Tech companies keep moving into the Dallas-Fort Worth metro and who can blame them? The area offers temperate weather year-round, the metro has three airports and, most importantly, it promotes a business-friendly environment.
Data from real estate investment firm CBRE showed that tech companies are heavily investing in the area. In November of 2021, tech company leases accounted for 38 percent of office space leases in North Texas, indicating that the region is a top destination for tech companies. Not only are companies moving to the area, but they are also hiring local talent by the thousands.
Keep reading to find out what companies opened new headquarters in DFW this year, and how they plan to use their new digs. This article will be updated as more companies make the move to the area.
Infrastructure giant AECOM relocated its global headquarters from the golden beaches of Los Angeles to Dallas in October. AECOM is a Fortune 500 company that provides environmentally sustainable solutions and focuses on reducing carbon emissions. Before the move, the company had an office presence in Dallas and has since relocated most of its workers to the area. AECOM still has a sizable team in LA.
In late October, BackBox announced the appointment of Andrew Kahl as its new CEO and that the company would be opening a new headquarters in Dallas. Backbox is a security and network automation software company and has worked with Cisco, Dell and Netgear. According to Kahl, the Dallas headquarters will focus on customer support, marketing and engineering. The company’s research and development team will remain in Tel Aviv.
Firehawk is revolutionizing space travel by printing 3D propulsion systems. This, according to the company, makes space travel more affordable and safer since the systems no longer rely on liquid rocket fuel. Earlier this year, the aerospace startup moved its primary research facility from Florida to Dallas. According to LinkedIn, Richardson is now the company’s new headquarters. With the move, Firehawk joins the state’s growing aerospace industry, which is already home to giants like SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Likewize is another Florida transplant. In August, the company moved its headquarters to Southlake and opened a fulfillment center in nearby Flower Mound, as reported by the Dallas Business Journal. Likewise offers services for mobile devices and also offers walk-in and mail-in repairs for damaged devices. “Dallas is one of the fastest-growing tech centers in the country,” CMO Jeramy Dale told the Dallas Business Journal. “It’s in the middle of the country so it works great for us from a distribution point of view.”
Software company Optym also made the trip from Florida to Dallas earlier this year. In May, the company announced it would be moving its U.S. headquarters to the Cypress Water development in Coppell. Optym CEO Vic Keller said the company favored a move to Dallas due to the city and state’s business-friendly environment. Optym provides software for many industries including airline, healthcare and freight shipping, with the goal of improving efficiency through automation.
OrangeGrid also announced plans to move from California to Flower Mound. OrangeGrid is a fintech startup that creates no-code business-oriented software. The company will move into the Lakeside International Office Center, a mixed-use office development with over 700,000 square feet of commercial space, in January of 2022.
From one country to another, Dublin-based software company Origina moved across the pond and opened its U.S. headquarters in Plano in November. Origina provides third-party support for IBM software and has offices in Dublin and London. CEO Tomás O’Leary stated he wants to build a team of 80 employees by 2023 to staff the Plano headquarters.
Restaurant Revolution Technologies, an order management software company that partners with restaurant chains to offer online ordering, quietly moved from Washington to Dallas. An official at the company told the Dallas Business Journal that its move was in part due to the number of multi-unit restaurant clients it has in Dallas. The official also said the company is also looking to expand its team and would be hiring for tech and sales roles.
SmartAction is one of several companies that has moved from the Golden State to North Texas this year. The AI-focused company, which provides conversational technology for call centers, relocated its headquarters and corporate staff from Los Angeles County to Fort Worth back in May. “This move will further create growth and opportunities enabling us to better serve our customers and meet their demands,” SmartAction CEO Gary Davis told the Dallas Business Journal.
As industries continue to adopt blockchain technologies, legislation needs to be updated to continue and make it easier for wide-scale use of said technology. Texas Blockchain Council is a nonprofit group that is trying to do just that. The council is a group of Texas businesses and startups that collaborate with members of the Texas legislature and state agencies to push for growth in the blockchain sector. In August, the council relocated its headquarters from Austin to Richardson.
