Entrepreneurship news

Texas ranks No. 8 on new list of best states for Black entrepreneurs

Texas is known as an entrepreneur-friendly state.

Photo by Christina Morillo Pexels

Black businesses continue to see success all over Texas. So says a new report that ranks the state among America's top 10 for Black entrepreneurs.

In Merchant Maverick’s latest annual report on the best states for Black businesses, Texas lands in the No. 8 spot. While the state maintains a position in the top 10, it has dropped from its No. 3 ranking last year.

The report factored a number of metrics, including Black-owned businesses per million residents; percentage of the state’s workforce employed by Black-owned businesses; average annual payroll of Black-owned businesses; average annual income of Black business owners; and more.

The report also noted that Texas is:

No. 9 for highest average annual income.
Home to 360 Black-owned businesses per capita.
No. 15 highest in the nation for percentage of the workforce working for Black businesses.

Texas continues to be known as an entrepreneur-friendly state.

The largest Black tech conference in the country, the 2023 AfroTech Conference, recently returned to Austin for the second straight year. The five-day conference united over 300 companies – including Amazon, Meta, and Google – to expand the representation of Black Americans in STEM fields.

In 2022, a ranking by Black employees at Apartment List put Houston at No. 4 among the best cities for Black professionals. The Apartment List employees judged 82 cities in four categories.

Growth also was reflected post-pandemic for Black-owned startups in Houston, according to study by economists at Rice University, Boston University, Columbia University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The study found that from 2019 to 2020, the startup rate rose 32 percent in four largely Black areas of Houston.

The statewide startup rate during that period was 10 just at percent.

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Continue reading this story on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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Innovation highway

Amazon's Zoox robotaxis steer into Dallas, revving up rivalry with Waymo

Photo courtesy of Zoox

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Ride-hailing robotaxis operated by Amazon-owned Zoox will soon hit the roads in Dallas, alongside those operated by chief competitor Waymo.

Zoox is expanding its test fleet to Dallas and Phoenix after launching pilot projects in Austin, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Zoox says in a blog post that Dallas and Phoenix are “rapidly growing metropolitan areas with high demand for ride-hailing and first- and last-mile connections. Expanding into these cities allows us to test in sprawling environments, differentiating this … from our testing in other dense metro areas like San Francisco.”

In Dallas and Phoenix, Zoox vehicles will be on the streets of centrally located neighborhoods, the company says.

“Dallas provides a valuable testing ground to refine our AI against diverse weather and complex road networks,” Zoox adds.

The Zoox test fleet, which comprises retrofitted Toyota Highlander SUVs, has been traveling on public roadways since 2017, starting with the San Francisco Bay Area and Las Vegas. Amazon bought the company in 2020 for $1.3 billion.

When Zoox tests its robotaxis in a new market, it initially focuses on mapping streets before moving on to autonomous driving.

“There is always a safety driver behind the wheel who can take over at any time, disengaging the AI if needed,” the company says.

After finishing its tests with SUVs in Dallas and Phoenix, Zoox will start testing its box-shaped, purpose-built robotaxis.

In the San Francisco Bay Area and Las Vegas, their vehicles have traveled more than one million miles and served more than 300,000 ride-hailing passengers.

Zoox joins Waymo in introducing self-driving taxis to Dallas. Last month, Waymo announced its entry into the Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando, Florida, markets.

Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company, says it has logged more 20 million ride-hailing trips in 10 cities, including Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.

“Dallas is excited for Waymo to launch operations in our city, providing Dallas residents and visitors with new, innovative transportation options,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in February. “The availability of Waymo’s fully autonomous ride service further cements Dallas’ reputation as one of America’s most innovative and dynamic cities.”

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