Fort Worth's startup and research scenes got a new meeting ground Thursday, as TechFW and UNT Health Fort Worth launched their first Innovation Forum at UNT Health Fort Worth. The four-hour event, running from noon to 4 p.m., paired an expert panel discussion with live startup pitches and networking meant to connect founders directly with investors, researchers and community leaders.
According to Fort Worth Report, the forum is envisioned as an annual signature event spotlighting innovation and entrepreneurial talent from Fort Worth's startup and research community. TechFW Executive Director Caitlin McMinn said the gathering creates a platform for “Fort Worth's brightest minds to connect, collaborate and inspire one another,” per the same publication. The panel itself covered the future of startups and research in North Texas, with TechFW companies and UNT Health researchers using the pitch segment to showcase what the outlet described as breakthrough innovations.
Who Took the Stage
The panel drew a cross-section of the region's innovation infrastructure: Ned Meagher of Carter DeLuca, Dustin Logan of Cowtown Angels, Briana Wucinski, Tom Wavering of TCU and Melissa Acosta of JPS Health Network, according to details listed on Luma. Discussion centered on intellectual property, angel capital, marketing and federal SBIR/STTR grants — the practical hurdles that stand between a lab discovery and a company that can survive its first few years. Three med-tech startups pitched live to the room: Tremedics Medical Devices, NSpire Medical Technology and Bectas Therapeutics.
Bectas Therapeutics brought some outside validation with it. The preclinical biotech, which is developing precision antibody cancer therapies using patient selection biomarkers to target myeloid checkpoints, joined the global Johnson & Johnson Innovation JLABS incubator network in late 2024 and has raised more than $5.5 million in funding, according to Johnson & Johnson Innovation.
A Two-Decade Partnership Gets a Fresh Boost
The forum did not emerge from nowhere. UNT Health Fort Worth and TechFW first formalized a partnership in 2006, and they renewed that collaboration in December 2025 with backing from state legislative funding aimed at accelerating the path from university discovery to commercial health product, according to UNT Health Fort Worth. That renewed partnership connects health researchers with entrepreneurs and investors and provides structured entrepreneurial training.
Founded in 2012 as an umbrella program under TechFW, Cowtown Angels functions as a local accredited angel-investor platform, evaluating deal flow that TechFW staff screen before deploying early seed and Series A capital, per the Fort Worth Business Press. Network members pair that capital with executive mentorship for North Texas tech firms. TechFW itself has helped entrepreneurs turn innovation into reality since 1998 and describes itself as a nonprofit startup incubator and accelerator that supports founders at every stage through expert-led programs, strategic mentorship and community access, Fort Worth Report notes.
No Equity, Three Tiers
TechFW's model is built around not taking equity in the startups it works with, according to Fort Worth Report, and it runs a three-tiered structure to match founders to their stage: ThinkLab for pre-seed idea validation, SmartStart for launch and incubation, and FastForward for scaling operations after launch, per Cause IQ. The organization works with scalable startups across biotech, hardware, AI, clean energy, software and other emerging technologies. McMinn stepped into the Managing Director role in May 2025 before assuming the Executive Director title, taking charge of strategic execution, team performance and ecosystem expansion, according to Dallas Innovates. She built a business consulting practice following a career in financial operations before taking the helm at TechFW.
Lab Space and a Regional Growth Story
Startups working with UNT Health also get access to lab space, according to UNT Health Fort Worth. The medical campus includes five colleges.
The forum lands amid discussion of life sciences and startup activity across North Texas. The event adds to that regional conversation.
Whether Cowtown Angels and similar local networks can keep pace with that activity, particularly as national venture capital cycles tighten, remains an open question for the ecosystem TechFW and UNT Health are trying to build. For now, the Innovation Forum gives Fort Worth's founders, researchers and investors a dedicated annual venue to work that out together.
