THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2021

ENERGIZING TEXAS
Hunt Energy Network’s New Venture Will Put 50 Batteries Across Texas, Giving ERCOT a Portfolio of Energy Generation

Dallas-based HEN Infrastructure, newly launched by Hunt Energy Network and Manulife Investment Management, will supply ERCOT with some 500MWs of distributed energy across the state. It's timely, given the recent winter freeze, but the deal has been in the works for years. That's because Hunt Energy Network CEO Pat Wood and his team see batteries as the wave of the future—"and the future is coming a little faster than we thought."

ACQUISITION
Dallas-based Overhead Door Corp. Buys Innovative Market Leader of Fire and Security Doors

Overhead Door Corporation, which invented the first "upward-acting door" in 1921 and the first electric garage door opener in 1925, is carrying on its long history of pioneering with the acquisition of Won-Door Corporation this week.

FUTURE FORWARD
A UTD Director Aims to Transform How People Learn through Virtual Human Hologram Technology

By bringing together sensor capture, Internet of Things technology, and 5G, Majorie Zielke and her team at the Center for Simulation and Synthetic Humans are working to create true virtual human holograms to interact naturally with people.

⓵ RECURO RAISE: The founding CEO of Teladoc is leading the launch of Recuro Health. Michael Gorton (above) is at the helm of the Richardson startup, which just raised $2.9 million in an an oversubscribed round lead by OLSF Ventures. Gorton says it’s “working on a much larger Series A,” reports the Dallas Business Journal. Gorton’s team includes several Teledoc leaders, including its original CTO and marketing team. Together they intend to build a new industry category with Recuro’s business model for digital health solutions. Recuro’s lead investor sees unprecedented interest: “There are rare moments in a venture capitalist career when you are presented an industry transforming opportunity, at the right moment in time, with a management team that has created the industry category,” said Dr. William Paiva, managing partner at OLSF, in a statement. “This is one of those moments.”

⓷ TRAVEL SURGE: Dallas-based Vonlane is restarting its luxe bus routes to Texas cities and American Airlines says passengers are returning, with its spring bookings at “90 percent of what they were in 2019” before the pandemic. “Yes,” says Southlake businessman Steve Cosgrove on NBCDFW. He's seen an increase at his agency, Dynamic Travel: “People are going on vacation. I can’t say business travel is back, but vacation travel is going gangbusters.”

"This is not a thing we want to be permanent. We do think it’s an exceptional model going forward when needed."

Patrick Brandt
Co-Founder of Get Shift Done
...on the nonprofit, via the Dallas Morning News.
 

At the beginning of the pandemic, a new nonprofit was born thanks to business leaders Anurag Jain, chairman of Access Healthcare and managing partner of Perot Jain, and Patrick Brandt, president of Shiftsmart. The company, Get Shift Done, connects displaced hospitality workers with nonprofits to serve and provide hunger relief.

Since its launch, the project has expanded to cities across the country and was named one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company.

The co-founders recently celebrated the first anniversary of Get Shift Done in which North Texas Food Bank President and CEO Trisha Cunningham surprised them with a proclamation from Governor Greg Abbott recognizing the program as “the best company, most innovative not-for-profit organization.”

Photo of Patrick Brandt and Anurag Jain by James Edwards.