SXSW Honors

Techy Dallas-based healthcare startup wins big at SXSW Interactive

Mend was one of the top three winners at SXSW's ReleaseIt competition.

The ease and accessibility of healthcare-on-demand app Mend is spreading. After expanding its service area to Frisco, McKinney, Southlake, and Flower Mound, the Dallas-based startup made its way into the top 10 finalists for ReleaseIt, the March 11 pitch competition in Startup Village at SXSW Interactive in Austin.

Thousands of companies from around the globe entered the contest, and Mend joined finalists from Japan, Germany, California, New York, and beyond as the only entrant from Texas to advance. Not only did Mend continue on to the top 10, ultimately it won one of the two runner-up spots overall.

The three judges for the contest included Dr. Susan Amat, CEO/founder of Venture Hive; Julie Lenzer, director of the U.S. Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and Marc Nager, CEO of UP Global. Trey Bowles, CEO and co-founder of the Dallas Entrepreneur Center, emceed the event.

“It is exceptionally impressive that Mend was selected as the second-place winner in this competition,” Bowles said in a release. “Over the last few years, we have had hundreds of extremely qualified companies come through this competition, and the top winners of the last few years have gone on to generate millions of dollars in revenue, raise substantial investment, and truly become amazing disruptors in their perspective industries.”

Mend launched in March 2015, founded by Dallas resident and board certified emergency physician Jonathan Clarke, M.D., a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. It's on-demand, affordable healthcare summoned through an app. If you attended our CultureMap Social: Innovation Edition last fall, you may have gotten a flu shot provided by Mend.

Dr. Amat said about Mend: “Jonathan's pitch convinced everyone in the room not only that the need and opportunity are great, but that he and his team were the ones who can pull it off. Mend's approach is scalable while ensuring patient-centric care, under the leadership of a vet who also just happens to be a doctor — I'll bet my money on him any day. Healthcare is ripe for the disruption that Mend is offering. New models like this, run by teams that will keep the patient care at the core, will win.”

Inteliclinic Inc., out of San Francisco, took top honors; Atlanta-based Cinamaker Technologies Inc. was the second runner-up. Inteliclinic manufactures NeuroOn, an intelligent sleep mask that measures all important biological signals and provides accurate sleep analytics to users. It also uses bright light therapy to help users manage their circadian rhythm and optimize sleep.

Cinamaker ventures outside the health realm with easy-to-use, powerful, and insanely fast digital workflows for multicamera capture and production using smartphones, tablets, and compatible digital video-cameras. Video creators are apparently very happy about this.

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Workplace accolades

6 Dallas retailers and restaurants make Time's best private companies list

Half Price Books presents Dallas Antiquarian Book Fair

Photo courtesy of Half Price Books

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Six Dallas-area brands in the retail, restaurant and hotel industries appear in Time magazine’s first-ever ranking of the best privately owned companies in the U.S.

At No. 69, the highest-ranked DFW-based brand among retail, restaurant and hotel companies on the list is Farmers Branch-based eyewear retailer Eyemart Express, which operates more than 270 stores nationwide. VSP Vision acquired Eyemart Express last year. Optometrist Dr. Doug Barnes founded Eyemart Express in 1990.

“Like VSP, Eyemart Express is a doctor-founded organization with similar values and a shared commitment to expanding access to affordable, high-quality eye care and eyewear to as many people as possible,” Michael Guyette, president and CEO of VP Vision, said last year.

Guyette is an alumnus of the University of North Texas in Denton.

Time teamed up with data provider Statista to launch the inaugural ranking of the country’s 500 best private companies. Rankings are based on employee satisfaction surveys along with a company’s impact on society, knowledge, health, and the environment.

Other DFW companies on the list are:

No. 127 Half Price Books, the Dallas-based bookstore chain.
No. 160 The Container Store, based in Coppell. Bed Bath & Beyond recently acquired The Container Store, which sells home organization products, for about $150 million.
No. 162 Uncle Julio’s, the Irving-based Mexican restaurant chain.
No. 377 Mary Kay, an Addison-based seller of cosmetics, skin care products, and body care products.
No. 439 TRT Holdings, the Dallas-based owner of the Omni Hotels & Resorts chain.

While not based in DFW, these businesses on the list should be familiar to Texans:

No. 75 H-E-B, the San Antonio-based grocery chain.
No. 141 Visionworks, the San Antonio-based chain of eyewear stores.
No. 165 Taco Cabana, the San Antonio-based Tex-Mex restaurant chain.
No. 198 Buc-ee’s, the Lake Jackson-based operator of mega-convenience stores.
No. 285 Blue Bell Creameries, the Brenham-based ice cream company.
No. 418 Whataburger, the San Antonio-based fast-food restaurant chain.
No. 447 Joe’s Crab Shack, the Houston-based seafood restaurant chain.
No. 491 Tailored Brands, the Houston-based owner of the Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank and K&G Fashion Superstore menswear chains.

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