Rendering of the new HW Venture Center at Pegasus Park. [Image: Health Wildcatters]

Health Wildcatters—a seed accelerator founded in 2013 to advance Dallas-Fort Worth’s burgeoning healthcare industry—is now accelerating the impact of its own home base in Dallas’ Pegasus Park innovation hub.

Exclusively focused on healthcare, Health Wildcatters has 118 portfolio companies that have raised collectively over $350 million in the last 12 years—with an average of 500-plus founder applications now flowing in each year.

To kick things up a notch, the accelerator has expanded its Pegasus Park headquarters with an additional 2,800 square feet. That brings its total footprint to 9,000 square feet, with 14 new private offices designed to house high-potential startups and innovators. (Since its original offices opened in August 2022, all existing space has been fully occupied, the accelerator noted.)

Launch of the HW Venture Center

HW Venture Center schedule board at Pegasus Park. [Photo: Health Wildcatters]

Also opening in the expanded space is the newly launched HW Venture Center.

The venture center’s rollout expands on an earlier initiative started by Health Wildcatters in 2016 called the Health Investor Alliance (HIA)—a growing national network of over 70 venture capital firms and angel groups. The HW Venture Center will serve as a physical meeting space at Pegasus Park for VC groups and any early-stage health startups who have signed up for this free community resource, Health Wildcatters said.

“The launch of the HW Venture Center represents a strategic investment in the future of our regional health innovation ecosystem,” Dr. Hubert Zajicek, CEO, partner, and co-founder of Health Wildcatters, said in a statement. “Our goal is to facilitate more investments in Texas-based healthcare startups by providing this physical meeting space and assisting in the matchmaking between investors and startups.”

Photo: Health Wildcatters

Grand opening to be held Thursday

Both the expanded Health Wildcatter offices and the new HW Venture Center will have a grand opening tomorrow (Thursday, July 10) from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., marking what the accelerator calls “a significant milestone in advancing the region’s healthcare innovation ecosystem and creating new opportunities for startups, investors, and industry leaders to connect and collaborate.”

The grand opening will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony, guided tours of the newly expanded space, and Health Wildcatters’ 11th quarterly art show, showcasing works by Lea Ellermeier, Debbie Klein, Lisa Moriarity, and Taylor Daum. There will also be opportunities for networking with investors, founders, and healthcare leaders.

To RSVP for the event, startups, founders, and investors can register here.

The “lodge” in the newly expanded Health Wildcatters headquarters at Pegasus Park. [Photo: Health Wildcatters]

Supporting the region’s ‘innovator and investor ecosystem’

Kelly Cloud, VP of economic development-life sciences at the Dallas Regional Chamber, said the expansion “reflects the HW team’s success in fostering a strong sense of place, community, resources, and support for our innovator and investor ecosystem.” 

“With this additional footprint, surrounding services across the Pegasus Park campus, and a dedicated team driving this work, we’re proud to celebrate this milestone and the global impact it will have on health care innovation,” Cloud added.

Participating venture firms

Fourteen venture firms have already committed to participate in the HW Venture Center’s office hours throughout July and August, with more scheduled throughout the year. Participating firms include SHD Partners, Tower Capital, View Ventures, Averin Capital, Belal Badat Ventures, Heinz Ventures, GPG, Mimosa VC, Cowtown Angels, Golden Seeds, the Toronto Stock Exchange, and Corewell Health Ventures. 

In April, Health Wildcatters held its 7th annual Texas Healthcare Challenge Hackathon at Pegasus Park, with 120 participants selected to form cross-functional teams of students, researchers, clinicians, engineers, and entrepreneurs. You can read more about that event here.

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R E A D   N E X T

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  • Moderated by Highlander Health Co-Founder Brad Hirsch, next Wednesday’s free public event will feature two former FDA commissioners and a former FDA acting chief information officer. The focus: “how the FDA has evolved across four presidential administrations.”

  • Founded in 2012, Universal DX is focused on “cracking cancer’s code” via its multi-omics and machine learning models. Starting with colorectal cancer, it’s building a “multi-cancer platform” that can ID the unique DNA regions associated with different types of cancers.

  • [Photos: Courtesy of Health Wildcatters]

    Focused on community health, this weekend’s April 4-5 hackathon attracted more than 200 applicants, with 120 participants selected to form cross-functional teams of students, researchers, clinicians, engineers, and entrepreneurs.

  • The expansion is aimed at advancing the health innovation incubator’s mission of supporting transformative healthcare startups and connecting them with the resources needed for success. Since 2013, 118 healthcare-focused companies have collectively secured over $350 million in follow-up funding after participating in its accelerator, Health Wildcatters said.