The DEC is launching a new location at the Centrum in Uptown!
In partnership with the Capital Factory, The Dallas Entrepreneur Center will be launching a new location at the newly renovated office space that already boasts innovation and entrepreneurial tenants such as RewardStyle, Salesforce, and Glass Media (former DEC members).
The Dallas Entrepreneur Center (aka The DEC) was founded in 2013 with the expressed mission to help entrepreneurs start, build, and grow their businesses. We do this in several different ways including but not limited to: education, training, mentorship, events/programs, promotion and access to capital. Our goal has been to aggregate already existing entrepreneurs to serve and support the entrepreneurial ecosystem while also helping to teach aspiring entrepreneurs the most effective way to move from an idea to successful company. Since our inception in 2013, we have launched 9 different locations across Texas (with our primary focus being in North Texas) and helped hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs increase their probability of success. We, at The DEC, believe that by helping build and support a collaborative and supportive ecosystem is the best way to help create an environment where a “rising tide raises all ships” and our entire ecosystem can grow.
The DEC’s Partnership with Capital Factory
In August of 2017, The DEC announced a partnership with the Capital Factory who was going to launch its accelerator at The DEC in Dallas. Capital Factory has built a great reputation as a leader in tech entrepreneurship across the country and has been a beacon in Austin for entrepreneurship. Capital Factory has a unique accelerator model that helps provide the key support entrepreneurs (MENTORS) without taking a ton of equity from the businesses. Like The DEC, the Capital Factory has worked diligently to build a robust community of mentors, advisors, and investors that can provide extraordinary benefit to the entrepreneurs in their community. To combine with the Capital Factory Accelerator, CF also has series of “funds” dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs across Texas and specifically focused on those companies that has completed its 6 month accelerator program. By Capital Factory expanding its offering to DFW, we will be able to provide even greater opportunities to the entrepreneurs in this region and there will be one more great resource for mentorship, funding and growth for startups.
The addition of a physical location by Capital Factory at the Centrum in Uptown will provide a great new resource for tech entrepreneurs across this region. This 26,000 sq foot space will provide a great environment for not only coworking, but also events/programs and mentorship. As a result of our missions being aligned, The DEC is excited to add yet another location to our burgeoning network of physical locations where we can work with Capital Factory to provide the best of breed in events, programs, mentorship and community.
“An essential part of the Texas Startup Manifesto strategy is having strong local partners in each city to serve as a bridge to that community, said Josh Baer, founder and CEO of The Capital Factory. Trey Bowles and The DEC were the only logical choice for that partner in DFW. We look forward to supporting and expanding The DEC’s mission to support entrepreneurs in DFW.”
The Space
This new space will be a premiere spot for tech companies in Dallas to work, network, connect and build community. With a keen focus on integrating with the corporate partners, developing customer relationships and being a central hub for investors to find great and fundable companies, this new location at the Centrum where the DEC and Capital Factory will be housed can be a place for aspiring entrepreneurs as well as those growing businesses can set up their head quarters.
Here are some quick stats:
- 26,000 square feet
- Two floors
- 150-seat event space with a stage
- 40-seat classroom
- 22-seat classroom
- Walk-in cooler
- 10 conference rooms
- 13 private offices with 70 desks
- 60 private desks
- Unisex bathroom
- Mother’s room
- Game room with ping-pong and virtual reality
The new space is half coworking and half community space for meetups, classes and large groups. You can see the construction floorplans below. You should definitely check this out as a location to set up your new business, or to create as an outpost for your Dallas office.
Mentorship as a Key For Entrepreneurial Success
This move to add a Dallas location is a great step into building a collaborative and unified state wide entrepreneurship. You can read more about this vision in the Texas Startup Manifesto, written by Capital Factory CEO, Joshua Baer.
We have always believed at The DEC, the mentorship is a key element for entrepreneurial success. By combining the already active and established community of mentors supporting entrepreneurs in North Texas with the powerful and proven mentor network that The Capital Factory has built in Austin, we are only increasing the resources and valuable levels of experience and expertise to entrepreneurs across the state.
Our vision and goal at The DEC has always been about doing all we can to help entrepreneurs effectively start, build, and grow their businesses. By working diligently with partners across the region, we believe that DFW is one of the most collaborative and “give first” areas in the country. It is as a result of our give first mentality and our willingness to support the success of all stakeholders in our ecosystem that DFW is one of the best places in the world to build a startup.
We welcome the Capital Factory to DFW and are excited about launching yet another DEC along side of them at The Centrum. It is new and proven organizations like Capital Factory that bring new and welcome resources to the DFW ecosystem that help our rising tides raise all ships.
You can follow The DEC at instagram and twitter at: The DEC (@theDECtx)
You can follow the Capital Factory at instagram and twitter at: @CapitalFactory