imgres-3Welcome to the second annual issue of Silicon Hills News’ print magazine focused on the expanding Life Sciences industry in Austin and San Antonio.

It’s truly amazing to see the growth in this industry locally during the last few decades. And to know that Texas is one of the leading states overall in the biotechnology industry. Who knows a cure for cancer could come from the Lone Star State. Startups are working on that right here, right now. The total economic impact of the industry in Texas is estimated at $75 billion annually, according to the Texas Healthcare & Bioscience Institute, an industry association.

In fact, Texas is home to “over 3,600 firms involved in biotechnology-related manufacturing, scientific research, and laboratory analysis. These firms employ more than 92,000 workers at an average annual salary of over $69,000,” according to a 2014 report from the governor’s office.

The amount of investment in local startups is on the rise too. Targeted Technology, a San Antonio venture capital firm and Sante Ventures, a venture capital firm in Austin, both focus on investing in biomedical startups.

In this issue, you’ll read about a few of the innovative startups in our area ranging from UnaliWear, which makes the Kanega watch to monitor seniors to Invictus Medical which created the GELShield to protect newborn babies’ heads in the hospital. Xenex Disinfection Services created germ-zapping robots that eradicate harmful organisms in hospitals. Lots of medical technology startups locally are also focused on harnessing medical data including PotentiaMetrics, ePatient Finder and Capsenta. Others featured in this issue involve communications between doctors’ offices and patients including eRelevance and Filament Labs’ Patient IO. Lastly, we have bio briefs on significant news from both cities and we shine a spotlight on ten life sciences startups to watch in the coming year. And BioMed SA, an advocacy group for the biomedical industry in San Antonio, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

Thank you to Susan Lahey, Hojun Choi and Tim Green for writing articles for this issue and to John Davidson for taking portraits.

Also we wanted to thank our sponsors and advertisers that make this issue possible. A special thanks to the Texas State Small Business Development Center, BioMed SA, Akimbo, PotentiaMetrics, Austin Technology Council, the Austin Chamber of Commerce, Bank SNB, Strasburger Law Firm and Creative Civilization.