The coworking scene in Texas revolves around the four major cities: Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. 

The startup community is also becoming more and more interconnected within the state, so I thought it would be valuable to share the top five coworking spaces in each city, highlighting those that house tech startups. 

Historically, it is interesting to note how coworking culture was planted in each community over the last ten years. 

History of Coworking in Texas (2007-2008)

The first coworking space in the State of Texas was The Creative Space in Bryan, TX. It ran for about 7 years before finally closing in 2013 after which it was replaced by Binary Space.

Most startup folks in Dallas credit Cohabitat as being the first coworking space in DFW founded around 2008.

Houston started with Caroline Collective as the first coworking space there, which coincidentally also was also founded around 2008. 

San Antonio jumped into the movement and their first coworking space was C4 which opened around 2006.

In Austin, one of the first coworking spaces was Conjunctured, which was - you guessed it - also founded in 2008.

In addition to being founded around the same time, many of these spaces also share the fact that they were started in actual houses. While most of these original coworking spaces are now closed down, many more coworking spaces have opened up in their wake. 

A lot of startup community members in Texas will refer to 2007-2008 as a real turning point for the startup community and I’d like to think that the emergence of coworking had some small role in creating that spark. 

From 2013 to 2015, coworking spaces emerged in smaller Texas cities as well including Bryan, El Paso, Waco, and Denton.

Without further ado, here’s the list of the top 5 tech startup friendly coworking spaces in each major Texas metro area:

Dallas

NoD Coworking

Founded by Chirag Gupta in July 2014 and located in Far North Dallas. Known for early stage tech startups, digital marketing workshops, and coding classes.

Membership options:

• Day Passes
• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Office

Dallas Fort Work

Founded by Oren Salomon in December 2012 and located in downtown Dallas at 211 Ervay. Known for tech startups, coffee, and Waffle Wednesdays.

Membership options:

• Day Passes
• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Office

Common Desk

Founded by Nick Clark in November 2012 with locations in Deep Ellum and Oak Cliff. Known for creative talent, startups, and epic Halloween parties.

Membership options:

• Day Passes
• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Office

The DEC (Dallas Entrepreneur Center)

Founded by Trey Bowles and Jennifer Conley in 2013 and located in West End. Known for startup community events, tech companies, and pitch contests.

Membership options:

• Day Passes
• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Offices  

NEX

Founded by Adam “Jax” Lotia in July 2016 and located in Deep Ellum. Known for hackathons, maker space, and tech startups.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Private Offices

See the full map of Dallas coworking spaces and coffee shops here: https://goo.gl/j3cIsZ

Houston

Houston Technology Center

Founded by Dr. Martin Lindenberg and Robert Litke in 1997 and located in Midtown. Known for startup community events, NASA affiliation, and connections to large energy companies.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Private Office

START Houston

Founded by Apurva Sanghavi and Gaurav Khandelwal in June 2012 and located in East Downtown (“EaDo”). Known for tech startups, angel investor network, and demo days.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Virtual Part Time Membership
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Office

Station Houston

 Founded by Emily Keeton in 2016 and located in Fourth Ward in downtown Houston.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Private Office

TXRX Labs

Founded in 2011 and located in Second Ward in downtown Houston.

Membership options:

• Coworking Membership

The Work Lodge

Founded in 2014 and located in Vintage Park & The Woodlands.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Private Offices

See the full map of Houston coworking spaces and coffee shops here: https://goo.gl/MSCG2i

Austin

Capital Factory

Founded by Josh Baer in 2009 and located in downtown Austin.        

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Offices

Orange Coworking

Founded by Shelley Delayne in 2014 and is located in South Austin.        

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Private Offices

Dwell Stronger

Founded by James Hill in 2016 and is located at East Cesar Chavez in downtown Austin.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Private Offices

Link Coworking

Founded by Liz Elam in 2009 and is located in North Austin.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Offices

Fibercove

Founded by JP Maxwell in June 2015 and located in Zilker in downtown Austin.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks

See the full map of Austin coworking spaces and coffee shops here: https://goo.gl/w1BhF7

San Antonio

Venture Point 

Founded by Luis Escobar in 2007.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Offices

Geekdom 

Founded by Graham Weston and Nick Longo in December 2011

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Offices

10Bit 

Founded by Don Smeller in May 2010.

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Offices

Cafe Commerce 

Founded by Peter French in June 2014

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Offices

Workery 

Founded by Sally Aguilar-Robertson and Mari Aguirre-Rodriguez in January 2016

Membership options:

• Coworking Memberships
• Dedicated Desks
• Private Offices

See the full map of San Antonio coworking spaces and coffee shops here: https://goo.gl/9Z6Ntu

Guest Post by Chirag Gupta, Founder of NōD Coworking in Dallas. Follow him on Twitter @ChicagoGupta

NōD Coworking is creating a community of coworking freelancers and entrepreneurs in the North Dallas area that want a space to work, connect and collaborate with peers.

They offer a workplace alternative to the home office, coffee shop or traditional office lease. With a 24/7 NoD membership, you can simply walk in, plug in, and start working.

NōD Coworking members enjoy a fun and relaxed atmosphere with perks that include: free coffee, drop-in workstations, lounge area, ping pong table, NōD events, and more.

The Farm SoHo

The Farm SoHo will wow you and your guests with its rustic charm and inviting environment. New York City's most engaged community of startup teams, developers, remote workers, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. They have converged to share ideas, innovate and learn in a collaborative and nurturing environment. Their story began in Missouri where they found a gorgeous barn that needed a second chance. They dismantled the barn and brought it to NYC and rebuilt in in their loft in SoHo. 

Similar articles & resources:

Affordable Coworking Space NYC – Dedicated & Shared Office Spaces

Dallas News

Austin Culture Map

For more on the history of the tech startup scene in Texas, check out my recent blog post on Technical.ly and don’t hesitate to drop me a line on Twitter at @ChicagoGupta.

Texas Coworking and Coffee Maps for Reference:

Texas https://goo.gl/1RRZ4Q

Austin https://goo.gl/w1BhF7

DFW https://goo.gl/j3cIsZ

Houston https://goo.gl/MSCG2i

San Antonio https://goo.gl/9Z6Ntu

CultureMap:

Dallas Culture Map

Dallas Coworking Collective:

DFW Coworking

Built In Austin:

Austin Coworking Spaces

Dallas Morning News:

Co-working industry exploding in North Texas

Technical.ly:

When it comes to tech, Texas’ regional economy is a powerhouse

People who directly contributed information to this article via phone or e-mail exchanges: Cody Marx Bailey, Oren Salomon, Paul O’Brien, Luis Escobar, Marc Nathan