Alphabet's health tech company Verily moves headquarters from California to North Texas » Dallas Innovates

The lobby of Verily’s new Dallas headquarters. [Photo: Verily]

Alphabet-owned health tech company Verily announced Wednesday it will relocate its headquarters to Dallas-Fort Worth, a decision that elevates its existing regional office in Dallas’ Cypress Waters development, which opened three years ago, to the company’s primary base of operations.

After months of consideration, Dallas-Fort Worth emerged as the front-runner among several possible locations after Verily was looking to expand south of San Francisco, and then-Chief Operating Officer Stephen Gillette said he wanted to evaluate all options.

“I said, let’s look at Boston, Dallas, Raleigh-Durham,” said Gillette, who now serves as chairman and CEO. “We looked at all of our office options, and Dallas was the clear choice because of the strong business environment there, not only from the Verily team but also from Google.”

Dallas is expected to be officially designated as Verily’s primary operations and headquarters in the third quarter.

Stephen Gillette, Chairman and CEO of Verily [Photo: Verily]

From moonshot to major company

Born as a Google X moonshot project, Verily has consistently pursued ambitious goals in healthcare technology. The company develops advanced tools and solutions to help patients, healthcare providers, and researchers navigate the healthcare landscape. The company’s products range from consumer products, such as a diabetes management app and a retinal exam device, to advanced data analytics platforms for healthcare professionals.

Since establishing its Dallas office, Verily has quickly emerged as a force in Dallas-Fort Worth’s growing healthcare and technology ecosystem.

Verily develops tools for biosensing: The Verily Study Watch is a wrist-worn device used to passively collect health data in clinical studies. [Image: Verily]

The right place at the right time

Verily cited several business and financial benefits to its central DFW location, including access to a broad talent pool and proximity to Verily’s other offices, and sees the headquarters relocation as critical to its long-term success.

“Healthcare plays a vital role in our local economy and community,” Gillette said during the announcement at his Cypress Waters office, acknowledging the region as a growing hub for health care and technology innovation.

The U.S. healthcare industry currently accounts for more than 17% of the U.S. GDP, approximately $4 trillion, and is expected to continue to grow as the population grows and ages.

Just in the Dallas area, there are plenty of examples of that status being elevated, including two announcements this year: the ARPA-H hub at Pegasus Park, which will focus on customer experience, and a $5 billion pediatric campus being developed by Children’s Health and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

[Photo: Verily]

Dallas: A growing medical hub

Kelly Cloud, vice president of life sciences for the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce, was on hand for the Verily announcement and highlighted the region’s strengths.

“CBRE just came out with their life sciences report and we’re in the top 25 for R&D, medical technology and manufacturing,” Cloud says. “We have a great tech workforce and we’re the second fastest growing company in the country. From the talent to the scalability to the connectivity, there’s no better place to be than us.”

Even with all the accolades, Gillette said it’s been a team effort that’s gotten Verily to this point.

“It’s not just a matter of signing a contract,” he said. “Verily’s headquarters relocation had strong support from government leaders, the Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce and other strategic health care companies.”

Verily Numeric Retina Camera. [Photo: Verily]

Future Plans

The Cypress Waters office currently houses the company’s sales, marketing, legal and IT teams. About 60 people work there, with plans to roughly double that number. Gillette said the plan isn’t to move all of the open positions to Dallas, but rather to keep half the team in Dallas and the other half distributed around the country and the world.

Verily will continue to operate in its other locations, including the Bay Area and Boston, and employees in those locations will not be affected by the relocation.

For a company that prides itself on being “uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology, data science and healthcare,” locating its headquarters in Dallas-Fort Worth comes as no surprise.