Proto-Town: A New Place in Texas for Hardware Startups
Introduction
Proto-Town is a big place in Lockhart, Texas. It is for people who make new machines and tools. The place costs about $100 million. Rich investors like Josh Kushner, Bill Ackman, and Fred Ehrsam gave money. Now, 12 companies work there. They make robots, drones, and nuclear energy.
Main Body
Two young men, Josh Farahzad and Merle Nye, started Proto-Town. They worked with a politician named John Cyruer. They began in 2024 with less than $100,000. Later, they got $20 million from three rich investors. The place is now worth $100 million. They wanted to build a city because Lockhart did not get a big factory. The place feels like a college house for men. People live in one big house and small trailers. They eat together and have fun on dirt bikes. New companies must stay and work there for a few days. Then they can join. New startups only pay for a room and food. Big companies like Samsung pay to use the land for tests. Some companies work there. Bedrock Robotics makes digging machines. The machines work alone. Dynamo makes big drones. The drones can lift heavy things. Terran Robotics tests a robot hammer. The hammer builds houses. Oklo builds a small nuclear reactor. The reactor makes medicine for cancer. It will start in July. The boss says it is very fast. The founders say the place is not political. They want to bring back old American values. They like that China makes things fast. They want to make a place like Shenzhen in America. At first, some local people did not like the idea. The founders lived in a house with scorpions. In August, they made a deal with the county. Now they have few building rules.
Conclusion
Now, Proto-Town has 12 companies. It is worth $100 million. More hardware companies want to come. The founders want it to grow very fast, like Shenzhen.