Justin Lopas, left, co-founder of Austin-based Base Power, spoke with Salen Churi, founder and managing partner of Trust Ventures, during a morning session at the 2026 Venture Dallas conference. [Photo: Dallas Innovates]
North Texas’ growing venture capital community was on full display Thursday at Old Parkland, as an estimated 450 company founders, investors and other community leaders gathered for the sixth annual Venture Dallas conference.
“Texas is the greatest [state] in this country, and America is going to win because of people like you who are building,” said Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Miami-based software company Palantir Technologies and founder and managing partner of Austin-based 8VC.
Lonsdale’s VC firm was an early backer of Dallas-based life insurance startup Bestow.
Lonsdale was among more than 40 people who took the stage for the event, and his build-first optimism was a common theme. Other speakers included Dallas entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban; Stephen Gillett, CEO of Dallas-based Verily Health; Lane Kasselman, co-CEO of Dallas-based Blockchain.com; and Will Edwards, co-founder and CEO of Addison-based Firehawk Aerospace.
Texas as a launchpad
Lonsdale moved from Silicon Valley to Austin in 2020. As evidence of what Texas can offer founders that other states can’t, he pointed to 8VC portfolio company Saronic. The Austin-based naval defense company broke ground in September on its next-generation shipyard, Port Alpha, in Brownsville. Lonsdale said Saronic couldn’t have started in California.
Austin-based energy storage company Base Power made a similar case. Base Power installs batteries at single-family homes to expand the power grid’s capacity. More than half its installations are in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Co-founder Justin Lopas discussed how the company was able to work with state lawmakers to standardize installation requirements, rather than navigate a patchwork of municipal rules. It was game-changing for Base Power’s growth, he said.
“I’m an engineer by training, and so it was always weird to me that physics doesn’t change across the street, but somehow regulation does,” he said.
Betting on a bright future
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the state’s pro-innovation approach stands out.
“If you want to create something, if you want to build something, how can we make it harder?” he said of the nation’s capital. “The attitude in Texas is exactly the opposite. It’s ‘How can we make it easier?’”
Looking ahead, Corny said he can’t imagine what the next 25 years will bring.
“Every day I wake up, it seems like some other sort of science fiction thing has happened,” he said. “America has awakened to the opportunities for AI — or super intelligence, as President Trump likes to call it — which is exciting. But obviously there are some collateral consequences in terms of jobs and how [we are] going to adjust to this incredible innovation technology.”
Yet he remains optimistic.
“As long as we have people like those in this room who are willing to take a few well-calculated risks and create something new and something useful and important,” Cornyn said, “I think the future is bright indeed.”
R E A D N E X T
North Texas has plenty to see, hear, and watch. Here are our editors’ picks. Plus, you’ll find more selections to “save the date.”
The awards program spotlights visionaries, early adopters and trailblazers who are propelling innovation and shaping the future of North Texas tech.
Set for Thursday, Oct. 22, the sixth annual venture capital and technology event connects investors, founders and innovators.
The region’s Q3 haul ranks as its fifth-best quarter since 2016, yet year-to-date funding of $1.73 billion still falls short of 2025’s $1.9 billion pace.
Taiwan Expo USA 2026 brings business, government and technology leaders together to explore the partnerships driving AI, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, energy and resilient supply chains.
Watter’s first commercial installation offsets water-heating costs and creates a new revenue stream for the hotel.
You’ll find deadlines coming up for a new accelerator program; and many more opportunities.
The grant, awarded to UT Southwestern biotech spinoff MusiQ Bio, could pave the way for human clinical trials of the startup’s proprietary cancer-fighting platform within five years.
Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 9 among 250 U.S. metros in patent production for the week of Aug. 11, with 135 patents granted to inventors and companies across the region.
Four years after arriving at Pegasus Park, the Boston-based accelerator is adding health and security accelerators and founder clinics, backed by a renewed two-year grant from Lyda Hill Philanthropies.