of more than $179 billion—more than 150 of which have gone through its Austin program and later went on to raise, combined, more than $ 1 billion.
Quincy Preston contributed to this story.
Logo artwork was updated for Recovr and Neurofit on Sept. 15, 2022, at 10:20 p.m. 
Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.
One quick signup, and you’re done.
CreateHers. BuildHers. DisruptHers. Risk-TakHers. InventHers. InvestHers. Texas women trailblazing new paths are the subject of a new podcast that features innovators disrupting their industries, building movements, and creating positive social change.
Entrepreneurs and industry leaders benefit from the city’s business-friendly approach.
Trey Bowles, a longtime startup champion in DFW, will helm Fort Worth’s Techstars physical therapy-focused accelerator. “It’s a big win for the region,” Bowles says. “Customers and capital are the things that help startups grow.” Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth is the first accelerator for Techstars in North Texas—and the “first true accelerator in Fort Worth,” says HSC’s Cameron Cushman, a key player in attracting the program.
Mayor Mattie Parker, whose catchphrase is “Go Time,” says she coined the term for a reason. Fort Worth is at a pinnacle of possibility, and entrepreneurship is at the center of that. The data speaks for itself, Parker said: A new jobs report from Sparkyard shows startups play a significant role in job creation in Fort Worth and Tarrant County—with average salaries more than twice the minimum wage.
“You’re putting more bets on the table that it will lead to some sort of future economic growth that you probably can’t predict,” Cushman told Dallas Innovates. “Some of these companies, they may pack up move away. We’ll never see him again. So you know, good try. Other may open an office here or use Fort Worth as their U.S. jumping-off point for their foreign companies. Others may pack up the entire company and move here.”
Applications opened to startups everywhere on Tuesday.
Five local winners received up to $200,000 in funding to activate their solutions throughout North Texas.
North Texas is a big place with plenty of opportunities. Here’s a curated roundup of contests and competitions; accelerator and recognition programs; and resource and grant opportunities for North Texas innovators. …Communities Foundation of Texas works year-long to build strength and catalyze change in our communities. The organization strives to make giving easy, enjoyable, and effective for those that have a heart for making a difference….
News travels fast. We’re here to help you keep up.
Each weekday, Dallas Innovates brings you up to date on what you may have missed in the region’s innovation, technology, and impact news….
North Texas is a big place, with plenty to do, see, hear, and watch. So, we scour the internet every week to find events and activities for you. As always, things may change at any time, so be sure to check the official website or registration page for the latest details….
Cameron Cushman
UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth
.…on…
North Texas is a big place with plenty of opportunities. Here’s a curated roundup of contests and competitions; accelerator and recognition programs; and resource and grant opportunities for North Texas innovators. …Communities Foundation of Texas works year-long to build strength and catalyze change in our communities. The organization strives to make giving easy, enjoyable, and effective for those that have a heart for making a difference….
News travels fast. We’re here to help you keep up.
Each weekday, Dallas Innovates brings you up to date on what you may have missed in the region’s innovation, technology, and impact news….
North Texas is a big place, with plenty to do, see, hear, and watch. So, we scour the internet every week to find events and activities for you. As always, things may change at any time, so be sure to check the official website or registration page for the latest details….
Cameron Cushman
UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth
.…on…
A collaboration of the Dallas Regional Chamber and Dallas Next, Dallas Innovates is an online news platform covering what’s new + next in Dallas – Fort Worth innovation.
© Copyright 2022 | All rights reserved.
About Author
