July 31, 2025We’ve made no secret of our love affair with the Dallas startup scene… DFW is one of the best places to launch a company, and it has no shortage of innovation (it’s a big reason why we’re here!). But some early-stage standouts are carving out space in ways that feel distinctly ambitious, weird, or smart. Whether they’re turning AI into freight quotes or turning baby monitors into concierge sleep services, these 12 DFW software startups are the ones we’re keeping tabs on in the lead-up to DFW Startup Week.
No, these aren’t the “top” startups with the most funding or a definitive list of the “best”… just ones we’re interested in or intrigued by. They’re not all buzzy. They’re not all heavily funded. But they’re all doing something interesting (especially if you care about how tech can scale training, healthcare, fitness, or operations across real-world industries).
Here’s who we’re watching and why:
Basewell is a platform focused on modernizing employee training (particularly for fast‑moving, highly regulated industries). Co-founded in 2021, it helps teams quickly access real-time, role-specific knowledge and up-to-date training protocols using AI to surface the most relevant information when and where people need it. It’s not just an LMS or content hub… Basewell aims to replace the clunky, outdated ways most companies share critical tribal knowledge across teams. It’s already earned a spot on Venture Dallas’s watchlist for 2024.
What makes it stand out: the ability to centralize fragmented institutional knowledge and deliver it as bite-sized, context-aware training for frontline teams.
Filial Health tackles fertility-care administration with a SaaS platform that integrates telemedicine, patient engagement, and data analytics into one suite (more than just another EMR system). Selected as a finalist in Venture Dallas’s 2024 Startup of the Year awards, Filial is committed to improving outcomes and widening IVF access by helping clinics streamline operations and better serve patients. As Filial co-founder Lucy Huang explains: “we aim to change that by revolutionizing the delivery of fertility care, improve outcomes, and expand IVF access to more women with an advanced, all-in-one software solution designed optimally for fertility care.”
Its standout quality: a verticalized platform built specifically for fertility clinics, not retrofitted from general health tech.
Based in Dallas, Harbor is building a smarter baby monitor (plus a remote night-nanny service to help parents sleep better… literally). It emerged from stealth in 2024 with a hybrid device (Wi-Fi + radio backup) that continues streaming (even when the internet fails), and offers end-to-end encryption and on-device storage for privacy and security. Harbor raised $3.7M in February 2024 and then closed a $7M seed round later that year, led by Trust Ventures and backed by names like Tim Ferriss, Tim Tebow, and Thomas Morstead. Trey Kennedy even joined as “Chief Dad Officer.” TIME Magazine named it a Best Invention of 2024.
What sets it apart is the combination of hardware safety innovation with concierge sleep support through remote experts.
Lumin is a new Irving-based fitness studio launched by a former Gold’s Gym CEO, blending AI coaching, motion detection, projection mapping, and gamified classes into a futuristic workout experience (haven’t tried it out yet, but I’m dying to get into one of these bad boys). The Las Colinas flagship offers immersive classes where users get live form feedback and performance tracking, making each session feel like a video game. It’s already inked a 13-unit franchise development deal with Verge Fit Holdings, pointing to aggressive expansion ambitions.
The unique sweet spot: high-tech, personalized fitness outside animal-farming crowds—perfect for users who want motivation but not the treadmill crowd.
PracticePlan is helping parents, coaches, and teams book sports practice facilities without phone tag (or, ya know, having no idea how to find a field to practice on otherwise). This is one of the DFW software startups I’m most excited about, because my kids are entering that age where sports team practices are about to overrun my life.
The PracticePlan marketplace matches underutilized gymnasiums, fields, and courts (letting athletic directors and facility owners like schools and churches monetize idle time) with local teams and coaches who need a practice facility; it gives them a way to find and reserve space by location, surface type, and price. But under the hood, there’s a lot more going on.
Founder and CEO John Brochu says demand has been “immense,” especially when it comes to integration. “There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach between the various types of facilities and organizations we work with. We have one solution, but with multiple integration strategies and options so we can partner with all the different platforms in existence in our space.”
As John describes it, it’s not just a tech problem… it’s a mission: “In five years our software platform will have saved institutions… millions in administrative costs while significantly increasing new revenue.”
The institutions he’s talking about are churches, community centers, high schools, community colleges… increased revenues to them are then “reinvested into programs that benefit families, kids and our community at large.”
Rosy Wellness, founded in 2018, is a femtech platform focused on women’s sexual and reproductive wellness (from low libido to menopause and more). Dr. Lyndsey Harper, MD, OB/Gyn, founded it as the first physician-led consumer platform spanning the full spectrum of women’s health, and it’s now used by over 150,000 women nationwide. The company has raised ~$5 million to date from firms like True Wealth Ventures, Cultivation Capital, and HealthX. Rosy was also named Venture Dallas’s Early‑Stage Startup of the Year, alongside Kindly Human in the growth stage category.
What makes Rosy unique among DFW software startups is its medically credible, psychologist-backed content library, community features, and customized CBT‑informed tools delivered via a shame‑free app.
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Flower Mound, AirconAI is on a mission to modernize the $270 billion air‑freight industry. It offers AI-driven freight consolidation via shared air cargo gateways — bundling shipments across airlines for density, cost efficiency, and faster service for small and mid-tier freight forwarders.
The startup raised a $4.58M seed in June 2023 and then secured an additional $3.3M led by Underscore VC, bringing total funding to ~$8M by mid‑2025.
As founder and CEO Chris Condon puts it: “I started Aircon because I lived the challenges that freight forwarders face every day. We’re building the solution I wish I had…one that not only makes processes more efficient, but fundamentally changes the game.”
Its edge? Deep domain roots paired with LLM-based quoting agents like Captain Cargo, giving forwarders automation previously reserved for enterprise.
Kindly Human, formerly known as Listeners On Call, is a mental well‑being platform founded in 2019. It matches users with trained peer listeners who share similar life experiences, providing preclinical, 24/7 support for issues like burnout, financial stress, loneliness, or family challenges. As CEO Cole Egger put it: “At Kindly Human, it’s all about humans helping humans and giving employees the fastest path to support through shared connection.” Kindly Human won the “Startup of the Year” award in the growth-stage category at the Dallas Venture Summit 2024.
What makes Kindly Human special: hyper-personalized, relatable mental health support that sidesteps clinical bottlenecks by leaning into empathy and anonymity.
Founded in 2020, Krista Software created an AI-led intelligent automation platform. Using NLP and machine learning (largely piggybacking off IBM’s Watson), it orchestrates seamless workflows across people, apps, and legacy systems via conversational “agents” that handle everything from document extraction to anomaly detection. Krista has raised >$20MM in total funding to date, making it one of the most funded DFW software startups on this list.
Its standout: a unified, no-code interface for building intelligent, enterprise-grade automation without fragmented bots or tech sprawl.
TAP leverages VR, web-based simulations, AI screening, and mentorship to accelerate vocational training (starting with industrial maintenance technicians). Its immersive training programs help participants gain real-world skills, cutting onboarding time in half and getting workers job-ready faster. Backed by early investors like 8VC and GSV, TAP combines four pillars: accelerated curriculum, simulation-based learning, mentor matching, and talent identification to funnel skilled workers into industries that desperately need them (think manufacturing, biomanufacturing, and advanced tech).
Its uniqueness stems from marrying high-tech training with lived-mentor wisdom, guiding individuals from novice to placement while helping them pay it forward as future mentors.
Worlds (aka Worlds Enterprises) is building large-scale automation for the physical world (think machine vision meets digital twin). Their platform, WorldsNQ, ingests sensor and camera data from logistics, manufacturing, and energy operations to detect patterns, flag anomalies, and optimize performance without needing manual training. The company claims 400% ARR growth in 2022 and raised >$20MM from firms like Align Capital, Piva Capital, and Chevron Technology Ventures. They’re already working with big names like Chevron, Petronas, and Werner.
In an era of LLMs and digital work, Worlds is betting that the physical world needs its own operating system too.
Zirtue’s thesis is simple: people borrow from friends and family all the time… but without structure, it leads to stress. Their app formalizes those personal loans with repayment plans, automation, and even optional integrations with billers like AT&T and utilities. They’ve raised ~$4M in funding to date, including a $1M round led by Revolution’s Rise of the Rest and follow-on capital from Northwestern Mutual.
Zirtue isn’t trying to replace payday loans; it’s trying to make them irrelevant by giving people access to credit rooted in trust, not FICO scores.
Got other DFW software startups you think we should know about? Hit reply or DM us — we’re always looking for the next set of ambitious weirdos building real things in Dallas.
Jeff Francis is a veteran entrepreneur and founder of Dallas-based digital product studio ENO8. Jeff founded ENO8 to empower companies of all sizes to design, develop and deliver innovative, impactful digital products. With more than 18 years working with early-stage startups, Jeff has a passion for creating and growing new businesses from the ground up, and has honed a unique ability to assist companies with aligning their technology product initiatives with real business outcomes.
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