A life-sciences sibling of Google is the latest company to trade California for Texas, reflecting the state’s growing importance as a biotech hub and a go-to for corporate relocations.
Verily Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, is moving from San Francisco to the Dallas area by the end of this quarter, the Dallas Business Journal reported. The firm is expanding its lease at 2999 Olympus Boulevard in the Cypress Waters development in Coppell.
Verily, which launched in 2015 as a biotech data company, established itself in Dallas in June 2022. It occupies the top floor of the 10-story building, and it is adding the ninth floor to its lease.
The firm will double its Dallas headcount of 60 employees over the next 18 months.
The move was part of the firm’s reevaluation of its office space — it recently relocated from south San Francisco to San Bruno. Its Central Time Zone location will help with communication between its 1,000 employees, located in California, Texas, Boston and Raleigh. DFW’s business-friendly environment and strong connections to the medical community played a significant role in Verily’s decision to relocate, said Dallas-based CEO Stephen Gillett.
“It’s a growing hub and has a great talent pool,” Gillett said. “It has great universities and great transportation, and it’s near the airport.”
Major medical developments underway include UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Health’s $5 billion pediatric health campus. Dallas County Health and Human Services is developing a $52 million laboratory on 1.6 acres near the Southwestern Medical District. And a federal agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, is putting one of its three headquarters at Pegasus Park, near the Dallas Design District.
Billionaire Elon Musk is also relocating two of his tech companies from California to Texas. X is moving to Austin, and SpaceX is moving to Brownsville.
—Andrew Terrell